Eyeing an outright Sunset League title

Mike Sciacca, Independent

Marina High boys basketball coach Roger Holmes knows what to expect

tonight when his red-hot Vikings invade Los Alamitos High.

A packed house and a talented, fired up opponent, are the things that

await the Vikings at 7 p.m., not to mention, that the game is the final

showdown on the 2000 Sunset League schedule.

What’s at stake for Los Alamitos, 20-5 overall and 8-1 in league, is a

share of the league title with Marina. In addition, the Griffins get one

final chance to pay back the Vikings for a Jan. 21 loss at Marina.

Meanwhile, the Vikings clinched no worse than a title tie Tuesday night

by holding off a determined Esperanza squad, 69-59.

It was Marina’s 16th consecutive victory, moved the Vikings to 23-2

overall, 9-0 in league, and gave them their first league championship in

eight years.

“If you were to tell me before that start of the season that we would

finish no worse than 9-1 in league and win, roughly, 24 games, then I

would have taken it right then and there,” Holmes said. “This team has

had an unbelievable year, and one more (league) win would be icing on the

cake.

“This is going to be one tough game. Los Al will really be pumped up.”

The 1999-2000 Vikings already have posted the fourth most wins (23) in a

season in school history, and a win tonight would tied them for the

third-best (24). They are led by senior forward Dustin Kaatz, who is

averaging 24 points per game.

The 6-foot-5 Kaatz’ present average currently ranks as third best in a

season at Marina, with former Viking and NBA player Cherokee Parks

topping the single-season scoring average at 28.1 points.

In addition, Kaatz is averaging just over 10 rebounds per contest, and is

hitting nearly 84-percent from the foul line.

“Dustin’s having a phenomenal year,” Holmes said. “He’s tough to beat

either on the inside or outside, and he is terrific when it comes to free

throw shooting. I think what makes Dustin even better is his supporting

cast.”

Holmes, in his sixth year as Marina’s head coach, has been pointing to

this year.

The Vikings have plenty of depth and experience, as its 13-man roster

will attest: of the 13, 11 are in the senior Class of 2000.

“This is a senior class that has won a lot of basketball games and a few

league championships in four years at Marina,” Holmes said. “This group

has played in the big game, so they know what to expect. We’ll be ready

for Los Al.”

The Griffins offer no potent scoring threat, but what they do possess is

balance -- and plenty of it.

Los Al starts five seniors, including speedy playmaker Ryan Keller and

center Jeff Grgas, who leads the Griffins in rebounding with a 9.0 per

game average.

One key factor in tonight’s game will be Marina’s ability to handle a Los

Al front line consisting of the 6-9 Grgas, 6-8 Ken Carter, and 6-7 Brian

Rakusin.

Other than Kaatz, Marina’s only other prime time player to hit the 6-5

mark is junior forward Chris DeLuca.

“They are an awfully good team from top to bottom,” Holmes said. “They

have a lot of height, but I think, overall, that both teams match up

really well.

The Sunset League girls basketball race also comes to an end tonight, and

Edison High can captured an outright championship with a win at

Huntington Beach.

But, it won’t be easy.

The Chargers (17-8, 8-1) bounced back from its first league loss to rout

rival Fountain Valley, 66-27, Tuesday, to gain a piece of the league

crown.

They lead Esperanza (19-6, 7-2) by one game heading into tonight’s

action.

“It’s nice to already have a piece of the title, but it would be really

nice to win it outright,” said Edison Coach Dave White, who won his

second consecutive championship in this, his final season as head coach.

“We’ll need to be sharp, because Huntington is a good team.”

White called Huntington Beach the league’s hottest team. That

proclamation, however, came a few hours before the Oilers suffered a

shocking 56-53 loss at Los Alamitos.

Until that setback, Huntington Beach (14-10, 5-4) was riding high, having

knocked off both Esperanza and Marina in the same week. Those two wins

propelled the Oilers into third place -- and in the thick of the race for

a playoff berth.

Huntington Beach still holds down sole possession of third place,

although the Oilers’ confidence took a beating against Los Al, which won

its first Sunset game in 2 1/2 years.

Amy Sanders, who poured in 29 points Tuesday, leads the Oilers in scoring

with a 22.5 per game average. But other Oilers will need to step it up

tonight in order to contend with an Edison squad that is led by senior

post Michelle Zylstra, and sophomore twin guards Rachael and Bianca

Ziemann.

Zylstra scored just 10 points Tuesday against Fountain Valley, but she

terrorized the Barons with 22 rebounds and six blocked shots.

The Ziemann sisters also scored in double figures, with Rachael knocking

down a game-high 19 points (to go along with seven assists), and Bianca

netted 13 points.

In other boys action tonight, Huntington Beach (4-21, 1-8) will travel to

Edison (8-15, 1-8), and Fountain Valley (14-11, 3-6) visits Esperanza

(13-12, 5-4).

Also on the girls court tonight, Fountain Valley (9-16, 2-7) hosts

Esperanza, and Marina (16-9, 4-5) is home to Los Alamitos (9-16, 1-8).