Soaring to History: Desert Hot Springs girls basketball playing for first CIF championship

DESERT HOT SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) -- We have continuing coverage of the CIF-SS playoffs for the winter sports season with two local teams playing for a CIF-SS title this Saturday.

Desert Hot Springs girls basketball is one of those programs, playing for the Division 9 championship.

Sports Director Blake Arthur visited the team at practice this week for a preview of the game and recap of their historic season.

"Oh, it's been incredible. I have a group of girls that I have had since their freshman year. Majority of my girls are juniors, so I've had the pleasure of working with a lot of them since their freshman year," said head coach Vanessa Alvarado.

It's been a long time coming for Desert Hot Springs Girls' basketball, playing for their first ever CIF championship this Saturday against Sierra Vista, with tip-off scheduled for 10:00 a.m. at Azusa Pacific University.

"Very excited. I'm ready to see my team on a higher level," said Maribell Cervantes.

"Less mistakes, you know, be passionate and just have confidence and, you know, be ready. You already know I'm the first to be up, first to wake everybody up, just coming with energy," said Nyna Crawford.

This season didn't go well for Desert Hot Springs early on, losing their first eight games. But since their 0-8 start, the Golden Eagles have gone 13-1, a credit to their character as a team.

"I've been just letting them know how proud I am, because seeing them, this team now from preseason where we had, we lost all our preseason games, what it did was it turned back, it reversed it. It was an opposite effect for them, you know, they went out stronger than ever," said Alvarado.

"Very difficult in the beginning, but now it's, it's becoming much easier that we got to figure it out and we're just, you know, it's, it's a great journey, honestly," said Crawford.

It's a journey that is not fully complete just yet. The Golden Eagles have a chance to do something that's never been done in DHS girls' basketball history, something that would mean a lot to them and their entire community.

"It would mean so much to me, everything that I've been working for, you know, all the skill I've been putting on the court and, you know, the sportsmanship. I'm just ready for it," said Crawford.

"It's gonna mean a lot. It's gonna mean a lot to Desert Hot Springs, looking around, as you can see, there's, there's no banner for girls basketball, so the girls are already stoked for, for having that banner and then making it as far as they have, but I think overall, the city, a lot of people think that in order to be seen or to, you know, just be known for the sports, they have to go outside of Desert Hot Springs, but that's no longer the case," said Alvarado.

For more on the CIF-SS girls basketball playoffs, click HERE.

Stay with KESQ News Channel 3 for continuing coverage.