Getting serious

Mike Sciacca, Independent

With the final full week of nonleague play officially over, it’s time

to get down to business.

Tonight, the Sunset League girls’ basketball race unfolds with a full

slate of action beginning at 7 p.m. Marina and Edison will tangle at

Edison while two teams that have had strong nonleague seasons, Huntington

Beach and Esperanza, will meet on the Oilers’ home court. The other

league matchup has Fountain Valley at Los Alamitos.

Also on tap tonight at 7 p.m. is the tip-off of the Golden West League

race, as Ocean View plays host to Saddleback.

On Friday at the same time, the boys’ league races will commence.

Sunset League action finds Edison playing at Marina, Huntington Beach at

Esperanza and Fountain Valley hosting Los Alamitos.

On Monday, reigning Golden West League champion Ocean View will begin

its quest for a fifth consecutive league crown when it visits Santa Ana.

Both Sunset League races figure to be a real dog fight.

“Every team in the Sunset League is doing pretty well up to this

point,” Marina coach Roger Holmes said after his Vikings won the

consolation title at last weekend’s Atascadero Tournament. “This league

is so tough that there is no off night for anybody, that’s for sure.”

James Lambert certainly was at his best Saturday night in Marina’s

88-70 victory over Atascadero. Lambert, a 6-foot-2 sophomore wing/guard,

poured in a new Marina record 47 points and also set a new mark for

three-point baskets in a game with nine. His 47 points broke a record

that has stood for 10 years, back to when Cherokee Parks set the record

with 44 points in 1991. Lambert was 9 of 14 from behind the arch, he

eclipsed the previous school mark of eight set by Beau Brown in 2000 --

the last year that Marina won the Sunset League championship.

“I didn’t have any idea that I had so many points,” said Lambert, who

started on varsity as a freshman “I started off shooting cold but then I

just started finding the basket.”

Lambert is just one of six sophomores that Holmes has playing on

varsity. The 10-5 Vikings have lost four of those games by a total of

eight points.

“We’re playing well right now. We run a very up-tempo game and this

(Atascadero) tournament was a good test for league play because there

were a lot of physical teams involved in it,” Holmes said.

Nick Ciaramitaro, the lone senior starter for Marina, scored 32 points

in a second round tournament game against Newbury Park and is averaging

19 points.

The two front runners for the girls’ Sunset League title are Esperanza

and Edison. They did battle in pool play of the Edison Tournament for a

preview of things to come. The host Chargers used 17 points from Bianca

Ziemann and 13 more from Rachael Ziemann to post a 42-36 victory over the

11th-ranked Aztecs.

Only a night earlier, the twins combined for 28 points as Edison

shaded No. 7 Hart, 61-60.

The Chargers were 9-4 heading into a New Year’s Eve tournament

championship game against No. 4 Troy.

A tough nonleague schedule also included victories over highly ranked

Rosary on the road and Norco at a neutral site.

“It was a great game between two good teams, and there will be a few

more of those to come down the road,” Edison coach Cory Kelly said of the

Esperanza game. The Chargers and Aztecs have Sunset League showdowns

scheduled for Jan. 15 at Edison and Feb. 5 at Esperanza. * MIKE SCIACCA

is the education and sports reporter. He can be reached at (714) 965-7171

or by e-mail at [email protected].