Boys’ basketball: Viewpoint is excited about its first final appearance

Viewpoint School in Calabasas has been open for 54 years. It has students in kindergarten through 12th grade. Never before has the school had a basketball team reach a championship game.

On Saturday, Viewpoint will play Gold Coast League rival Windward for the Southern Section 5AA championship at 5 p.m. at Godinez in Santa Ana.

How did this happen?

For one, Coach J.J. Prince, in his sixth season, has been coaching like a man on a mission. Viewpoint is 22-7 and had so many close games that it probably feels normal for the players to be in games not decided until the final second. They’ve won some and lost some. But the experience has them prepared.

Second, they have one of the best junior point guards around in Christian Juzang. He loves the ball in his hands in pressure situations. He’s averaging 17.5 points and 4.5 assists.

And third, senior Miye Oni has come out of seemingly nowhere to be one of the league’s top players this season, averaging 19.5 points and 9.5 rebounds.

In the only game this season between Viewpoint and Windward, it was Windward winning on a last-second shot, 66-65.

Get ready for another thriller on Saturday.

Twitter:@LATSondheimer