YOUTH SCENE

LONGHORNS WIN

The Newport-Mesa Longhorns, an All-Net 12-and-under boys’ basketball team, won the New Year’s Tournament last week.

On their way to capturing the championship, the Longhorns beat previous undefeated Woodland Hills twice.

The team included Max Stanley, Austin Ridge, Landon Knight, Ben Humphreys, Harrison Carter, Jake Haar, Keisean South and Matthew Marchiorlatti.

Berry Carter and Jon Haar coached the team.

Newport-Mesa NJB

Boys’ eighth grade All-Net

Newport-Mesa Sailors 46, Los Alamitos 33: The Sailors avenged an opening day loss to Los Al by holding it to four points in the first quarter and breezing to an easy win. Drew Olson led all scorers with a season-high 10 points, seven rebounds and four steals while Nick Hanna and Derek Kula added nine points each. Robbie Rettig, Reid Meckler, Connor Kelly, Blake Grable and Blake Motal all played well in the big win.

Newport-Mesa Sailors 59 Huntington Beach Sharks 44: The Sailors improved to 3-1 on the season with a big win over the host Sharks. Robbie Rettig had a breakout game with 17 points, two steals and two assists while Derek Kula also scored a season-high 15 points. Blake Motal had a fantastic all-around game with 11 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks. Connor Kelly added nine points, Drew Olson four points, Blake Grable three points and Reid Meckler three assists for the surging Sailors, who travel to Whittier next week.

Newport Mesa Lightning 52, Laguna Hills Hawks 50: The Lightning continued their winning ways with a hard fought victory over the Hawks. The team was lead by the strong play of Max Stone, 18 points and three steals, and Kris Picarelli, 15 points, six rebounds and a blocked shot. Also contributing were Troy Reese (eight points) Chris Okey (five points), James Newman (four points) and John Pagliassotti (two points).

Newport Mesa Lightning 42, Pomona Hornets 39: The Lightning improved to 4-0 with another close win this time over the Pomona Hornets. However, this one wasn’t easy. Down by 10 points at the half, the team mounted a ferrous comeback, scoring 19 points in the third quarter to take the lead. Leading the charge was Troy Reese and Max Stone, who combined for 24 points in the second half. Rounding out the scoring, Andy Doka, Chris Okey and Kris Picarelli each had four points, followed by James Newman, three points and John Pagliassotti two points. Reese was also an animal on the boards pulling down 10 rebounds. The entire team combined for a season-high 27 rebounds.

NJB Division II

Fifth and sixth grade

Patriots 26, Trojans 17: Brett Greenlee and Jake Hastings led the Patriots in scoring with nine and six points respectively in their December win over the Trojans. Greenlee snatched 11 rebounds, while Hastings posted six and had four steals. Dillon Murphy, George MacCabe, Patrick Jennings and Daniel Henry also scored for the Patriots. On defense, James Turner was strong at the boards and Kevin Langley played tough defense.

For the Trojans, Richard Hagestad led the scoring with seven points, while Jordan Hauser added five.

Patriots 52, Hornets 31: Dillon Murphy had the highest scoring game of the season for the Patriots, scoring 21 points against the Hornets on Sunday. Murphy’s effort included one three-pointer and a four for six showing at the free throw line. Brett Greenlee added 13 points, while George MacCabe and Jake Hastings each posted eight. Point Guard Hastings also led the team in assists with nine. James Turner was a brick wall setting picks the entire game, and also scored in the second period.

Ryan Stone (13 points) and Clint Henderson (12 points) led the Hornets’ offense.