Sowers picks up win

The Sowers Middle School seventh- and eighth-grade girls’ basketball

teams both improved to 2-0 with victories over host Harbor Day.

In the eighth-grade game, Sowers scored a 22-13 win. Dalia Wahab

led all scorers with 10 points and also contributed five rebounds and

a pair of steals.

“Coach told me that if they gave me the outside shot not to

hesitate, but to pop it,” Wahab said. “Fortunately, I had a real good

feel and they kept falling.”

The Lady Vikings also received strong performances from Kelsey

Wang who had five rebounds, three steals and three assists, and

Marissa Kanemaru who had six rebounds and four steals.

In the seventh-grade contest, Sowers ran away with a 30-8 win,

with a pair of sixth-graders -- Brooke Thomas and Danielle Miller --

leading the way.

Thomas led the scoring attack with eight points and Miller had six

points.

Kaitlin Davis chipped in four points.

“A big part of our philosophy each year is to find some

sixth-graders who can contribute and become our team leaders the

following year,” Coach Kyle Morita said. “We think we have three more

good ones this year.

In other youth basketball action:

Grace Lutheran 29, St. Paul’s 28

Grace Lutheran of Huntington Beach’s fifth/sixth Grade Division

girls’ basketball team defeated St. Paul’s of Orange in overtime to

improve to 4-0 in Orange County Lutheran School League play.

Kelsey Hollenbeck’s free throw in overtime won the game for Orange

Lutheran which also got a game-high 16 points from point guard Devon

Shinn and 10 points from Tori Smith.

Previous to defeating St. Paul’s of Orange, Grace Lutheran

finished in third-place at the Zion’s of Anaheim Tournament -- the

highest-ever finish for the school. Shinn led the team during the

tournament with 23 points, Smith had 15, Chloe Kaneko scored 13 and

Emily Janio finished with 10 points.

Brianna Ferguson and Stephanie Schmidt helped lead the defense for

Grace Lutheran.