Jaime Jaquez Jr., with no facial hair and looking every bit like the teenager he was, took time out after a basketball game at Camarillo High to take a photo in 2018 with five smiling members of the local youth basketball team made up of 11-year-olds. They attended the game and got a chance to meet the neighborhood star, who was a junior averaging 30 points a game.

Jaquez would become a hometown hero, showing you can grow up in Ventura County, get a scholarship to UCLA and make it to the NBA as a first-round draft pick for the Miami Heat.

Now those five players in the photo — Shane Frank, Brendan Widerburg, Josh Castaniero, Evan Dela Paz and Jackson Yeates — are seniors at Camarillo and following in Jaquez’s foosteps as best friends trying to lead the Scorpions to basketball success. The team is 17-1 and to say chemistry plays a big part would be an understatement.

They’ve known one another since third grade. They still hang out together at the local park on Friday nights, go for a swim in the community pool, play video games, scream and laugh while riding the rides at Six Flags Magic Mountain, and compete for highest grade-point average. They get excited when someone takes a charge, because that means a free milk shake is the reward.

Their only loss this season was to Rolling Hills Prep, and its legendary coach, Harvey Kitani, recognized the kind of team he was facing. “The kids all know their role,” he said. “They’re a unit. They’re not going to beat themselves.”

It’s a parent-driven origin story of how they met. Fathers came together to form a youth basketball team. The players got to know one another, became friends and joined in playing soccer, baseball and other sports. Nothing has changed through the years. They enjoy their company. They recently took a trip together to Yosemite National Park, staying in a cabin, going for hikes and talking basketball. When driving to games in the school vans, there are singing competitions.

Other Camarillo players have joined the group, including senior Cajun Mike-Price, the son of former Sylmar High and UCLA football standout Durell Price, and senior Ty Chisholm, who arrived as a freshman when his father, in the Navy, moved to the area. “They welcomed me with open arms,” Chisholm said.

What makes Camarillo so successful are the many contributors for coach Brendan Garrett. During any given game, there could be a different leading scorer or leading rebounder. Yeates, a guard, leads the team in scoring at 13 points per game. He also has the highest grade-point average at 4.6. Widerburg was the school’s quarterback and only wishes he could have recruited some of his friends to be receivers.

To see the interaction of these players is inspiring. They’re playing for fun and friendship. There’s unselfishness, togetherness and an understanding of playing for each other. Whatever helps the team succeed, that’s what matters most.

“We’ve played in so many championship games together, gone to so many places, won so many tournaments together,” Paz said.

Said Yeates: “I feel the reason we’re so good is we play as a team. No one plays for themselves. We know if someone has a bad game, they’ll bounce back the next time. We trust everyone.”

On Jan. 14, the school will be honoring Jaquez by retiring his No. 24 jersey before a game against Simi Valley. He’s in town because the Miami Heat are playing the Clippers and Lakers that week. Jaquez is a big fan of the program. After all, his younger brother Marco played for the Scorpions and his sister, Gabby, was a McDonald’s All-American who now plays for the No. 1-ranked UCLA’s women’s team. Jaquez provided every player with black sweatsuits, along with the coaching staff and custodial staff at Camarillo.

Camarillo is a high school that embraces sports participation. The principal, Matt La Belle, is a former Simi Valley baseball coach who understands how sports can fit into a school’s culture. The school’s athletic director, Mary Perez, is the daughter of the legendary football coach from Moorpark College, the late Jim Bittner.

La Belle has seen the players around campus and says, “It’s absolutely true” of how good they are as teenagers on and off the court.

“They’re fantastic students. They’re a great group,” he said.

When neighborhood kids are doing well, it makes it easy for an entire community to have fun rooting for them to succeed. With the new Southern Section playoff seeding process starting this season relying on computer rankings, it remains unknown where Camarillo might end up. The early rankings didn’t exactly inspire confidence and might need some re-tooling. For now, Camarillo is No. 33, which might make it difficult to compete for a championship among Division 1 powerhouses.

Just don’t ever count out this Camarillo team that can overcome plenty with the help of chemistry and trust. And when the games end, don’t worry about these players.

“We’ll be friends for life,” Yeates said.

The NHL season is nearing its midway point, with all 32 teams playing between 35 and 41 games. By now, we generally know what each team is and isn’t and whether the rest of the season should be focused on title contention, short-term progress or the long-term future.

What better time to break out our red pens and hand out some grades? That’s exactly what The Athletic did this week when it asked its NHL staff to assign a grade to every team with expectations in mind. You’ll definitely want to show some of these to your parents (or general managers). Others … maybe not.

The Ducks are more competitive in Greg Cronin’s second season. Tangible proof exists with a minus-19 goal differential through 37 games compared to the minus-91 in 2023-24. They’re also starting to close the gap between shots on goal and against, and their defending in five-on-five play is improving, as evidenced by their goal share bumping up from a brutal 42.19 percent to a more respectable 47.79 percent. But their special teams remain horrid, ranking 31st on the power play and 26th in penalty killing (as of Thursday). The lowly offense is keeping them from winning more close games, but wins this week against Edmonton, New Jersey and Winnipeg point to resiliency and positive momentum being created. — Eric Stephens

The Bruins have improved under interim coach Joe Sacco. They are in a playoff position. They are far tighter defensively. David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand are looking more like themselves. But it does not excuse their start under ex-coach Jim Montgomery. That they went 8-9-3 has put them in a position where every point matters. — Fluto Shinzawa

After how this season has gone for the Buffalo Sabres, it’s hard to give them a passing grade. (Nick Turchiaro / Imagn Images)

The Sabres were supposed to be in win-now mode, ready to take the next step under new coach Lindy Ruff. Instead, they are in last place in the Eastern Conference after a 13-game winless streak derailed their season. It’s tough to justify anything other than a failing grade for a team that had 91 points two seasons ago and is on track to regress for the second straight season. — Matthew Fairburn

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It’s a season above expectations in some regards for the Flames. They’re in the hunt for a playoff spot instead of being in the basement. Their young players — Dustin Wolf, Connor Zary and Matthew Coronato — are taking steps forward. Even Jonathan Huberdeau is having a better season than expected, having already surpassed his goals total from last year. But they still need to make some crucial decisions for their rebuild/retool, including obtaining a game-breaking talent. — Julian McKenzie

Most everyone expected the Hurricanes to take a step back this season, with some even suggesting Carolina would miss the playoffs. It didn’t take long for the Hurricanes to silence the doubters with a red-hot start to the season. Carolina has struggled some of late due to a combination of injured and inconsistent goalies and difficulties scoring at five-on-five. Still, the Hurricanes have firmly established themselves as Metropolitan Division contenders and a threat in the Eastern Conference. There are facets of the game Carolina can improve upon, but Rod Brind’Amour again has the Hurricanes near the top of the league. — Cory Lavalette

The Blackhawks didn’t have a high bar to meet this season. All they had to do was show better than last season. That was the expectation from Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson. So far, they haven’t even reached that. They’re at the bottom of the league in the standings and have already gone through a coaching change. Another top-three draft pick would help the rebuild, but that wasn’t the goal for this season. — Scott Powers

The Blackhawks didn’t have a high bar to meet this season, and they still have disappointed. (Daniel Bartel / Imagn Images)

After a disastrous start, the Avalanche appear to have righted the ship. They’ve rounded into form and climbed into a comfortable playoff position in the Central. Colorado has played solid hockey all season but was undone by poor goaltending early. Since GM Chris MacFarland reworked the crease in late November, the team is 11-3-1 with one of the best save percentages in the league (.912). Combine that with Nathan MacKinnon, who leads the league with 64 points, and Mikko Rantanen, who isn’t far behind with 56, and the Avalanche are right on track with room to grow. — Jesse Granger

The Blue Jackets were expected by many to be a lottery team, perhaps the worst club in the NHL. When held to that standard, they deserve high marks for hovering around .500 and hanging in the race for a wild-card spot. One more reason for the solid report card: Their young forwards have started to look like difference-makers, especially Kirill Marchenko, Dmitri Voronkov and Kent Johnson. So why is this not an A? The Jackets are one of the NHL’s worst road clubs (4-12-3), and they’ve had two stretches — a six-game winless streak (0-5-1) in November and a five-game skid (0-3-2) in December — in which they lost their way. — Aaron Portzline

The Stars are good, but we’re grading on a curve based on expectations. They seem to have reached that stage of contention in which they realize the regular season doesn’t really matter. But they might want to flip that switch a little earlier this time around because they’re hovering around the periphery of the playoff picture a little too often. A putrid power play, Tyler Seguin’s injury and some underperforming forwards have the team underachieving. But it’s still picking up points at a .600-plus clip, and with reinforcements likely on the way at the deadline, the Stars will still be a team nobody wants to see come playoff time. — Mark Lazerus

Most expected some kind of step back for the Red Wings, but their first half still fell well short of expectations. Detroit has issues with its roster, but there’s still more talent on the team than its bottom-10 record suggests. We’ll see if new coach Todd McLellan can help the Red Wings get back on track in the new year, even if the playoffs look tough to reach. — Max Bultman

The Oilers have been one of the NHL’s best teams since starting the season 0-3. Even with that initial blip, they’re comfortably inside the top third of the league when it comes to points percentage. Still, there’s room for continued improvement on the power play, in net and at a few key spots in the lineup. Get those improvements and the Oilers might attain their goal of tracking down Vegas for the top spot in the Pacific Division. — Daniel Nugent-Bowman

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It’s a testament to how good the Panthers have become that their B-game still makes them a top-10 team. We know what they’re capable of; we don’t necessarily need to see 82 games’ worth of it to be convinced. Eventually, they’ll need better from Sergei Bobrovsky (.899 save percentage, minus-1.75 goals saved above expected), and the bottom of the lineup is a bit dodgy, but the defending champs are doing just fine. — Sean Gentille

Credit should be thrown coach Jim Hiller’s way, as he has the Kings in a firm playoff position despite not having Drew Doughty all season. Just once have they dropped consecutive games in regulation play, and they’re an impressive 12-2-2 after any defeat. Anze Kopitar is a 37-year-old wonder, and Adrian Kempe, Vladislav Gavrikov and Mikey Anderson are also leading the way. Offseason adds Warren Foegele, Darcy Kuemper, Joel Edmundson and Tanner Jeannot have contributed to varying degrees, and youngsters Alex Laferriere, Brandt Clarke and Alex Turcotte have stepped up. Quinton Byfield and Jordan Spence are trending up. If anything, the 27th-ranked power play (as of Thursday) doesn’t get a passing grade. — Eric Stephens

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Some predicted the Wild to finish in the lower tier of the Central Division. The fact that Minnesota has the third-most points in the Western Conference says two things: (1) Kirill Kaprizov is a Hart Trophy candidate. (2) The Wild get a high grade for exceeding expectations. They hit a recent rut after a hot start, but they’ve put themselves in a good spot thanks to Kaprizov, a big bounce-back year from goaltender Filip Gustavsson and plenty of resilience, including being tested by injuries to Kaprizov, captain Jared Spurgeon and Jake Middleton. — Joe Smith

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A late surge to close out 2024 helped achieve this grade, but the Canadiens’ stated goal for the season was to be in the playoff mix and learn winning habits. In that sense, the Canadiens are achieving their goals, beginning 2025 with a .500 record and within earshot of a playoff spot. Thus, a strong grade. The best part of this Canadiens season is there is still room for improvement from some of their best players. — Arpon Basu

The season that started with arguably the most talented roster in franchise history, with some of the highest expectations, has a chance to be the worst season in franchise history. How can it be anything other than an F? The Preds have picked it up a bit lately, but unless they make a miraculous turnaround to make the playoffs, the F will stand. — Joe Rexrode

New Jersey has integrated its offseason additions well and is near the top of the Metro Division standings. Coach Sheldon Keefe has brought a detailed approach, and the Devils have draft picks with which they can work ahead of the deadline. They look like legitimate contenders. — Peter Baugh

The worst power play in the league. The worst penalty kill in the league — and potentially in NHL history. Blown leads. Missing offense. A tired No. 1 goalie. The Islanders are only in shouting distance of a playoff spot because half the East is mediocre, but they’ve separated themselves of late to be even worse. — Arthur Staple

The Rangers’ collapse is impossible to justify. There’s blame to spread up and down the organization, from the owner to the general manager to the coach to the players. This team was two wins from the Stanley Cup Final in June and started 12-4-1. Now it feels almost certain the Rangers will be sellers at the deadline. They’ve already moved Jacob Trouba and Kaapo Kakko, and more changes are coming. — Peter Baugh

Despite a wonky November, the Senators look to be back on track and playing to their potential. They’ll need to survive without Linus Ullmark for some time. But the confidence surrounding their team under Travis Green’s coaching could help. Ullmark, Tim Stützle, Drake Batherson and Brady Tkachuk are at the forefront of their team’s success with occasional contributions from their supporting players. They’ll need good goaltending back and a few roster tweaks to cement their place in the playoffs. — Julian McKenzie

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The Flyers are probably about where they should be at this stage of their rebuild, hovering around .500 while experiencing some growing pains as a team and individually. Rookie Matvei Michkov looks like the real deal despite some ups and downs under coach John Tortorella, and Travis Sanheim and Travis Konecny have shown why they are franchise cornerstones. Conversely, other young players such as Jamie Drysdale, Tyson Foerster and Owen Tippett have struggled with their consistency. What drops the Flyers a bit below average is their goaltending, as Sam Ersson hasn’t yet shown he can handle a No. 1 workload, and projects Ivan Fedotov and Aleksei Kolosov have been brutal. — Kevin Kurz

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The Penguins started the season with a brutal October, and though they’ve played much better since, making the playoffs will be a chore because of that horrific start. Goal prevention, because of leaky goaltending and an overall inability to defend, remains the Penguins’ biggest issue. Sidney Crosby has come alive in recent weeks after a slow start, which offers some hope. — Josh Yohe

The Penguins’ Sidney Crosby has come alive in recent weeks after a slow start, which offers some hope. (Justin Berl / Getty Images)

It feels weird to give a good grade to a team near the bottom of the standings, but this season is going to plan. The Sharks had low expectations going in, and they’ve been much more competitive most nights, but there have been enough blown third-period leads to keep them in the mix for another top-three pick. Macklin Celebrini is a leading Calder Trophy candidate. Pending UFAs have provided potential trade value, with Mikael Granlund and Luke Kunin having strong seasons. Cody Ceci should be a depth add for a contender on defense. Jake Walman has been a steal from Detroit, and Yaroslav Askarov is getting NHL action and showing, as he did Thursday against Tampa Bay, he’ll soon be their No. 1 goalie. — Eric Stephens

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The Kraken are shaping up to be an also-ran side for a second consecutive year, sapping the momentum the franchise was able to generate during its dream second season. Poor backup goaltending, young players not taking a significant step (or not bouncing back as hoped, in Matty Beniers’ case) and a high-profile UFA who has massively underperformed in Chandler Stephenson have hurt the Kraken’s efforts to take a step forward this season. The club is still technically in the mix for a playoff spot, but it’s going to be a steep climb over the balance for a team that has mostly underwhelmed in the first half. — Thomas Drance

This is where most of us expected the Blues to be near the halfway point of the season: hovering around .500 and within reach of a wild-card spot. That probably means they deserve an average “C” grade, but I’m giving them a slight bump because of their .618 points percentage (through Thursday) since Jim Montgomery took over on Nov. 24 — which is tied for 10th in the NHL in that span — and also because of the jolt Cam Fowler has given them on the blue line since being traded from Anaheim. — Jeremy Rutherford

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The Lightning’s playoff chances hinge on their elite core, and big offseason additions have helped elevate them. Jake Guentzel is bringing the heat on the top line, Ryan McDonagh has been a stout shutdown force, and J.J. Moser has solidified the top four. This team looks like it could do some damage in the postseason, but it still needs a little help. Andrei Vasilevskiy isn’t playing at his best yet, and the Lightning could use more scoring depth and need some injury luck after Victor Hedman left Thursday’s game. — Shayna Goldman

The fact the Leafs have hung around the top of the Atlantic Division all season despite their best player, Auston Matthews, either missing time or playing at less than 100 percent is deserving of praise. This team has bought into Craig Berube’s approach, playing a less risky, lower-event brand of hockey. With improved personnel and much better goaltending, the Leafs give up less than they did last season, including on a penalty kill that has made a leap. The trade-off has been a less potent offense, though stars Mitch Marner, William Nylander and John Tavares are having strong seasons. — Jonas Siegel

Utah’s season has been a bit all over the map, especially lately. A 6-0-1 stretch in mid-December gave way to a frustrating losing skid that has made the playoffs a long shot. After Thursday’s win against the Flames, the Hockey Clubbers are on pace for just 86 points, which is below preseason expectations. There have been mitigating circumstances, with injuries to two of their top four defensemen and goaltender Connor Ingram, but Utah’s offense has been surprisingly impotent (21st in goals per game as of Thursday), and that has wasted a strong season from Karel Vejmelka in net (fourth in the NHL in GSAx as of Thursday). But it’s an A-plus for the new owner and fans so far. — James Mirtle

The Canucks’ results have been disappointing, and their perch in the standings is modest relative to preseason expectations. But given all the team has dealt with on the injury front and the off-ice drama, the fact the Canucks are still clear of the playoff bar in the West is probably a strong indicator of roster quality. We’ll fairly ding their grade for their game-to-game inconsistency, struggles to generate offensively, defensive regression and lack of answers in non-Quinn Hughes minutes, but we expect this club to be more formidable down the stretch. — Thomas Drance

The Golden Knights have won 11 of their last 13 and have the best record in the NHL at 26-9-3. They’ve been strong in nearly every phase of the game, with the fifth-ranked offense and sixth-ranked defense (as of Thursday). Vegas’ best players have been excellent, with Jack Eichel entering the Hart conversation. Players down the lineup — such as Brett Howden and Keegan Kolesar — are having career years, and goaltender Adin Hill has been solid in net with 8.28 GSAx. It’s hard to find a weakness on this team through 38 games. — Jesse Granger

There are things not to love about the Caps’ season; they’re 4-4-1 with a goal differential of zero in their last nine. Alex Ovechkin missed a chunk of time that could push his record chase into next season. The power play is just OK. Other than that, though? Smashing success. They’re leading the Eastern Conference in points as of Thursday, and they’re doing it sustainably. A no-brainer “A”-worthy showing thus far. — Sean Gentille

When the season began, I thought last year’s 110 points were out of reach but that an improved power play could make up for any trouble at even strength. I thought the Jets would be a playoff team, but the chance of finishing first in the standings is beyond my expectations. Connor Hellebuyck is having another fantastic, Vezina Trophy-caliber season, Davis Payne’s power play is firing on all cylinders, and Winnipeg’s top skaters — Mark Scheifele, Josh Morrissey, Kyle Connor, Nikolaj Ehlers and Gabriel Vilardi — are all playing like game breakers. Jets fans know second-half slides all too well, but for now, this season is beyond most fans’ wildest dreams. — Murat Ates

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Grades summary

(Illustration: Eamonn Dalton / The Athletic. Photos: Jonathan Kozub / NHLI; Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)

The miracle is alive in Cincinnati.

All has gone right for the Bengals so far, as they kept their playoff hopes alive with their 19-17 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday night.

The Bengals offense didn’t get many big splashes aside from an early touchdown to Ja’Marr Chase, but for once, it was the defense that stepped up throughout the game. In fact, the Bengals had gotten out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter, but then mustered just four field goals the rest of the way.

After the Steelers got a touchdown of their own in the second quarter, both offenses stalled for awhile – Cincy added a field goal just before the half ended, and they added two more on each of their first two drives of the second half to lead, 19-7 early in the final quarter.

But the Steelers offense finally got going, as Russell Wilson led a nine-play, 65-yard touchdown drive that ended in Pat Freiermuth finding the end zone, making it a five-point game.

The Steelers, with 5:24 left in the game, went three-and-out and punted the ball away. However, the ball was muffed by the Bengals and recovered by Pittsburgh on the opposite 38, giving them life again. But they were unable to take advantage, and on 4th and 18, they had to settle for a 54-yard field goal to trail, 19-17 with 2:39 to go.

Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson (91) sacks Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson (3) in the first quarter of the NFL Week 18 game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. (Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

The Steelers were able to get a three-and-out and got the ball inside the two-minute warning, needing a field goal to win. On a 3rd down, Wilson saw an open George Pickens to get into field goal range, but the pass went through his hands continuing his rough night full of drops (he finished with one catch for five yards). On 4th down, Freiermuth was unable to squeeze a pass, and the Bengals kneeled out the clock to get the win.

Now, the Bengals make the playoffs if both the Denver Broncos either tie or lose to the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Miami Dolphins lose to the New York Jets.

As for the Steelers, they are still sitting at the No. 5 seed, but would fall to No. 6 if the Los Angeles Chargers win on Sunday.

Burrow made one more case for a longshot MVP nod, going 37-for-46 for 277 yards and a touchdown – Chase made 10 receptions for 96 yards and the first quarter score.

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (9) is pulled back to his feet after being sacked in the second quarter of the NFL Week 18 game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. (Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

Wilson was 17-for-31 for 148 yards, but his weapons didn’t do him many favors. Freiermuth led the way with eight catches (for 85 yards), but the next closest was Najee Harris with four.

Best believe the Bengals will be tuned into NFL RedZone on Sunday to become the third AFC North team to make the playoffs.