Sailors buckle down, trounce Irvine, 43-21

Defense, rebounding and offensive efficiency were keys in the Newport

Harbor High girls basketball team’s 43-21 victory over Irvine in the

fifth-place game of the Valley Christian tournament Saturday at

Valley Christian High.

The Sailors (5-4) dominated on the boards and their aggressive

defense created easy transition scoring chances.

Newport committed just four turnovers to please Coach Jen

Thompson.

We came out pretty strong defensively,” Thompson said. “The past

three games we’ve had trouble playing team defense and we’ve had

trouble rebounding. We did a much better job tonight.

Jessica Bodkin, a 6-foot sophomore, came off the bench to post 11

points and grab six rebounds.

Sophomore Amber Munnelly added nine points and five rebounds,

while senior Vanessa Miller had five points and seven boards for the

winners.

Sophomore Brittany Deyan led the Tars with eight rebounds.

The Sailors return to action Thursday at home against Whitney at 5

p.m.

*--*

Valley Christian tournament

Fifth-place game Newport Harbor 43, Irvine 21

Score by Quarters

Newport 9 14 8 12 -- 43

Irvine 4 7 2 8 -- 21

Newport Harbor -- Munnelly 9, Mooers 6, Miller

5, Melo 8, Deyan 0, Bodkin 11, Lawrence 4,

Hernandez 0, Trobman 0. 3-pt. goals -- Melo 2.

Fouled out -- None. Technicals -- None. Irvine

-- Rowe 0, Hasseiny 4, Freeman 0, Kiken 2,

Swenson 8, Ross 2, Jolpagoon 0, Kahn 0,

Silajdzic 5, Neal 0, Andara 0. 3-pt. goals --

None. Fouled out -- Neal. Technicals -- None.

*--*

Mustangs claim seventh

* BASKETBALL: The Costa Mesa High girls basketball team defeated

El Dorado, 39-34, in the seventh-place game of the El Dorado

tournament Saturday at El Dorado High.

Junior Tracy Bjelland led the Mustangs (3-7) with 12 points, while senior Bethany Vergara added six.

Costa Mesa returns to action Dec. 27 when it plays host to El Toro

at 4:40 p.m. in the opening round of the 16-team Costa Mesa Winter

Classic.

*--*

El Dorado tournament

Seventh-place game Costa Mesa 39, El Dorado 34

Score by Quarters

El Dorado 5 9 6 14 -- 34

Cost Mesa 8 13 10 8 -- 39

El Dorado -- Lane 3, Beam 3, Ramos 2, Craddick

7, Pasons 4, Byrne 2, Flockhart 5, Ellzey 8.

3-pt. goals -- Flockhart 1. Fouled out -- None. Technicals -- None. Mesa -- Bjelland 12,

Cluff 4, Sanchez 5, Vergara 6, Enesi 0,

Akansel 4, Courtney 6, Evans 2. 3-pt. goals --

None. Fouled out -- None. Technicals -- None.

*--*

Sea Kings top Irvine

* BASKETBALL: The Corona del Mar High boys basketball team surged

to a 17-9 lead after one period and cruised to a 46-35 triumph over

Irvine in the 15th-place game of the Irvine World News tournament

Saturday at Concordia University.

Stefan Kaluz, a 6-foot-7 freshman, led the Sea Kings with 13

points, while junior Scott Slaughter added 10.

CdM (4-6) returns to action Dec. 27 at the Energy Classic at

Campbell County High in Gillette, Wyo.

Campbell County is coached by Mike Curry, the brother of CdM head

man Ryan Curry.

*--*

Irvine World News tournament

15th-place game Corona del Mar 46, Irvine 35

Score by Quarters

Irvine 9 8 11 7 -- 35

CdM 17 6 13 10 -- 46

Irvine -- Nourse 2, Nguyen 4, Tew 3, Silajezic

2, Skidmore 8, Carter 4, Mohamed 12. 3-pt.

goals -- Mohamed 2, Nguyen 1. Fouled out -- None. Technicals -- None. Corona del Mar -- R.

Lance 4, T. Slaughter 7, S. Slaughter 10,

Hirata 3, T. Lance 9, Kaluz 13, Hinton 0,

Doran 0. 3-pt. goals -- S. Slaughter 1, Hirada

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

*--*

El Camino edges Bucs

* BASKETBALL: The Orange Coast College women’s basketball team

fell, 47-45, to visiting El Camino in the semifinals of the Coast

Christmas Classic Saturday at OCC.

Sophomore Rhondi Naff led the Pirates (6-5) with 15 points, while Valerie Katayama added 10 points and six assists for the hosts.

OCC meets Saturday’s Cerritos-Chaffey loser in today’s third-place

game at 2 p.m.

El Camino (8-3) was paced by Chloe Grimm, who scored 15 points and

collected 14 rebounds.

Mallory Ellis had 10 points and 11 rebounds for the winners, who

play in the title game today at 4 p.m.

*--*

Coast Christmas Classic

Semifinal

El Camino 47, Orange Coast 45

El Camino -- Ellis 10, Grimm 15, Whiting 14, Kaneshiro 4, Shepherd 2, Azzam 2. 3-pt. goals -- Whiting 1. Fouled out -- Shepherd. Technicals -- None. Orange Coast -- D’Alessandro 3, Stepanski 7, Naff 14, McCormick 3, Fernandez 0, Katayama 10, Viloria 8.

3-pt. goals -- Katayama 2, Viloria 2, Naff 1, D’Alessandro 1, McCormick 1. Fouled out -- None. Technicals -- None. Halftime -- El Camino, 26-21.

*--*

Sailors capture third

* BASKETBALL: Seniors Brett Perrine and Taylor Young led the

Newport Harbor High boys basketball team to a 59-51 victory over East

High of Anchorage in the third-place game of the Service (Alaska)

tournament Saturday in Anchorage.

Perrine amassed a game-high 23 points, 11 rebounds and five

assists.

Young, in only his third game after helping the football team

reach the CIF Southern Section Division VI title game Dec. 11,

contributed 17 points and 13 rebounds.

Both Perrine and Young were named to the all-tournament team.

The Sailors are now 3-5.

*--*

Nonleague

Third-place game Newport Harbor 59, East

Achorage 51

Score by Quarters

East 15 13 13 10 -- 51

Newport 12 16 17 14 -- 59

East -- Wilson 15, Alex 2, St. Louis 2, Siah

11, Macon 6, LaPointe 5, Zelazny 10. 3-pt.

goals -- Wilson 2, Siah 1, LaPointe 1,

Zelazny 1. Fouled out -- None. Technicals --

None. Newport Harbor -- Yaghjian 5, Perrine

23, Young 17, Slater 0, Coon 2, Masca 2,

Jackson 6, Dunlap 4, Stephens 0, Brewer 0,

Caldwell 0. 3-pt. goals -- Perrine 2, Jackson

2, Yaghjian 1. Fouled out -- None. Technicals

-- None.

*--*

OCC hands out awards

* FOOTBALL: Orange Coast College sophomore quarterback Kyle

Basanez was named the team’s Most Valuable Player, topping a list of

13 players recognized for the 2004 season.

Basanez, a second-team All-Orange Empire Conference selection,

completed 120 of 246 passes for 1,530 yards and eight touchdowns in

his only year as the starter. The Fordham transfer also rushed for

360 yards and one TD.

Other award winners: Sophomore fullback Jimmy Niutapuai (Hitter of

the Year); Freshman outside linebacker Aaron Miller and sophomore

tight end Jon Garcia (Captains); freshman tailback Matt Padilla

(Outstanding Offensive Back); freshman middle linebacker Dave Ronning

(Outstanding Linebacker); sophomore Ryan Lauderdale (Outstanding

Receiver); freshman safety Mordy Ornguze (Outstanding Defensive

Back); sophomore tackle Ryan Davis (Outstanding Defensive Lineman);

sophomore guard Kyle Collins (Outstanding Offensive Lineman);

freshman outside linebacker Bubba Reynolds (Most Improved Award);

Sophomore linebacker Joe Mitchell (Student Athlete Award); and

freshman punter Brian Campos (Special Teams Award).

Local sailor nominated

* SAILING: Newport Beach resident John Ross-Duggan, who won a

bronze medal in sailing at the Paralympics, is among 13 nominees for

the 2004 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year award.

The award, established by U.S. Sailing in 1961, recognizes the

outstanding on-the-water achievement in 2004.

The nominees were determined by U.S. Sailing members and will be

reviewed by a panel of noted sailing journalists who will then vote

by secret ballot.

The winners will be announced in January and honored during a

luncheon at the New York Yacht Club Feb. 25.

VU runners honored

* CROSS COUNTRY: Vanguard University cross country runners Matt

Meyer and Bridget Lonsdale have been named NAIA Scholar-Athlete

All-Americans. They also made the Golden State Athletic Conference

All-Academic team.

Meyer, a junior business major with a 3.94 grade-point average,

ran a personal-best 25 minutes, 15 seconds on the 8,000 meters at the

Williamette invitational.

Lonsdale ran a personal-best 20:29 over 5,000 meters at the NAIA

Region II women’s championship to help the Lions finish fourth.

The senior sociology major has a 3.73 grade-point average.