ELK GROVE, CA (MPG) - Delta League winter sports have largely concluded and the lone local team taking home a section championship was the Franklin boys soccer team, but not without other teams giving us some highlights. 

In girls’ basketball, the Monterey Trail Mustangs thrived in their first season back in the Delta League, stampeding their way to a league championship with a pristine 12-0 record. 

The Mustangs were powered by the efforts of junior Dalis Blackshire who averaged 13.8 points per game for a total of 206 points, junior Jameise Stigler with 136 rebounds and senior Alia Wilson with 62 assists.

Despite their perfect league record and entering the playoffs as the No. 8 seed, they were eliminated in the first round, the same fate as the second place Pleasant Grove Eagles and the third Laguna Creek Cardinals; both finished with a 9-3 record in the Delta League.

The Delta League leaders for points per game were junior Caitlin Subejano of the Cosumnes Oaks Wolfpack with 21.8 for 568 total points, leader in rebounds was junior Casey McCoy of the Cardinals with 237 and leader in assists was junior Kate Meyers of the Eagles with 117.

In boys’ basketball, the Mustangs also were champions in their first season back in the Delta, but shared a piece of the top slot with co-champions, the Sheldon Huskies. Both teams finished with an 11-1 record, handing each other their sole loses of the season.  

Freshman Devaughn Dorrough put himself on the map with the Mustangs, putting up 16.9 points per game for a total of 445 points, 248 rebounds and 44 assists. He was named by Sports Illustrated as the sixth best freshman basketball prospect in the nation. 

As for the Huskies leaders, senior Chadwick Johnson averaged 11.8 points per game for a total of 331 points and senior Julien Hoang led the team in rebounds with 133. 

The Huskies, Elk Grove Thundering Herd and Bradshaw Christian Pride would fall in the first round of playoffs, although all in different brackets, while the Mustangs and Franklin Wildcats fell in the quarterfinals of the playoffs in the Division I bracket. 

The Mustangs were selected as the No. 15 seed in the CIF State Boys Basketball Tournament on Sunday, March 2. 

The points leader of the Delta League was junior Aiden Rollins of the Wildcats with 624 for an average of 20.8 per game, while Dorrough led in rebounds and his teammate Derron White, senior, led in assists with 160. 

On the pitch, the Delta league was paced by the dominance of the Wildcats in both boys and girls soccer with both teams winning the Delta League for the first time in school history, which culminated in a section championship for the boys. 

The girls team was co-champions with the Pleasant Grove Eagles; both went 9-2-1.

Senior Mara Cochon led the Wildcats in goals and assists with nine while the Eagles’ leading scorer was junior Adalynn Alley with 13.Senior Monica Palafox led the team in assists with seven.. 

The Wildcats would fall in the first round while the Eagles fell in the semifinal round in a penalty shootout to just miss reaching the section championship game. 

The third-place team of the Delta League also made it far in the playoffs, but in the Division II bracket as the Wolfpack fell as the No. 11 seed in the semifinals, coming up just short of reaching the section championship. 

Senior Jalana Kimber led the Delta League in goals with 19 while senior Mia Buijten also led the league in assists with 11. 

Outside of the Delta League, the boys’ and girls’ soccer team of the Pride made a deep playoff run with the girls falling in the semifinals while the boys came up just short of a section championship. 

The boys soccer team of the Huskies and the Eagles also participated in the Division I bracket where they were both eliminated in the quarterfinals. The Eagles fell to the eventual champions, the Wildcats. 

The leader in goals and assists of the Delta League was senior Julian Sevilla of the Eagles with 22 and 16. 

At the time of publication, wrestling is still ongoing while the section champion of boys soccer, the Wildcats, will continue on to the 2025 CIF NorCal Boys Soccer Championship tournament.  H