La Habra vs. Sonora is one of the better rivalries in Orange County sports.

Divisions have been set aside. Their communities are united now to help Noah Valdez.

Valdez is a freshman basketball player at La Habra High School. He spent Wednesday at Children’s Health of Orange County (CHOC) for a second round of chemotherapy. Valdez has leukemia.

His health began to deteriorate in December. Valdez’s energy level was unusually low.

“I thought maybe it was asthma,” said his mother Jessica Garcia. “Or maybe it was COVID again. Then we did the lab work and it was leukemia.”

Although just a freshman, Valdez already had become a popular student and basketball teammate.

La Habra freshman Noah Valdez is shown playing for the school’s basketball team. Valdez found out during the winter that he has leukemia and is now undergoing treatment for the disease. (Photo courtesy of Jessica Garcia)

“In just his first year he has made quite an impact on our teachers and students,” said La Habra varsity basketball coach Aaron Riekenberg. “Everybody’s rallying around him.”

Members of the La Habra and Sonora school communities have organized a fundraiser, “Hoops for Noah,” to help with medical expenses. It’s a students and staff members shoot-a-thon – pledges are made to donate money for each shot made. Hoops for Noah is May 19 at La Habra’s gym.

A GoFundMe.com account also has been created.

Valdez has been moved by the communities’ response.

“It’s been really good,” he said. “It gives me faith.”

Sonora freshman football player Jonathan Munoz is among the rival school students supporting Valdez

“I’ve known him for a while,” Valdez said. “He’s always checking up on me.”

“The way the communities have come together like this is amazing,” said Garcia, a 1999 graduate of La Habra who was chapter director of La Habra’s National Junior Basketball program for three years.

“It’s really nice to see guy I’ve played against are rooting for the same cause,” said La Habra freshman basketball player Grayson Sinek. “Everybody loves Noah. He’s a hard worker and always wants his friends to be happy.”

Rivals who have become friends want Noah to be happy and healthy.

NOTES

• Servite hired Tony Davis as its basketball coach, replacing John Morris who resigned after 12 seasons. It’s one of the more challenging coaching positions in Orange County sports, competing in the ultra-tough Trinity League at a football-famous, all-boys school. Making it an attractive destination for area basketball players is Job One for Davis, 41, who coached Mayfair to two CIF Southern Section championships and 12 Suburban League championships in his 15 years with the Monsoons.

• Any personnel changes that would be made in Mater Dei athletics would be decided by the Diocese of Orange. Bishop Kevin Vann will have the final say. It is a certainty that Bishop Vann is taking a deep look at the school’s athletic program, particularly its high-profile football program.

• The Orange County North-South All-Star Games for basketball are Saturday at Cypress College. The girls game is at 5 p.m., with the boys to follow. Admission is $10 for adults, and free for students, coaches, children and military personnel.

• Capistrano Valley Christian’s baseball team won its 12th consecutive league championship, having clinched the San Joaquin League title this week. The Orange County record for consecutive baseball league championships is 17, established by La Quinta (1993-2009).

• Katella’s Myles Johnson pitched a perfect game Tuesday in a 3-0 win over Garden Grove in a Golden West League baseball game. Johnson struck out 16 of the 21 batters he faced, and also was 3 for 4 at the plate.

• The Orange County Baseball All-Star Game is May 31 at Glover Stadium/La Palma Park in Anaheim. The game, like the aforementioned county all-star basketball event, was not played the past two seasons because of COVID-19.

• County athletics has lost some good coaches recently. Another good one exiting is Jeff Gordon, who is retiring after 32 years as the girls soccer coach at Sunny Hills. He led the Lancers to 19 Freeway League championships and three CIF-SS championships.

• It’s league finals time in track and field. Coming up: CIF-SS preliminaries May 7 in four divisions  (Division 1 prelims will be at Trabuco Hills, Division 3 at Estancia); CIF-SS divisional finals May 14 at Moorpark High; CIF-SS Masters Meet (state qualifying meet) May 21 at Moorpark High; and CIF State Championships May 27 and 28 at Buchanan High in Clovis.

• CIF-SS softball playoff brackets will be released Saturday. Softball playoffs begin Tuesday with wild card-round games. First-round games are Thursday, May 5.

• Boys and girls lacrosse playoff brackets will be released Saturday. The top four teams in the latest Division 1 boys lacrosse ranking are, in order, Mater Dei, St. Margaret’s, Foothill and Corona del Mar, and that just might be how the Division 1 bracket will be seeded.

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• Foothill has a dominating team in girls lacrosse. The Knights, No. 1 in this week’s Division 1 and 2 ranking, are 18-1 and have won 13 games in a row.

• CIF-SS diving championships started this week. CIF-SS swimming championships begin next week with prelims in four divisions. The section swimming finals are at the Marguerite Aquatics Complex in Mission Viejo on May 6 and 7.

• Boys team tennis playoff brackets are out Monday. University is No. 1 in this week’s Division 1 ranking. University barely lost to Harvard-Westlake in last year’s Open Division final 9-9, 93-88 in games.