SAMOHI — Santa Monica High School’s embarrassment of basketball riches continues to pour in.
The California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section released its All-Division 1-A teams Monday and Samohi Vikings are well represented on both the girls and boys squads.
Thea Lemberger was named CIF-SS Division 1A player of year. Marty Verdugo, the girls coach, was named coach of the year. Also on the girls side, juniors Moriah Faulk and Kristina Johnson made the first team.
The boys side has Solomon Singer and Corey Walker on the All-CIF-SS Division 1A first team. James Montgomery made the second team.
The honors cap a season that saw both teams make it to the CIF-SS Division 1A finals. The girls won the title — a first in the program’s history — and the boys lost to Leuzinger. Each team was selected for the CIF State Championships, with the girls advancing to the South Regional semi-finals before losing to Clovis West. The boys advanced to the second round before losing to eventual state champion Westchester.
“I guess you can call us lucky,” a modest Verdugo said last week, before Monday’s announcement was made. He had heard second-hand the results of the selections and wanted to keep it quiet until it became official. “This is what happens when you make a commitment to the team.”
The consummate teammate, the UCLA-bound Lemberger said that team awards were more important to her, but admitted that the individual honors were “pretty cool.”
James Hecht, the boys head coach, sees the awards as the fruit of his 10 seniors’ labor. The starting lineup, consisting of entirely senior players, made the commitment to buy into Hecht’s system, bringing the team and coach the best results in his years leading the team.
“Great to see those guys get acknowledged for their four years of hard work,” Hecht said. “Those guys are homegrown. They grew up together.”
daniela@www.smdp.com
