Sports
Remembering the Zambia air disaster – 'The boys would say: 'This plane will kill us''
“The spirit of the 1993 team will always be there for Zambia.”
Kalusha Bwalya, Zambia’s former football captain, is reflecting on the day that changed his life forever.
On April 27, 1993, a military aircraft taking 18 of his team-mates and their coach to a World Cup qualifier against Senegal crashed shortly after refuelling in Gabon. All 30 people aboard died.
Bwalya would have been on the plane, too, but for the fact that he was playing for PSV Eindhoven at the time. Being based in the Netherlands meant he made his own way to the match from Europe and ultimately saved his life — although it did not spare him from crushing, numbing grief.
“You couldn’t imagine the whole team you play with are not there anymore,” Bwalya tells The Athletic. “It didn’t feel real.”
Zambian football could have been broken by the dreadful events of that day nearly 31 years ago. Instead, in the year that followed, a new national team — captained by Bwalya — came within one match of reaching the 1994 World Cup and also made the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final.
Against all the odds, an unfancied Zambia team went one better and won the 2012 AFCON final in Libreville — the city in Gabon where the doomed flight carrying the 1993 team had crashed minutes after taking off. A tragic story had come full circle.
Now, as the team known as The Copper Bullets prepare for their first game at an AFCON since 2015 tomorrow (Wednesday), this is the story of that plane crash and the team’s enduring legacy in their homeland and beyond.
It has been slightly forgotten now, amid the trauma of how their story ended, but that 1993 Zambia squad was widely hailed as one of the best the country had ever produced.
They harboured genuine hopes of reaching the World Cup finals for the first time and also lifting the AFCON trophy. Just two days before the plane crash, the team had travelled to Mauritius for an AFCON qualifier, thrashing their hosts 3-0 with Kelvin Mutale, a talented young striker, scoring a hat-trick.
Bwalya missed that match but planned to link up with the squad for their next game, an important World Cup qualifier against Senegal in Dakar, that county’s capital city.
That meeting never happened.
The squad had boarded a De Havilland Canada DHC-5D Buffalo twin-engined military aircraft, and the plan was for them to travel to Senegal, in west Africa, via stop-offs in Congo, Gabon and Ivory Coast.
After its second stop to refuel in Libreville, Gabon’s capital, it took off from Leon-Mba International Airport. Two minutes later, it crashed just 2km (a little over a mile) from the coast, killing all five crew and the 25 passengers. According to the accident report, which was finally released in 2003, the right engine caught fire but the pilot shut down the still-functioning left engine, meaning the plane plunged into the Atlantic Ocean.
Gabon scrambled soldiers to lead the search for bodies but only 24 of the 30 were recovered, and just 13 positively identified — a grim task handed to Patrick Kangwa, vice-chairman of the Zambian Football Association’s technical committee.
Gabonese soldiers and rescuers search for bodies in 1993 (AFP via Getty Images)
Following the tragedy, Zambia’s President Frederick Chiluba, who was on a state visit to Uganda when he learnt the news, announced a week-long period of national mourning and a state funeral for the players, who were all later buried in ‘Heroes Acre’ close to the Independence Stadium, in capital city Lusaka. It was not until May 2002, after a lengthy court battle, that families were awarded compensation of $4million (£3.1m).
Bwalya was one of four Zambia players with clubs in Europe — along with Charles Musonda, Johnson Bwalya (no relation) and Bennett Mulwanda Simfukwe — who were making their own way to the match in Senegal. He was on a morning jog at PSV’s training ground in Eindhoven when he received a call from the Zambia FA treasurer.
“He told me, ‘You have to delay your flight tomorrow’. I said ‘Why?’. He said, ‘Because there’s been an accident’. He said he thought there were some casualties.”
Bwalya then recalled turning on the news and watching a BBC report saying his Senegal-bound team-mates had all died in a plane crash and that there were no survivors. “In that moment, you don’t think that much,” he said. “You just think it should be a mistake. There was a lot of denial on the first day.”
He spent the rest of that day on the phone frantically trying to piece together what exactly had happened while worried family and friends called to find out if he was on the flight.
Back at PSV’s training ground the following day, he remembered his club colleagues trying to protect him by hiding the newspapers, with stories of the crash.
The next day, a Friday, Bwalya flew to Zambia via the UK. He said: “When we were taking off from London, the pilot said I should go to the front of the plane in the cockpit, so I could see the take-off and landing because he thought I would be very nervous to fly. I was in the cockpit in London when we took off.
“When I got to Zambia, every time people saw you, they would cry. On Saturday, the plane that had gone to Gabon to collect all the bodies returned — the 30 people who died. When that plane came and landed, that was the first time it hit me and I realised I would never see the boys again.”
Musonda was also playing in Europe, for Anderlecht in Belgium’s capital Brussels. He was desperate to play in that World Cup qualifier against Senegal but had a longstanding right knee injury and was told he couldn’t join up with the national team by the club’s owner.
His son, Charles Jnr, who starred for Chelsea’s youth team before a knee injury ruled him out of the game for three years, said: “My dad was furious (he wasn’t allowed play in the game). Two days later, the plane crashed. If he was on the plane, I wouldn’t be here.”
Kalusha Bwalya at the graves of his Zambia team-mates in 1993 (Simon Bruty/Getty Images)
Some players had even more fortunate escapes.
Martin Mwamba, the third-choice goalkeeper, had been in the squad for the game against Mauritius only to be dropped for the trip to Senegal. He had eaten breakfast with the Zambia squad before they began the long journey north west. It was his sobbing wife who broke the news.
“I switched on the radio and it was everywhere,” he said. “I was very shocked.” His family had assumed he had died and opened their home to mourners.
“It was very hard for me to recover from that tragedy. It took me two months to start recovering.”
Others were not so lucky. David ‘Efford’ Chabala, the first-choice goalkeeper, was one of the 30 who perished, leaving behind four children and a wife, Joyce, who was pregnant with twins.
One of his sons, Freeman — who was seven when his father was killed, and subsequently became a professional footballer — told FIFA.com: “I didn’t understand what it was. And anybody that I asked what it meant… I was only told, ‘Your dad is not coming back’. And I kept on wondering why Dad would decide not to come back. It was something I had to wrestle with for a very long time.”
Zambia mourned not just the tragic loss of those young lives taken far too soon, but also of gifted footballers who seemed on the verge of creating history.
The country had occasionally threatened its more powerful regional rivals at the Africa Cup of Nations, getting to the final in 1974 — when they lost to Zaire after a replay — but had never won the tournament or qualified for a World Cup.
This group, however, were seen as special, a blend of exciting young talents such as Mutale, a Manchester United fan who had brought his international tally to 14 goals in 13 games with that hat-trick against Mauritius, and older players who had big tournament experience, having competed together at the 1988 Olympic Games in South Korea.
They were led by their new coach, Godfrey Chitalu, who was widely recognised as one of the country’s greatest-ever players. Chitalu, who had only replaced Samuel ‘Zoom’ Ndhlovu five months earlier, also died in the crash.
“The team was built on strong foundations,” Bwalya said. “David Chabala was a fantastic goalkeeper, one of the best that has ever come out of Zambia and very influential. Wisdom Chansa was a very good friend, another very important player, who played in the No 8 position. We won one of the first tournaments in Zambia with the under-20 team.
“Derby Makinka was a midfielder of the highest calibre: he could defend and shoot with his left and right foot. Eston Mulenga was a very solid centre-half. We had young players that came in, like Patrick Banda and Mutale, who were lethal up front. They didn’t play many games but were brilliant talents.”
Patrick Banda was a highly-rated striker for Zambia (Neal Simpson/EMPICS via Getty Images)
A chilling part of the story is that, before the crash, Zambia’s players had frequently raised concerns about the unreliable green-camouflaged Buffalo military planes.
“There was always a problem,” Bwalya said. “The boys would say ‘This plane will kill us’. The association didn’t have a lot of money to fly the team on a commercial flight, so the easiest way was to try and get a plane from the air force.”
For a previous match, a World Cup qualifier they lost 2-0 away to Madagascar in December 1992, they had stopped for refuelling in Malawi. After hours stuck on the runway because of a pay dispute, their plane took off again.
On the four-hour journey over the Indian Ocean from the African mainland, the pilot insisted the players wear life jackets.
If the shattering events of April 1993 seem remarkable three decades on, what happened next truly defied belief: a new Zambia team rallied.
“When I came to Zambia for the funeral and I saw all the bodies, I didn’t think that Zambia would be able to compete at a decent level, because you just feel you can’t lose a generation of players and then start over,” Bwalya said. “But it was credit to the coaches, Roald Poulsen and Ian Porterfield, and everyone else involved. It was incredible when you think about it that the team could start from nowhere.”
To start with, the players met for a six-week training camp in Denmark under Poulsen, a 44-year-old whose main claim to fame had been winning the Danish title with Odense five years before and whose services had been offered to Zambia by the country’s football association.
Zambia played games against teams at different levels of the Danish league system before a World Cup qualifier against Morocco for a place at the 1994 World Cup finals in the United States.
“Approximately three weeks after the disaster, I got calls from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Danish Football Association,” Poulsen said, “to ask if I could help over a period of six weeks in Denmark. I could see this was going to be a big job.”
Bwalya was persuaded to join up with the new squad in Denmark by President Chiluba.
“The president called me and said, ‘Skipper, we have to go on, otherwise the death of our heroes will be in vain. We can’t allow our country to go down like this. You have to be there so you can inspire the guys. If people see you, they will feel inspired to continue’. So I said, ‘OK, I will do my best’.”
Just 67 days after the plane disaster, on July 4, this new Zambia team came from behind to beat Morocco 2-1 in Lusaka, with Bwalya scoring a free kick. Poulsen said afterwards it had been “It was most emotional game I ever experienced.”
However, after a draw and a win in back-to-back matches with Senegal, they missed out on USA ’94 following a 1-0 loss in their final qualifying game, the return fixture away against Morocco in the October.
But, again, this team were not finished: the next year, Zambia reached the AFCON final in Tunisia under Porterfield, a Scottish former manager of clubs including Chelsea, Sheffield United and Aberdeen.
Ian Porterfield talks to his Zambia players (Simon Bruty/Allsport)
They scored that final’s opening goal but lost 2-1 to a Nigeria side including the likes of Jay-Jay Okocha, Sunday Oliseh and Finidi George. Porterfield, who died of cancer in 2007, was subsequently awarded the freedom of Zambia.
Bwalya said: “When you look behind you (at the rest of your team) and you only see new faces, not the ones you have been seeing behind you for 10 years, it’s a difficult feeling. It hits you. But you have to give credit to the guys who stepped into the shoes of the fallen heroes.”
Against the odds, Zambia went one better and were crowned African champions in 2012, under Frenchman Herve Renard.
Fittingly, that final against Ivory Coast was held in Libreville to complete a story, with the squad laying flowers on Sabliere Beach, close to the site of the crash, in memory of those who had died there 19 years before.
In a previous interview with The Athletic, Renard said: “It was maybe the best Zambia team ever that died in that crash in 1993. We wanted to do it for the players Zambia lost, but also for Kalusha Bwalya and for all the Zambian people. It was an obligation to play for the memory of the people.
“Emotionally, it was something very important for us. The spirit of those players was something I don’t think I will find anywhere else. I remember when I went back to Zambia later, people said to me, ‘You put us on the map’. They are so proud of that 2012 team. It was something very special. That’s the right word: special.”
Zambia’s AFCON 2012 players pay tribute to the victims of the 1993 air crash in Libreville (Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images)
Bwalya, who was by then president of the Zambia FA, recalled: “It was a sunny day but the clouds turned dark and there was lightning, so everybody was moved by the whole ceremony.
“It felt like there was an encounter between the old team and the new. You could just feel in the air that Zambia was a different team between visiting Sabliere Beach and going back to the hotel. The old team was with the team in presence when we played (the final) against Ivory Coast. The rest is history.”
There was certainly an air of destiny about the manner of Zambia’s triumph in the final. Chelsea striker Didier Drogba missed a penalty in the second half with the score still 0-0, before the game went to penalties.
After a combined 18 spot kicks, and with a nation’s nerves at breaking point, Zambia prevailed to claim their first AFCON title — one not even their opponents could begrudge.
“In Africa, we are big believers in stuff like this in religion and culture and, for us, it was written in the stars for them,” said Sol Bamba, a member of the Ivorian squad that day who has played in the UK for Leeds United, Cardiff City and others. “After the disappointment and the sadness between ourselves, we talked about it and said, ‘Maybe it’s not a bad thing Zambia won it in the end’.”
Zambia’s players mark their 2012 AFCON triumph (Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images)
It is now over to the 2024 team, who count Leicester City’s Patson Daka as their star player, to write their own script.
They begin their group schedule against DR Congo tomorrow (Wednesday) and while expectations are hardly high, the events of 1993 ensure any Zambia team that takes to the field in a major tournament will not lack motivation.
“We were an exciting team and it was just the beginning,” Musonda Snr said. “The legacy of that team will forever be remembered. I hope the new squad can challenge and bring honours to Zambia again.”
(Top photos: Simon Bruty/Allsport, Neal Simpson/EMPICS, both via Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)
If you want some long-term relationship advice, I offer you this: Find someone who loves you as much as news outlets love end-of-the-year content.
The New Yorker did a piece 11 years ago on why our brains love lists, and it holds up today. Among other reasons: It spatially organizes information and promises a story that’s finite.
The NFL story will, of course, continue in 2025 and beyond, but in the space below, we offer eight NFL media stories that captured our interest in 2024.
1. Tom Brady begins his NFL broadcasting journey
Fox has the broadcast rights to the Super Bowl this year, which means Brady will call the league’s most important game in his rookie season as a TV analyst. He is 15 games into a 10-year, $375 million deal with Fox, a journey that has prompted plenty of commentary on his performance, including multiple pieces from this author.
Brady’s broadcasting work has improved during the season — not to the point of being an elite TV analyst, but the progress is noticeable. Still, the long-term prediction here is that Brady’s juggling act as Las Vegas Raiders owner and TV analyst, and the restrictions that come with that, feels unsustainable for Fox and Brady.
Tom Brady has improved as a game broadcaster, but February’s Super Bowl looms as the ultimate test of his progress. (Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)
2. Netflix lands an NFL package of games
Netflix and the NFL announced in May a three-season deal for Christmas Day games through 2026. That deal becomes even more magnified given Netflix securing the exclusive broadcast rights in the United States for the 2027 and 2031 editions of the Women’s World Cup. These are significant signals to the marketplace (along with its WWE rights deal, given its live element) that Netflix has shifted from being interested in sports-adjacent properties to being a legitimate sports rights holder.
The streaming giant aired the Kansas City Chiefs–Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens–Houston Texans games on Christmas Day and largely succeeded in avoiding a glitch-filled rerun of its Jake Paul-Mike Tyson fight event.
GO DEEPER
‘Watch what Netflix does’: Unwrapping the NFL’s Christmas Day experiment
3. Peacock airs a regular-season game from São Paulo
The Philadelphia Eagles–Green Bay Packers game on Sept. 6 was the NFL’s first-ever regular-season game in South America and aired exclusively on Peacock, the streaming network’s third exclusive NFL game following the Buffalo Bills–Los Angeles Chargers regular-season game in December 2023 and the Miami Dolphins-Chiefs AFC wild-card playoff game last January.
The result was a significant viewership win for the league and the streamer. Peacock delivered 14.2 million viewers for Eagles-Packers, well above the 7.3 million for Bills-Chargers and Peacock’s second-best NFL streaming audience ever only behind the Chiefs-Dolphins game (23 million viewers). The numbers include figures from the over-the-air markets in which the games ran.
The NFL will play eight international games in 2025, including in Madrid, as Spain will be the sixth country to host an NFL regular-season game. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Chiefs owner Clark Hunt have talked openly about playing 16 games overseas annually in the near term, per this report from SBJ’s Ben Fischer. It’s clear we will soon see a Sunday morning window with a new international media-rights package.
4. Super Bowl LVIII sets TV ratings record
We live in an apples-to-pomegranates world when it comes to comparing the sports viewership of today versus yesteryear, due to factors including new out-of-home viewership data and cord-cutters and cord-nevers. Using today’s metrics, via Nielsen and Adobe Analytics, the Chiefs’ 25-22 overtime victory over the San Francisco 49ers in February’s Super Bowl averaged 123.7 million viewers across television and streaming platforms. That makes it the most-viewed program in history, shattering the previous mark of 115.1 million for Kansas City’s last-minute win over Philadelphia in the previous Super Bowl.
Fans watch Super Bowl LVIII outside Chase Center in San Francisco. The game was the highest-rated program in television history. (Loren Elliott / Getty Images)
5. The rise of alt-broadcasts
The alternate broadcasts of NFL games launched into a new stratosphere in 2024 with a “Simpsons” animated alt-cast of “Monday Night Football” airing on ESPN+ and Disney+, and NBC Sports making its NFL alternate broadcast debut on Peacock with last week’s Texans-Chiefs game. It follows alt-broadcasts on Nickelodeon and ESPN’s now long-standing Manning Brothers broadcasts and one using “Toy Story.”
6. The ‘New Heights’ podcast blows up
The popular podcast — hosted by brothers Jason Kelce, the Eagles’ center from 2011-2023, and Travis Kelce, the current Chiefs tight end — inked a deal with Amazon’s podcast network, Wondery, in 2024 to be the program’s new home.
The show has found itself on measurement lists of the biggest podcasts in the United States and has nearly 2.5 million subscribers on YouTube. One of the interesting notes in the deal is Wondery’s plans to translate the podcast to different languages to increase its global audience, including in NFL-strong markets such as the United Kingdom and Mexico. That’s a blank space for NFL fans.
GO DEEPER
The Kelce brothers and the ‘Heights’ of podcast popularity
7. New broadcast rules for increased access
It was not an accident that you saw more in-game interviews during NFL games this season. Last May, the NFL broadcasting department outlined access changes for the NFL’s television partners after a review between the league and its media rights holders. The shared goal? To enhance the game content that we see as NFL viewers. The new rules included in-game coach interviews for all games, pregame player interviews for all games, network pregame locker room coverage, preseason player interviews, and coaches’ booth network cameras. Look for it to continue.
8. NFL ordered to pay $4.7 billion in “Sunday Ticket” antitrust trial … only to see it overturned
In August, the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles overturned a $4.7 billion verdict against the NFL for colluding to raise prices for its “NFL Sunday Ticket” television package. The judge disqualified expert testimony used by the jury to determine damages. (The jury’s verdict had threatened to upend the league’s strategy of selling exclusive television packages to broadcasters.) Next up: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Per Sportico’s legal writer and sports law professor, Michael McMann, a decision is likely many months, if not longer, away.
GO DEEPER
Imagining NFL on TV in the year 2030: Tom Brady out, Travis Kelce in?
(Top photo of a Netflix “Christmas Gameday” banner at Wednesday’s Chiefs-Steelers game: Mark Alberti / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Athletics president Dave Kaval is resigning after being the public face of the organization’s move from Oakland to Las Vegas.
Kaval, 49, served as the seventh president of the A’s in their 123-year history, and held the role for the past eight years.
“We are grateful for Dave’s contributions and leadership over the past eight years. He guided our organization through a period of significant transition, and we sincerely thank him for his unwavering commitment to the team,” A’s owner John Fisher said in a statement.
Oakland Athletics president Dave Kaval on the field after the game against the Seattle Mariners at RingCentral Coliseum. (Kelley L Cox-USA Today Sports)
“As we look ahead to the next chapter of our franchise, the team will continue to grow under new leadership, driving the organization toward success during our interim years in West Sacramento and at our new home in Las Vegas.”
Kaval will step down from the role on Dec. 31 to pursue new business opportunities in California. Sandy Dean will serve as the interim president, and a search to fill the full-time role will begin in 2025.
BASEBALL HALL OF FAMER RICKEY HENDERSON DEAD AT 65
Oakland Athletics President Dave Kaval before a baseball game between the Athletics and the New York Mets in Oakland, Calif., Sunday, April 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)
Dean is a long-time business partner of the Fisher family.
Kaval’s resignation comes after the team cleared its last major hurdles to get a stadium built in Las Vegas, despite the overwhelming opposition of the fanbase.
The Las Vegas Stadium Authority approved lease, non-relocation and development documents earlier in December for the A’s to build a $1.75 billion stadium on the strip.
Oakland Athletics president Dave Kaval sits in the dugout before the game against the New York Mets at RingCentral Coliseum. (Darren Yamashita-USA Today Sports)
Groundbreaking will likely take place in the spring with the new stadium in Las Vegas being ready for the beginning of the 2028 season.
Kaval was unsuccessful in getting a stadium built in downtown Oakland. He then came to a deal to move the franchise out of the city, ending a run of 57 years with the team.
The A’s will play at least the next three seasons at a minor league ballpark in West Sacramento, California.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
FRIDAY’S RESULTS
BOYS
AGBU 48, Mary Star of the Sea 44
Agoura 79, St. Francis 77
Alemany 54, Palisades 52
Aliso Niguel 79, Simi Valley 61
Alta Loma 50, Shadow Hills 42
Anaheim Canyon 80, Inglewood 70
Arlington 59, Long Beach Cabrillo 57
Atascadero 60, Montclair 46
Averroes 44, Bassett 36
Bakersfield Christian 84, Santa Monica 56
Banning 62, Arroyo Valley 40
Bishop Amat 59, Arroyo Grande 46
Bishop Montgomery 49, Orange Lutheran 45
Bosco Tech 69, Norco 62
Brea Olinda 43, Northview 33
Brentwood 63, San Joaquin Memorial 48
Buckley 70, Hilltop 32
Burbank 58, Mark Keppel 55
Calabasas 66, Hart 62
Calexico 60, San Jacinto 45
Calvary Baptist 35, Bellflower 31
Camarillo 49, Patrick Henry 38
Campbell Hall 71, Village Christian 63
Canyon Country Canyon 108, Hawthorne 45
Cerritos Valley Christian 50, San Bernardino 47
Chadwick 64, Riverside Notre Dame 49
Chaffey 55, Charter Oak 42
Chaminade 67, Laguna Creek 53
Chino Hills 61, Bonita 54
Chowchilla 79, Magnolia 18
Citrus Hill 70, Colton 50
Claremont 55, Arroyo 32
Cleveland 55, Salesian 36
Coastal Christian 69, Santa Maria 62
Colony 65, Sotomayor 55
Corona 74, Rim of the World 24
Corona Centennial 82, Sunnyslope (AZ) 59
Corona Santiago 61, Diamond Bar 48
Crescenta Valley 58, Upland 43
Crespi 64, Dublin 59
Culver City 61, St. Paul 58
Cypress 66, Bishop Manogue (Nev.) 47
Damonte Ranch (Nev.) 77, Malibu 24
Desert Christian Academy 90, Orange Glen 20
Don Lugo 58, Ridgecrest Burroughs 56
Dos Pueblos 53, Holy Martyrs 52
Dougherty Valley 73, Santa Barbara 70
Downey 55, Beaumont 50
Eastside Catholic (Wash.) 68, Riverside Poly 62
Eastvale Roosevelt 90, Clovis North 58
Edgewood 64, Desert Hot Springs 53
Edison 53, Tesoro 47
El Dorado 69, Mt. Carmel 42
El Toro 81, Orange 26
Esperanza 58, San Dimas 54
Etiwanda 55, Liberty (Ariz.) 47
Fontana 55, West Covina 45
Fountain Valley 97, Compton Centennial 30
Fullerton 64, Santa Ana 48
Garden Grove 74, Lakeside 56
Garden Grove Pacifica 81, Westminster 43
Gardena Serra 69, Sylmar 64
Glendora 61, Central 55
Granada Hills Kennedy 49, Hollywood 39
Great Oak 61, Elk Grove Franklin 60
Harbor Teacher 54, Rise Kohyang 26
Harvard-Westlake 79, American Fork (Utah) 50
Hesperia 72, Tahoma (Wash.) 44
Hillcrest 57, Kaiser 45
Hillcrest Christian 74, Portola 53
Hoover 61, Duarte 54
Huntington Beach 58, Rialto 51
Ironwood (Ariz.) 60, Rolling Hills Prep 49
Irvine 61, Boulder City (Nev.) 48
Jesuit 47, Crossroads 43
JSerra 61, Montgomery 57
Jurupa Valley 52, San Gorgonio 49
Katella 46, El Rancho 45
King’s Academy 61, Eastside 43
La Canada 64, Hacienda Heights Wilson 38
LACES 65, La Salle 46
Laguna Beach 75, Yucca Valley 20
Lakewood 54, Riverside North 50
La Mirada 82, Redondo Union 72
La Palma Kennedy 54, Godinez 34
La Serna 57, Walnut 52
Lawndale 55, Narbonne 53
Legacy Christian 71, Beckman 62
Littlerock 55, Grant 46
Loma Linda Academy 55, Glendale Adventist 41
Long Beach Poly 66, Oaks Christian 47
Los Alamitos 74, San Ramon Valley 71
Los Amigos 66, Chino 61
Los Altos 57, Garden Grove Santiago 55
Loyola 78, Victory Christian Academy 71
Madera 64, Montclair 46
Manual Arts 68, Cathedral 66
Marquez 62, Ponderosa 51
Mayfair 62, Aquinas 61
Mesa Grande Academy 64, Escondido Adventist Academy 46
Metaire Park Country Day (La.) 80, West Ranch 72
Millikan 54, Leuzinger 52
Mira Costa 79, Pilibos 53
Mission College Prep 74, Rio Mesa 55
Monrovia 75, Jurupa Hills 61
Moreno Valley 67, Twentynine Palms 37
Newport Harbor 75, Mission Viejo 53
Nipomo 57, Valley Christian Academy 52
Norte Vista 79, Flintridge Prep 72
North Torrance 67, Crenshaw 38
Oak Hills 71, Westlake 68
Oak Park 78, Bishop Diego 46
Oakwood 69, Granite Bay 68
Orange County Pacifica Christian 55, La Habra 50
Orange Vista 57, Foothill (Nev.) 53
Orcutt Academy 66, Valley Christian Academy 52
Oxford Academy 43, Norwalk 36
Oxnard 87, Fresno Roosevelt 58
Palm Desert 71, Carter 54
Palm Springs 56, Skyline (Wash.) 50
Palos Verdes 49, Granada Hills 44
Pasadena 63,Valencia 50
Peachtree Ridge (Ga.) 69, Temecula Prep 30
Perris 69, California School for the Deaf Riverside 43
Pioneer 71, Ambassador 53
Placentia Valencia 62, Bolsa Grande 20
Price 50, South Torrance 38
Providence 46, Maranatha 41
Ramona 69, Woodcrest Christian 34
Rancho Cucamonga 60, Crean Lutheran 49
Rancho Mirage 56, Cantwell-Sacred Heart 41
Rancho Verde 61, St. Anthony 60
Redlands 66, Pacific 46
Redlands East Valley 63, Riverside Prep 52
Righetti 64, Moorpark 56
Rio Hondo Prep 69, Downey Calvary Chapel 13
Riverside King 59, Whittier 55
Rosemead 43, Baldwin Park 40
Royal 60, Semiahmoo (Canada) 55
Rubidoux 82, Garey 21
Saddleback 60, Paramount 55
Sage Hill 54, Mountain View 50
Saguaro (Ariz.) 84, Murrieta Mesa 62
Samueli Academy 52, Cedar Park Christian (Wash.) 48
San Clemente 108, Costa Mesa 48
San Gabriel Academy 62, Arcadia 47
San Juan Hills 58, Rancho Christian 49
San Luis Obispo 68, Newbury Park 52
San Marcos 74, Paraclete 24
San Marino 56, El Segundo 49
San Pedro 93, Fremont 36
Santa Ana Foothill 47, San Ramon California 34
Santa Ana Mater Dei 84, Highland 22
Santa Fe 78, Southlands Christian 36
Santa Margarita 65, Damien 54
Santa Monica Pacifica Christian 56, Sunny Hills 45
Santa Paula 77, Sierra Pacific 62
Santa Rosa Academy 72, Newbury Park Adventist 59
Segerstrom 72, Nogales 29
Servite 58, Taft 43
Shalhevet 59, Saugus 40
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 70, Sierra Vista 43
Sierra Vista 55, Apple Valley 54
Silverado 55, Canyon Springs 50
South East 53, Carson 43
South Pasadena 79, King/Drew 55
South Torrance 51, Peninsula 36
Spanish Springs (Nev.) 63, Fairfax 56
Springdale (Ark.) 69, Westminster 58
St. Bernard 93, Westwood (Ariz.) 26
St. Bonaventure 72, Long Beach Wilson 60
St. Genevieve 52, Elkton (Ore.) 34
St. John Bosco 52, Heritage Christian 43
Saint Louis (Hawaii) 67, Linfield Christian 47
St. Margaret’s 54, Estancia 46
St. Mary’s 60, Gahr 59
St. Monica 57, Sacramento 35
Stevenson 70, Coachella Valley 42
Sun Valley Poly 61, Dorsey 39
Tarbut Valley Torah 77, Rancho Alamitos 38
Temescal Canyon 60, Indian Springs 45
Temple City 79, Mountain View 31
Thousand Oaks 62, Summit 60
Torrance 61, La Quinta 52
Torrey Pines 76, Temecula Valley 70
Tustin 63, Live Oak 34
University Prep 81, Oxnard Pacifica 78
Valley View 49, Tahquitz 41
View Park 54, Legacy 52
Viewpoint 75, Grand Terrace 54
Villa Park 87, Lynwood 48
Vista Murrieta 70, Auburn (Wash.) 58
Warren 69, Western 36
Washington 65, Fairmont Prep 63
Weed 83, Hueneme 36
Westchester 49, Green Level (N.C.) 41
West Valley 72, Schurr 60
Whittier California 78, Alhambra 59
Wildwood 55, Logan Memorial Education 36
Wiseburn Da Vinci 61, Maranatha Christian 51
Woodbridge 76, Elsinore 55
Workman 96, Aveson Global Leadership 58
Ygnacio Valley 78, Murrieta Valley 50
Yorba Linda 64, Oak Park 46
Yucaipa 77, Serrano 46
GIRLS
Acalanes 63, San Juan Hills 37
Anaheim 63, South El Monte 19
Anaheim Canyon 59, Oceanside El Camino 16
Antelope Valley 58, Atascadero 19
Apple Valley 55, Canyon Springs 51
Arcadia 52, Colony 25
Arleta 60, Temple City 40
Bakersfield Centennial 69, Lancaster 46
Beckman 47, Oak Ridge 46
Bellevue (Wash.) 57, Esperanza 44
Bellflower 43, Capistrano Valley 41
Birmingham 58, Legacy 46
Bishop Amat 59, Carson 50
Bishop Montgomery 51, St. Mary’s 47
Buena 66, St. Bonaventure 51
Buena Park 63, Camarillo 59
Burbank d. Mary Star of the Sea (forfeit)
Burbank Burroughs 61, Highland 43
Calipatria 41, Desert Chapel 24
Cantwell-Sacred Heart 67, Sage Creek 30
Cardinal Newman 54, JSerra 53
Chula Vista Mater Dei 51, Cerritos 43
Chaminade 49, Vanden 39
Chaparral 54, Pasadena Poly 45
Chula Vista Mater Dei 51, Cerritos 43
Clovis North 54, Dana Hills 50
Coachella Valley 44, La Quinta 39
Compton Centennial d. Firebaugh (forfeit)
Corona 58, O’Farrell Charter 20
Corona Centennial 91, Hesperia 24
Corona del Mar 57, Escondido Charter 48
Corona Santiago 84, Artesia 15
Colton 56, Indian Springs 21
Cosumnes Oaks 54, El Toro 45
Crean Lutheran 58, Marina 29
Crescenta Valley 55, La Canada 46
Culver City 49, Central Catholic (OR) 36
Cypress 50, Aliso Niguel 35
Downey 36, Redlands East Valley 27
Eastside 54, San Bernardino 12
Elsinore 48, Riverside North 24
Etiwanda 64, San Diego Lincoln 38
Fairmont Prep 71, Salesian College Prep 62
Flagstaff (Ariz.) 49, La Palma Kennedy 37
Flintridge Prep 60, Eastvale Roosevelt 48
Flintridge Sacred Heart 48, Royal 35
Fountain Valley 50, Orange County Pacifica Christian 34
Gahr 83, Santa Ana Calvary Chapel 23
Galena (Nev.) 31, Murrieta Mesa 25
Garden Grove 45, Bolsa Grande 34
Glendale 63, Heritage Christian 58
Glendora 59, Bell Gardens 25
Godinez 48, Millikan 36
Grand Terrace 51, Rowland 39
Grant 50, L.A. University 13
Hanford 46, San Bernardino 24
Harvard-Westlake 54, Oakwood 23
Hoover 41, Pilibos 37
Imperial 48, Xavier Prep 20
Jurupa Valley 40, Mission Viejo 30
Laguna Beach 56, Banning 17
Laguna Hills 48, Long Beach Cabrillo 32
LA Hamilton 51, Mira Costa 38
Lakewood 62, El Dorado 59
Lakewood St. Joseph 68, Lincoln (Wash.) 42
La Mirada 57, Inglewood 39
La Palma Kennedy 57, Winslow (Ariz.) 43
La Salle 50, Summit 25
La Serna 34, Northview 30
Leuzinger 66, Fillmore 21
Loma Linda Academy 52, Glendale Adventist 6
Long Beach Jordan 64, Edison 22
Los Alamitos 81, Desert Christian Academy 35
Los Osos 59, Rio Hondo Prep 34
Marlborough 84, Granada Hills 39
Medfield (Mass.) 62, Garfield 31
Midland Christian (Texas) 44, Garfield 23
Moreau Catholic 52, Brea Olinda 47
Mountainside (Ore.) 75, Huntington Beach 32
Newbury Park 55, Shalhevet 49
Notre Dame Academy 53, West Ranch 34
Oak Hills 52, Bonita 35
Oceanside 66, St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy 32
Ontario 52, La Habra 25
Ontario Christian 110, Orange Vista 11
Orange 36, Norco 13
Oxnard 37, Thousand Oaks 36
Palm Desert 40, Yucca Valley 34
Palm Springs 47, Liberty 21
Paloma Valley 37, San Leandro 30
Paramount 55, Victory Christian Academy 52
Parkway (La.) 62, Brentwood 47
Patriot 40, Mission Viejo 30
Peninsula 49, Eastlake 19
Pleasant Valley 49, Santa Margarita 44
Portola 41, Virgin Valley (Nev.) 38
Ramona 43, Fontana 37
Ramona Convent 41, Alhambra 34
Rancho Buena Vista 60, Gardena Serra 36
Rancho Cucamonga 58, Vista Murrieta 35
Riverside Poly 54, Tahquitz 45
Rolling Hills Prep 84, Scripps Ranch 44
San Clemente 61, King/Drew 40
San Diego Cathedral 46, Sonora 42
San Dieguito Academy 45, Northwood 34
Santa Ana Mater Dei 91, Oakland Tech 25
Santa Fe 57, Upland 41
Saugus 53, Granada Hills Kennedy 27
Savanna 45, Santa Ana Foothill 29
Segerstrom 57, Edgewood 10
Shadow Hills 49, Mount Si (WA) 46
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 54, Murrieta Valley 47
Sierra Canyon 81, Yucaipa 25
Sierra Pacific 58, Mark Keppel 45
Simi Valley 60, Nordhoff 46
South Pasadena 70, Academy of Our Lady of Peace 21
St. Margaret’s 57, Campbell Hall 51
Stevenson 41, Lakeside 21
Sunny Hills 46, Long Beach Wilson 29
Trabuco Hills 44, Holy Martyrs 24
Troy 65, Anderson 49
Tesoro 79, Ocean View 54
Union (Wash.) 83, St. Mary’s Academy 50
United Christian Academy 54, Tustin 53
Valley View 57, Aquinas 29
Ventura 64, Louisville 49
Verdugo Hills 64, Santa Paula 54
Village Christian 55, Santa Monica 47
Villa Park 70, Irvine 38
Walnut 43, Whittier Christian 35
Warren 37, Garden Grove Pacifica 19
Westlake 45, Legacy (Nev.) 40
Westminster La Quinta 28, Irvine University 26
Whitney 80, Everett (Wash.) 41
Whittier 54, Rosemead 46
Whittier California 42, Placentia Valencia 40
Windward 50, Kamehameha Kapalama (Hawaii) 35
Houston hit by multiple tornadoes, leaving one dead
Alleged California shoplifters shocked to learn stealing now a felony: 'B—h new laws'
Indiana University course teaches people are inherently ‘oppressors’ because of their race, sex, religion
Christmas family dispute leads to 3 shot, 1 stabbed at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport: police
WV Gov. Jim Justice to delay US Senate swearing-in, averting brief bedlam in Charleston
Colorado Rockies game no. 116 thread: Zac Gallen vs José Ureña
Why Marjorie Taylor Greene was ‘kicked out’ of the Freedom Caucus according to Rep. Buck
See it: Tesla crashes into Columbus convention center at 70 mph
Fox News Politics: Georgia the whole day through
Death of missing Oregon girl found in stream ruled homicide
Houston hit by multiple tornadoes, leaving one dead
Race to succeed Rep. Elise Stefanik in upstate New York heats up with new challenger
US expected to announce $1.25bln military aid package for Ukraine
Severe weather could disrupt holiday travel, with tornadoes forecast in the South
Virginia Democrats 'asking the wrong question' amid outrage over DOGE federal workforce cuts, GOP leader says
-
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24924653/236780_Google_AntiTrust_Trial_Custom_Art_CVirginia__0003_1.png "Google’s counteroffer to the government trying to break it up is unbundling Android apps")
Technology1 week agoGoogle’s counteroffer to the government trying to break it up is unbundling Android apps
-
News1 week agoNovo Nordisk shares tumble as weight-loss drug trial data disappoints
-
Politics1 week agoIllegal immigrant sexually abused child in the U.S. after being removed from the country five times
-
Entertainment1 week ago'It's a little holiday gift': Inside the Weeknd's free Santa Monica show for his biggest fans
-
Lifestyle1 week agoThink you can't dance? Get up and try these tips in our comic. We dare you!
-
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25672934/Metaphor_Key_Art_Horizontal.png "There’s a reason Metaphor: ReFantanzio’s battle music sounds as cool as it does")
Technology4 days agoThere’s a reason Metaphor: ReFantanzio’s battle music sounds as cool as it does
-
News5 days agoFrance’s new premier selects Eric Lombard as finance minister
-
Business3 days agoOn a quest for global domination, Chinese EV makers are upending Thailand's auto industry