Venice athletes froze their competition in their tracks and dominated the Western League.

Boys’ Basketball

Boys’ basketball finished off the season with a 17-16 record, ultimately losing to San Juan Hills in the second round of CIF Division 4 State Championship March 5. 

The team also finished third in Western League going 8-4, and seniors Ajonn Mitchell and Cannaan Rodriguez received Division 1 All-City Honors. 

“What makes our team special is we’ve been playing with each other all summer, so we’re close,” Mitchell said. “We know how to get each other the ball. Whenever someone messes up, we pick each other up.”

Coach David Galley added that the Gondoliers “did tremendous this season and accomplished many goals.”

Girls’ Basketball

Girls’ basketball, 19-11, wrapped up one of their “best seasons in school history,” according to coach Dominick Flores, after an impressive playoff run in the Open Division, where they ultimately lost to Westchester in the semifinals February 21.

Although the team lost in the Division 2 state playoffs against St. Joseph High School, 71-62, they exceeded expectations throughout the year, finishing tied for second place in league play.

Senior Remy Castillo, a captain, said that the team made tremendous progress this year.

“With our new offenses and defenses, we’ve grown a lot,” Castillo said. “Overall, we’ve really improved as a team.”

Castillo also highlighted the on-court connection between junior Brenda Dunbar and freshman Amiya Aldrige as a key example of the team’s chemistry.

“Brenda just goes to the hoop, and Amiya is always ready to pass and make plays,” Castillo said. 

Even against elite competition, Venice consistently rose to the moment. After a dominant playoff win over Granada Hills February 12, Flores praised the team’s focus and intensity.

“We were so locked in,” Flores said. “When Granada Hills put pressure on us, we rose to the occasion.”

Cheer

Cheer wrapped up a successful season filled with improvement. 

According to coach Joana Trocan-Garrett, the team adjusted its goals during the year, an ultimately positive change.

“I think it was a really successful year, and I’m really happy with the progress that the seniors made,” Trocan-Garrett said.

As several veteran athletes graduate, the program will look to its younger members to take on leadership roles. While the upcoming season will bring a period of transition, the coach remains confident in the team’s future.

“It’ll be cool to see which juniors step up to become the new leaders of the team,” Trocan-Garrett said. “I definitely don’t think the team will fall apart. There’s a lot of talent in the younger crew.”

With a talented group of underclassmen, cheer hopes to continue building toward its ultimate goal of competing for a CIF championship.

Boys Soccer 

Boys’ soccer ended 12-8-3 overall, with some highs and lows, according to coach Nick Webster.

“It’s disappointing because I had high hopes for us to make a big, deep playoff run,” Webster said. “We finished tied for the league, which was a great achievement.”

Despite entering a highly competitive Open Division bracket, the Gondoliers remained competitive all season long. 

“I thought we would probably go Division 1, but instead we went Open, and Open is always really tough,” he said. “We had to meet a good team and play our A game, and we didn’t play our own game when we needed to.”

The Gondoliers built momentum throughout league play, earning back-to-back seasons finishing at the top of the Western League standings–a milestone for the program.

“That’s two years in a row that we’ve finished at the top of the Western League, which Venice hasn’t done in a long time,” Webster said. “Lots of great stuff happened all season long.”

Senior London Webster, the captain, said that “every senior on the team deserves a big shout out.”

Girls Soccer 

Girls’ soccer, 17-2-3 overall, ended their season with their first Western League title in program history.

The Gondoliers tied against the Palisades Dolphins February 4 with senior Khalia Rodriguez, a co-captain with seniors Charley Leal and Somer Staley, scoring the final goal and ultimately tying the game, securing the title. 

 To tie in that game, the team had to “show a lot of real grit and resilience,” said Coach Chaka Forman.

After earning their Western League title, the Gondoliers lost 1-0 to the Granada Hills Highlanders in the first round of CIF Open Division LA City Section playoffs February 11.

“It was an unfortunate loss that we had,” said Rodriguez. “I think everyone knew that we had that game, and it was just unfortunate the way we went out.”

Rodriguez attributes the team’s success on the field this season to their team bond.

“From the start of the season, we had a bond,” Rodriguez said. “It brought us all together during practices and games, and we all get along very well.”

Rodriguez hopes the team will continue to “be positive, because we did a lot of good things this season, and it’d be nice to carry those things on to next season.”

Girls’ Waterpolo

According to coach Rigo Mora, girls’ waterpolo has had its most successful season yet this school year.

The team ended with an overall 7-9-1 record.

“It’s the most wins we’ve had on the girl’s team, ever,” he said. “So, I’m super super proud of that.”

Mora said that, each year, the team improves more and more. The team chemistry was also something that really stood out to him.

“This is one of the closest teams that we’ve had,” he said. 

Though the season was a great one, it didn’t come without its challenges.

“We had a lot of ups and downs and one of those downs was playing San Pedro…but I think we’ve learned our lesson from them,” Mora said.

A highlight for the team was its two victories against Palisades, a historically difficult opponent. The Gondoliers beat the Dolphins 15-9 November 22 and 11-10 November 10. 

He said that he’s particularly proud of all the work the girls have been putting in, and that the team gained a lot of strong freshmen this year. 

Junior Angelina Golgert, a co-captain with junior Banksy Chen, was the lead scorer this year. According to Mora, she broke the program record and scored over 100 goals.

All in all, Mora said that the year was one of the team’s best and he’s looking forward to future success.

“We’re really, really excited for the future as far as how the program’s moving,” he said.