YOUTH SCENE: A perfect season for NJB girls

NJB girls win regional title

The Laguna Beach third and fourth-grade NJB girls’ basketball team won the regional NJB Championship Series this past weekend and finished the season a perfect 13-0.

The undefeated Laguna Beach Chili Peppers won three straight games in the championship series, beating teams from Chino Valley, Anaheim Hills and Newport Mesa.

In the championship tournament, the Chili Peppers dominated the competition with stifling defense, outscoring the opposition by double digits in all three games.

In the final game of the series, Laguna Beach handily beat Newport-Mesa, 31-10, with Laguna Beach coming out strong and never letting Newport-Mesa get into the game.

“All season long these girls have been absolutely tenacious on defense,” Coach Erich Fisher said. “That, combined with unselfish team play on offense, led to our undefeated season and this championship. I couldn’t be more proud of this team.”

Chili Peppers players included Grace Snedegar, Aria Fischer, Sophia Lucas, Crystal Curras, Nicole Davidson, Kate Kruger, Isabel Mansour, Kirsten Landsiedel, Lexi McKeown and Jessica Guerinot.

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NJB All-Star Team Named

The Laguna Beach boys’ NJB Division 3 All-Star team has been named.

Team members include Owen McMurray, Julien Thurin, Cole Paxson, James Langton, Conner Jones, Kyle McCombs, Blake Burzell, Brett Sveningson, Pete Obradovich and Zane Herr.

The team has two weeks to practice and will be participating in the National Junior Basketball All-Star area tournament March 14 and 15.

If the Division 3 squad places first or second in its pool, it will qualify to play in the sectional tournament March 21 and 22.

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Laguna Beach Little League

Majors Division

Rotary 6, Olukai 4: The first game between Majors teams Rotary and Olukai was a close battle.

Olukai started the game with a strong pitching performance from Nolan Del Toro, but Rotary’s Matthew Payne managed to earn the first run of the game, followed by a run from Ian Detweiler in the second and another by Payne in the third.

An amazing pitching performance from Rotary’s Nathan Sweet held Olukai scoreless for the first three innings.

However, Olukai persevered and it paid off in the fourth inning when Michael Shurtleff and Nolan Del Toro scored.

A monster hit to center field from Jeffrey Rosenthal earned him two runs batted in, bringing home teammates Danny Pietig and Elias Medici to let Olukai take the lead.

Rotary’s Jacob Flaxman then took the mound and kept Olukai from scoring in the final innings.

Rotary rallied back in the fifth inning to bring home Nathan Sweet, George Brown and Cole Zarinelli to take the lead and earn the win.

“” From staff reports