Edison ice hockey team returns to finals
Sports is as much about repetition as anything else.
Yet the art of the repeat is something that is considered one of the hardest feats to accomplish.
Edison High’s ice hockey team does not have a championship to defend, but it was seeking a return trip to the title game of the Anaheim Ducks High School Hockey League Division 3 playoffs.
The Chargers will be back on the championship stage this weekend after they crushed Upland Christian Academy, 7-1, in the semifinals on Wednesday night at The Rinks Anaheim Ice.
Trevor Arsenault had a hat trick and Jake Gealy added two goals for Edison (13-3-0-1). Both players finished with five-point performances.
Charley Lowe and James McGuire also scored for the Chargers.
Edison will face fourth-seeded Bishop Amat (11-3-3-0) in the final, which will be held at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday at The Rinks Anaheim Ice.
The Chargers lost last year’s championship game, 2-1, to St. John Bosco. The Braves moved up to Division 2 this season, going a perfect 15-0-0-0 to win the regular-season crown by 19 points.
HB girls’ hoops gets Mater Dei next
Frankie Wade-Sanchez’s 26 points against Poway helped Huntington Beach High’s girls’ basketball team advance to the second round of the CIF Southern California Division II Regionals.
That was good for half of her team’s total on Wednesday night, and gaudy statistics like that have come standard for the Oilers’ star forward in the postseason.
In the team’s five playoff games, Wade-Sanchez is posting 26.2 points per game.
With her on the floor, Huntington Beach has to be given a puncher’s chance to extend its season at second-seeded Mater Dei on Saturday night.
Wade-Sanchez is excited about the opportunity to play against a program like Mater Dei, which offers the chance to compete against players like guard Jayda Adams and center Emma Torbert.
“I’m definitely excited to be able to play one of the bigger-name schools,” she said following the win against Poway. “Before that game, I know that Coach Russ (McClurg) will tell us that it’s one of those where you have to leave everything out there.”
McClurg is on high alert regarding a good start in Saturday’s contest, which has a scheduled tip-off of 6 p.m.
“If you can get past the first five minutes of that game and settle in, we’ll be OK,” McClurg said. “It’s just don’t get rattled early by a big crowd and the mystique of Mater Dei.”
Positive signs to that effect were seen in the team’s first-round game of the state tournament. Freshman center Xolani Hodel picked up a foul in the first minute, but unlike the previous two games in which she fouled out, she was able to make the adjustment.
“I was really worried about that,” McClurg said of Hodel’s looming foul trouble. “It reminded me of the championship game. I pulled her out right away and said, ‘Xolani, we need you to play smart. We don’t want you sitting on the bench with me.’
“You can see how she really is key for our team this year. She does a lot. She challenges for every rebound. She gets steals.”
Twitter: @ProfessorTurner
