Students tell story of the Sacred Heart Prep boys' basketball team's state title run

And they did so in dramatic fashion. They beat Half Moon Bay in overtime for the CCS Division IV title. They beat the Cougars again in the Nor Cal final when Alex Osterloh, 2025-26 Daily Journal Boys’ Basketball Player of the Year, knocked down two free throws with under a second to play and he did the same against San Juan Hills-San Juan Capistrano in a 47-45 victory for the Division IV state crown.

Tuesday, SHP fans, specifically, and basketball fans, in general, can relive that roller-coaster ride to the top of the mountain when SHPTV premieres a student-created documentary of the 2025-26 state-championship season.

The presentation begins at 7 p.m. in the Sacred Heart Prep Performing Arts Center.

“This documentary captures the highs and lows of the season, behind-the-scene moments with players and the team’s path to a historic championship run,” said a press release from SHPTV.

While the focus is on the team and its accomplishments, the documentary is also a testament to the student filmmakers, editors and creators who put the project together.

It’s the second year in a row the school’s student-headed media club has produced a season-long documentary on a SHP team. Last year, SHPTV followed the Lady Gators’ water polo team. The 2024 season was the best in that program’s history, winning another CCS title, capturing its first-ever Northern California regional title and a mythical national championship.

“We like to say SHPTV has the magic touch,” said Thomas Klemens, who served as the student lead of the basketball project.

A new vision

NFHS Network streaming of high school games from around the country has become a standard part of the high school landscape over the last several years, but SHPTV has been streaming home basketball games for more than a decade.

And when Forrest Jensen came on as the program’s advisor, he wanted to expand what could be accomplished with the club, which is also serves as a leadership class. When Jensen came aboard, he wanted to expand the opportunities and scope of projects for the students.

“I tried to reshape it and dream big about what kind of projects we could do,” said Jensen, who is also the production engineer for the school. “I love seeing [the students] really refine their skills. I try to help steer the projects that are meaningful in the end.”

Jensen, an all-around artist who was teaching music at Woodland Academy in Portola Valley prior to working at SHP, got into storytelling and moviemaking in high school and he is trying to impart that experience and passion into his students.

He certainly found one in Klemens, a senior. He was also the lead for the water polo documentary and he wasn’t too gung ho on repeating that experience again.

At least not by himself.

“Last year, I directed and fully edited the water polo doc. … Last year, I had no idea what I was getting in to,” Klemens said. “We floated the idea (of doing the basketball feature) at the beginning of the year. Originally, I said, ‘No way I’m going to do this by myself.’ … I was planning on just a helping role.”

Cameraman Carlos McBride took the initiative and started doing a lot of the preliminary filming of tryouts and home games. But as the season reached its midway point, the Gators started to surge.

“(Students) started off with, ‘I’ll definitely help with filming,’ and then we’ll see who wants to edit,” Jensen said. “About 15 games into the season, we weren’t doing very good. Then we win game 1, then game 2 (in a row), then everyone got excited.”

Interest piqued

Suddenly, Klemens got a lot more interested and hands on. With McBride, Baron Frolik and Jensen helping guide the project, the production team started brainstorming and storyboarding how the story would look.

“As the (basketball) team grew, I started to help out a lot more. I’m friends with a lot of the guys on the team and I got interested in the team’s success. I was like, ‘Let’s do this.’ I got a little more hands on and taking on more of a leading role.

“This year, I’m thankful I have a lot more help.”

Klemens, who plans on attending University of Southern California and pursue a major in global studies and minor in film production and documentary making, says he loves doing sports documentaries.

“The reason I love sports docs is because you don’t have to make the story. You just have to find the best way to tell it,” Klemens said. “We have this incredible season and incredible finish. What is the best way to [tell] that?”

The SHPTV crew doesn’t usually go to road games, so it caught a break with a number of home games during the Gators’ playoff run. The media club secured one CIF media pass for the state championship game. Klemens was given the credential and he joined the team on the bus to the Golden One Center in Sacramento, home of the 2026 state championships.

“I got a floor pass to the state final. It was a super cool experience. It was cool to film in an NBA arena as a high school student,” Klemens said. “There was definitely pressure to capture everything. Both my [camera memory] cards were full. It was so much fun to be in that environment, in a place I never thought I would be.

“I felt like I won a state championship with the team.”

Tight deadline

The turnaround time, however, has been a lot tighter compared to last year’s documentary. The water polo season was over in early December, giving Klemens about five months to edit and put together the project.

But the basketball season ended in March, giving the project team a little more than two months to get it ready.

“I know it started off as like a fun project to do, (but the challenge is) getting it done before school ends,” Jensen said.

Klemens said he is mostly done with the editing and putting the finishing touches on the documentary. With SHPTV announcer Charlie Van Dyke providing the game commentary, Klemens expects he won’t be fully done with it until Monday — the day before the premiere.

“There is always more to be done. You’re never happy with the final project, but we’re really excited with how it’s looking,” Klemens said. “Whether (the season) ended in win or defeat, or job is to tell the whole story of the season.

“Even if it ends in crushing defeat, there is still a story to be told.”

Nathan Mollat has been covering high school sports in San Mateo County for the San Mateo Daily Journal since 2001. He can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com.