Stars shine, win national title

The Stars, a local National Junior Basketball girls’ team composed of local players from Orange County, defeated Indiana’s Finest, 35-30, in the 9-and-Under division final to win the division national championship at the Amateur Athletic Championships in South Bend, Ind., on June 30.

The Stars, coached by Russell McClurg and assistants Michelle Ito and Xavier Velasco, became the first Orange County team in 40 years to win the title, Ito said.

McClurg is the head coach of the girls’ varsity team at Huntington Beach High, and Ito is an Oilers varsity assistant coach.

The Stars only had three months to prepare for the tournament, yet ran up an 8-0 record in the event to beat 28 other division teams from around the nation.

“The girls did an incredible job, and I’m very proud of all of them,” McClurg said after the tournament.

Stars team captain Andree Velasco of Yorba Linda led the team in scoring, with a 20-points-per-game average in eight games. Other key offensive and defensive contributions came from Marissa Ogata and Amy Yoshinaga, both of Huntington Beach.

The Stars will defend their title next summer at the 10-and-Under AAU National Championships in Orlando, Fla.

The Stars are Ogata, Yoshinaga, Kara Ito, Caroline Miller, Amy Ogren, Sarah Stumme, Julia Tims, Courtney Vaccher, Amy Velasco and Bianca Velasco.

In youth soccer action:

South Coast Bayern of Huntington Beach played host Wolfpack Soccer Club of Fountain Valley to a 2-2 tie in the final of the boys’ Under-13 division at the Wolfpack Invitational to win the tournament played last weekend at Fountain Valley High.

Both teams won three games ? South Coast Bayern winning its three by shutouts as they outscored their opponents, 9-0 ? to reach the division final.

Wolfpack had allowed one goal in its previous three tournament victories, so South Coast Bayern needed no worse than a tie in the final to win the championship.

South Coast Bayern is a new team this year and is composed of players who merged from teams formerly known as the South Coast Jaguars and Futbol Club Bayern, both of Huntington Beach.