Shadowlands

The Orange Coast College women’s basketball team rolls to a 76-57

victory over visiting Allan Hancock in the second round of the

Southern California Regional Playoffs. The Pirates, coming back from

a 12-day layoff, jump out to a 14-0 lead and hold advantages of 23-5

and 31-12 in the first half. Orange Empire Conference Player of the

Year Jennifer Ludwicki drains Coast’s first three baskets and

receives defensive help from sophomore Becky Loshak. Ludwicki

finishes with 30 points, hitting five three-pointers and grabbing

eight boards. Natalie Weeks gets 11 rebounds.

The visiting Corona del Mar High boys volleyball team opens its

season with a 15-13, 15-7, 6-15, 15-2 victory over Costa Mesa in a

nonleague showdown. The Sea Kings, who the year before reached the

CIF Southern Section Division III-A championship match, “show flashes

of brilliance and flashes of inexperience,” according to third-year

Coach Steve Conti. Junior first-team All-CIF returner Dennis Alshuler

and Greg Coon combine for 20 kills with 10 each. CdM (1-0) jumps to a

14-10 lead in Game 1 before Mesa (1-1) creeps to within 14-13. CdM

senior Greg Burden rifles a shot past Mesa blockers to secure the

Game 1 win. Mesa first-year coach Yvette Ybarra says her team has

athletic ability but is playing as individuals. The Mustangs dominate

the third game behind B.J Lightvoet (18 kills). He rattles off six

service points in the game. CdM senior Kevin Hansen contributes 22

assists and his Mesa counterpart, Chris Shanley, tallies 32.

Coaches vote Newport Harbor High’s Alden Moore Sea View League

Player of the Year in girls water polo. Moore helps lead Harbor to

its first league championship and paces the team with 69 goals. Seven

Back Bay standouts are named first-team all-league, including Corona

del Mar’s Meagan Hardt and Newport’s Kyndra Cox. Second-team

selections include Newport’s Autumn Milliken and Jocelyn Manderino,

along with CdM’s Krista Bjorkvist and Laura Blair. Hardt, a senior,

scores a team-high 87 goals and adds 56 steals and 15 assists.

Costa Mesa High’s Mustangs give Coach Kirk Bauermeister a nice

welcome back gift as they post a 5-1 victory over host Century in

nonleague baseball action. Bauermeister opens his first season at the

helm since he coached at Mesa from 1981-88. Starter Ryan Gallacher

throws just 53 pitches in 5 1/3 innings, striking out four and

allowing four hits. Junior cleanup hitter Ruben Mancilla hammers a

shot 350 feet for the game-winning home run. Nick Lambert and Jimmy

Herzog each rip hits as the Mustangs score three runs in the seventh

inning to put the game away.

Before nearly 1,000 fans at Loyola Marymount University, Costa

Mesa High’s girls basketball team downs arch-nemesis Rancho Alamitos,

72-55, for the CIF Southern Section Division III-A championship.

Three-time All-CIF star Olivia DiCamilli scores 10 of what would be a

game-high 27 points, followed by Heather Robinson’s 10 points in the first two periods and 16 for the game. Neiar Kabua hits seven of her

15 points in the winning stretch. Mesa (26-4) shoots 50% from the

field by halftime while Rancho cans only 14% (4 of 27). The Mustangs,

who have now won 22 consecutive games, are coached by Lisa McNamee

and host Alemany (25-5) in the first round of the CIF State playoffs.

Corona del Mar senior captain Todd Merriman intercepts a pass with

23 seconds left and hits two free throws with 21 seconds left to

clinch the hosts’ 47-46 victory over St. Bernard in the CIF Southern

Section Division IV-AA title game at Estancia High. A missed Sea King

free throw with 14 seconds left gives St. Bernard (13-15) possession,

but a Gregory Metoyer three-pointer bounds off the hoop and CdM

(17-12) lets time expire without inbounding the ball. CdM Coach Paul

Orris earns his first CIF title ring in three title-game appearances,

along with the school’s first section title since 1981, the third in

its history. Merriman nets 13 points to follow senior Chris Quinn’s

team-high 14. Senior forward Kyle Thompson chips in seven points off

the bench. Quinn and Merriman combine for 17 of the Sea Kings’ 25

first-half points and Eli Wendell’s three-point play with 2:17 left

in the first quarter gives the hosts the lead for good, 7-5.

Smothering defensive pressure is provided by Dan MacMillan, who

frustrates St. Bernard’s Terrell Hickmon, who scores 19 points, but

only four in the second half. The Sea Kings host Corcoran (21-6) in

the first round of the state playoffs.

The Orange Coast College women’s basketball team makes its first

trip to the state tournament, but falls in the first round to

Hancock, 82-76. The Pirates (27-6) take a 68-66 lead with one minute

to play in regulation on a pair of free throws, but Leka McCann hits

a field goal with 42 seconds left to tie it at 68 and each team fails

to score to force overtime. Hancock (27-3) outscores the Pirates,

14-8, in overtime. Ricarda Kuypers and Jana Davis each score 17

points while Colleen Hatch drains a game-high 24 points on 10-of-15

shooting from the field.

-- compiled by Bryce Alderton