Oakland High Boys, Oakland Tech Girls, Win Big at State Championships Friday

The Oakland Tech Girls basketball team win their third straight state title in a row last night at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. The girls won their Division 1 championship game.

Two girl basketball players make an "O" and "T" with their arms
The girls and crowd change “O-T” as the game is almost ending. Photo by Momo Chang.
A group of mostly African American girls, with one Asian girl, huddle around a Black male coach during a time out in a championship game
The Tech girls huddle around during a timeout in the last half of the championship game. They went on to win a Division 1 state title. Photo by Momo Chang.

The O-High boys basketball team won their first state title last night at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.

A group of mostly African American boys cheer and celebrate after winning a state title
The Oakland High basketball team celebrate after historic win. Photo by Momo Chang.
An African American boy basketball players hugs an Asian American woman coach while another woman smiles at them
The Oakland High team receive their CIF medals after winning a Division 3 state championship game at the Golden 1 Center, Sacrament, on March 10, 2023. Photo by Momo Chang.

Just prior to the game, O-High alumnus and NBA player Damian Lillard sent a supportive video message to the team:

“My young fellas, man, first of all, I wanted to take a moment to congratulate you guys on making the state championship. That’s something that myself, my teammates, and my classmates were never able to do but it was always a dream of ours. So I want to congratulate you guys, that’s a major accomplishment, just to be there and be a part of something special like that….Us being from Oakland, coming from the type of environment we come from, representing what we represent, being able to go and play at a state championships, going down to Sacramento is an honor, man and I want to congratulate ya’ll, I want to salute ya’ll, I want to send love to ya’ll, and the best of luck. Make it happen….Ya’ll know what it mean for the Town….Bring it home….”

Author Profile

Momo Chang is a freelance journalist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is the Oakland Voices Co-Director. Her work focuses on healthcare, immigration, education, Asian American communities, food and culture. She is a former staff writer at the Oakland Tribune. Momo has received journalism awards from the Society of Professional Journalists for investigative reporting and the Asian American Journalists Association, among others. Her work has appeared in the East Bay Express, San Francisco Chronicle, Wired, and The New York Times. Momo is primarily a print journalist who also produces audio and visual stories for documentary film and radio. She is a Senior Contributing Editor for Hyphen and formerly the Content Manager at the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM).