For the first time since the team’s founding in 2018, BOHS Mock Trial advanced to the quarterfinal round of the annual California Mock Trial competition.

The event was hosted by Teach Democracy at the OC Central Justice Center in Santa Ana, Jan. 22. 

Reaching the sixth round — the furthest Mock Trial has ever advanced — wasn’t without its challenges. 

When the BOHS Mock Trial team’s 18-member roster scrimmaged Troy High School, Oct. 30, and Fullerton High School, Nov. 4, the outcome – two wins for Brea – surprised the team’s captains.

“[We] had a significant amount of newcomers and freshmen on the team, which didn’t give me the most confidence,” Mock Trial co-captain Luke Oh (‘26) said. “But when I was able to see them compete, that made me think ‘Hey, we actually have a shot.’”

By Nov. 20, by advancing past the preliminaries for the third time in the team’s history, BOHS Mock Trial, with a 3-1 record, was among the top 16 teams in Orange County. 

Though the four preliminary rounds allowed schools to lose a maximum of one round and still advance, the stakes increased in the playoffs, which started in December, with the implementation of single-loss eliminations. 

In the first round of play-offs, Dec. 4, the BOHS defense team beat Beckman High School’s prosecution team by eight points. 

Entering the quarterfinals, Jan. 22, the Wildcats lost to eight-time champion Woodbridge High School’s defense team.

Principal Joey Davis, whose previous high school, El Dorado, is an eight-time champion, said of the final round, which he attended: “Both sides argued well and represented their schools excellently,” Davis said. 

Mock trial rounds are determined by a scoring system rather than a judge’s verdict. Though the presiding judge gave a verdict of “guilty” or “not guilty,” wins and losses are determined by scoring attorneys, who evaluate each witness and attorney’s performances. Opposing teams also select a Most Valuable Player to recognize standout witnesses or attorneys from each side.

BOHS’s MVPs of the six rounds were defense questioning attorney Ryan Kim (’26), defense closing attorney Oh, defense pretrial attorney Robby Bryant (‘29), prosecution witness Dara Aung-Pfingsten (‘29), and prosecution pretrial attorney Maia Hammel (’27), who was selected twice.

Due to the absence of teacher advisor Brittany Kurtz, who was on maternity leave, and conflicting schedules from team attorney coaches, Judge Bryan Clavecilla and attorney James Voge, Kevin Sprague (‘18), long term substitute teacher advisor and attendee of all six rounds, said he initially entered the season unsure of the team’s prospects.

Throughout the season, Sprague helped captains Hammel, Kim, Oh, and Aiden Duenas (‘26) lead meetings independently. And after witnessing the team’s performance gradually improve from practices into the preliminaries, his expectations were exceeded.

“Once we actually went to competition, it became clear that we had a real chance of making it to the playoffs,” Sprague said. “We did extremely well and made [BOHS] Mock Trial history.” 

Hammel, who has participated in Mock Trial for three years, believes that camaraderie played a significant role in improving on the team’s 2-2 record and elimination in the preliminaries in 2024

“The main difference-maker this year is team spirit,” Hammel said. “We were always so supportive of one another both inside and outside the courtroom, creating a productive environment during practices and competitions.”

With a countywide top-eight finish in the team’s opening competition, BOHS Mock Trial is setting its eyes on winning the JSerra Catholic High School Mock Trial tournament, Feb. 21.

“Mock Trial doesn’t get enough credit for all the hard work they put in to represent BOHS,” Davis said. “Going as far as the team did is a huge accomplishment.”