Sailors win in Alaska, lose Diefenbach

The Newport Harbor High boys basketball team won for the second time

in two games Monday at the Capital City Classic in Juneau, Alaska.

But the Sailors may have sustained a season-altering loss.

Jamie Diefenbach, a 6-foot-8 senior center who missed his junior

season after tearing the ACL in his right knee, injured his left knee

Sunday night in the tournament’s slam dunk contest, Newport assistant

coach Bryan Cottriel said.

“He came down funny and, after looking at it on videotape, I’d be

surprised if it wasn’t a torn ligament,” Cottriel said.

Cottriel said Diefenbach planned to fly to Orange County today to

undergo medical tests to determine the extent of the injury.

This would mark the third straight season a Sailor has missed all

or most of a season with a torn ACL. Two Sailors sustained the injury

last year.

On the court Monday, the Tars defeated Fairbanks-based North Pole,

69-45, in what amounted to a semifinal game at Juneau-Douglas High.

Junior Taylor Young scored a career-high 28 points and added 13

rebounds, eight offensive, to pace the Sailors (9-4), who meet host

Juneau-Douglas tonight 8 for the tournament title.

Senior Greg Gausewitz had nine rebounds and two points for the

Tars.

*--*

Capital City Classic

Semifinal Newport Harbor 69, North Pole 45

Score by Quarters

North Pole 6 6 15 18 - 45

Newport Harbor 14 20 21 14 - 69

North Pole - Harrell 8, Seavy 12,

Hollingsworth 4, Tanner 7, Lohrman 5, Pavell

2, Mandeville 1, Glenn 6. 3-pt. goals - Seavy

2, Harrell 2, Lohrman 1. Fouled out -

Hollingsworth. Technicals - None. Newport

Harbor - Young 28, Perrine 7, MacBeth 4,

Mouradyan 6, Heenan 6, Orth 8, Hunter 4,

Gausewitz 2, Allee 1, Holbrook 1, Slater 1,

Eadington 1. 3-pt. goals - Perrine 1, Orth 1.

Fouled out - None. Technicals - None.

*--*

Mesa tops Cabrillo

* BASKETBALL: The Costa Mesa High boys basketball team turned up

its trademark defensive intensity after halftime to pull away and

earn a 55-41 victory over Cabrillo of Long Beach in the 13th-place

semifinal of the Orange Holiday Classic Monday at Chapman University.

The Mustangs, leading by a mere one point at halftime, outscored

the Jaguars, 17-12, in the third quarter and 15-7 in the final eight

minutes to improve to 7-5.

Mesa will play for 13th place today at 12:10 p.m. against Gahr.

Sophomore Scott Knox had a game-high 18 points for the Mustangs,

who also received double-figure scoring from junior Jeff Waldron (13)

and sophomore Tony Krikorian (11).

Waldron added 10 rebounds, while Krikorian made 3 of 4 from

three-point range.

Senior center Marko Stankovic chipped in 10 rebounds, four blocked

shots and six points, while sophomore point guard Brian Molina had

eight assists to go with his five points.

*--*

Orange Holiday Classic

13th-place semifinal Costa Mesa 55, Cabrillo 41

Score by Quarters

Cabrillo 9 13 12 7 - 41

Costa Mesa 11 12 17 15 - 55

Cabrillo - Carter 14, Graham 14, Dumphrey 2,

Halcomb 4, Jennings 2, Allen 5. 3-pt. goals -

Graham 4, Carter 2. Fouled out - None.

Technicals - None. Costa Mesa - Waldron 13,

Stankovic 6, Knox 16, Krikorian 11, Molina 5,

Aleson 4, Wase 0, Gandia 0, Lefebvre 0. 3-pt.

goals - Krikorian 3, Knox 2, Waldron 1. Fouled

out - None. Technicals - None.

*--*

CdM girls victorious

* BASKETBALL: Corona del Mar High senior Kate Heeschen scored a

career-high 21 points to lead the Sea Kings to a 44-38 win over host

Santiago in the Cavalier Classic Monday night in Garden Grove.

Heeschen, who scored 10 of her 14 second-half points in the fourth

quarter, had five steals, three rebounds and two assists to help CdM

improve to 3-5.

Senior Lauren Snell had eight rebounds, four steals and four

points, while sophomore Megan Benbow added six rebounds and four

assists to her three points.

CdM continues pool play tonight at 8, against University High from

Los Angeles.

*--*

Cavalier Classic

First-round pool play Corona del Mar 44,

Santiago 38

Score by Quarters

Corona del Mar 8 5 8 23 -- 44

Santiago 7 12 10 9 -- 38

Corona del Mar -- Wayte 2, Stern 8, Heeschen

21, Skalla 0, Duernberger 4, Snell 4, Benbow

3, Marks 2, Wadhwa 0, Kawata 0, Long 0. 3-pt.

goals -- None. Fouled out -- Stern. Technicals

-- None. Santiago -- Doan 14, Contreras 10, K.

Luna 3, Howard 1, V. Luna 6, Le 1, Tran 4.

3-pt. goals -- None. Fouled out -- K. Luna,

Tran. Technicals -- None.

*--*

Lightning trounce foes

* BASKETBALL: The Sage Hill School boys basketball team, with only

six available players, scored the first 11 points of the game and

went on to a 46-32 win over the Renaissance Academy of La Canada in

the third round of pool play at the St. Anthony tournament Monday in

Long Beach.

Sage Hill senior Kevin Joyce scored a game-high 20 to pace the

winners, who improved to 7-4.

Sophomore Matt Loper added 12 points for the Lightning, which

outscored the Wildcats in every quarter.

The Lightning’s only scare was having three players with three

fouls at halftime.

“We went into a zone there for a while,” Coach Steve Keith said

with a laugh. The limited numbers were due to some players being out

of town, Keith said.

Sage concludes the tournament today against Thomas Aquinas of

Canada.

*--*

St. Anthony tournament

Third-round pool play Sage Hill 46, Renaissance

32

Score by Quarters

Renaissance 2 10 12 8 - 32 Sage Hill 11 11 15 9 - 46 Renaissance - Shapiro 2, Williams 10, Beam 4,

Lewis 2, Meyers 4, Green 2, Farnsworth 8. 3-pt.

goals - Beam 1. Fouled out - None. Technicals -

None. Sage Hill - Lefler 0, Loper 12, Joyce 20,

Voge 6, Hancock 2, Durheim 6. 3-pt. goals -

Joyce 1. Fouled out - None. Technicals - None.

*--*

Sailors win contests

* BASKETBALL: Newport Harbor High sophomore Dennis Heenan won the

boys three-point shooting contest and Sailor senior Kristi Koon

claimed the girls free-throw shooting title Sunday at the Capital

City Classic in Juneau, Alaska.

Heenan hit 12 of 20 three-point tries to top the field, while Koon

hit more than a dozen foul shots to prevail in the miss-and-your-out

format, according to Newport Harbor boys assistant coach Bryan

Cottriel.

Irvine edges Mustangs

* BASKETBALL: Costa Mesa High senior Brittany Vergara sank four

three-pointers and scored a career-high 12 points, but the host

Mustangs were edged, 41-39, by Irvine in the girls basketball

consolation semifinals of the Costa Mesa Winter Classic Monday.

The Mustangs trailed, 15-9, after one quarter and closed to within

18-17 at halftime. Irvine widened the lead to three in the third

period, but Mesa rallied to take a 29-28 advantage early in the

fourth.

The Vaqueros, however, regained the lead and were never headed.

Vergara, the Mustangs’ 5-foot-3 center, added five rebounds,

despite giving away nine inches to the opposing post.

Senior Cassey Brick had 10 rebounds and six assists to go with her

four points, while Mesa senior teammate Susy Trujillo had 12 points

to go with her six rebounds and three steals.

Trujillo’s performance came despite spraining her ankle in the

first quarter. Coach Jim Weeks said she missed most of the second

quarter and will probably be rested today, when the Mustangs (5-4)

meet Golden West League rival Westminster in the 11th-place game at

10:30 a.m.

*--*

Costa Mesa Winter Classic

Consolation semifinal Irvine 41, Costa Mesa 39 Score by Quarters

Irvine 15 3 10 13 - 41

Costa Mesa 9 8 8 14 - 39

Irvine - Crawford 10, Swenson 18, Isharaha 7,

Houston 6. 3-pt. goals - Swenson 5. Fouled out

- None. Technicals - None. Costa Mesa - Brick

4, Kelly 2, Trujillo 12, Be. Vergara 7, Br.

Vergara 12, Akansel 2, Cluff 0. 3-pt. goals -

Br. Vergara 4, Trujillo 1. Fouled out - None.

Technicals - None.

*--*

Tars’ rally falls short

* BASKETBALL: The Newport Harbor High girls basketball team

outscored Monroe Catholic in the fourth quarter, but lost, 59-54, in

pool play at the Capital City Classic at Juneau-Doulgas High in

Alaska Monday.

Senior Jillianne Whitfield led the Sailors (7-5) with 17 points,

while senior Victoria Swigart added 16 points and nine rebounds.

Vanessa Miller recorded four steals and contributed six points.

“[Fairbanks-based Monroe Catholic] played a very fast-paced,

high-tempo game and we kind of got caught playing their type of game

instead of ours,” Newport Coach Jen Thompson said. “They played very

aggressive defense. We would have one shot or turn over the ball. In

the fourth quarter we finally figured it out but it was a little too

late.”

Monroe Catholic improved to 1-1. Newport will continue play in the

four-team tournament today when it faces Juneau-Douglas.

*--*

Capital City Classic

Third-round pool play Monroe Catholic 59,

Newport 54

Score by Quarters

Monroe 13 17 14 15 -- 59

Newport 8 16 9 21 -- 54

Monroe Catholic -- Stepovich 13, Mar. Rima

10, Berg 15, Woods 12, Mel. Rima 4, Malemute

2, Johnson 2, Campeau 1. 3-pt. goals -- None.

Fouled out -- Mar. Rima. Newport Harbor --

Swigart 16, Stoltz 7, Whitfield 17, Miller 6,

Eddington 4, Koon 2, Lawrence 2, Slater 0,

Trobman 0. 3-pt. goals -- Miller 1. Fouled

out -- Miller.

*--*

Diablos rally past Tars

* SOCCER: Newport Harbor High senior Barbara Julian converted a

Shannon Arnold assist to give the Sailors a 1-0 lead Monday, but

Mission Viejo rallied for a 2-1 victory in the first round of the

32-team Excalibur girls soccer tournament.

Newport Harbor Coach Brandie Hayungs praised the overall play of

her Sailors, specifically junior Tayler Giacomaro, who played stopper

and midfield.

“I thought we had the better scoring chances,” Hayungs said.

“Hopefully, this is a step in the right direction for us.”

The Sailors meet University today at 8 a.m. in a consolation game

and will play again today at 12:30 p.m., whether they win or lose

against University.

Bengals best ‘Eaters

* BASKETBALL: The UC Irvine women’s basketball team fell to 1-7

with a 75-66 nonconference home loss Monday to Idaho State (6-3).

Christina Callaway led the Anteaters with 17 points, while Kristin

Green added 16 and Katie Urban added 12.

*--*

Nonconference

Idaho State 75, UC Irvine 66

Idaho State - Gifford 10, Hays 6, Barron 2, Brossman 26, Whitley 7, Andersen 15, Christensen 5, Udy 4.’ 3-pt. goals - Brossman 5, Whitley 1, Chrsitensen 1. UC Irvine - Urban 12, Yadon 6, Callaway 17, Green 16, Ferguson 8, Biggins 7. 3-pt. goals - Green

4, Urban 3, Ferguson 2. Halftime - Idaho State, 31-30.

*--*