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2009 Prep Basketball
San Diego Section

SAN DIEGO SECTION PLAYOFFS

Matador pride reigns in CIF finals
Mt. Miguel boys team wins first division title since 1968;
Matador ladies win fifth section title in eight years

2010 State Playoff Brackets

Posted March 7, 2010

SAN DIEGO, March 6, 2010 – The Mt. Miguel Matadors have something to be proud of, something that others will envy for a change: double gold medals at this year’s San Diego Section basketball championships after the Spring Valley school’s girls and boys teams each claimed Division III titles.

For the girls squad, it was the fifth time in the past eight seasons that a Mt. Miguel team captured a division championship. For the boys team, it was the first time since 1968 when a Matadors team last won a division title.

It happened in back-to-back fashion during Saturday’s finals at the University of San Diego. First, top-seeded Mt. Miguel defeated second-seeded Our Lady of Peace, 57-49, in a thrilling come-from-behind effort to win the girls title. The Matadors trailed 21-18 at halftime but used an 11-0 run late in the game to blast ahead on the scoreboard. The ending to the boys final was much more dramatic: Harry Brazelton attempted a shot at the buzzer but was fouled, sending him to the free throw line to break a 46-46 tie with time expired. Brazelton sank the first shot to give top-seeded Mt. Miguel a jaw-dropping 47-46 victory against the third-seeded La Jolla Vikings.

By virtue of advancing to the section finals, both the Matador girls and boys teams qualified for the Southern California regionals. By winning section titles, each team earned the right to host a regional playoff game at home. There are four rounds of regional playoffs. Regional champions advance to the state championships March 26-27 in Bakersfield.

Matadormania
Mt. Miguel ran into a prolonged cold shooting spell midway through the second quarter to allow the defending division champion Pilots (23-9) to take a three-point lead into halftime. OLP held a 35-30 lead midway through the third quarter before the Matadors (29-2) righted the ship and broke away for the victory. Yvonte Neal tied the score at 35-35 on a three-point shot with 1:26 to play in the quarter and tied it again at 37-all on a lay-in to close out the period.

The fourth quarter was vintage Matador basketball.

After a ferocious 16-2 Matador scoring run, Mt. Miguel owned a commanding 46-37 lead with less than two-and-a-half minutes to play. The Spring Valley team clicked on all cylinders. Mt. Miguel out-scored OLP 39-28 in the second half (20-12 in the climactic fourth quarter) and protected its lead by hitting 12 of 15 free throws in the second half. Neal scored the bulk of her team-high 19 points in the second half.

“We’re so happy,” Neal said. “The first half we had the jitters. The second half we came out and did what we had to do. It’s a good feeling to win.”

Myishia Watkins and Danielle Miller each totaled 11 points in the win while Shay Young contributed nine points. The Matadors won the battle of the boards 34-30, highlighted by 12 rebounds by Dechae Evans.

Ashlee Guay led OLP with 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Amanda Shatoya ranked second on the Pilots with 14 points.

Mt. Miguel, this year’s Grossmont Valley League champion, went 4-0 in the section playoffs to win its division title. The Matadors opened the playoffs with home wins against High Tech High (89-8 in the first round on Feb. 24), Santana (72-29 in the quarterfinals on Feb. 27) and fourth-seeded Canyon Crest (81-39 in the semifinals on March 3).

Four Mt. Miguel players scored in double figures in the semifinal victory: Neal (14 points), Watkins (13), Evans (12) and Nicole Fountain (10).

OLP, paced by Guay’s 15 points, defeated Cathedral Catholic, 48-46, in the semifinals.

The Matadors boys squad, meanwhile, struggled to the very end against a wily La Jolla team to post its 10th straight win. Mt. Miguel (26-6) overcame a nine-point deficit against the Vikings (20-11) after being out-scored 16-8 in the second quarter. The Matadors chipped away at the La Jolla lead with a 15-7 run in the fourth quarter.

Brazelton saved the last shot of the game for the final second, knowing that the game would go into overtime if it failed. Mt. Miguel got a bonus when he was fouled. Brazelton received three attempts at the charity stripe but sank the first to secure the victory.

Pandemonium then ensued on the court as the Matador bench emptied to celebrate.

Brazelton and Yuel Hagos led reigning GVL champion Mt. Miguel with 13 points each while A.J. Stanford tacked on 11 points. Hagos sank three three-pointers.

Taylor Davis led LJ with a game-high 25 points but scored just two baskets in the second half under defensive pressure. The Matadors won the second half 26-18.

Mt. Miguel tipped off the playoffs with consecutive wins against Valley Center (70-41 in the first round on Feb. 23), University City (67-61 in the quarterfinals on Feb. 26) and fourth-seeded Southwest (51-48 in the semifinal on March 2).

Brazelton led the Matadors with 17 points in the semifinal victory.

La Jolla advanced to the division final with a 58-44 win against seventh-seeded St. Augustine (20-9). Davis led the Vikings in that game with 19 points.

The championship game appearance was the first for a Mt. Miguel boys team since 1975.

CIF basketball finals:
Four is fun for Foothills Christian Knights

The Foothills Christian Knights begin their quest once again for that elusive state boys basketball championship with a quarterfinal-round Southern California regional playoff game Thursday night at Granite Hills High School. The top-seeded Knights (31-4) won the right to host the game after capturing the San Diego Section Division V title via a 79-57 victory against Maranatha Christian March 5 at the University of San Diego.

The section championship was the fourth consecutive for Foothills Christian.

But the Knights, led by an almost legendary cast, want more.

“Four is fun but we’re not satisfied because we haven’t won a state title yet,” said senior Troy Leaf, the section’s all-time career scoring leader. “We’ve won this (the section title) four times now. It’s a building block. We’ve set ourselves up as the team to go through to win the state title.”

Foothills has been trying to nail down a state title for the past four years, each time earning the right to host a regional playoff game. But each time so far has not met with the desired result: The Knights have somehow fallen short.

This year feels different, according to team members.

“We have a legitimate shot at winning a state title,” said senior Kalob Hatcher, the state’s all-time assist leader. “We’ve been working real hard all season.”

That was evident in this year’s section title contest against the second-seeded Eagles, who earned a road game in Tuesday’s opening round of the regional playoffs. (The Knights earned a first round bye.)

Foothills stormed out to an 18-9 first quarter lead and entered the halftime intermission with a 34-21 lead. The reigning Citrus-South League champions did nothing to jeopardize that in the second half by out-scoring Maranatha 45-36.

Six-foot-seven Jvonte Brooks led the Knights with 25 points and 14 rebounds while Leaf poured in 24 points. Hatcher contributed eight points while collecting 10 assists and four steals.

Foothills sank eight three-point shots, with Dalton Mosser leading the winners with three treys and Hatcher and Leaf each dropping in two. The Knights won the rebounding war 36-33 and committed six less fouls than their opponent. Mosser had nine points in the game while teammate Jamal Aytes had eight points.

Six-foot-eight forward Chen Chai led the Frontier League champion Eagles (21-10) with a game-high 27 points and 10 rebounds.

Foothills hosts the winner of Tuesday’s regional opener between Sierra Canyon (22-8) and Kilpatrick (15-10).

The Knights advanced to the section final with a 94-51 semifinal-round victory against fourth-seeded Christian Life Academy. Leaf led the way with 23 points, followed by Brooks with 22 points and Hatcher and Jeremy LaBahn each with 18 points.

Andrew McCarthy led CLA (17-10) with 19 points.

The Knights have been unstoppable after opening the playoffs with lopsided wins against Julian (95-28 in the first round on Feb. 23) and Midway Baptist (95-29 in the quarterfinals on Feb. 26).

Maranatha Christian topped The Rock Academy, 69-52, in the semifinals behind 24 points from David Porter.

Both Christian Life and The Rock Academy (18-9) also qualified for the regional playoffs as at-large entries to give the San Diego Section four entries in the SoCal draw.

Wolf Pack repeats as Division II girls champion

Marilyn Naderhoff scored a game-high 18 points and Sherika Miller added eight points and six rebounds to lead the top-seeded West Hills Wolf Pack to a history-making second consecutive San Diego Section Division II girls basketball championship after defeating the second-seeded Westview Wolverines, 40-25, March 5 at USD.

West Hills (24-6) tipped off the game with an 11-0 scoring run and led 23-10 at halftime.

Emily Colee contributed five points while Kimberly Clark and Mariah Bennett each had four points. Defense definitely took the spotlight.

The Wolverines (26-5) were never really in the game, being out-scored 17-15 in the second half as the Wolf Pack went into cruise control.

Melissa Peng led Westview with eight points while Taylor Suggs grabbed 10 rebounds.

West Hills advanced to the championship game with a 57-36 semifinal victory against fourth-seeded Patrick Henry on March 3. Clark led the reigning Grossmont Hills League champions with 18 points while Naderhoff had 11 points.

Westview topped third-seeded Mt. Carmel, 40-30, in the semifinals behind 13 points from Denise White.

The Wolf Pack tipped off the playoffs with wins against Point Loma (69-23 in the first round on Feb. 24) and Morse (57-42 in the quarterfinals on Feb. 27).

West Hills was set to host Edison (22-5) from Huntington Beach in a state regional playoff game Tuesday.

Naderhoff, Clark, Miller and Bennett are part of a group of five four-year players, along with Danielle Hayes, on the roster of the two-time defending CIF champions. Wolf Pack coach Ryan Kinser said the group will be missed. But for now, the focus is on continuing the season in the state playoffs.

#2 Titans falter at the line, fall in boys hoops semifinal
Posted March 4, 2010
The final score of Tuesday’s San Diego Section Division I semifinal playoff game at Eastlake High School between sixth-seeded Rancho Bernardo and the host No. 2 Titans read: 46-43 in the visitors’ favor. But the numbers that mattered most were counted at the free throw line.

During a critical 4:15 span in the waning moments of the fourth quarter, Eastlake shooters went 0-for-5 at the charity stripe. The Titans lost by three points. It’s easy to do the math.

Cold shooting at the wrong time doomed the reigning Mesa League champions, pure and simple.

That and the dominance of the Broncos’ twin towers Tanner Clayton and David Searson — easily the tallest players on the court at 6-foot-9 and 6-foot-6, respectively — down the stretch run. Clayton led Rancho Bernardo with 15 points while Searson contributed eight points. But their rebounding dominance under the Eastlake basket proved even more valuable. Clayton totaled 17 boards.

And RB shooters started sinking free throws when it mattered most.

The game was tight throughout. The Titans (26-4) led 23-22 at halftime and expanded their lead to 29-25 late in the third quarter before suddenly going ice cold. The hosts found it increasingly difficult to get the ball inside. Long-range bombs caromed into the wrong hands.

The Broncos reeled off nine unanswered points to turn a 31-30 third quarter deficit into a 39-31 lead early in the fourth quarter. Included in that run were two missed foul shots by Eastlake’s Martin Meza.

Trevon Ash narrowed the score to 42-38 with 2:34 to play in the game and had a chance to close the gap even further when he stepped up to the free throw line with 1:53 remaining. But the large home crowd was thrown into dumb-founded silence when Ash missed both shots from the charity stripe to leave the hosts trailing by four points.

It got worse. Thirteen seconds later, Dillon Doria stepped up to the line for a foul shot. He missed it.

Instead of possibly trailing by just one point at this key juncture of the game (or even leading by a point), the Titan deficit remained four points on the scoreboard.

That didn’t last long. The visitors could be held off only so much longer and Clayton flipped in two points for a 44-38 Broncos lead with one minute left in regulation play. It got worse for the hosts after Michael Monis scored with 43.7 seconds left to up the RB lead to eight points.

Felix Dion’s second trey of the quarter narrowed the score to 46-41 with 15.5 seconds to play and an ensuing lay-in by Dion dropped the deficit down to three points.

The only trouble was there were only 5.9 seconds left in the game.

The hosts needed a steal and three-pointer to tie the game. Instead, the visitors took the inbounds play and Justin Inman dribbled around under the Broncos’ basket until time ran out, sliding on the hardwood in front of the RB bench as he was summarily mobbed by teammates.

Monis finished the game with 12 points.

The Broncos (20-11) will play fifth-seeded El Camino (19-10), a 49-46 upset winner over top-seeded Torrey Pines, for the division title Saturday at USD.

Robert Graves led EHS with 14 points in the semifinal. Ash had nine points while Dion had eight points.

Ash poured in a team-high 21 points in last Friday ’s 74-49 quarterfinal victory against visiting Vista. Doria had 16 points, Graves had 13 points and Dion had 10 points as four Titans scored in double figures. Eastlake led 31-17 at halftime.

Rancho Bernardo scored a 54-53 upset win against third-seeded La Costa Canyon (24-5) in the quarterfinals. In that game, Inman keyed the Broncos with 22 points while Clayton grabbed 12 rebounds. RB once again displayed its mettle down the stretch by turning a 48-44 third quarter deficit around with a 12-5 run in the final quarter.

State title run ends for Mater Dei Crusaders
LA JOLLA, March 3, 2010 -- Head coach David Monroe’s spunky team of overachievers finally met their match in Wednesday’s San Diego Section Division IV girls semifinal playoffs by dropping a 65-45 match-up at second-seeded Bishop’s. The third-seeded Crusaders, last year’s division state champions but with an almost totally reworked lineup due to a massive wave of graduation, ended their season 25-4.

Bishop’s (25-6) advances to meet top-ranked La Jolla Country Day (24-3) in Saturday’s championship round at 9:30 a.m. at USD.

Bryn Stark powered the Knights with a career-high 28 points and collected 12 rebounds. Brianna Martinez had 12 points and 10 rebounds while Alissa Campanero added 10 points and 10 assists.

But Monroe’s troops kept rolling along much as they had all throughout the season, nearly matching the hosts basket-for-basket throughout the first half of the semifinal match-up. Mater Dei trailed 22-21 after the first quarter and 31-27 at halftime.

But the wheels finally came off for the reigning Mesa League champions in the second half. Bishop’s reeled off a 17-4 scoring run in the third quarter to take a comfortable 48-31 lead into the final quarter. The Crusaders got their groove back with 14 points in the fourth quarter but were still out-scored by three points by the hosts.

Alexandria Young led Mater Dei with 19 points while teammate Brittani Lusain chipped in with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

SuHi girls tame Wildcats in OT thriller

Posted Feb. 25, 2010
It’s been a long climb uphill for the Sweetwater High School girls basketball team: 26 years to be exact. That’s the last time a Red Devil squad won a share of a league championship until this season when the National City school tied for the South Bay League title with the Montgomery Aztecs.

The Devils are clearly no longer the doormat of South Bay hoops and showed it in Wednesday’s harrowing 57-53 overtime victory over visiting El Camino in the opening round of the San Diego Section Division I playoffs.

“We’re used to adversity — we’re from National City,” SuHi head coach Heather Huckaby said following the game, an epic struggle that saw Sweetwater lose one player to an injury in the second half and three additional players foul out in the late going.

The Red Devils (11-1 in league play, 19-7 overall) appeared to have a safe 27-19 halftime lead over the Wildcats (21-5). But in the first minute of the second half, the hosts lost the services of Jessica Bautista to a game-ending injury. Bautista was taken to the hospital. She had seven points to that point and one wonders how many more she could have scored — perhaps Sweetwater would have been able to maintain a safe distance between itself and its opponent for the rest of the game.

But El Camino seized the game’s momentum and steadily chipped away at the deficit on the scoreboard, trailing 34-31 with 1:51 left in the third quarter.

But consecutive three-point shots — the first by Janine Elpidio and the second by Bernadette Galutera — came at the right time to put the hosts ahead by 11 points at the start of the fourth quarter.
Almost everything that could go wrong for the Devils went wrong in the fourth quarter. Sweetwater got in foul trouble and got in it a big way, sending Wildcat shooters to the charity stripe for double bonus free throws.

Elpidio fouled out with 7:24 to play in regulation and sparkplug April Cadua was banished from the floor with 2:54 left.

Cadua left with her team nursing a 45-41 advantage. When Lucille Gleason fouled out with 1:23 left, the SuHi edge was down to two points. A free throw by Ashlie Washington made it a one-point game shortly thereafter.

A clutch trey by Maila Lucht appeared to rescue the Devils with less than a minute to play, giving the hosts some much-needed breathing room at 48-44.

But the undermanned team ran into serious trouble at this point trying to work the ball in close to the basket, with turnovers resulting in game-tying baskets in the final 49 seconds by the visitors. El Camino evened the score at 48-all with 18 seconds to play.

The Wildcats had all the momentum to start the four-minute overtime period and the double bonus on their side. El Camino got three chances from the free throw line to start OT, taking a 51-48 lead.

But when Sweetwater’s Jonalynn Fuertes dropped in a three-point bomb with 1:48 remaining to knot the score at 51-51, the hosts appeared to have a chance — a slim one.

The Devils got the break they needed when El Camino’s Naomi Amu missed two free throws. Lucht then capitalized on the missed shots with a two-point jumper to give the hosts their first lead in overtime at 53-51 with 1:10 left.

Then after a quarter of hovering at nine team fouls, the Wildcats finally picked up their 10th to send SuHi shooters to the line with a double bonus.

It was about time, and the Devils crashed the basket with four successful free throws — all by Fuertes — to finish with a four-point victory.

Amazingly, only one Sweetwater player reached double digits in the scoring column: Fuertes with 13 points. But nine of the 12 players in the game for the Devils scored points.

Candace Akaigbe had nine points, followed by Elpidio with eight points, Bautista with seven points, Cadua with six points and Galutera and Lucht with five points each.

“It took all the team,” Huckaby said. “People stepped up when they needed to. It was a team effort.”

Jakayla Daniels and Sala Kirkpatrick led El Camino with 10 points each.

Sweetwater advances to play at second-seeded La Costa Canyon (23-4) in Saturday’s quarterfinals after the Mavericks recorded a 79-44 victory over visiting Chula Vista (10-14) in Wednesday’s opening round.

SBL co-champion Montgomery (11-1, 21-7) tipped off Division III action with a 53-28 home victory against La Jolla (10-13) behind Dinyantesea Pineda’s team-high 17 points to draw Canyon Crest (19-9).

Mesa League runner-up Eastlake (8-2, 21-6) earned a Division I home game against Rancho Buena Vista (10-18) , winning, 42-37, to advance to play San Diego (25-5).

Mesa League champion Mater Dei (10-0, 24-3) tips off Division IV quarterfinal-round play Saturday against Francis Parker (12-15). The Crusaders earned the division’s No. 3 seed behind La Jolla Country Day (22-3) and Bishop’s (23-6).

Boys Playoffs
League champ Titans, Raiders tip off CIF playoffs with victories

A grand total of 10 South Bay boys basketball teams qualified for this year’s San Diego Section playoffs. Three are still alive after Tuesday’s opening round, led by Mesa League champion Eastlake and South Bay League champion Southwest.

Eastlake (25-4) earned the No. 2 seed in the Division I playoffs and advanced to Friday’s quarterfinals with a 62-34 victory against visiting Fallbrook (12-15). Four Titans scored in double figures: Dillon Doria (15), Felix Dion (12), Robert Graves (12) and Travis Gardner (10). Eastlake broke out to a 13-6 first quarter lead and upped that to 23-12 at halftime. The hosts slam-dunked the visitors with a 23-10 run in the third quarter.

The Titans wrapped up a perfect 10-0 league campaign with a 66-33 victory last Friday against visiting Chula Vista (4-6, 12-13).
Eastlake will host Vista in the next round after the Panthers eliminated visiting Granite Hills 86-77. Stephen Que led Vista with 34 points. This will be the teams’ first meeting of the season. Tip off is 7 p.m.

Fourth-seeded Southwest (19-9) advanced to Friday’s Division III quarterfinals after rushing past Monte Vista (11-17) by a score of 64-40. Lamar Weston led the Raiders with 17 points.

Southwest secured sole possession of this year’s South Bay League title after topping host Sweetwater, 60-40, last Friday to finish 11-1 in league play.

The Raiders next host Canyon Crest Academy (13-14) after the Ravens upset host Santana, 56-49, in Tuesday’s opening round. Ryan Kroner poured in a game-high 24 points and Cory Osetkowski added 13 points for CCA. The Sultans had entered the contest with an 18-10 record.

Midway Baptist (8-2 in Citrus-South League, 16-4) recorded a 58-49 upset win against Vincent Memorial (11-10) to draw top-seeded Foothills Christian (28-4) in the Division V quarterfinals. The Knights are the three-time defending CIF champions.

Fellow Mesa League rivals Hilltop and Otay Ranch joined Eastlake in the Division I playoffs. The Lancers (8-2, 19-8) dropped a 77-71 match-up at Poway (17-11) while the Mustangs (5-5, 13-14) ended their season with a 71-58 setback against top-seeded Torrey Pines (25-3).

Carlos Perez jammed in a game-high 40 points in the loss for Hilltop while Alex Perez scored 26 points in a losing cause for Otay Ranch.

San Ysidro (20-10) fell, 72-30, at Scripps Ranch (16-10) in the opening round of the Division II playoffs. Javion Watson led the Cougars with 13 points.

Third-seeded La Jolla (18-10) eliminated visiting Montgomery (10-16) by a 64-35 score in a Division III first round game while St. Augustine (12-15) ousted Olympian (18-9) by a 75-40 score.

Coronado (23-8) eliminated Mater Dei (8-17) in a Division IV first round game while second-seeded Maranatha Christian (19-9) topped Lutheran (4-20) by a score of 79-19 in a Division V encounter.

Prep basketball titles coming into focus
Posted Feb. 18, 2010
The Mater Dei Catholic High School girls basketball team’s dream season continued Wednesday with a 64-49 come-from-behind victory against visiting Eastlake to all but seal the rights to this year’s Mesa League championship.

The Titans proved up to the challenge by erasing a 43-39 Mater Dei lead with a spirited 6-0 run to start the fourth quarter. But three three-pointers later, the Crusaders were back on top 56-47. The hosts led by 10 points with 3:58 left in the game.

Mater Dei coach David Monroe remains amazed by the exploits of his exceedingly young team that sports virtually a whole new cast after capturing last year’s Division IV state championship.

“We keep rolling along,” said Monroe, whose team improved to 9-0 in league play, 24-3 overall. “But I’m going to have to call them the ‘Cardiac Kids’ because they make things difficult for me at times.”

The Crusaders had difficulty connecting from the free throw line in the first half and, combined with an Eastlake team that appeared to finally have found its rhythm in the latter half of the season, it provided for exciting back-and-forth drama on the scoreboard. The visitors took advantage of the Mater Dei lapses to sneak out in front 24-23 with two minutes left in the second quarter.

But each time he felt his team was in trouble, Monroe called a well-advised timeout to straighten things out with choice words to his girls. “It’s part of the immaturity of this team and the jelling process,” the Crusader coach said.

Each time it worked.

“We made our free throws at the end,” Monroe said.

Mater Dei needs one more victory to officially claim this year’s league title. If that happens Friday at Hilltop (4-5, 8-13), the Crusaders receive automatic entry into the San Diego Section Division IV playoffs. A run to the semifinals would be a good finish for this year’s team, Monroe suggested.

“We’d like to put up another one of those in a few years,” Monroe said while pointing to a large banner in the Mater Dei gymnasium recognizing the team’s 2009 state championship title.

EHS coach David Koopman has to be pleased with his team’s showing so far this season in the aftermath of all the turmoil at the end of last season that saw the Titans thrown out of the playoffs because of the use of an ineligible player. Koopman, who spent 10 years as an assistant coach with the school’s boys team, took charge this year as the girls program reboots itself under new leadership.

“There are expectations every year for this team, either winning league or winning CIF,” Koopman said. “There’s a lot of talent here. My job is to make sure it gets on the floor.”

Eastlake takes an 18-6 overall record into Friday’s regular season finale at Chula Vista (4-5, 10-12). The Titans appear headed for a berth in the Division I playoffs.

CIF action tips off with first-round play Feb. 23 for boys teams and Feb. 24 for girls teams.

Wendy Tamayo and Brittani Lusain led Mater Dei with 20 and 14 points, respectively, in Wednesday’s game. Diamond Mitchell paced the Titans with 12 points while teammates Mallory Robbins and Jacara Roberts each scored 11 points.

“It was a close game until we started to break it open at the end against a good Eastlake team,” Monroe said. “We needed this going into the playoffs.”

Round ball round-up
•Sweetwater and Montgomery appear headed for a co-championship in South Bay League girls play should both teams win their final regular season games. The Red Devils (17-7) and Aztecs (20-7) entered the week with 10-1 league records.

•Eastlake (8-0, 22-4) entered the week ranked seventh among the section’s boys teams while holding a two-game lead over runner-up Hilltop (6-2, 17-7) in the Mesa League standings.

•Southwest (10-1, 17-9) enters its final game at winless Sweetwater (0-11, 0-22) on Friday with a one-game lead over San Ysidro (9-2, 20-8) in the South Bay League boys standings after topping the visiting Cougars, 69-61, in a much celebrated showdown Wednesday. Javion Watson led San Ysidro with 20 points in the loss while teammate Asante Yarborough tacked on 19 points.

Prep Basketball Report

Foothills Christian recently completed Citrus-South League play with a 10-0 record, including two forfeits by Chula Vista Calvary Christian Academy and one forfeit by Mountain Empire.

The Grossmont Valley League championship race is down to two teams: Santana and Mt. Miguel after the Matadors topped the Sultans, 72-63, on Feb. 12 to move ahead of Santana in the league standings by one-half game.

The Matadors are 6-1 in league play, 21-6 overall. The Sultans are 5-1 in league play, 17-8 overall. Mt. Miguel has one league game remaining: Feb. 19 vs. El Cajon Valley (0-6. 0-24); Santana has two league games remaining: Feb. 16 vs. El Cajon Valley and Feb. 19 vs. El Capitan (2-4, 5-16-1).

A.J. Stanford led the Matadors with a game-high 25 points while Harry Brazelton added 22 points and J.J. Norton had 14 points. Bryant Mitchell keyed Mt. Miguel with 17 rebounds.

Landon Lozoya paced the Sultans with 15 points, including nine points on three-point shots. Jesse Vargas and Jason Corbisez each tallied 14 points in the loss.

The Grossmont Hills League race also looks to draw to a hotly contested close after Valhalla upset Granite Hills, 70-68, and Helix upset Grossmont, 48-41, both on Feb. 12.

Grossmont (16-9 overall) suffered its first league loss to drop to 7-1 in the league standings with two games remaining. Granite Hills (6-2, 19-6) remained one game back in the standings, also with two league games remaining.

Helix (14-9) entered the week in third place with a 5-3 record.

Andre Lewis (35 points) and Jason Gaines (24 points) put up big numbers for the Eagles against the Norsemen (3-5, 12-13). But Valhalla countered with four players in double digits: David Zetts (15), David Wilschetz (15), Steven Kleist (13) and Kyle Kriebel (12).

Kenny Keys led Helix with 16 points and 10 rebounds; Jake Haar matched Keys with 16 points for the Foothillers.

The Christian Patriots (10-0, 23-2) clinched the Central League title after recording their 21st consecutive victory, 55-37, over the Coronado Islanders on Feb. 12. Zsolt Lakosa led Christian with 19 points and nine rebounds while Icaro Parisotto added 16 points. Shane Dillon had 15 rebounds for the Patriots.

Young and restless:
#8 Mater Dei youngsters improve to 21-3 on season

Posted Feb. 10, 2020
Amazing is the only word to adequately describe the re-booted Mater Dei Catholic High School girls basketball team. Following Tuesday’s 60-32 victory at Bonita Vista, the Crusaders stand 21-3 on the season with an unblemished 7-0 Mesa League record.
This after graduating the entire starting unit off last year’s state championship team.

“At the start of the year, our goal was just to be competitive because we were so young,” Mater Dei head coach David Monroe said. “The jury was still out where we would be.”

The jury has since delivered its verdict: The Crusaders entered the week ranked eighth among San Diego Section teams, third among Division IV squads.

It appears to be well deserved for this group of high achievers.

Let’s see, Britanni Lusain and Alexandria Young are freshmen; Ocean Escalanti, Cardedra Evans, Michelle Andreoli and Victoria Manriquez are sophomores; Carina Erb and Isabel Stonehouse are juniors while Tatiana Tobe and Wendy Tamayo are seniors.

Young led Mater Dei with 17 points in Tuesday’s win, followed by Evans with 14 points and Tobe with 10 points. Eight players scored in the game. Lusain and Escalanti each had seven points.

The keys to the win lay in team rebounds (40) and steals (24). Lusain and Young each had 12 rebounds while Lusain had seven steals.

Ayanna White led Bonita Vista (1-6, 7-14) with eight points while Hannah Flippen had seven points and Nadia Cruz scored six points.

Employing a tenacious press to start the game, the visitors took advantage of numerous forced and unforced turnovers to build an imposing 20-8 lead. Monroe then began substituting from his bench for much of the remainder of the first half. Mater Dei led 22-10 after the first quarter and 33-19 at halftime. But at one point, the Barons had chipped the deficit to 10 points.

The Crusaders opened the second half with their A team on the court and a 12-5 run in the third quarter placed the reigning Mesa League champions ahead by a comfortable 45-24 score. Mater Dei closed out the game in strong fashion, finishing with a 27-13 scoring edge.

Monroe said he sees a lot of similarities between this new group and the one that just graduated.

“One is the camaraderie,” Monroe pointed out. “They do everything together. They’re like sisters. They all work out together and hang out together. Then certain players remind me of certain key players we had in the older group. There are a lot of similarities. As this group gets older, they’re going to be just as talented as the group that left.”

Understandably, expectations for the 2009-10 season have since been revised.

“Now they’re talking about competing for CIF,” Monroe said. “I like that attitude.”

The Crusaders tipped off the season by winning the championship title of the Coronado Thanksgiving tournament, then went 2-2 at the Vaquero Invitational with losses to a pair of out of town schools (Alameda and Carson). Mater Dei dropped a 52-36 game to Hamilton from Chandler, Ariz., in the So Cal Prep Holiday Classic on Dec. 30 and has gone undefeated since.

Monroe’s squad is currently riding a 10-game winning streak.

A 65-47 victory at perennial Division I power Eastlake on Feb. 3 finally convinced the ratings makers that this youthful Mater Dei squad was for real. The Titans had entered the high profile Mesa League tilt with a 15-4 overall record.

Both the Titans and Crusaders were undefeated in league play.

Tamayo led Mater Dei with 15 points while three teammates joined her in double figures on the score sheet: Lusain and Tobe, both with 14 points, and Young with 13 points. Young also had 11 assists and 10 rebounds. The Crusaders totaled 21 steals, led by Lusain with seven and Tamayo with six.

Mallory Robbins keyed Eastlake with a game-high 19 points but no other Titan hit double digits in the scoring column.

The teams were tied 17-all after the first quarter, with Mater Dei taking a 31-25 halftime lead on the strength of a 14-8 second quarter run. The Crusaders won each of the remaining two quarters by out-scoring the Titans 34-22 in the second half.

The teams rematch Feb. 17 at Mater Dei.

The Crusaders followed up the win against Eastlake with a dominating 81-32 victory last Friday against Otay Ranch. In that game, Evans scored a game-high 26 points while Young tallied 15 points, Escalanti had 14 points and Tamayo had 11 points.

Mater Dei then participated in Saturday’s Coaches vs. Cancer Showcase at the Bishop’s School, defeating Morse 47-24. Lusain had 14 points while Young had 13 points in the non-league win.

Lusain leads the Crusaders with a 13.2 scoring average while Young is averaging 9.7 rebounds per game.

The Titans, meanwhile, rebounded with a 58-35 home court victory at Hilltop last Friday as Mallory Robbins scored 13 points and Diamond Mitchell added 12 points. Eastlake (6-1, 17-5) then topped visiting Otay Ranch, 71-55, on Tuesday as Mitchell poured in 24 points and Mallory Robbins and Jacara Roberts each jammed in 14 points.

Robbins leads Eastlake with a 13.7 scoring average, followed on the team by Mitchell with 11.9 points per game.

Titans continue to carry the torch in Mesa League
Posted Feb. 10, 2010
Eastlake entered the week ranked seventh among section teams, third among Division I squads. The Titans improved to 6-0 in Mesa League play, 20-4 overall following last Friday’s 59-40 win against visiting Hilltop and a 46-39 non-league victory against Horizon Christian as part of the Coaches vs. Cancer Showcase Saturday at San Ysidro High School.

Dillon Doria keyed Eastlake with 20 points in last Friday’s contest while teammates Martin Meza (12 points) and Felix Dion (10 points) also reached double digits in the scoring column. The Titans turned a low-scoring 10-7 first quarter deficit into a 25-19 halftime lead with an 18-9 second quarter run and upped that lead to 44-26 with a 19-7 third quarter run.

Carlos Perez led Hilltop (4-2 in league, 15-7 overall) with 19 points. The Lancers look to be competing for a berth in the Division I playoffs.

Trevon Ash paced Eastlake with 14 points against Horizon while Doria added 11 points.

The South Bay League champion receives automatic entry into postseason competition (as does its Mesa League counterpart). Exactly who it will be doesn’t seem to be quite settled at this stage of the season. San Ysidro and Southwest both took 7-1 league records onto the court this week. San Ysidro was 18-7 overall while Southwest sported a 14-9 overall record.

San Ysidro topped visiting Sweetwater, 74-58, last Friday while Southwest bested host Castle Park 59-51.

Javion Watson led SY with 24 points while teammate Dondi Shumate added 11 points. The Cougars opened up a 41-32 halftime lead on the winless Red Devils (0-9 league, 0-19 overall).

Four Raiders scored in double figures, led by Lamar Weston (15) and Jay Santos (13).

The two SBL co-leaders collide on the court Feb. 17 at Southwest.

Teams on the playoff cusp include Olympian (7-2 SBL, 16-7 overall), Otay Ranch (3-3 ML, 11-11 overall), Chula Vista (3-3 ML, 11-11 overall), Montgomery (4-5 SBL, 10-12 overall) and Bonita Vista (2-4 ML, 9-14 overall).

Olympian turned back host Montgomery, 58-46, last Friday to stay within striking distance of first place in the South Bay League standings as Ryan Canlapan led all scorers in the game with 18 points. Eric Paranada added 12 points for the Eagles, who used a 17-9 third quarter run to break open the game.

Canlapan is averaging 16.6 points per game.

Alex Cobb keyed the Aztecs with 11 points.

Olympian hosts San Ysidro in the regular season finale on Feb. 19.

Otay Ranch began its belated move up the league (and Division I) standings with back to back wins against Chula Vista (64-52 on Feb. 4) and Mater Dei (63-31 last Friday).

Danny Azhocar led the Mustangs with 16 points in last Friday’s win while Nico Pizarro scored 11 points and Antuione Collins contributed 10 points.

Alex Perez leads the Mustangs with a 31.7 game scoring average while Collins is averaging 7.0 rebounds per game.

Chula Vista collected an 83-53 victory at Bonita Vista last Friday as Taylor Nelson poured in 27 points on three-point bombs to finish the game with 34 points overall. Brandon West had 11 points while Victor Perez added 10 points. CV led 41-23 at halftime.
Two Barons hit double figures in scoring: Zach Sanchez (23 points) and Eric Martinez (17 points).

Nelson scored 22 points and Perez tacked on 15 points in CV’s 72-57 non-league win as part of Saturday’s Coaches vs. Cancer Showcase.

Citrus-South League
Meanwhile, Midway Baptist improved to 5-2 in Citrus-South League play, 12-4 overall, following Monday’s 57-30 victory at San Diego Academy, a private school tucked away next to Paradise Valley Hospital in National City. The Patriots broke out to a 15-6 first quarter advantage and led 31-8 at halftime. Top scorers for the winners included Da’rell Andrews with 18 points, Jesse Johnson with 14 points.

Midway sits in second place in the league standings but a gulf exists between the Patriots and league leader Foothills Christian, ranked second among section squads.

Foothills topped Midway, 94-34, last Friday to improve to 8-0 in league play.

Section career scoring king Troy Leaf collected 25 points in the win against Midway while four other teammates reached double digits in scoring: Kalob Hatcher (21), Jvonte Brooks (16), Jamal Aytes (13) and Stevie McElroy (10). Aytes, a six-foot-six freshman, pulled down 12 rebounds.

The Knights made their statement with a 34-2 first quarter lead. Zach Balich led Midway with 11 points in the game.

The Patriots, however, look to be challenging for a Division V playoff berth. Midway closes out its 10-game league slate with games against Chula Vista Calvary Christian on Feb. 12 (home), Lutheran on Feb. 16 (at the Parkway Gym) and Mountain Empire on Feb. 19 (home).

Lutheran defeated CV Calvary Christian, 47-43, in overtime last Friday. The Royal Knights had claimed the teams’ earlier meeting 44-22.

Foothillers remain on top of Grossmont Hills League
Posted Feb. 7, 2010
Grossmont topped Granite Hills, 70-62, in the teams’ celebrated Feb. 3 Grossmont Hills League showdown. Robby Nesovic led the Foothillers with 28 points while Jake Haar contributed 19 points and Anthony Bowden chipped in with 13 points.

Andre Lewis led Granite Hills with 33 points – 21 coming on seven three-point shots – while Garrett Larch-Miller added 12 points.

Grossmont (15-8) completed the first round of league play undefeated at 5-0 while the host Eagles ((18-5) suffered their first league loss.

Christian (8-0, 21-2) continued to hold down the section's No. 6 ranking as well as a two-game lead in the Central League loss column over the Coronado Islanders (7-2, 17-6).

Other East County teams bidding to qualify for the upcoming CIF playoffs include Mt. Miguel (19-6), Helix (14-8), Valhalla (11-12) and Monte Vista (9-15).

In games through Feb. 5:

Grossmont Hills League standings: Grossmont 6-0, Granite Hills 5-1. Helix 4-2, Valhalla 2-4, Steele Canyon 1-5, West Hills 0-6

Grossmont Valley League standings: Santana 5-0, Mt. Miguel 4-1, Monte Vista 2-3, El Capitan 1-3, El Cajon Valley 0-5

Matadors rule East County girls basketball court
The Mt. Miguel Matadors (22-2) entered the week with a 5-0 record atop the Grossmont Valley League standings while the West Hills Wolf Pack (16-6) sat atop the Grossmont Hills League girls standings with a 5-1 record.

Second-ranked Mt. Miguel tipped off the second round of league play on Feb. 5 with an 80-37 victory against Monte Vista after closing out the first round of league play with a 69-27 win against El Capitan on Feb. 1.

Shay Young led Mt. Miguel in the two GVL victories with 20 points against Monte Vista and 16 points against El Capitan.

Santana entered this week with a 4-1 GVL record, followed by Monte Vista (2-3), El Capitan (1-3) and El Cajon Valley (0-5).

The Grossmont Foothillers did the Wolf Pack a huge favor by scoring a 51-49 upset win against Granite Hills on Feb. 3 to drop the Eagles two games off the pace in the loss column combined with Grossmont’s 54-32 victory against Valhalla.

Granite Hills cut West Hills’ lead on first place to one game after handing the Wolf Pack its first league loss on Feb. 5. The Eagles topped eighth-ranked West Hills, 53-42, to ensure a hotly championship race down the stretch run.

Jessica Harris led Granite Hills with 17 points as the Eagles (who jammed in 10 three-pointers in the game) broke out to a 17-3 first quarter lead.

Granite Hills (19-6) and Grossmont (10-12) remain poised directly behind the Wolf Pack in the GHL standings with 4-2 league records after the Foothillers fell upset victim to Steele Canyon by a 36-23 outcome on Feb. 5.

Skylar Williams scored 15 points and Sabrina Jimenez had 14 points to lead the Ealges in a wild 47-40 overtime win against Steele Canyon on Feb. 1, showing just how competitive GHL teams are this season. Granite Hills out-scored the Cougars 13-6 in the overtime period.

El Capitan's Amber Rel-Solia had 13 points in a 44-23 non-league win against Hoover in the Feb. 6 Coaches vs. Cancer Showcase.

Countdown to state: A Knight’s tale

Posted Feb. 3, 2010
On Foothills Christian's schedule was a Feb. 2 Citrus-South League game against the Lutheran Knights at, of all places, the Parkway Gymnasium in downtown Chula Vista.

High school basketball at the Parkway Gym …?

When Lutheran relocated its campus to Rancho del Rey at the beginning of the 2009-10 school term, some might have wondered whether the Knights would adopt a likewise South Bay locale for their home games. Alas, the Lutheran football team continued to play its eight-man schedule at Grossmont College. The Knights practiced at nearby Discovery Park in eastern Chula Vista but played their home games in East County.

But what about other sports? Where would Lutheran play its home basketball games, for instance?

The answer was the Parkway Gym.

The Knights boys varsity team is coached by Mike Heidtbrink while Eric Kasaty coaches the junior varsity team. The Lady Knights are coached by Brian Buchalew.

Don Heien serves as the school’s athletic director.

Judging by the names on the roster, there are obviously several sibling connections between the boys and girls teams.
Lutheran entered Tuesday’s boys varsity game 1-17 on the season, 0-5 in league play.

I showed my press pass at the door. “Oh, this might not be the best game to come to,” the woman attending the ticket table politely advised me.

I ventured into the gym. I was pleasantly surprised. A high school basketball game was indeed going on, with the seconds ticking down to a Foothills halftime lead of 61-12.

What struck me the most was the high ceiling and very bright lighting. Virtually all high school gyms have since switched out decades-old lighting systems and one almost needs a candle or flashlight to see any on-court action in them these days. Long-lens cameras have difficulty focusing. Mar Vista, Eastlake, Olympian and Sweetwater appear to be the worst culprits. Ironically, all have the newest gyms — very darkly lit ones.

Not so at the Parkway Gym — I was amazed at how bright everything was inside … and spacious. I had remembered the place as exceedingly dark during a visit a while back. Kudos to the city of Chula Vista Recreation Department! More high school games should be played there.

Lutheran has a student enrollment of 92 students according to the San Diego Section . Foothills Christian lists 211 students. It’s safe to say a sizable portion of the students at each school comprise their respective athletic teams.

While Foothills might be relatively small in numbers, several of the school’s sports teams are big on talent. The football team won the 2008 Southern League championship and placed runner-up this season. The boys basketball team has won three consecutive San Diego Section Division V championships and is looking to capture this year’s state title.

Foothills entered Tuesday’s game with an imposing 20-4 overall record, including a spotless 6-0 Citrus-South League record.
Chula Vista Calvary Christian Academy elected to take a forfeit rather than play the Foothills varsity team in a league game.
But not Lutheran.

Foothills tipped off league play with a 103-58 victory against Midway Baptist on Jan. 5 and followed with a 103-24 win against Lutheran on Jan. 11.

The Knights defeated Mountain Empire, 102-35, on Jan. 26 before capturing a home-and-home series from San Diego Academy, nestled next to Paradise Valley Hospital in National City. Foothills captured the opener, 90-29, on Jan. 28 and claimed the rematch, 97-27, last Saturday.

Leaf had 47 points in the win against Midway and 32 points in the return match against SDA.

Leaf, who is bound for UC Santa Barbara in the fall, was wearing a sweatshirt while seated on the bench for Tuesday’s game and it was obvious he had not seen any game action nor would. He didn’t add any more to his career record 3,071 points — a mark that now stands fifth-best all-time in the state. He is averaging 29.5 points per game.

But the Knights did show they have quite a team even when their star players don’t suit up. Besides Leaf, six-foot-seven senior Jvonte Brooks also did not enter his name on the score sheet.

Instead sophomore Dalton Mosser had a breakout game with a game-high 24 points. Senior Kalob Hatcher had 23 points while sophomore Stevie McElroy poured in 22 points. Six-foot-six freshman Jamal Aytes jammed in 15 points. Junior Sal Romeri had seven points while freshman Spencer George contributed five points.

Aytes only recently became cleared to play after some question of his eligibility had kept him off the court since the opening game of the season. He looks to be a key addition in the team’s drive to its long-sought state championship.

Foothills out-scored Lutheran 20-2 in the third quarter en route to claiming a 98-16 win.

The East County visitors showed some class in an awkward situation caused by the mismatch on the hardwood. As the clock ticked under a minute to play, Mosser stood at midcourt just bouncing the ball. His teammates remained frozen in position ready for a pass that would never be made.

Forget putting up 100 points on the scoreboard. An 82-point victory was enough.

A few South Bay teams can surely empathize with Foothills’ situation. I need not mention them. They know who they are. It’s not their fault their talent level is well beyond that of their opponents. Such mismatches forced by league contracts are a no-win situation for either team.

Foothills Christian plays eight league games (the last Friday, Feb. 5, at Midway). How will it affect the Knights when the section playoffs start is the hot topic in prep hoops circles around the county.

I hate to say it but it’s usually been a detriment to South Bay teams playing in competitively weak leagues. The Knights have fallen short in their quest for a state title the previous three years. Could it be an omen?

There have been ongoing discussions to realign leagues to better remedy the situation. But it almost becomes absurd to realign leagues to suit a particular sport or to realign leagues at every available opportunity. What happens to traditional rivalries?

Over the years, I have seen some teams run up the score in mismatches to make a point while others have shown mercy and played their second- and third-string players.

The teams on the court Tuesday came up with a win-win situation: They held a group prayer at center court after the game.
I am sure the Big Guy upstairs was smiling.

As I left the gym, I found myself walking behind Leaf and his father Brad, the team’s coach. As they stopped to get in their car, I congratulated the younger Leaf on his team’s play, noting the Knights still had quite a good team even without some of the regulars in the line-up.

“Why, thank you,” he said. “Thank you very much.”

Next stop for Foothills Christian: hoops wonderland.

Hopefully.

East County teams getting ready to rumble for CIF playoffs

Posted Jan. 31, 2010
The West Hills High School girls basketball team, Foothills Christian boys basketball team, Valhalla boys soccer team and Steele Canyon wrestling team all have something in common: They each won division titles in last year’s San Diego Section championship playoffs. Who will be East County’s CIF champions in 2010? It won’t take long to find out.

The San Diego Section basketball playoffs tip off Feb. 23 (for boys teams) and Feb. 24 (for girls teams). Post-season competition will be conducted in five divisions based on student enrollment. League champions are guaranteed automatic entry into the playoffs and will receive a home game in the opening round. All other selections will be on an at-large basis.

The playoff field for the Division I, Division II, Division III and Division V will include 16 teams; the Division IV playoff field will include 12 teams.

Quarterfinal-round play will feature boys teams on Feb. 26 and girls teams on Feb. 27, followed by semifinals on March 2 (boys teams) and March 3 (girls teams).

The championship finals are scheduled March 5-6 at USD’s Jenny Craig Pavilion.

Four division titles will be decided on March 5: Division V girls (2 p.m.), Division V boys (4 p.m.), Division II girls (6:05 p.m.) and Division II boys (8:05 p.m.). Two championship sessions are scheduled for March 6. The first session will feature four title match-ups: Division IV girls (9:30 a.m.), Division IV boys (11:15 a.m.), Division III girls (1 p.m.) and Division III boys (2:45 p.m.). The second session will feature championship games in the largest enrollment division: Division I girls (6:05 p.m.) and Division I boys (8:05 p.m.).

Game time for the opening three rounds is 7 p.m.

The champion and runner-up in all five divisions qualify for the Southern California regional playoffs. Pairings will be announced March 7.

The section soccer playoffs kick off Feb. 23 (for girls teams) and Feb. 24 (for boys teams). Playoffs will be conducted in four enrollment divisions. Championship finals are scheduled March 6 at locations to be announced.

The section girls water polo playoffs start Feb. 17 (for Division I teams) and Feb. 18 (for Division II teams). Championship finals are Feb. 27 at La Jolla High School.

The section's four divisional wrestling championship tournaments are scheduled Feb. 20. Sites include San Pasqual High School (Division I), Scripps Ranch High School (Division II), Serra High School (Division III) and Mater Dei Catholic High School (Division IV). The San Diego Section Masters state qualifying tournament is Feb. 26-27 at Southwest El Centro High School.

Boys hoops alert
Entering the week, the Grossmont Foothillers and Granite Hills Eagles were tied for first place in the Grossmont Hills League boys standings with 3-0 league records while the Santana Sultans owned an undefeated 3-0 league record in the Grossmont Valley League boys standings.

Granite Hills (12-8 overall) will by vying for home court advantage in the Division I playoffs while Grossmont (16-4) will be vying for the same advantage in the Division II playoffs and Santana (15-8) in the Division III playoffs.

At 17-6 (and 2-1 in league play), Mt. Miguel looks to challenge for a high seed in the Division III playoffs. The Matadors took a 63-59 loss to Santana in first-round GVL action.

Meanwhile, two East County small school powers continue to excel on the hardwood. The Christian Patriots entered the week with a 7-0 record in Central League play while sporting a fine 20-2 overall record. The Foothills Christian Knights, paced by all-time section leading scorer Troy Leaf, entered the week with a 6-0 record in Citrus-South League play, 20-4 overall.

Grossmont is led by Anthony Bowden, Robby Nesovic, Desean Waters and Jake Haar.

Haar scored 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds while Nesovic had 15 points and Bowden grabbed a game-high 20 rebounds to help propel Grossmont to a 64-61 GHL win at Helix on Jan. 22.

Nesovic racked up 25 points and Bowden added 16 points in a 59-29 GHL victory against West Hills (0-3, 5-14) on Jan. 29.

Granite Hills is led by Andre Lewis, Garrett Larch-Miller, Jason Gaines and Kyle Snyder.

Lewis, who is averaging 28.7 points per game, poured in 25 points to lead Granite Hills to a 64-55 GHL victory at Helix on Jan. 29 while Snyder collected 14 points and four three-pointers and Gaines contributed 10 points and 23 rebounds. Larch-Miller added 11 points and seven rebounds.

Larch-Miller is averaging 19.4 points per game while Gaines is averaging 13.6 ppg.

Gaines (12.9), Larch-Miller (12.8) and Haar are the Grossmont Conference leaders in rebounds per game.

Sixth-ranked Christian, which held on to defeat Santana by a 66-65 score in a non-league game Jan. 30 to extend its season winning streak to 18 games, is led by Hungarian native Zsolt Lakosa, Brazilian natives Icaro Parisotto and Luiz Bidart, and local products Shane Dillon, Steven Pitts, Cody Poteet and Erick Allen.

Lakosa jammed in 27 points in the win against Santana while Dillon contributed 18 points and 11 rebounds, Poteet scored 13 points and Allen collected eight points and six boards. Lakoa slammed in a career-high 38 points in an 81-68 league win against the Crawford Colts on Jan. 26.

Leaf is averaging 29.5 points per game. He scored 32 points on the strength of six three-pointers in a 97-27 victory against San Diego Academy on Jan. 30 to raise his section-leading career point total to 3,071 to move into fifth place in all-time state scoring. Jamal Aytes added 12 points and seven rebounds in the league win against SDA while Yvonte Brooks scored 12 points and pulled down 10 rebounds and Kalob Hatcher added 10 points and nine steals.

Leaf had 29 points while Brooks added 28 points in a 102-35 league win at Mountain Empire on Jan. 26.

Brooks is averaging 19.8 points per game and 13.1 rebounds per game. Hatcher is averaging 16.0 points per game.

The Knights are ranked second in the section among boys teams.

Santana is led by Jesse Vargas, Landon Lozoya and Matt Lucius.

Vargas scored 27 points in a 73-63 GVL win against visiting El Capitan (0-2, 5-14) on Jan. 29 and added 21 points the next night in the loss to Christian. He is averaging 17.7 points on the season. Lozoya had 20 points in the loss to Christian.

Other East County boys hoopsters to watch include El Capitan’s Mike Overson and Aaron Worrell, Mt. Miguel’s Harry Brazelton, A.J. Stanford and Bryant Mitchell, El Cajon Valley’s Dominique Miller and Kendall Conley, Helix’s Jaylen Linson, Monte Vista’s Tony Jackson, Valhalla’s David Wilschetz, Kyle Kriebel and Steven Kleist,West Hills’ Adrian Maraziti and Shedrick Collier and Steele Canyon’s Cody Wells.

Worrell pumped in 23 points in the Jan. 29 loss at Santana.

Brazelton and Miller each had 24 points for their respective teams in Mt. Miguel's 72-43 GVL win against El Cajon Valley on Jan. 29.

Wells had 16 points in a 45-34 loss to Valhalla on Jan. 29.

Grossmont’s Haar and Waters, Helix’s Darien Peterson and Valhalla’s Kleist were all named to the Spartan Classic all-tournament team over the winter break. In that tourney, Grossmont finished runner-up to Eastlake as Haar tied for top scoring honors with 23 points in a 68-51 setback. Michael Wnek added 16 points in the game for the Foothillers.

Teams on the playoff cusp include Helix (11-8), Valhalla (10-10) and Monte Vista (8-13).

Girls hoops rule
West Hills (14-5) entered the week with a 3-0 league record atop the Grossmont Hills League girls standings while Mt. Miguel (19-2) sat atop the Grossmont Valley League standings with a 3-0 league record.

West Hills will be vying for home court advantage in the Division II playoffs while Mt. Miguel will be vying for the same honor in the Division III playoffs.

Mt. Miguel lost, 46-44, to West Hills in last year’s Division II girls championship game and will be out to make a statement in the upcoming playoffs. The Matadors finished runner-up in a celebrated showdown of top-ranked teams in the section by dropping a 66-46 match-up to La Jolla County Day on Jan. 30.

Mt. Miguel entered the week ranked second among section girls teams and a favorite to capture this year’s Division III championship. The Matadors are led this season by an otherwise unstoppable force: Yvonte Neal, Danielle Miller, Myishia Watkins, Nicole Fountain, Shay Young and Dechae Evans.

Watkins led Mt. Miguel with 14 points in the loss to LJCD.

Neal leads the Matadors with a scoring average of 14.7 ppg, followed by Miller (14.2 ppg), Watkins (10.3 ppg), Fountain (9.1 ppg), Young (8.9 ppg) and Evans (8.1 ppg). Watkins has shot 32 three-pointers on the season.

Mt. Miguel broke out to a 25-2 lead in its GVL encounter against El Cajon Valley on Jan. 29. Five Matadors scored in double figures in the 67-14 victory: Neal (14), Fountain (13), Miller (12), Young (12) and Watkins (10).

Mt. Miguel topped former Grossmont North League power Santana, 75-26, in a GVL match-up on Jan. 22. Five Matadors once again scored in double digits, led by Miller's 16 points. There was clearly no doubt as to which the better team was as Mt. Miguel took a 50-10 halftime lead.

West Hills is paced on the court this season by Sherika Miller, Marilynn Naderhoff and Kimberly Clark. Miller leads the team with a 12.4 scoring average, followed by Naderhoff (9.5 ppg) and Clark (9.4 ppg).

The Wolf Pack handed Grossmont its first GHL loss on Jan. 29. Clark led West Hills with 14 points in the 48-34 win while Miller added 10 points. Miller had 15 points and Clark added 12 points in a 57-17 win against Steele Canyon on Jan. 22.

Granite Hills (17-5) and Grossmont (8-11) were poised directly behind the Wolf Pack in the GHL standings with 2-1 league records.

Granite Hills is paced by a talented cast that includes conference scoring leader Sabrina Jimenez and continues with teammates Skylar Williams and Jessica Harris. Jimenez is averaging 16.0 ppg, followed by Williams (11.4 ppg) and Harris (11.2 ppg).

Jimenez led the Eagles with 14 points while Keji Kubari added 11 points in a 37-33 victory against Helix on Jan. 29. Jimenez poured in 22 points and Harris and Williams each had 11 points in a 70-29 blowout win against Valhalla on Jan. 22.

West Hills topped Granite Hills, 51-41, on Jan. 15 to assume the top spot in the GHL standings during first-round league play.

Grossmont is keyed by Danielle Balderas (9.5 ppg) and Danielle Dahle (8.1 ppg). Dahle had 15 points in a 53-31 GHL win against Helix on Jan. 22

Other East County players to watch include Monte Vista's Deanna Bembry and Shamonique Boyd, Helix's Kimberly Scott and Kristina Scott, El Capitan's Amber Rel-Solia, Santana's Alyssa Padberg, El Cajon Valley's Hazel Doe and Valhalla's Tenisha Lee.

Bembry had 19 points and nine rebounds in Monte Vista's 51-50 GVL win against El Capitan on Jan. 22 while Boyd had 19 points and 14 rebounds in Monte Vista's non-league victory against Helix on Jan. 19.

Rel-Solia had 19 points and nine rebounds in the Jan. 22 setback to Monte Vista while Padberg had 12 points and 10 rebounds in a 53-41 loss to Granite Hills on Jan. 19.

Lee, the conference rebounding leader with 11.7 per game, had 13 points in Valhalla's 39-27 GHL loss to Steele Canyon on Jan. 29 and had 15 points in the Jan. 22 loss to Granite Hills.

El Capitan's Mariss Pitman led the conference with 35 three-pointers.

Teams on the playoff cusp include Monte Vista (11-9), Helix (8-9), Steele Canyon (8-11) and El Capitan (8-12).

Posted Jan. 27, 2010
The Eastlake Titans quickly made themselves the proverbial “team to beat” for this year’s Mesa League championship by bounding past Hilltop and Bonita Vista in their opening two league match-ups. Eastlake tipped off the 2010 league campaign with a 67-57 victory against visiting Hilltop on Jan. 20 and followed with a 66-52 win at Bonita Vista last Friday to hike their early season record to 2-0.

Trevon Ash pumped in 16 points and Robert Graves scored 13 points to lead the Titans in the season opener. Both had plenty of support from teammates: Felix Dion and Travis Gardner both contributed nine points while Dillon Doria had eight points and Martin Meza added six points.

The game was tied 14-14 after the opening quarter before the hosts opened up a seven-point lead at halftime and expanded that lead to 13 points entering the final quarter.
Hilltop’s Carlos Perez led all scorers in the game with 24 points while teammate Jacob Craig poured in 15 points.

Eastlake improved to 15-4 after clipping the Barons last Friday. A trio of Titans scored in double figures: Graves (12). Ash (11) and Gardner (10). Dion and Doria each had eight points. The visitors turned a close game through the first quarter (a 15-13 Eastlake lead) into a comfortable 12-point lead at halftime (38-26). Bonita Vista put on a late spurt by out-scoring the Titans 20-11 in the final quarter but the verdict had already been sealed by then.

Eastlake entered the week ranked eighth among San Diego Section teams, third among Division I schools.

In other Mesa League openers on Jan. 20, Chula Vista topped visiting Bonita Vista, 71-64, in overtime while Otay Ranch breezed past visiting Mater Dei 76-47.

Chula Vista and Bonita Vista were tied at 58 points apiece entering overtime where the host Spartans doubled up the Barons 13-6 in the extra period. Taylor Nelson keyed CV with 21 points while teammate Josh Leon jammed in 17 points.

Otay Ranch’s Alex Perez led all scorers in the game with 22 points.

Hilltop turned back Otay Ranch, 74-63, to even its league record at 1-1 in last Friday’s round of games. The Lancers improved to 11-6 overall with the win. Four players scored in double digits for the victors: Craig (23), Anthony Edwards (17), Perez (14) and Omar Hernandez (10).

Hilltop led 32-27 at halftime but took control of the scoreboard with a 26-16 run in the third quarter.

Antuione Collins led the Mustangs (1-1 in league, 9-9 overall) with 16 points while two other teammates reached double figures: Richmond Vitalich (11) and Glenn Espanto (10).

Chula Vista (7-7 overall) matched Eastlake’s 2-0 start in league play with a 51-42 victory at Mater Dei last Saturday.

Girls tip-off
Eastlake and Mater Dei are both off to 2-0 starts. They collide on the court for the first time this season Feb. 3 at EHS.

Brittani Lusain leads Mater Dei (15-3) with a 13.9 game scoring average while Alexandria Young is averaging 11.6 points per game and Cardedra Evans is averaging 8.5 points per game. Young and Evans are the team’s top rebounders with 9.4 and 8.1 rebounds per game, respectively.

The Crusaders tipped off league play Jan. 20 with a 62-29 victory against visiting Otay Ranch and doubled its standing in the league win column with a 58-26 win at Chula Vista last Friday.

Ocean Escalanti led Mater Dei with 18 points against the Mustangs while three other players scored 12 points: Lusain, Evans and Young. Tatiana Tobe led the Crusaders with 19 points against the Spartans while Young was right behind on the score sheet with 18 points and Lusain added 14 points.

Eastlake (13-4) jump-started league play with a 56-37 victory at Hilltop on Jan. 20 and tacked on a 51-35 win against visiting Bonita Vista last Friday.
The Titans topped Montgomery, 52-45, in a non-league game last Saturday.

Can anybody catch the red hot Sweetwater Lady Red Devils?
Posted Jan. 27, 2010
The wins keep coming for the Sweetwater Lady Red Devils basketball team – five in a row to start the South Bay League season, to be exact. The league runner-up last year, the Devils have made themselves the front runner to claim the league championship this season.

So far, so good has to be the thinking of SuHi head coach Heather Huckaby.

Sweetwater upped its league record to 5-0 after last Friday’s 64-23 victory against visiting Mar Vista. The Devils improved to 11-6 overall as they finally appear to build momentum toward the San Diego Section playoffs.

Nine players scored in the win for the hosts, led by Jonalynn Fuertes with a game-high 17 points and Jessica Bautista with 13 points. Anastacia Rodriguez scored eight points while Lucille Gleason and April Cadua each contributed seven points.

Sweetwater led 18-4 after the first quarter and 25-11 at halftime. The Devils opened the second half on fire with a 23-5 scoring edge to lead 48-16 entering the final quarter.
The win was the sixth straight for SuHi, including a 54-35 non-league victory against Horizon Christian Jan. 18 as part of the Martin Luther King Showcase.

The Devils opened the season with victories against Olympian (67-37 on Jan. 6) and Montgomery (43-33 on Jan. 8) and continued their streak with wins against Castle Park (76-21 on Jan. 13) and San Ysidro (81-18 on Jan. 15).

Bautista and Fuertes proved to be a dynamic duo with 26 and 25 points, respectively, in the game at Castle Park.

Four players scored in double figures in the win against San Ysidro: Bautista (18), Candace Akaigbe (15), Fuertes (13) and Cadua (10).

Foothills Christian senior Troy Leaf has been an amazing player throughout his high school basketball career and he secured a place in prep immortality Monday by becoming the San Diego Section’s all-time scoring leader with 2,982 points by scoring 21 points in the second-ranked Knights 74-71 overtime loss to the top-ranked Hoover Cardinals in the Elite Eight Showcase event at the University of San Diego.

That Leaf’s record-setting performance came against Hoover seemed appropriate as Cardinal graduate Tyrone Shelley (2004-07) previously held the career scoring record with 2,962 points.

It didn’t take a hand calculator for fans to determine exactly when Leaf set the new scoring record. He entered Monday’s game just one point shy of Shelley’s career standard after scoring 33 points in a 70-65 non-league win at Eastlake the previous Friday to pass former La Costa Canyon scoring wizard Chase Budinger (2003-06), the section’s No. 2 all-time scorer with 2,934 points. The first basket that Leaf made in Monday’s game would thus be the record-setter.
The record shot — a three-pointer — came 1:18 into Monday’s contest.

Leaf remained humble about the achievement.

“It’s an honor just to be mentioned in the same breath with those guys,” said Leaf, who is averaging 30 points per game this season. “I remember watching Chase Budinger when I was in the eighth grade and it was like … wow! God has given me the ability to play basketball. It’s all about God.”

A media blitz was in effect at last Friday’s game, including a live radio broadcast of the game. Leaf needed 35 points to surpass Shelley’s record and he nearly got it, though afterward he said he never kept a mental tally during the game. He said he was focused more on his team securing the win against a Titan squad bent on receiving recognition as one of the section’s top 10 teams.

Ironically, it was the six-foot-three Leaf’s defensive prowess that ultimately won the game for the Knights.

The score stood at 65-64 in Foothills Christian’s favor with less than 50 seconds left on the game clock. Eastlake grabbed a rebound under the Knights’ basket and appeared ready to turn down court to make the score even closer. But a misdirected pass ended up in a steal by Leaf, who promptly fired the ball to teammate Yvonte Brooks under the hoop for a slam dunk.

67-64.

The Titans never recovered from the lightning-quick play.

Leaf ended the game with three free throws to make sure his team came out on top. His foul shot with 16 seconds left upped the score to 68-64. After Eastlake’s Felix Dion hit one of two free throws to trim the Knights’ lead to three points, Leaf scored the final two points of the game from the charity stripe with 8.1 seconds to play to expand on his team’s 68-65 scoring edge.

The Titans attempted to double-team Leaf for most of the game but Eastlake coach Alex Estrada said that only seemed to open up space for Foothills Christians’ other top players. “He clogs the passing lanes,” Estrada said in regard to Leaf.

Kalob Hatcher and Sal Romeri each tallied 11 points while Brooks finished the game with nine points.

But it was clearly the complete-player Leaf who set the tempo on the court.
Besides his game-high 33 points against the Titans, the UC Santa Barbara-bound Leaf also contributed six assists, eight rebounds, seven blocked shots and seven steals. He blocked an attempted slam dunk by the Titans early in the game to elicit a round of “ahhhhhs” from the large crowd.

Eastlake (13-4) was left playing catch-up nearly the entire game after Foothills (16-3) opened the contest with an 18-9 first quarter scoring edge and led 36-31 at halftime. Leaf poured in 21 points in the first half to power the Knights.

The Titans managed to claw back in the game early in the second quarter to make it a one-pint game on a lay-in by Dillon Doria. The contest was tied 58-58 with 5:35 left. In each instance the Knights managed to keep their composure and seize control of the game’s momentum.
Robert Graves led EHS with 20 points. Dion had 14, Trevon Ash 12.

Estrada’s team earned some valuable respect points in the loss. “We’ve lost to the No. 1 team (Hoover) and the No. 2 team (Foothills Christian) and we’ve also lost to Morse — we’d like to believe we’re a top 10 team and I know that’s something the boys look forward to at the end of the season,” the EHS coach said. “I’m proud of my boys. In a game like this when it’s back and forth, you’ve got to make your shots and they (the Knights) did. I thought we would match up with them and that’s why we scheduled this game. We knew they had three strong players but we were seven, eight deep.”

Many in the Foothills Christian program are looking at this year to be the one that takes the Knights to the state championship game, perhaps even capping it with a Division V boys state title.
The small-enrollment East County school has already shown it belongs near the top of the section rankings after defeating Rancho Bernardo (Division I) by a 65-64 score to win the championship title of the Eagle-Vaquero tournament on Dec. 12 and topping La Jolla Country Day (Division IV) by a score of 93-68 to capture the title of the Grossmont Winter Classic on Dec. 23.

Foothills tipped off Citrus-South League play Jan. 5 with a 103-58 victory against Midway Baptist and improved to 2-0 with a 103-24 win against Lutheran on Jan. 11. Leaf had 47 points against Midway while Brooks jammed in 23 points against Lutheran.

The Knights already own three consecutive Division V section championships … and counting.

Lady Devils tip off South Bay League play 2-0
Posted Jan. 13, 2010
The last time the Sweetwater Red Devils and Montgomery Aztecs girls basketball teams paired up on the court was in front of an estimated 1,600 fans last February in the SuHi gym for rights to the South Bay League championship title. The Aztecs won that celebrated duel but the Red Devils look to have the upper hand in the quest for this season’s league title after scoring a 43-33 win last Friday.

The atmosphere wasn’t quite as electric with only a smattering of perhaps 200 fans in attendance on the National City campus but the Red Devils certainly left an electric charge on the court with a 27-9 halftime lead.

Sweetwater’s defense continually produced turnovers and the Devils’ offense proved deadly from the shooting lanes. The teams played more evenly in the second half, with visiting Montgomery actually out-pointing the hosts 24-16.

The Aztecs reduced the SuHi lead to nine points at 38-29 with two minutes left in the game on a free throw by Stefanie Maher. But a three-point shot by Jonalynn Fuertes with 1:01 left proved to be the momentum changer for the Devils.

Jessica Bautista led Sweetwater with 13 points, followed by Fuertes with 12 points and April Cadua with eight points.

Tiffany Torregano and Dinyantesea Pineda each scored 11 points to pace Montgomery.

Sweetwater improved to 2-0 in league play after opening the season with a 67-37 win at Olympian on Jan. 6. Lucille Gleason had a game-high 20 points to power the Devils while Fuertes contributed 14 points.

The Aztecs tipped off South Bay League play with a 60-25 victory over visiting Castle Park as Torregano poured in 24 points.

Holiday hoops hysteria
Bring it on! Eastlake hoop men capture Spartan Classic title, improve record to 12-2

Posted Jan. 6, 2010
Some post-Christmas shopping for the Eastlake High School boys basketball team included the championship title of the 21st annual Spartan Classic that wrapped up play Dec. 30 at Chula Vista High School. The Titans defeated the Grossmont Foothillers, 68-51, to claim the tourney’s top trophy and improve to 12-2 on the season.

Eastlake coach Alex Estrada can only hope the second half of the 2009-10 hoops season is as productive.

Tournament Most Valuable Player Trevon Ash poured in 23 points and fellow all-tournament pick Dillon Doria scored 15 points to lead the Titans past the Foothillers. Eastlake blazed to a torrid 22-8 first quarter run and led 30-17 at halftime. The tourney champions racked up a 38-34 scoring edge in the second half of play.

Martin Meza, Eastlake’s third all-tourney selection, had six points — as did Felix Dion, Travis Gardner and Adrian Tabula.

All-tourney pick Jake Haar paced Grossmont with 23 points.

The Titans finished 4-0 in the 14-team tourney that began Dec. 26 and continued Dec. 28-30. Eastlake tipped off play in the Spartans’ gym with a runaway 73-32 victory against Steele Canyon and wrapped up round-robin play with wins against Helix (57-48 on Dec. 28) and Monte Vista (54-40 on Dec. 29).

Dion and Ash led the Titans with 19 points each in the tourney opener while Graves contributed 11 points. Eastlake blew past Steele Canyon 27-8 in the first quarter and led 50-14 at halftime. Thereafter the Titans freely substituted from their bench in a show of sportsmanship.

Ash made a statement against Helix with a game-high 34 points while Graves added 13 points. Eastlake once again commanded a strong start on the court, leading 18-5 before the pesky Highlanders responded with a 16-9 run in the second quarter. The Titans once again got in high gear with a 16-8 run to start the second half to build on their 27-21 halftime lead.

Three players scored in double digits in the victory against Monte Vista: Doria (14 points), Dion (11 points) and Ash (10 points). Eastlake used a strong second half to overcome a 23-20 halftime lead by the Monarchs by out-scoring the East County visitors 15-10 in the third quarter and racking up a decisive 19-7 edge in the final period.

Grossmont (6-6) advanced to the championship game with bracket victories against Point Loma (73-43 on Dec. 26), Serra (63-45 on Dec. 28) and Valhalla (57-44 on Dec. 29).
Haar had 23 points in the win over Serra while Waters added 16 points. Anthony Bowden led the ’Hillers with 18 points in the win over Valhalla.

Southwest, braced by 21 points from Emilio Arellano, turned back a challenge from Monte Vista to win the consolation championship by a final score of 65-43. All-tournament pick Jay Santos had seven points in the victory while Lamar Weston scored 14 points. The Raiders led 31-16 at halftime and cinched the win with a 25-11 run in the third quarter.

In other wrap-up games on Dec. 30, Will Clark had 11 points in Mar Vista’s 66-44 loss to Steele Canyon while Thomas Nollie scored 13 points in tourney host Chula Vista’s 65-35 victory over El Cajon Valley. The Spartans led 29-14 at halftime.

Chula Vista fell, 60-47, in the opening round to Monte Vista then slammed an 83-72 victory against Ramona in the second round before closing out preliminary play with a 67-34 setback to Helix.

Lancers, Eagles end Optimist tourney with victories

Posted Jan. 6, 2010
The finals of the 40th annual Optimist girls basketball tournament wrapped up Dec. 31 and for two Metro Conference squads, the ending of the 2009 calendar year came on a positive note. In a match-up of co-hosts, the Olympian Eagles defeated the Bonita Vista Barons, 47-32, in the fifth-place game while the Hilltop Lancers topped the Britannia Bruins from Vancouver, Canada, by a score of 37-22 in the seventh-place game.

A total of five South County schools competed in the tournament. The Chula Spartans claimed the highest team medal with a fourth-place showing after a 37-31 loss to the Morse Tigers in the third-place game. Mar Vista finished 10th after a 61-30 loss to the University City Centurions in the ninth-place game.

The Scripps Ranch Falcons repeated as tourney champions following their 59-50 victory against Phoenix Alhambra in the championship game.

Hilltop finished 3-1 in tournament play with a lone loss to Morse while Bonita Vista, Chula Vista and Olympian all finished 2-2. Mar Vista completed tourney play 1-3.

Scripps Ranch and Alhambra were the only teams to complete pool play undefeated. The Falcons finished the tournament 4-0; Alhambra was 3-1.

Morse finished 3-1 while Britannia and University City both finished 2-2. Point Loma and Clairemont were the only two teams to complete pool play without a victory — they paired up in the game to determine 11th and 12th place. Point Loma emerged with a 38-25 win to mire the Chieftains with an 0-4 tourney showing. The Pointers finished 1-3.

Olympian improved its record to 5-5 on the season while Bonita Vista improved to 4-6 (after an 0-4 start). Each team had one all-tournament selection: Brittany Moses (Olympian) and Jenelle Hudson (Bonita Vista).

Nikki Furuya scored 11 points to lead Hilltop (7-8) in scoring in the fifth-place game. The Lancers shut out the Bruins, 16-0, in the fourth quarter to seal the victory to overturn a 22-21 deficit entering the final quarter. All-tournament selection Alex Pedroza scored four points against Britannia. Eva Wong made the all-tournament team for the Bruins.

Chula Vista (6-7 on the season) and Morse each had one all-tourney pick: Jay Sueing (Chula Vista) and Abigail Leaupepe-Tele (Morse).

All-tourney selections Mia Montanile and Ally Swartz each poured in 19 points to lead Scripps Ranch in its championship game victory. The Falcons got off to a commanding 14-3 first quarter edge before settling for a 23-17 halftime lead. Swartz was named tourney MVP.

Mar Vista and University City each had one all-tourney pick: Marquitta Johnson (Mar Vista) and Jillian Drogin (University City).

Point Loma and Clairemont each had one all-tourney pick: Nicole Tartre (Point Loma) and Savanah Roberts (Clairemont).

Aztec Invitational:
Montgomery splits spot in tourney finals
The Montgomery Aztecs advanced both their boys and girls basketball teams to the championship round of their 2009 Aztec Invitational tournament, Dec. 26, 28-30. However, the results were a split as the Montgomery girls squad defeated San Marcos, 41-32, while the Aztec boys unit fell to Mt. Miguel by a 58-52 score.

Nisha Pineda was named the girls tournament’s Most Valuable Player. She was joined on the all-tournament team by teammates Stefanie Maher and Tiffany Torregano. Torregano led Montgomery with 12 points in the championship game while Pineda added 10 points.

Rick Reyes and Alex Cobb earned berths on the all-tournament team for Montgomery. Cobb had 16 points in the Aztecs’ title game loss to the Matadors. Tourney MVP Harry Brazelton led Mt. Miguel with a game-high 20 points.

Hilltop’s Jacob Craig and Carlos Perez also earned spots on the boys all-tournament team. They each had 19 points in a 53-44 win against Southwest El Centro while Craig pumped in 24 points in a 68-61 loss to Mt. Miguel on the final day of play.

Cougar Classic
Tournament-host San Ysidro dropped a 96-53 contest to the Morse Tigers to settle for a runner-up finish in the championship game of the third annual Cougar Classic played Dec. 30 at San Ysidro High School. The Cougars ended the calendar year with an otherwise standout 11-4 record, finishing 4-1 in tourney play.
Asante Yarborough led San Ysidro with 19 points while teammate Dondi Shumate recorded 11 points. Javion Watson chipped in with nine points while Kevin Bernal and Chandler Tarrant each scored six points.

Bernal led the Cougars with four steals. San Ysidro managed just 10 rebounds as a team.

The Tigers improved to 9-5.

The Cougars qualified for the championship game by whipping Chula Vista High Tech, 73-23, on Dec. 29. Three players scored in double figures for the victors: Shumate (16 points), Watson (10 points) and Yarborough (10 points). Tarrant keyed San Ysidro with nine rebounds and seven steals.

The tourney hosts led 23-6 after the first quarter and 50-10 at halftime.

CV’s Mustafa Muhammed led all scorers in the game with 20 points.

South Bay teams find success in 40th Optimist tourney
Posted Dec. 30, 2009
The 40th annual Bonita Optimist girls basketball tournament tipped off on a positive note for the tourney co-hosts Bonita Vista Barons and Olympian Eagles as both teams opened pool play with victories on Dec. 26. Bonita Vista topped the Brittania Bruins from Vancouver, Canada, 54-39, while Olympian edged 2008 tournament finalist University City by a score of 61-56.

The Barons jump-started the 2009-10 season 0-4 in the Paloma Valley tournament before taking a two-game winning streak into the Optimist hoopfest. Bonita Vista scored its first victory of the season via a 46-27 decision over Palm Desert on Dec. 5 to conclude play in the Paloma tourney and then defeated visiting Mar Vista, 37-30, in a non-league game on Dec. 18.

Jaleisha Freeman led the Barons with 10 points while teammate Hannah Flippen had eight points in the win over Palm Desert.

In the win over Mar Vista, 10 Bonita Vista players scored in the game, led by Raechaniel Hall with eight points.

Hall entered the Optimist tourney leading the Barons with 10.3 points per game.

Bonita Vista extended its winning streak to three games with the victory over Britannia at BVHS. The Barons opened the game with a high-pressure defense, forcing numerous turnovers en route to taking a 9-0 lead on the scoreboard. Bonita Vista seemed to coast from there to a 25-15 halftime lead.

However, the Canadian visitors must have taken a few notes as they came out in an inspired defensive mode to open the second half, with turnovers fueling a minor offensive surge. But Bonita Vista went back to what it did best in the game to win handily by 15 points in the Pool 2 match-up.

Jenelle Hudson and Nadia Cruz were the top scorers in the game, with nearly 20 points each.

Tournament play resumed Monday as the Barons topped Point Loma, 44-38, to extend their modest winning streak to four games. Hudson and Cruz led the way with 14 points apiece.

Bonita Vista then faced off against Phoenix Alhambra in a showdown of tourney unbeatens on Tuesday after the Arizonans had turned aside challenges from both the Pointers and the Bruins.
Tuesday’s 57-30 win by Alhambra catapulted the Phoenix team into Wednesday’s championship game against defending tourney champion Scripps Ranch, likewise undefeated in tournament play, while Bonita Vista dropped to the fifth-place game against Olympian.

Hudson keyed the Barons with eight points while Cruz contributed seven points and Jade Palm chipped in with six points.

Olympian entered tournament play with a 3-3 record with victories against Otay Ranch, Christian Life and Crawford and losses to Chula Vista, Mater Dei and Francis Parker.

The Eagles were staring at a 30-26 halftime deficit before turning the game around to their benefit with a 19-5 run in the third quarter, forcing the Centurions to play catch-up in the final quarter. Brittany Moses led Olympian with 14 points while teammate Kristina Brown added 13 points. Nirelle Davis had seven points and seven rebounds.

Hilltop, however, saw fit to deny the Eagles a 2-0 start with a thrilling 45-44 win on Monday after dropping a tight 43-42 decision to Morse in the Pool 3 opener on Dec. 26. Nikki Furuya dropped in a team-high 13 points and Alexis Pedroza added 12 points to pace the Lancers while Olympian’s Moses had 13 points and Davis grabbed eight rebounds in a losing cause
Pedroza led Hilltop with 10 points in the loss to the Tigers.

Hilltop finished Pool 3 round-robin play with a 2-1 record by defeating University City in a game played Tuesday at BVHS. The Lancers advanced to Wednesday’s seventh-place game against Britannia on the strength of Pedroza’s game-high 14 points.

Chula Vista joined Bonita Vista and Olympian with a tourney-opening victory by bounding past the Clairemont Chieftains, 55-36, in a game played Dec. 26 at Olympian High School. Sheila Mariezcurrea and Laticia Greenoge paced the Spartans with 15 and 14 points, respectively.

Chula Vista stayed unbeaten in tournament play with a 51-48 victory against Mar Vista on Monday as three players scored in double figures: Sativa Story (14 points), Jay Sueing (13 points) and Greenoge (11 points). The Spartans drew defending tournament champion Scripps Ranch in Tuesday’s Pool 1 finale, losing 43-25 to drop to the third place game on Wednesday against Morse.
Sueing keyed the Spartans in Tuesday’s loss with nine points.

Scripps Ranch tipped off tourney play with a 53-32 victory against Mar Vista on Dec. 26. Ally Swartz keyed the Falcons with 19 points — a figure matched by the Mariners’ Crystina Acero. The Falcons completed pool play undefeated with ensuing wins against Clairemont and Chula Vista.

In Monday’s setback to the Spartans, Mar Vista received double-digit scoring from four players: Acero (13 points) and April Pillado, Alexis Webb and Marquetta Johnson (all with 10 points).

Olympian, Hilltop snare playoff wins to wrap up Optimist tourney finals

Posted Jan. 1, 2010
The finals of the 40th annual Optimist girls basketball tournament wrapped up Dec. 31 and for two Metro Conference squads, the ending of the 2009 calendar year came on a positive note. In a match-up of co-hosts, the Olympian Eagles defeated the Bonita Vista Barons, 47-32, in the fifth-place game while the Hilltop Lancers topped the Britannia Bruins from Vancouver, Canada, by a score of 37-22 in the seventh-place game.

A total of five South County schools competed in the tournament. The Chula Spartans claimed the highest team medal with a fourth-place finish after a 37-31 loss to the Morse Tigers in the third-place game. Mar Vista finished 10th after a 61-30 loss to the University City Centurions in the ninth-place game.

The Scripps Ranch Falcons repeated as tourney champions following their  victory against Phoenix Alhambra in the championship game.

Hilltop finished 3-1 in tournament play with a lone loss to Morse while Bonita Vista, Chula Vista and Olympian all finished 2-2. Mar Vista completed tourney play 1-3.

Scripps Ranch and Alhambra were the only teams to complete pool play undefeated. The Falcons finished the tournament 4-0 while Alhambra was 3-1.

Morse finished 3-1 while Britannia and University City both finished 2-2. Point Loma and Clairemont were the only two teams to complete pool play without a victory -- they paired up in the game to determine 11th and 12th place. Point Loma emerged with a 38-25 win to mire the Chieftains with a 0-4 tourney showing. The Pointers finished 1-3.

Prep Basketball Preview:Metro Conference
Titans show promise with combined 16-3 start
Posted Dec. 22, 2009
The Eastlake boys and girls basketball teams both appear to show promise this season after earning runner-up finishes in their first tournament outings. The EHS boys team placed runner-up to Hoover in its own Titan Tip-Off Classic while the Eastlake girls squad finished second in the third annual Lady Monarch Invitational with a championship game loss to El Camino.
The Titan boys team will be out to defend its Mesa League championship title while the girls team, with a three-year playoff ban recently lifted by the San Diego Section, looks to challenge for the top spot in the league standings as well in a battle against a re-tooled defending state champion Mater Dei Catholic team.

Ladies first
The Titans, who saw last season end in a CIF-mandated forfeit in the semifinal-round of the section playoffs for use of an ineligible player, started a new era in the program’s otherwise illustrious history by engineering a runner-up finish in the third annual Lady Monarch Invitational. Eastlake roared to a 5-0 start to the season under new coach David Koopman before having its win streak finally ended with a 51-50 loss to El Camino, a team it previously defeated 52-43 in the tourney’s earlier rounds.

The Titans opened their new-look season with a 52-50 win against Kearny on Nov. 30 and followed with victories against Castle Park (65-22 on Dec. 1) and El Camino (Dec. 2) for three wins in as many days. Eastlake continued its winning streak with the pre-tourney final victory against La Jolla (59-46 on Dec. 4) and then subdued tourney host Monte Vista (83-54 on Dec. 5) before drawing a rematch with the Wildcats.

Diamond Mitchell has been the player who has helped make the Titans go in the early part of the season. She tipped off the 2009-10 hoops campaign by scoring 15 points in the team’s opening victory and added 20 points in the ensuing win against Castle Park.
Mallory Robbins had 14 points in the win against Castle Park and led Eastlake in scoring in wins against El Camino (17 points) and La Jolla (21 points).

The Titans opened the tournament championship game with an 11-4 lead over the Wildcats in the first quarter and led 26-22 at halftime. Eastlake still led 40-35 entering the fourth quarter before being out-scored 16-10 to absorb the one-point loss. Robbins had a team-high 14 points while Mitchell contributed nine points.

The Titans routed Monte Vista with a 29-5 run in the third quarter. The Monarchs made 44 turnovers in the loss.

Eastlake defeated Grossmont (45-43), Horizon Christian (50-39) and Crawford (74-41) as part of the Varsity Shootout Classic Dec. 15-18. The Titans (8-1) took control of the game against Horizon with a 22-11 first quarter advantage and opened up a 38-17 halftime lead on Crawford.

Eastlake will compete in the SoCal Holiday Prep Classic Dec. 26, 28-29 to close out the 2009 portion of its schedule.
The Titans tip off Mesa League play Jan. 22 with a home game against Bonita Vista.

Zooming ahead
The Eastlake boys team appears to show promise this season after earning a runner-up finish to Hoover in its own tournament: the season-opening Titan Tip-Off Classic. Eastlake jump-started the 2009-10 campaign 5-0 before falling 72-46 to the Cardinals in the tourney title game.

Martin Meza had 13 points and Felix Dion had 12 points as the Titans tipped off the season with a 46-39 victory against Grossmont on Dec. 2. Trevon Ash led Eastlake with 15 points in a 49-34 win over Carlsbad on Dec. 4 while Ash and Dion each scored 15 points and Dillon Doria contributed 12 points in a 69-57 victory over Mira Mesa on Dec. 7. It was Doria’s turn to lead the team with 13 points in a 55-35 win against Calexico on Dec. 9.

Eastlake topped Poway, 52-46, in the tournament semifinals on Dec. 10 as Dion (18 points), Ash (16 points) and Doria (14 points) led the way.

The Titans (8-2) finished 3-1 in the Azusa tournament with victories over Covina Gladstone (44-26), South Hills (55-51) and Azusa (71-28). In the latter game, the Titans broke out to a 27-5 first quarter lead.
Eastlake will end the calendar year with an appearance in the Spartan Classic at Chula Vista High School. The Titans will open pool play with three games against East County teams: Steele Canyon (Dec. 26), Helix (Dec. 28) and Monte Vista (Dec. 29). Playoff rounds are Dec. 30.

Eastlake will tip off 2010 with a Jan. 9 home game against Morse before traveling to Escondido to take on the Cougars on Jan. 13. The Titans will host small schools power Foothills Christian in a high profile non-league encounter Jan. 15 before tipping off Mesa League play with a Jan. 20 home game against Hilltop.

BOYS BASKETBALL TYEAM SNAPSHOTS
Otay Ranch Mustangs
Alex Perez looks to be one of the South County’s most exciting players to watch this season after averaging 33 points to start the season. Perez had 38 points in a 64-60 non-league loss to Scripps Ranch on Dec. 2, scored 26 points in a 74-52 win over Valhalla on Dec. 5 and dropped in 35 points in a 94-63 win over West Hills in the Wolfpack-Horsman Tournament on Dec. 11.

Richmond Vitalich had 16 points in the win over Valhalla, which Otay Ranch led 40-28 at halftime. Vitalich had 14 points and Danny Azhocar had 13 points in the victory over West Hills. In the latter contest, the Mustangs bounded out to a 51-24 halftime lead.

Olympian Eagles
The Eagles (6-3) look to make some noise before the season is over after performing well in their own holiday-themed tournament Dec. 9-12.

Ryan Canlapan scored 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds while teammate Corbin Humphrey added 10 points in a 63-50 win against Orange Glen to tip off tourney play. Olympian topped Christian Life Academy, 75-61, in its next game as Jelani James scored 18 points and made 12 rebounds, Canlapan scored 12 points, Christopher Turk had 11 points and Ryan Van Nostrand contributed 10 points and eight rebounds.

The Eagles suffered a 52-41 setback to Mater Dei in their third tourney game. Eric Paranada led Olympian with 12 points while Canlapan had 11 points and James contributed seven points and 11 rebounds.

The tourney hosts got back on the winning track via a 73-43 victory against Castle Park as Canlapan had 12 points and five rebounds, Van Nostrand collected 13 rebounds and James added seven points and 11 rebounds.

San Ysidro Cougars
The Cougars (7-3) wrapped up play in the Imperial Tiger Classic with a 4-1 record after tipping off the season with a 2-2 showing in the Eagle Classic. Javion Watson leads San Ysidro in team scoring with 15.9 points per game. He’s followed on the scoresheet by teammates Dondi Shumate (14.1 ppg) and Asante Yarborough (12.3 ppg). Watson also leads the team with 62 assists in 10 games while Chandler Tarrant keys the Cougars with 114 rebounds. Brendon Tarrant ranks next on the team with 96 rebounds.

Chula Vista Spartans
The Spartans finished 1-4 in the annual Hilltop tournament to tip-off the season, defeating El Cajon Valley by 20 points, 64-44, in the final round of competition on Dec. 11. Chula Vista’s Thomas Nollie was named to the all-tournament team.

The west side school will host the 21st annual Spartan Classic Dec. 26, 28-30

Montgomery Aztecs
The Aztecs won two of their three opening games of the season, topping Kearny, 49-46, on Dec. 2 and edging Clairemont, 51-49, on Dec. 7, both as part of the D-III Challenge. Gabriel Montero led Montgomery with 15 points while Alex Cobb contributed 12 points and Al-fahad Agapay had 11 points in the season-opening victory.

Montgomery High School will host the Aztec Holiday Invitational Dec. 26, 28-30. The tournament will feature both boys and girls varsity divisions.

GIRLS BASKETBALL TEAM SNAPSHOTS

Mater Dei Catholic Crusaders
The torch has been handed to a largely new line-up after the Crusaders’ 2008-09 state championship team lost five key players to graduation. The new group appears up to the challenge after opening the season 6-0 with the championship title of the Coronado Thanksgiving Tournament in hand.

The team’s new stars include freshmen Brittani Lusain and Alexandria Young, sophomores Cardedra Evans and Ocean Escalanti and senior Tatiana Tobe.

Lusain and Young each led Mater Dei with 12 points in a 37-32 win over Ramona to claim the Coronado tourney title. Young had eight rebounds and six steals in the game while Lusain had six rebounds and four steals. Lusain had 21 points and 10 rebounds in a 53-25 victory over Francis Parker on Nov. 28.

After opening the season with five victories in the Coronado tournament, the Crusaders topped neighborhood rival Olympian, 58-37, on Dec. 12 as Lusain had 16 points and 11 rebounds, Young had 13 points and 11 rebounds and Escalanti had 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Mater Dei tips off Mesa League play Jan. 20 against visiting Otay Ranch.

Otay Ranch Mustangs
Otay Ranch tipped off its season with a 71-27 victory against Madison as part of the third annual Lady Monarch Invitational (Nov. 30-Dec. 5). The Mustangs led 27-4 after the first quarter and 42-15 at halftime. Kaylene Muhs keyed Otay Ranch with 21 points while De'asia Manago and Victoria Reyes each contributed 13 points to the victory.

The Mustangs returned to the victory column via a 59-55 non-league overtime decision at Lincoln on Dec. 7 as Manago scored a game-high 23 points, Chelsea Wong added 19 points and Reyes contributed 14 points. The teams were tied at 49 points entering overtime as the Mustangs made up a six-point deficit in the second half. Otay Ranch won the OT period 10-6 on the scoreboard.

The Mustangs host Point Loma on Jan. 9 to start the second half of the 2009-10 hoops campaign before jumping into Mesa League play Jan. 20 at defending league, regional and state champion Mater Dei.

Olympian Eagles
The Eagles tipped off the season with a pair of non-league victories: 62-49 over Otay Ranch on Dec. 1 and 41-20 over Christian Life Academy on Dec. 4. Brittany Moses led Olympian with 20 points while teammate Nirelle Davis added 19 points in the season-opening win against the Mustangs, who received 21 points from Victoria Reyes and 13 points from Chelsea Wong. The Eagles then spread their wings wider with the win over Christian Life as Kristina Brown led the South Bay hosts with 10 points and 11 rebounds in the come-from-behind victory. Moses added nine points, two assists and five rebounds for Olympian while Shavonne Benson had seven points and four rebounds.

Olympian tips off South Bay League play with a Jan. 6 home court encounter against the Sweetwater Red Devils, a preseason pick to capture the 2009-10 league championship.

Girls Basketball
40th Bonita Optimist girls hoops tourney takes center court in holiday lineup
Posted Dec. 22, 2009
The Bonita Optimist Club is sponsoring the 40th annual Bonita Vista and Olympian High School Girls Basketball Tournament. The tournament is the longest running basketball tournament in San Diego County. Twelve varsity teams and 12 junior varsity teams will compete in this year’s tournament, which tips off Saturday, Dec. 26, and continues Monday, Dec. 28 to Wednesday, Dec. 30.

Two out-of-area teams will participate in the varsity division: Britannia from Vancouver, Canada, and Alhambra from the Phoenix area. Local squads include co-hosts Bonita Vista and Olympian, as well as Chula Vista, Mar Vista and Hilltop. Rounding out the field are section rivals Point Loma, University City, Clairemont, Morse and defending champion Scripps Ranch.

Six games will be played daily at Bonita Vista and Olympian high schools. All games begin at 11 a.m. and will end about 8:30 p.m., with varsity games starting at 4 p.m. The varsity championship game will be played at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 30, at Bonita Vista High School.

The Bonita Optimist Club, with more than 120 members, is a non-profit volunteer organization that has set a goal as its motto to “bring out the best” in kids in the South Bay area. This year the Bonita Optimist Club has awarded scholarships, sponsored essay and oratorical contests, hosted a student appreciation event and funded countless community projects. The club meets at 7 a.m. for breakfast (with one evening meeting a month) on Thursdays at the historic Rohr Manor in Rohr Park in Chula Vista. Guests are always welcome.

Girls Basketball
State champ Crusaders tip off season 4-0

Posted Dec. 3, 2009
After watching his team capture last season’s Division IV state championship title, Mater Dei Catholic girls basketball coach David Monroe was asked to look ahead to this season. Noting the loss of five impact players to graduation, Monroe vowed that his team would somehow find a way — he wasn’t sure just yet — to set a course to repeat as state champs.

Four games into the 2009-10 season sporting a spotless 4-0 record, his team appears to be finding a way, somehow.

The Crusaders, despite the vastly overhauled lineup, captured their opening four games in the annual Coronado Thanksgiving Tournament last weekend A tournament championship might just be the tonic this new cast of girls needs to boost their confidence level, if the 4-0 start hasn’t already.

Mater Dei will play Ramona for the tourney title on Saturday, Dec. 5. Tip-off is 4:15 p.m.

The Crusaders tipped off the new season last Friday with victories against Imperial (48-34) and Coronado (52-19) and followed with wins against Hilltop (53-30) and Francis Parker (53-25) on Saturday.

Three players scored in double digits to boost Mater Dei in its tourney opener: freshman guard Brittani Lusain (16 points), sophomore guard Cardedra Evans (13 points) and freshman Alexandria Young (10 points). The youthful Crusaders got off to a strong start with a 25-4 first quarter edge on the Tigers.

The defending Mesa League champions used another fast start— a 17-7 first-quarter edge — to subdue the tourney host Islanders. Senior guard Tatiania Tobe keyed Mater Dei with 19 points while Young (12 points) and Evans (10 points) also scored in double figures.

The Crusaders bounded out to leads of 12-3 (first quarter) and 30-8 (halftime) over Hilltop as Lusain (18 points), Evans (11 points) and Young (10 points) paced the offense.

Mater Dei will test Olympian in a non-league game Dec. 14 on the Eagles’ court before competing in the Vaquero Invitational and SoCal Classic over the holiday break.

The Crusaders tip off league play Jan. 20 against Otay Ranch.

Crusaders capture Coronado tourney title
Posted Dec. 9, 2009
The crusade continues for the Mater Dei High School girls basketball team after the Crusaders topped Ramona, 37-32, last Saturday to claim the championship of this year’s Coronado Thanksgiving Tournament.

Mater Dei, the defending Division IV state champion, jumped out to a 15-6 first quarter lead en route to a 21-12 halftime edge. The Bulldogs closed the gap to 27-24 entering the final quarter but the Crusaders held on for the win.

Brittani Lusain and Alexandria Young led Mater Dei with 12 points each. Lusain also collected six rebounds, two assists and four steals while Young had eight rebounds, two assists and six steals.

Cardedra Evans had five points, six rebounds and two assists while Tatiana Tobe had four points, four rebounds and one steal. Ocean Escalanti had four points and eight boards.

Lusain had 21 points and 10 rebounds in a Nov. 28 tourney game against Francis Parker. Evans had 10 points and collected nine rebounds while Young scored 11 points and had 13 boards.

The Crusaders, who feature an almost totally new lineup, appear to be reaping maximum benefits from the players assembled on this year’s team in shooting to a season-opening 5-0 record.

GIRLS BASKETBALL PREVIEW

Eastlake Titans
The Titans, who saw last season end in a CIF-mandated forfeit in the semifinal-round of the San Diego Section playoffs for use of an ineligile player, started a new era in the program's otherwise illustrious history by engineering a runner-up finish in the third annual Lady Monarch Invitational. Eastalke roared to a 5-0 start to the season under new coach David Koopman before having their win streak finally ended with a 51-50 loss to El Camino, a team they previously defeated 52-43 in the tourney's earlier rounds.

The Titans opened their new-look season with a 52-50 win against Kearny on Nov. 30 and followed with victories against Castle Park (65-22 on Dec. 1) and El Camino (Dec. 2) for three wins in as many days. Eastlake continued its winning streak with the pre-tourney final victory against La Jolla (59-46 on Dec. 4) and then subdued touney-host Monte Vista (83-54 on Dec. 5) before drawing a rematch with the Wildcats.

Diamond Mitchell has been the player who has helped make the Titans go in the early part of the season. She tipped off the 2009-10 hoops campaign by scoring 15 points in the team's opening victory and added 20 points in the enusing win against Castle Park.

Mallory Robbins had 14 points in the win against Castle Park and led Eastlake with 17 points in wins against El Camino (17 points) and La Jolla (21 points).

The Titans opened the tournament championship game with an 11-4 lead over the Wildcats in the first quarter and led 26-22 at halftime. Eastlake still led 40-35 entering the fourth quarter before being out-scored 16-10 to absorb the one-point loss. Robbins had a team-high 14 points while Mitchell contributed nine points.

The Titans routed Monte Vista with a 29-5 run in the third quarter. The Monarchs made 44 turnovers in the loss.

Otay Ranch Mustangs
Otay Ranch tipped off its season with a 71-27 victory against Madison as part of the third annual Lady Monarch Invitational (Nov. 30-Dec. 5). The Mustangs led 27-4 after the first quarter and 42-15 at halftime. Kaylene Muhs keyed Otay Ranch with 21 points while De'asia Manago and Victoria Reyes each contributed 13 points to the victory.

The Mustangs returned to the victory column via a 59-55 non-league overtime decision at Lincoln on Dec. 7 as Manago scored a game-high 23 points, Chelsea Wong added 19 points and Reyes contributed 14 points. The teams were tied at 49 points entering overtime as the Mustangs made up a six-point defict in the second half. Otay Rach won the OT period 10-6 on the scoreboard.

The Mustangs host Point Loma on Jan. 9 to start the second half of the 2009-10 hoops campaign before jumping into Mesa League play Jan. 20 at defending league, regional and state champion Mater Dei.

Olympian Eagles
The Eagles tipped off the season with a pair of non-league victories: 62-49 over Otay Ranch on Dec. 1 and 41-20 over Christian Life Academy on Dec. 4. Brittany Moses led Olympian with 20 points while teammate Nirelle Davis added 19 points in the season-opening win against the Mustangs, who received 21 points from Victoria Reyes and 13 points from Chelsea Wong. The Eagles then spread their wings wider with the win over Christian Life as Kristina Brown led the South Bay hosts with 10 points and 11 rebounds in the come-from-behind victory. Moses added nine points, two assists and five rebounds for Olympian while Shavonne Benson had seven points and four rebounds.

Olympian tips off South Bay League play with a Jan. 6 home court encounter against the Sweetwater Red Devils, a preseason pick to capture the 2009-10 league championship.