HIGH SCHOOL ROUNDUP:Sea Kings grab Best of West title

SAN DIEGO — Blaine Nielsen was named Most Valuable Player of the Best of the West Tournament after his nine kills helped lead the Corona del Mar High boys’ volleyball team to a 22-25, 25-22, 15-12 victory over Santa Barbara in the title match Saturday night at the Epic Volleyball Club.

The 32-team tournament featured an elite group of squads including Valencia, ranked No. 1 in CIF Southern Section Division II and Santa Barbara, No. 3 in Division II. Corona del Mar is ranked No. 2 in Division II and beat Valencia in the semifinals.

The UC Santa Barbara-bound Nielsen, along with all-tournament selection Phil Bannan, also led Corona del Mar (9-0) to wins over Buchanan of Clovis and Harvard-Westlake. Nielsen had 31 kills in the four best-of-three matches.

“I think we really grew as a team this weekend,” CdM Coach Steve Conti said during a phone interview. “Even though we had won our previous matches, I don’t think we were playing all that well.”

Last week, Conti did his best to spark the team. He grew tired of what he thought was a lackadaisical effort during a practice Monday.

“I had to kick the whole team out of practice on Monday,” Conti said. “I think they were thinking they were too good and that they could cruise. I wanted them to understand it’s a privilege to be out here and don’t take it for granted.”

The Sea Kings responded with their performance Saturday.

Jeff Carlson led CdM with 10 kills in the title win over the Dons. Gus Ellis added eight kills, six digs and two blocks. Spencer Brown contributed five digs, while Bannan finished with 27 assists.

In the 25-18, 25-19 semifinal win, Nielsen (eight kills, four blocks), Carlson (six kills), Brad McCoy (six kills) and Brown (six digs) were part of the Sea Kings’ balanced attack that Bannan (23 assists) guided.

Nielsen led CdM with seven kills in a 25-22, 25-16 win over Buchanan, and he had another seven in the 25-19, 31-29 victory over Harvard-Westlake.

Newport Harbor Coach Dan Glenn, whose team finished 10th in the tournament, was impressed with the Sea Kings’ tournament-title run, pointing out CdM was without Adam Smith, the UCLA-bound senior who is out with a broken hand, his non-hitting hand, and torn ligaments.

The Sea Kings return to action Wednesday when they play at Laguna Beach at 5:45.

BOYS’ VOLLEYBALL

Best of the West TournamentSAN DIEGO — Newport Harbor went 2-2 on Saturday, finishing 10th out of 32 teams after a two-game loss to Long Beach Wilson.

Starting in the consolation bracket, the Sailors (4-4) lost to Clovis West, 25-17, 20-25, 15-11. Weston Dunlap had 12 kills and Tucker Peluses added eight, with Andrew Kaban contributing eight digs.

The Tars then beat Lakewood, 25-26, 25-21, and Santa Margarita, 22-25, 25-23, 15-11, behind 20 combined kills from Dunlap. Max Volz had six kills and two service aces in the three-game win over Santa Margarita.

In the two-game loss to Long Beach Wilson, 25-22, 25-22, Peluses had eight kills and Mark Liebermann added seven.

BASEBALL

Newport Elks TournamentNewport Harbor 10, Carter 9NEWPORT BEACH — Sailors senior Brett Houten hit a game-winning solo home run in the bottom of the sixth, lifting Newport Harbor over Carter High of Rialto on Saturday in Foothill Division play at Newport Harbor High.

Houten was three for three with three RBIs for Newport Harbor (2-3), which came from behind twice. P.J. Errington had two hits, including a double, and two RBIs.

Bret Rogers also had a double and picked up his first win of the season for Newport, with Jarrett Daniel recording the save.

The Sailors play at CdM on Tuesday at 3 p.m. in the Battle of the Bay.

Newport Elks TournamentFoothill DivisionNewport Harbor 10,

Carter 9

Score by Innings

Carter 0 4 0 0 5 0 0 - 9 11 1

Newport 0 6 0 2 1 1 x - 10 11 1

Bechtel, Holmes (2), Conrad (4) and Mendiveles; Brennan, Rogers (5), Daniel (7) and Levy. W -- Rogers, 1-1. L -- Conrad. Sv -- Daniel (1). 2B -- Erikson (C), Conrado (C) 2, Cortez (C), Spotville (C), Errington (NH), Rogers (NH). HR -- Houten (NH).

Century 4, Estancia 3SANTA ANA — The Eagles tied the game in the top of the seventh, but the host Centurions scored with one out in the bottom of the seventh to earn the win in the Costa Mesa Bracket of the Newport Elks Tournament on Saturday.

Catcher Trevor McDonald had a double for Estancia (1-4). Blake Pinto threw the complete game for the Eagles.

“Blake threw a great game,” Estancia Coach C.K. Green said. “He did a great job keeping them off-balance. We just couldn’t pull it out for him.”

Estancia plays host to Los Amigos on Thursday.

Newport Elks TournamentCosta Mesa DivisionCentury 4,

Estancia 3

Score by Innings

Estancia 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 - 3 6 1

Century 0 0 0 0 3 0 1 - 4 9 1

Pinto and McDonald; Perez and Ruiz. W -- Perez. L -- Pinto, 0-2. 2B -- McDonald (E), Perez (C), Martinez (C).

TRACK AND FIELD

Irvine Invitational

Estancia High boysIRVINE — Estancia High’s Ryan Whites was fifth in the 110-meter hurdles in 15.6 seconds Saturday at Irvine High.

Whites, a senior, was also fourth in the 300 hurdles in 43.3 seconds.

Newport Harbor boysNewport Harbor junior Murphy Hitchcock had a personal-best time of 4 minutes, 39.29 seconds in the 1,600 meters. Sailors junior Mat Bissonnette finished first in his heat in 16.75 seconds.

Newport Harbor girlsThe Sailors’ Jessica Robson finished first in the high jump (5-4) and third in the long jump (17-2 1/2 ). Cassidy Gayner, a junior, ran a personal-best time of 47.12 seconds in the 300 hurdles.

Sailors senior Melissa Mead finished fourth in the 1,600 meters in 5:16.99, and was sixth in the 3,200 in 11:25.95.

Junior Sophia Ditty was eighth in the 3,200 in 11:43.07.

Desiree Alexander, a sophomore, won two frosh-soph events. She took first in the 3,200 with a time of 11:32.20 and in the 1,600 in 5:30.15.

Long Beach Millikan InvitationalLONG BEACH — Estancia High senior Ibrahim Muradian was fifth in the 800 meters in 2 minutes, 15 seconds at Millikan High, the Eagles’ best showing of the day.

Senior Vini Rodriguez was ninth in the 800 in 2:19, and Eagles junior Santiago Gudino was seventh in the 400 meters in 55.6 seconds. Junior Cesar Casillas was sixth in the 1,600 meters in 4:51, followed by senior Enrique Vivar in 12th in 5:03.

For the Estancia girls, junior Eunice Rodriguez was 11th in the 1,600 meters, finishing in 5:53.