The Valencia boys’ basketball team is built to win in the future — but first-year head coach Greg Fontenette is just fine with success in the present.
A team with mostly sophomores leading the way and a few seniors with little to no varsity experience, the Vikings stormed through the Foothill League this year on their way to their first title since 2020 and 10th overall.
“The biggest achievement is I get to share the wall with my brother, and that’s coach Bill Bedgood,” Fontenette said. “I’ve been here for a while with him and learning underneath him, so to do that in one year — and all three levels won the title this year. So, for the program entirely in my first year to do that, it’s way more than I imagined.”
Fontenette took over for Bedgood, who led the Vikings to league titles in 2019 and 2020 and CIF Southern Section and state titles in 2023, prior to this season after being an assistant coach for Valencia for a few years.

Saugus can match Valencia’s accomplishments with a win over Castaic on Wednesday, the final day of the winter regular season.
The Vikings earned the title of league champions on Monday by beating Golden Valley at home, 63-58. And as it’s been all year, it was the young core that led the way for Valencia (11-16, 9-3).
Sophomore Issac Michel-Zavala had 22 points while sophomore Noah Trevino had 20 points. Sophomore Steven Irons recorded a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds, and sophomore Isaac Franklin dished out seven assists.
“Me and the whole team, we’ve been preparing for this moment the whole fall, whole summer,” Michel-Zavala said.
He and Golden Valley (16-11, 6-5) junior Alex Villejo, who tied Michel-Zavala with a game-high 22 points, were trading blows to begin the game, and it looked like it would be another fight to the finish in what has been a bloodbath of a Foothill League campaign with five of the seven teams in contention until the final week.


But a one-point Golden Valley lead at the end of the first frame quickly turned into a six-point Valencia lead early in the second quarter. The Vikings maintained that lead until about two minutes to go in the fourth when the Grizzlies tied things up at 56-56, only for Valencia to finish on a 7-2 run.
“Those are those growing pains that we’re still experiencing, sophomores and guys who lack experience playing varsity,” Fontenette said of Valencia letting Golden Valley back into the game. “It was those moments. But you really saw a true testimony of their maturity. They’re maturing so fast in one season. It’s more than I can ask.”
Trevino said the Vikings didn’t feel any pressure leading up to the opening tip, even knowing a loss likely meant missing out on the league title.
“We prepared for this moment since the offseason, playing against the best competition we can to lead us up to this moment,” Trevino said.


Golden Valley now has to win Wednesday’s game at home against West Ranch to have a shot at the fourth and final automatic playoff spot. A win for West Ranch would give the Wildcats that spot, and without it, they would be ineligible for the playoffs with an overall record under .500.
The Grizzlies do own an over-.500 record, and head coach Chris Printz is hopeful that his team is bound for the postseason, win or lose.
“We’re still in the mix to get an automatic bid to the playoffs,” Printz said, “and even if things go badly, I think we we’re ranked high enough that we should get in.”
Valencia is off on Wednesday as the Vikings have the final league bye. They now wait for the release of the Southern Section playoff brackets on Saturday to see which division they’ll be in and where they will play.


But Trevino isn’t looking at this as a time to relax.
“Work starts tomorrow,” he said. “Back at it tomorrow.”
Here’s what else happened in Monday’s Foothill League basketball action:
Boys’ basketball
Canyon 84, Castaic 47: The Canyon Cowboys (19-8, 7-4) secured their automatic playoff spot with an 84-47 road victory at Castaic (10-14, 0-10).
Eric Kubel poured in 31 points for Canyon, while Adam Graham had 10 and Daniel Gonzalez and Isaac Yuhico each had nine.
West Ranch 58, Hart 54: The West Ranch Wildcats (12-13, 7-4) kept their playoff hopes alive with a 58-54 road win at Hart (9-17, 1-9).
Ryder Sundquist led West Ranch with 21 points. Luca Marcil added 11 points while Prince Okonkwo had 10 points and eight rebounds.
Girls’ basketball
Valencia 56, Golden Valley 23: The Valencia Vikings (23-4, 11-1) clinched a share of the Foothill League title after beating Golden Valley (7-16, 2-9) at home, 56-23.
Kamilla Basyrova led the way for Valencia with 18 points. Cara McKell added 14 points.
Hart 63, West Ranch 15: The Hart Hawks (19-7, 10-1) are a win away from joining Valencia as league champions after topping West Ranch (11-15, 2-9) at home, 63-15.
Andrea Aina had a game-high 20 points while Morgan Mack had 18 and Emery Eav had 11.
Hart is set to travel to Canyon on Wednesday.
Canyon 101, Castaic 25: The Canyon Cowboys (14-13, 7-4) are heading into the playoffs on a strong note after beating Castaic on the road, 101-25.
Darby Dunn continued her strong freshman campaign with 37 points, 14 assists and six steals, knocking down four 3-pointers. Shannen Wilson added 20 points and 10 rebounds while Bella Chevez had 11 points.