With Valiant Effort, a Changing of Guard

Bell-Jeff and St. Genevieve . . . league champions?

They won’t be confused with Hart and Westlake, but the Guards and Valiants were part of a three-way tie for first in the Santa Fe League.

St. Genevieve (5-4) overcame an 11-50 record the previous six seasons to post its first winning regular season since 1993.

The Valiants also won off the field, edging Cantwell Sacred Heart and Bell-Jeff in a series of coin flips to determine the league’s No. 1 entry in the playoffs.

St. Genevieve plays Kern Valley in a first-round game of the Southern Section Division XII playoffs Friday at North Hollywood High.

“It’s an uproar here at school,” said first-year Coach Nelson Wong. “This is the best thing that’s happened to the kids here in years. They’re finally able to say they’re part of something.”

Bell-Jeff (5-5) almost missed the playoffs because it finished third in the tie-breaking coin flips. Only the top two teams in the league were guaranteed playoff berths, but the Guards were awarded a wild-card spot and will play top-seeded Montclair Prep at Valley College.