Getting serious
Mike Sciacca, Independent
With the final full week of nonleague play officially over, it’s time
to get down to business.
Tonight, the Sunset League girls’ basketball race unfolds with a full
slate of action beginning at 7 p.m. Marina and Edison will tangle at
Edison while two teams that have had strong nonleague seasons, Huntington
Beach and Esperanza, will meet on the Oilers’ home court. The other
league matchup has Fountain Valley at Los Alamitos.
Also on tap tonight at 7 p.m. is the tip-off of the Golden West League
race, as Ocean View plays host to Saddleback.
On Friday at the same time, the boys’ league races will commence.
Sunset League action finds Edison playing at Marina, Huntington Beach at
Esperanza and Fountain Valley hosting Los Alamitos.
On Monday, reigning Golden West League champion Ocean View will begin
its quest for a fifth consecutive league crown when it visits Santa Ana.
Both Sunset League races figure to be a real dog fight.
“Every team in the Sunset League is doing pretty well up to this
point,” Marina coach Roger Holmes said after his Vikings won the
consolation title at last weekend’s Atascadero Tournament. “This league
is so tough that there is no off night for anybody, that’s for sure.”
James Lambert certainly was at his best Saturday night in Marina’s
88-70 victory over Atascadero. Lambert, a 6-foot-2 sophomore wing/guard,
poured in a new Marina record 47 points and also set a new mark for
three-point baskets in a game with nine. His 47 points broke a record
that has stood for 10 years, back to when Cherokee Parks set the record
with 44 points in 1991. Lambert was 9 of 14 from behind the arch, he
eclipsed the previous school mark of eight set by Beau Brown in 2000 --
the last year that Marina won the Sunset League championship.
“I didn’t have any idea that I had so many points,” said Lambert, who
started on varsity as a freshman “I started off shooting cold but then I
just started finding the basket.”
Lambert is just one of six sophomores that Holmes has playing on
varsity. The 10-5 Vikings have lost four of those games by a total of
eight points.
“We’re playing well right now. We run a very up-tempo game and this
(Atascadero) tournament was a good test for league play because there
were a lot of physical teams involved in it,” Holmes said.
Nick Ciaramitaro, the lone senior starter for Marina, scored 32 points
in a second round tournament game against Newbury Park and is averaging
19 points.
The two front runners for the girls’ Sunset League title are Esperanza
and Edison. They did battle in pool play of the Edison Tournament for a
preview of things to come. The host Chargers used 17 points from Bianca
Ziemann and 13 more from Rachael Ziemann to post a 42-36 victory over the
11th-ranked Aztecs.
Only a night earlier, the twins combined for 28 points as Edison
shaded No. 7 Hart, 61-60.
The Chargers were 9-4 heading into a New Year’s Eve tournament
championship game against No. 4 Troy.
A tough nonleague schedule also included victories over highly ranked
Rosary on the road and Norco at a neutral site.
“It was a great game between two good teams, and there will be a few
more of those to come down the road,” Edison coach Cory Kelly said of the
Esperanza game. The Chargers and Aztecs have Sunset League showdowns
scheduled for Jan. 15 at Edison and Feb. 5 at Esperanza. * MIKE SCIACCA
is the education and sports reporter. He can be reached at (714) 965-7171
or by e-mail at michael.sciacca@latimes.com.
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