By Brandon HENSLEY

Try telling Leslie Aguilar she makes some pretty funny faces during game action, and she’ll cut you off with a laugh. She knows, and she has no control over it.

“All of my pictures are awful. But that’s okay, as long as the ball goes in the hoop, it doesn’t matter the faces I’m making,” she said.

On March 3, inside the bright yellow gymnasium of Godinez High School in Santa Ana, Aguilar made as many crazy faces as she wanted, because her Village Christian Crusaders walloped Valley Christian 49-29 in the CIF Division 4AA title game.

Capturing her joyous expression after the buzzer would have produced a portrait of a champion.

The victory over their league rivals clinched Village’s first ever girls’ basketball CIF championship. The game was a ribbon, a star or any other ornament with which you want to top off a sparkling 28-3 season.

Aguilar had 18 points, and Micaela Cacho-Negrete contributed 13 points and four assists.

The Crusaders learned their lessons from a year ago. They fell short in the CIF semifinals. They made a run in the state playoffs but let a second-half lead in the championship game slip away. Big accomplishments for sure, but no ultimate prize.

Until now.

The Village defense came up huge all game long against Valley and its top player, Cheyenne McKinnie (10 points). Just like in the semifinals against Pasadena, Village owned the second half, outscoring Valley 26-10.

“We played solid defense all the way through. That’s what we focused on,” said Cacho-Negrete. “I can’t believe it. We worked so hard all season; the blood, the sweat, the tears. I’m so excited.”

With Village holding on to a 23-19 lead at halftime, Aguilar had visions of the state final in her head. She went head-to-head with McKinnie, or whomever she had to guard, coming up with three steals and dominating the fourth quarter.

“We were so close. I wasn’t going to let it slip through our hands,” Aguilar said.

This Village squad payed tough, even without starting center Mercy Odima, who broke her right leg in January. Head Coach Jon Sampang said they wanted to have Odima back for the playoffs, but the outgoing senior needed to be healthy enough for college ball. It was a risk the team couldn’t take.

Others rose to the challenge. Freshmen Alexis Mark (19 rebounds in the final, a Division 4AA record) and Maile Yamada, and sophomore Meranie McGuire all did their part for a team with an unbreakable spirit.

“For them to be so unselfish, with so much talent on that team, man … they really love each other,” Sampang said.

After the final buzzer, Sampang knelt on the hardwood, taking a moment for himself before being mobbed by his players.

Growing up in the Crescena Valley Falcons program, Sampang was sinewy but tough, a player who carried a chip on his shoulder, real or imagined. His family told him to never let anyone outwork him, to fight for everything you want to earn. After  all, one of the only things in life anyone can control is how hard they work.

“It’s the same thing with coaching,” he said. “I never want to be outcoached.  The program, they emulate me now.”

Sampang had the words BATMAN on his forearm during the championship, an homage to boys’ coach Jon Shaw, who recently resigned from his position. One of Shaw’s mantras was BATMAN, and Sampang asked him once what it meant.

Be A Tough Man, Shaw told him. Sampang took it to use for his team with a simple message.

“I told the girls the same thing,” he said. “Be a tough player for me.”

Cacho-Negrete played basketball at Rosemont Middle School, with teammates Rachel Dayag, Senayt Tassew and Caity Bouchard. She watched those girls win a CIF championship in 2016 for Crescenta Valley High. Now she can finally call herself a champion.

The state tournament began this week, and it’s clear Village has grand plans that go beyond the dominant effort at Godinez High School.

“I wouldn’t say it’s complete. We still have our state run,” Aguilar said.

“We finally did it. We finally showed Village Christian is a school you don’t want to mess with. But we still have state,” Cacho-Negrete said. “That’s still our next goal in mind.”

  Brandon Hensley