Victor Valley boys basketball is one win away from a long-awaited crown
The Victor Valley boys basketball team has been here before. Three times, in fact.
But the Jackrabbits have never been able to hoist a CIF-Southern Section championship plaque.
On Saturday at 4 p.m., Victor Valley will get another opportunity when it faces South El Monte in the Division 8 title game at Azusa Pacific University.
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Victor Valley (14-14) is making its first title game appearance since 1996 and just its fourth overall. The Jackrabbits lost to Channel Islands in the 1977 and 1978 Division 2-A finals and fell to Jordan, 54-38, in the 1996 Division I-AA championship.
“I’m feeling great,” Victor Valley coach Shondell Moore said. “I told them at the beginning of the year that our preseason would prepare us for this. We didn’t play any teams that were down. I knew that once we got into the dance, we would be OK.”
Moore pointed to an 87-49 December loss to Bishop Amat, which is a Division 2 finalist, as part of a demanding nonleague schedule that tested his team early.
Victor Valley head coach Shondell Moore watches the action on the court, as players celebrate during the CIF-Southern Section Division 8 semifinals against Redlands Adventist on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026.
The Jackrabbits have responded with an explosive playoff run, averaging 82 points per game while allowing 59.5.
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Victor Valley opened the postseason with an 82-72 win over Rubidoux, followed with an 88-53 victory against Trinity Classical Academy, edged rival Barstow 75-70 in the quarterfinals, and rolled past Redlands Adventist 83-43 in the semifinals. The Jackrabbits led 24-15 after one quarter in the semifinals and poured in 31 second-quarter points behind a full-court pressure defense.
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Balance has defined the surge.
“We’ve got a bunch of kids that want to play for each other,” Moore said. “They genuinely like each other. They are not playing for me. This is their team. I’m the steward.”
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Jesiah Hyder has averaged 15.3 points in four playoff games. DeAnthony Dyer is averaging 9.4 points on the season, and twin brother DeAngelo Dyer is averaging 8.5. Different players have led the way each round — DeAngelo Dyer scored 20 points against Rubidoux, Hyder and Tanks had 23 apiece against Trinity Classical, and Nicholas Craft scored 11 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter against Barstow.
“Everybody just trusts each other with the ball,” Hyder said. “We all believe that every single player on this team can get a bucket.”
South El Monte (17-15) is appearing in its first championship game in program history, and fell in the Division 5A semifinals last year. .
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The Eagles enter the championship game riding momentum of their own with a six-game winning streak and allowed just 42.5 points per game in the playoffs.
Their postseason run included victories over Tarybut V’Torah (70-36), Desert Christian Academy (45-41), Coastal Christian (65-50) and Edgewood (45-43). In the semifinal, Trinidad Esqueda hit a go-ahead shot with three seconds remaining, and Trinidad Marquez secured the win with a steal on the ensuing inbounds pass.
The Eagles have scored 1,558 points and allowed 1,573 this season, thriving in close contests.
Saturday presents a contrast in styles. Victor Valley’s high-powered offense against South El Monte’s defensive discipline.
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Family ties run deep
For Moore, this moment is personal. For a High School that is 111 years old, he’s just the third head coach to lead a boys basketball team to a championship game.
Ollie Butler, who died earlier this week, led the Jackrabbits to the program’s two title game appearances, while Kurt Herbst was at the helm for the 1996 run.
Though originally from Cleveland, Ohio, and a graduate of Chaffey High School in Ontario, his family roots run deep at Victor Valley. His father-in-law, wife, and children all graduated from the school. His daughter now teaches there.
“I bleed green and white,” Moore said. “This for me, this is deep. You look over in that corner, that’s all my family.”
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Moore has coached in the Victor Valley Union High School District since 1999. Football, softball and basketball.
“A little bit of everything,” he said with a smile.
But the ties don’t stop there.
Hyder’s lineage is woven into Jackrabbit history.
Victor Valley’s Jesiah Hyder dribbles the ball during the semifinals against Redlands Adventist on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026.
His grandfather, Greg Hyder, graduated in 1966 and went on to star at Eastern New Mexico, scoring 2,278 career points and earning four All-American honors. The 6-foot-6 Greg Hyder was drafted in the third round of the 1970 NBA Draft by the Cincinnati Royals (now the Sacramento Kings) and played one NBA season.
Greg Hyder’s younger brother, Jerry, was selected in the 1971 ABA Draft by the Denver Rockets.
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Jesiah’s 6-foot-5 father, Dijon Hyder, also graduated from Victor Valley and played football there.
“Playing inside this gym means a lot to me because my grandfather played on this same court,” Jesiah said. “I’m honored to play here.”
Moore’s bond with the Hyder family stretches back decades.
“When I first got to the High Desert, the Hyders were some of the first people that took me in. I love the Hyders. I’m not leaving this place, at least until Jesiah graduates and is long gone.”
This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Victor Valley boys basketball seeks first CIF-SS title