Laguna Hills, Trabuco Hills Teams to Be Honored for Winning Ways

Members of the state champion Laguna Hills High School girls basketball team and the Trabuco Hills High School academic decathlon team will be recognized for their achievements at today’s school board meeting.

Saddleback Valley Unified School District trustees will make a special presentation to the Laguna Hills team, which beat Newark Memorial on Friday to win the CIF state Division II girls basketball championship, the first state title in the school’s history.

With their one-point victory, the 12-member squad finished the season with a 23-game winning streak and a season record of 31 wins and 3 losses.

“It’s a real honor. The kids are really excited about it,” Coach Lynn Taylor said of the board recognition. “It’s a nice way to end the year.”

Trustees will also acknowledge the Trabuco Hills academic team, which finished second out of 43 teams at the 18th annual California Academic Decathlon held earlier this month.

Competing in its first state contest, the nine-member team was runner-up to El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills, which won for the second year in a row.

Members of the team, made up of four juniors and five seniors, also garnered 22 individual medals at the competition.

The Trabuco Hills team reached the state level by winning the Orange County competition last year, unseating Laguna Hills High School, which had represented the county at the state event for the past eight years and won the state title in 1990 and 1991.

The school board will meet at 7 tonight at the district office, 25631 Diseno Drive, Mission Viejo. Information: (714) 586-1234.