Cypress edges San Juan Hills in California Live match-up, both teams show progress

Gavin Kroll of Cypress maintains control in Saturday’s game against San Juan Hills. (PHOTOS: Jacob Ramos, For OC Sports Zone).

In a battle between two highly-regarded Orange County boys basketball teams at California Live on Saturday, Cypress came out on top against San Juan Hills 81-79 at San Juan Hills.

Coaches of the two teams understand their seasons lay far beyond a tune-up game in late June. Though the win was encouraging for Cypress, head coach Derek Mitchell knows that the real wins from events like California Live come from recognition of talent showcased over the weekend.

“This is our first year at Cali Live and I wish we could have been a part of it earlier. It’s amazing to see all the college coaches in attendance,” Mitchell told OC Sports Zone. “For us, it’s about competing at a level that will showcase our players strengths and hopefully have a college coach take notice of our boys.”

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Mitchell specifically noted that seniors Ryan Gov and Gavin Kroll garnered attention from multiple colleges with their play over the weekend. 

Cypress will look to improve on a 2024-25 season in which it finished fourth in the highly-competitive Crestview League, going 18-11 overall and 4-5 in league. The Centurions did not qualify for post season play last season, but will look to Gov and Kroll to help them return to the CIF playoffs.

The Centurions went on to defeat San Ramon Valley in the NHSBCA division consolation championship bracket game to wrap up Cali Live Sunday. Cypress went 3-1 overall in California Live, its only loss to the eventual bracket champions St. Ignatius.

The loss for San Juan Hills signifies change after its two leading scorers Mason Hodges and Adam Aziz graduated in 2025. 

Stallions Coach Jason Efstathiou spoke with great confidence about his squad in spite of his roster’s high turnover from last year. He mentioned that only three players who played significant minutes on Saturday were in the rotation for San Juan Hills in 2024-25, and that he expects this year’s contributors to look very different from previous seasons.

Specifically, Efstathiou noted senior guard Cameron Goltara as a player to watch for the Stallions this upcoming season. Goltara suffered a dislocated knee just five games into the past campaign, and returned for San Juan Hills’ league and playoff run. Now a senior, Goltara is expected to be the Stallions’ leading scorer headed into 2025-26.

Efstathiou liked what he saw out of his fourth-year letterman on Saturday.

“I felt like today was honestly like a breakthrough because he’s looked a little bit hesitant at times,” Efstathiou said to OC Sports Zone postgame. “Today he just looked fearless, like, I’m going, he’s moving better, and he saw the result as, like, you know what he’s capable of.”

Goltara isn’t the only Stallion Efstathiou said to look out for. Rocco Jensen, another fourth-year letterman, garnered high praise from San Juan Hills’ coach.

“Rocco Jensen, [he] might be our top guy. I mean, he scores it well,” Efstathiou said. “He’s big, he’s put on size. I mean, him and Cameron are really, like, at the top of our depth chart.”

Efstathiou also mentioned JSerra transfers Parker Hall and Kellen Owens as players he expects to contribute greatly to the Stallions in 2025-26.

San Juan Hills has spent the first half of the decade cementing themselves as a premier basketball program in Orange County. Stamped in history as a CIF Division 2A champion program in 2021-2022, it will be this group of players that will look to lead the Stallions back into another deep playoff run.

Efstathiou remarked that despite California Live being one of the first chances for this group to play together all offseason, he liked what he saw. 

“I love the effort, I love the camaraderie. The guys are starting to jell together in terms of friendship,” he said. “I’m just looking forward to us getting bigger, spending a lot of time in the weight room. I think that’s got to be a huge, huge difference for us, and we just need more time on the court together.”

San Juan Hills wrapped up Cali Live Sunday with a 74-51 victory over Viewpoint to finish 2-2. The Stallions also defeated Leuzinger 59-49 on Saturday.