YOUTH SCENE:

The Pacers, a Newport-Mesa National Junior Basketball fifth- and sixth-grade boys’ team, recently finished the season undefeated at 13-0, winning its pool in the NJB Championship Series.

The Pacers, coached by Scott Hook, scored impressive wins over Santa Margarita, 45-42, Hacienda Heights, 59-48, and Chino Valley 55-39. The Pacers’ roster included Chad Redfearn, Cameron Hook, Anthony Tsai, Ben Resnick, Jack Denning, Braxton Andry, Drew Raguse, Shane McCartney and Sam Woodward.

The Newport-Mesa Jayhawks played in a different pool and went 3-0. The Hornets, coached by Jimmy Stone, included Beau Roth, Harry Miller, Ryan Stone, Clint Henderson, Blake Kormos, Nick Fox, Jason Simaan, Noah Linkon and Kevin Rsu.

The Newport-Mesa Trojans, led by Peter Hauser, finished 2-1 in series competition, with victories over Placentia and Huntington Beach by over 20 points. The roster included Richard Hagestad, Jordan Hauser, Charlie Stassel, Junior Johnson, Sam Skinner, Mark Thompson, Jake Whelan and Ryan Monzeb.

The Newport-Mesa Patriots finished third in the Newport-Mesa league and played hard in the series without injured point guard Jake Hastings. Coach Duane Hasting’s team also included Brett Greenlee, George MacCabe, James Turner, Kevin Langley, Daniel Henry, Patrick Jennings and Dillon Murphy.

The Newport-Mesa Lakers were coached by Buck Schwartz, and after finishing fourth in league play, finished strong in the series as the runner-up to a very skilled Capistrano Valley-Dana Hills team. Lakers included Trevor Schwartz, Grant Nutt, Milad Rohani, Christian Munson, Jack Beeker and Jerome Higman.

The Newport-Mesa Bruins, led by Nick Belida and James Pfleughaughpt, finished as champions in their pool, defeating another Newport-Mesa team, the Raptors, who were led by Hagen Truninger, Sam Silverman and Ricky Luehrs.

The Newport-Mesa Wizards were led by Richard Morton and finished runner-up in their respective pool.

SOCCER

The Costa Mesa Darts, a girls’ under-12 soccer team, finished second in Southern California and lost just twice during a seaon that included an AYSO Area Q championship.

The Darts reached the tile match of the Southern California regional tournament and lost to Cypress, 4-1, falling short of reaching the state tournament. The final, played in San Marcos, was the fourth match in a 36-hour span for the Darts.

Emily Rodriguez scored five minutes in against Cypress for a 1-0 lead. Cypress came right back with two goals before the half. Later, Cypress went up 3-1. It was the first time in the six-month season that the Darts had ever trailed by two goals.

The Darts certainly had momentum heading into the title match. They opened with a 5-0 win against La Costa. Amy Heil scored three goals, Page LaBare had a goal and an assist and Rodriguez added a goal and two assists.

The Darts then tied with El Cajon, 1-1. El Cajon scored first and led, 1-0, at halftime and deep into the game. In extra time, a corner kick by Heil resulted in a mad scramble for the ball in front of the net. Rodriguez was able to get a foot on it and sneak it into corner of the goal for the equalizer with five seconds left.

That goal kept the Darts alive for the final and eliminated El Cajon from contention.

Heil scored two goals and LaBare added another in the win against Huntington Beach that advanced the Darts to the title match. Rodriguez had three assists.

Liz Trujillo, Julie Roche and Kyra Page provided outstanding goaltending. The defense was also strong, contributing to the successful season. The defense included Kristen Gyorgi, Shannon Curran, Sienna Tonner, Franky Bertella, Diana Gonzales and Ashley Labrado all anchored a great defense and played a strong midfield.

— From staff reports