News from the Old Airport 31 Jan 2008

This one was just a little bit high.

The LHS girls water polo team wrapped up the regular season on Thursday at COLAC. It was not the ending for which they were hoping; the varsity dropped a 9-6 game they could have won and the JV was looted by the visiting Santa Ynez Pirates. The news for the Braves was much better next door at Huyck Stadium where the girls soccer squad fared much better at fending off their own group of Pirates - this bunch from Morro Bay.

The water polo varsity started the action off hoping to hold on to their third place seeding going into next weeks LPL Tournament. Unfortunately, they gave up three first quarter goals, while scoring none. Santa Ynez never relinquished the lead after that, although Lompoc gave them a good scare by scoring four in a row. After playing even, three goals each, in the second the Braves cut the margin to a single point (6-5) by the end of the third period. The Pirates came out hot into the last stanza, however, scoring two goals in the first two minutes, and pushing the lead to four before Lompoc was able to respond just ahead of the final buzzer. Elizabeth Sweet & Jenna Berberness each scored four goals for the Pirates. The Lompoc goals were scored by Brooke Crouse (3), Oyuki Gonzalez, Amanda King, and Daniella Caballero. Erika Elenes again had an excellent game in goal.

The JV squad managed to stay with Santa Ynez for a quarter, countering two early Pirate goals with one by Anna Clark, but almost all of the remainder of the game was controlled by the visitors. The exception being a high arcing shot from way outside by Carolina Cazarez that surprised everbody - especially Carolina. The final was 14-2. Natalie Castillo scored seven for the Pirates and Rachel DeLeon had three.


Meanwhile over at the stadium Larry Justice's JV soccer girls began a turn-around in Brave fortunes with a 3-0 win over Morro Bay. Torrie Faulkner scored twice, Brittany Reeves once, and Amy Dominguez had six saves in goal.

Veronica Villareal

The varsity was able to continue the trend when they took the field, albeit not to the same degree. Even though they dominated play throughout the game, they were unable to put the the Pirates away and were forced to anxiously await the final whistle while trying to run out the clock. Veronica Villareal scored the lone goal of the first half on a nice assist by 'Sunny' Estrada. Morro Bay evened the score early in the second when three Lompoc players all decided to back off the ball allowing Olivia Wall to feed an easy pass to Joanna Wheeler for the goal. A stirred up Braves team soon responded by ramping up the tempo. This resulted in a Lindsey Eckersley corner kick that "V" Villareal stuck in the net for her second goal of the game. Several Lompoc players, including Villareal, had scoring chances but none of them were able to convert.
The Braves win, combined with Cabrillo's 1-0 loss to St. Joseph at CHS, provides Lompoc with a great opportunity to move past both those teams in the LPL standings, since they play St. Joseph on Friday and Cabrillo next week - both at home. Their other remaining game is on the road Tuesday against Santa Maria. ----- el stato

Busy Night at LHS

It was a busy night at LHS - Adult Ed classes, Drama Club rehearsals, Master Chorale practice, youth basketball workouts, and the LHS football awards dinner. The hottest action, however, was at Paisola Pavilion where the girls basketball team hosted Santa Ynez in a tough, bruising, very physical game.

It was an intense, sloppy, up and down the court (until all the foul shooting began), exciting, entertaining mess of a game. The all out defensive pressure by both squads led to numerous steals, lost balls, held-balls, missed shots, blocks, and fouls. Both squads were in the double-bonus in both halves, surpassing the rarely achieved fifty foul (51) mark for the game. Neither took advantage of the situation. Santa Ynez hit 47% (17-36) of their free throws with Lompoc only slightly a less anemic 51% (19-37). Mixed in with all that were some impressive offensive performances, scoring spurts, clutch shots, and incredible plays on a night when nothing came easy.

The game followed a repeated pattern - the Braves taking a lead, but then having the Pirates reel them back in by the end of the period. Lompoc dominated the first part of the opening stanza, but was only able to go up 6-0 before Annie Frederickson broke the SY scoring drought with 4:17 left. After the pirates pulled even at 6 all (at 2:05), back-to-back buckets by Cameron Lizzaragga pushed Lompoc to a 10-6 lead, but the quarter ended with the Braves clinging to a 10-9 advantage.

In the second quarter, both teams surpassed the first quarter total - each side scoring 21 points for a 31-30 halftime differential. Lompoc did lead in the team foul department 14 to 12. Underscoring the importance of the Braves improved depth, no one individual had more than three fouls. Earlier in the season primary post players Chelsea Cassulo & Courtney Stumpo had to carry much of load by themselves, but the return of Ashley Cromp from injury and the improved play of Lizzaragga, Bree Taylor, and others have definitely helped this squad.

Jozza Ray looked like she was going to take over the game early in the third period, when she outraced everyone on the court several times for lay-ups to stake Lompoc to a seven point lead. But Santa Ynez was able to stop the bleeding, and the game resumed its regular pace. On this occasion, and multiple others in the second half, the Braves had opportunities to pull away but were thwarted by clutch shots, often three-pointers, by the Pirates. Lompoc was able to slowly rebuild its margin 48-42 before the start of the 4th, but at the cost of key players picking up their 4th fouls.

In final period the mounting foul total began to exact its toll as both Cassulo (7:39) and Stumpo (6:10) picked up their bench tickets. Lompoc led 53-47 at that point. Tremendous defense by the subs, dribble penetration by Ray, and continued superb defense & ball control by Denee Lane allowed the Braves to extend the lead to nine (62-53) with 3:43 left. The Pirates, as expected, closed the gap, Lompoc hit a three to open it back up, Santa Ynez hit a three to close it. Down the stretch, the Braves got fine performances Lauren Lopes (until she fouled out with 30 seconds left), Betty Sullivan, and Dyesha Peavy enabling them to hold on to a 4-6 point lead. Santa Ynez, already in the double bonus began fouling to stop the clock at the 47 second mark, and Lompoc was able to take advantage. Using a combination of made FT's (most by Jozza Ray), rebounding, and forced turnovers the Braves closed out the Pirates 68-59.

Scoring: Lompoc - Ray (27), Lizzaragga (12), Lane (11), Cassulo (8), Lopes (5), Cromp (3), Stumpo (2). SY [leaders] - Whitney Moir & Chelsea Hewitt (13), Hailey King (10), Annie Frederickson (9).

JV and Frosh [See the Mid-Season Report on Thursday]

The evening started with wins by both of the LHS lower division squads. The freshmen overcame a 14 point deficit in the middle of the first quarter to win 52-33. Trailing 18-10 at the end of the first, they outscored the Pirates 14-4, 8-7, and 20-4 in the next three to win going away. The win moves their season mark to 5-6 (2-2 in the LPL). Lompoc scorers were Kayla Barnes & Chyane Fabing (17 each), Taima Broadhead with 11, Sami Martin (5), and Carrie Esparza (2).

The JV girls received balanced scoring from Stephany Baca (8), Rashonne Ray (6), Shandee Berryman & Claudia Aguirre (5 each), Kayla Fajardo (4), to defeat Santa Ynez 32 to 20. Also scoring for the Braves were Casey Stumpo (2) and Kayla Stearns (2). ---- the statmeister