After finishing the first half of the season 11-8, the Legacy Christian Lions kicked off the 2026 calendar year with a narrow 69-61 win over the Vikings at Valencia High School.
The victory marks the second year in the row the Lions (12-8) have secured a win over the Vikings (10-7, 2-1) as Legacy Christian won both meetings in the 2024-25 season.
“It’s always exciting to play one of the local high school teams,” said Legacy Christian head coach James Mosley. “You know our goal at Legacy is to really have high-level athletics, and so we’re in the process of building that.”
Mosley added that whenever the team plays local competition the matchup is always a welcome opportunity to showcase Legacy Christian and the high level of basketball they can provide despite being the “new kids on the block.”
“Valencia is a very talented team, and I was excited that we were able to pull off the victory and do some really good stuff and continue to grow as a team,” he said. “So, the opportunity to play one of the local high school teams is always a welcome opportunity.”
In the non-league win over Valencia, sophomore point guard JR Mosley led the Lions in scoring with 25 points and four assists.
He was joined by Matthew Burton as one of two Lions who scored in the 20-point range as he also contributed on the defensive side of the ball with four steals.
Sophomore guard Cash Mitchell also provided timely threes as he scored nine points, all coming from beyond the arc.
As for Valencia, the Vikings were short-staffed for most of the game after Issac Michel-Zavala and Romel McCoy were injured in the first quarter.
McCoy tallied nine points in the opening frame before falling to injury and was sidelined.
The Vikings were carried by Josiah McCoy and Steven Irons on offense as both players combined for 29 points.
With the win, the Lions secured their 12th win of the season and continued the string of tough competition in their freelance season as they set to host Mira Costa Mustangs on Saturday. Mira Costa is the 25th ranked team in the state via MaxPreps.
“You know, some of the new guys just really like to play on a high-level schedule,” Mosley said. “We’ve tried to challenge ourselves in terms of just the schedule that we play, you know? We played Loyola and Canyon from Anaheim. And it’s gratifying to see that I think that hard schedule kind of paid off and we kind of been put to the fire and the growth and the development of our guys are still pretty young.”
Mosley said Legacy Christian athletics is on the rise this year, not just in basketball. And as the season enters the second half, the Lions want to make a name for themselves not just in the Santa Clarita Valley but in the whole California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section.
“By being the new kid on the block in terms of high school, it’s just always great to be able to establish yourself by just showing the community like, hey we have a really good boys basketball team,” he said. “We can compete with the local high schools, and our future is bright and we’re willing to put the time in to develop athletes and develop into them and try to impact them in terms of character wise but also help them reach their goals athletically.”
