By Fred J. Robledo
The Northview High School boys basketball should have made winning the Valle Vista League title a formality long ago, but dropping three of its last four left the Vikings in danger of falling out of first entering Friday’s game at surging Nogales, which had won four straight and was just a half game out of first — both teams with three league losses.
It was almost surreal, after starting 18-3 and 6-0 in the VVL, the Vikings dropped games against San Dimas, Covina and Wilson, teams few expected them to have problems against. Making the situation even more dire, the Vikings might have lost starting point guard Nick Fuentes for the season in their previous loss to Wilson. The junior guard injured his knee and will have an MRI in the coming days.
In a dizzying 32 minutes, those problems seem long ago for the CIF-Southern Section Division 4AA’s eighth-ranked team.
With its backs against the wall Northview delivered its best performance of the season, routing Nogales 69-47 to claim at least a share of the the Valle Vista League title, improving to 20-6 and 8-3 while the Nobles dropped to 13-12 and 6-4.(to continue click thread)

Friday’s Boys Basketball results
Baseline League
Rancho Cucamonga at Glendora, 6:30 p.m.
Del Rey League
Cathedral at Bishop Amat, 7 p.m.
Hacienda League
Rowland 62. Diamond Bar 53
Mission Valley League
Mountain View 41, El Monte 31
Arroyo 46, Rosemead 37
Montview League
La Puente at Ganesha, 6 p.m.
Sierra Vista 45, Gladstone 32
Sierra League
Damien 51, Charter Oak 30
Valle Vista League
Northview 69, Nogales 47
Baldwin Park 60, Wilson 48

Baldwin Park was in the title hunt too entering Friday, but Wilson handed Baldwin Park a 60-48 loss, leaving the Braves (16-9, 5-5) fighting for a playoff spot with idle San Dimas (8-16, 6-4) suddenly creeping into the playoff picture.
Northview junior Treavon Francis finished with a game-high 23 points and 12 rebounds, but senior leader Brian Johnson got the Vikings going from the opening tip, scoring 17 of his 19 points in the first half to help the Vikings build a 20-point lead.
Johnson, who also finished with 14 rebounds and three assists, said he wanted to make it a point not to allow the Nobles to feel comfortable.
“The last two games we played the (teams) got on us early,” Johnson said. “We knew we had to get out in front and set the tempo, so I came out as aggressive as I could.
“We knew this was for league, we knew we could at least grab a share tonight. The last thing we wanted to do was come here and lose. I could tell in the lockerroom before the game were were ready. We were pumped up and wanted to do this for Nick. I think it was a great sign, we have to have this intensity the rest of the way, especially with the playoffs coming.”
Sophomore Danny Johnson helped stretch the lead in the third quarter, scoring 10 of his 16 points on a night when everything went right for the Vikings.
“There were a lot of big performances,” longtime Vikings coach Ron Rice said. “(Brian) really got it going, but Treavon played well, Danny hit big shots and a player we just moved up from varsity, Jazzen Davia, stepped up big too.
“It was probably the best game we’ve played in quite a while. After losing Nick, we wondered how the kids would react and they stepped up from start to finish.”
Joey Ng scored 16 points to lead Nogales and Ray Santos finished with 12, but the Nobles were playing catch-up from the start.
After falling behind 20-6, the Nobles chipped away and cut the Vikings lead to 27-19 midway through the second quarter, but the Vikings finished the quarter on a 14-2 run to take a 41-21 halftime lead.
“They obviously played well,” Nogales coach Tony Depa said. “The plan was to slow them (Francis and Johnson) down, but none of that happened at all, they played great.
“We still have a young group with only two seniors and it was a pretty big environment for them to play in. We would have liked it to be a lot closer, but there was no beating them tonight.”
Northview can wrap up the Valle Vista League title outright with a victory over Baldwin Park on Thursday. If the Vikings lose, Wilson or Nogales could claim a piece if they win out.
“We don’t want to share it,” Johnson said. “We’ve got one more we have to get.”