Eagles rule over Lions

Estancia High’s girls basketball team used a strong full-court press

to build a 12-point halftime lead and earn its first Golden West

League victory of the season with a 55-47 defeat of Westminster

Thursday.

The Eagles (4-11, 1-1) came up with 16 steals in the game, led by

six from senior guard Trisha Wase and five from Krystal Mino.

Wase added 14 points and five rebounds and Imelda Pena had 17

points, 15 of them coming from beyond the three-point arc.

Senior Nancy Castro added 11 points and six rebounds for the

Eagles, who face Saddleback Tuesday.

*--*

Golden West League

Estancia 55, Westminster 47

Score by Quarters

Estancia 13 19 13 10 -- 55

W’minster 9 11 15 12 -- 47

Estancia -- Wase 14, Mino 7, Castro 11, Pena

17, Maldonado 6, Neal 0, Flores 0. 3-pt.

goals -- Wase 1, Pena 5, Maldonado 1. Fouled

out -- None. Technicals -- None. Westminster

-- Paoson 14, Arganda 3, Pham 2, Cousins 17,

Martel 11. 3-pt. goals -- Arganda 1, Cousins

1. Fouled out -- Martel. Technicals -- None.

*--*

CdM wins PCL opener

* BASKETBALL: Sarah Stern scored a season-high 21 points and eight

other Corona del Mar High players found the bottom of the net as the

Sea Kings won their girls basketball Pacific Coast League opener at

Laguna Beach, 65-52.

Stern hit four three-pointers and sophomore Megan Benbow added 12

points but it was the Sea Kings’ defense, which used full-court

pressure throughout the game, that lifted CdM to a victory.

The Sea Kings (5-7) built a 14-points halftime lead, then held the

Breakers to six points in the third quarter.

CdM will play host to Avalon in a nonleague game tonight at 7:30

and then face Newport Harbor in a rematch of an early-season loss

Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at home.

*--*

Pacific Coast League

Corona del Mar 65, Laguna Beach 52

Score by Quarters

CdM 13 25 12 15 -- 65

Laguna 11 13 6 12 -- 52

CdM -- Snell 7, Benbow 12, Stern 21, Long 0,

Heeschen 5, Wayte 4, Marks 5, Schulte 2,

Kawata 3, Skalla 2, Duernberger 3. 3-pt.

goals -- Stern 4. Fouled out -- Wayte.

Technicals -- None. Laguna -- Clark 6,

Awadalla 8, Rolley 10, Grant 2, Sexton 12,

Kendrick 4, Ventura 5. 3-pt. goals --

Awadalla 1. Fouled out -- Awadalla, Rolley.

Technicals -- None.

*--*

Mesa wins first round

* WATER POLO: The Costa Mesa High girls water polo team opened the

Western tournament with a 13-8, first-round victory over Palos Verdes

at Santa Ana Valley Thursday.

Chandra Malapira led the Mustangs (7-4) with five goals, while

Sarah Bowman scored four and Jessica Steenhard had two. Allyson

Harris and Christine Twohig added one goal each. Mesa goalie Sandra

Stokes recorded six saves.

The Mustangs continue action in the 32-team tourney today at 3

p.m. at Santa Ana Valley.

*--*

Western tournament

First round

Costa Mesa 13, Palos Verdes 8

Score by Quarters

Palos Verdes 2 2 2 2 -- 8

Costa Mesa 2 3 6 2 -- 13

Palos Verdes -- Popp 2, Carmack 2, Kato 1,

Robinson 1, Canning 1, Assetta 1. Saves -- Gwynn

2. Costa Mesa -- Malapira 5, Bowman 4, Steenhard

2, Harris 1, Twohig 1. Saves -- Stokes 6.

*--*

Morgan leads CdM

* SOCCER: Sophomore Kelly Morgan scored two goals in the first

half to lead the Corona del Mar High girls soccer team to a 2-0

Pacific Coast League opening victory over host Laguna Beach Thursday.

Morgan scored in the 25th minute on a throw-in by Courtney

Carnahan. Then two minutes later, Morgan found the net again, putting

away a deflection after Jessica Mazura’s shot went off the goalie’s

hands. Goalkeeper Katie Schiesser recorded four saves for CdM

(4-5-1), while Mazura and Rachel Yelsey contributed strong

performances, Sea King Coach Bryan Middleton said.

Laguna Beach dropped to 1-9-0.

Mustangs gain shutout

* SOCCER: The Costa Mesa High girls soccer team scored four goals

in the second half en route to a 5-0 Golden West League victory over

visiting Ocean View Thursday.

Senior Sara Bryant’s goal 40 seconds into the second half lifted

the spirits of the Mustangs (6-5, 3-0 in league) who played poorly in

the first half, Mesa Coach Dan Johnston said.

Sophomore Jasmin Day led the Mustangs with two goals and one

assist, while Nilani Duarte and Rachel Ronquillo added one goal each.

Cindy Mendoza recorded two assists, and Duarte and Brittney Banning

contributed one assist each.

Goalie Kindra Bailey stopped seven shots for Mesa.

Eagles down Lions

* WATER POLO: The Estancia High girls water polo team exacted

revenge with an 8-6 Golden West League victory over visiting

Westminster Thursday. Last year, the Lions defeated Estancia, 25-2.

However, this season the Eagles are much improved as evidenced by

their record: 7-1, 2-0 in league. The two league wins are the most in

the program’s five-year existence.

Courtney Hess scored three goals, including the game’s final tally

with 34 seconds left. Carolina Barnes added two goals, while Chelsea

Kaplan, Melissa Buchmann and Marilyn Reich contributed one goal each.

Goalie Katie Mahan anchored the Estancia defense with 10 saves.

“I know [the Lions] were thinking they were come in here and stomp

us,” Estancia Coach Bob Bandaruk said. “This one feels really good.”

*--*

Golden West League

Estancia 8, Westminster 6

Score by Quarters

Westminster 1 1 2 2 -- 6

Estancia 2 1 3 2 -- 8

Westminster -- M. Hoang 3, Galiardini 1, Urnst 1,

. Saves -- Scholz 4, Diaz 3. Estancia -- Hess 3,

Barnes 2, Kaplan 1, Buchmann 1, Reich 1. Saves --

K. Mahan 10.

*--*

CdM denied by Knights

* WATER POLO: The Corona del Mar High girls water polo team lost,

9-4, to nonleague visitor Foothill, as the Sea Kings let a 3-1

halftime lead slip away Wednesday.

Amy Strack, Katie Kubas, Vivian Liao and Katya Eadington scored

one goal each for the Sea Kings (3-6). Foothill overcame a 4-2

deficit in the third quarter with a 7-0 finish that included five

goals to in the final four minutes, 38 seconds of the third.

*--*

Nonleague

Foothill 9, Corona del Mar 4

Score by Quarters

Foothill 1 0 6 2 -- 9

CdM 1 2 1 0 -- 4

Foothill -- Kraus 3, Pryatil 2, Reynolds 2, Miller

1, Rovenger 1. Saves -- Krumpholz 5. CdM -- Strack

1, K. Kubas 1, Liao 1, Eadington 1. Saves --

Fullen 3.

*--*

Seahawks blitz Mesa

* BASKETBALL: Visiting Ocean View High had four players score in

double figures en route to a 58-31 win over Costa Mesa in a Golden

West League girls basketball game Thursday night.

Erika Williams led the Seahawks (11-1, 2-0 in league) with 17

points. Ocean View, which led, 30-22, at halftime, used a 17-2 run to

begin the third quarter to pull away from the Mustangs (5-8, 0-2).

Brittany Vergara led the Mustangs with nine points (all on

three-pointers) followed by six from Cassey Brick and five from

Bethany Vergara. Deanna Sanchez led Mesa with four rebounds while

Bethany Vergara made three steals.

Mesa shot just 12.5% from the field in the second half compared to

29.7% in the first half.

Mesa hosts Avalon in a nonleague game at 10:30 a.m. Saturday

before resuming league play at Orange at 7 p.m. Thursday.

*--*

Golden West League

Ocean View 58, Costa Mesa 31

Score by Quarters

Ocean View 18 12 19 9 -- 58

Costa Mesa 10 12 5 4 -- 31

Ocean View -- Berry 0, Abufarie 15, Williams

17, Butler 11, Potter 2, Alderfer 11, Thomas

2. 3-pt. goals -- Alderfer 1, Abufarie 1,

Williams 1. Fouled out -- None. Technicals --

None. Costa Mesa -- Brick 6, Kelly 2, Trujillo

0, Be. Vergara 5, Br. Vergara 9, Akansel 3,

Enesi 4, Sanchez 2, Cluff 0, Bjelland 0. 3-pt.

goals -- Akansel 1, Brick 2, Be Vergara 1, Br.

Vergara 3. Fouled out -- None. Technicals --

None.

*--*

UCI women lose again

* BASKETBALL: The UC Irvine women’s basketball team remained

winless in the Big West Conference with a 56-50 loss to host Cal

State Northridge Thursday.

Courtney Ferguson led the Anteaters (1-10, 0-3 in conference) with

14 points, while Ashley Biggins came away with a season- and

game-high 11 rebounds.

Northridge (2-9, 1-2) was led by Krisztina Fuleki’s 17 points.

UCI’s Joann Usher pulled down a career-high eight rebounds.

*--*

Big West Conference

Cal State Northridge 56, UC Irvine 50

UC Irvine -- Biggins 6, Ferguson 14, Green 9, Usher 4, Callaway 8, Dud 6, Stanley 3. 3-pt. goals -- Ferguson 4, Green 1. Cal State Northridge -- Gildersleeve 9, Burries 6, King 2, Rhodes 12, Tulikihihifo 12, Fuleki 17, Johnson 2, McCaa 2, O’Rourke 1.

3-pt. goals -- Fuleki 3, Gildersleeve 1. Halftime -- CS Northridge, 28-26.

*--*

Schmidt earns honors

* BASKETBALL: Kelly Schmidt, a 6-foot freshman forward for the

Vanguard University women’s basketball team, has been named NAIA and

Golden State Athletic Conference Player of the Week for games played

through Jan. 4.

Schmidt, who hails from Glendale, Ariz., averaged 23 points and

seven rebounds in Vanguard’s three victories last week.

She connected on 59.4% of her shots from the field and recorded

seven assists and five blocked shots in the three wins.

She leads the GSAC with 22.2 points per game and is second in

rebounding with 8.8 rebounds per game.