Masson Qualifies for State; Aztecs Rebound

Masson Blow Qualifies for State Meet

MASSON BLOW qualified for the state wrestling meet Saturday. He is pictured above in action in a photo by Armando Robles.

At the CIF-Southern Section Masters Tournament in Rialto the Lompoc High star finished fourth among 30 wrestlers wrestling at 152 pounds.

Seeded #2 Blow drew a first round bye, then pinned Timmy Garnica of North Torrance at 2:31. In the quarterfinal round he won 5-0 over Stephen Mills of Laguna Hills, but in the semifinal he was pinned by eventual winner Jacob Rodriguez of Canyon Springs at 4:47.

Relegated to the third-place bracket he stopped Trevor Gray of San Clemente 10-4, but then lost to Mills by a 7-4 score and had to settle for fourth. Mills had a big advantage in the fatigue category. He had been able to rest instead of wrestle when his qualifying match was won by injury default.

Though Blow had been seeded second by CIF, Rodriguez was no surprise. California Wrestler ranked him #2 and Blow #3. Vinny Maraj of Yucca Valley had been seeded and ranked #1 but he fell to sixth due to injury.

The state meet will take place in Bakersfield next weekend.

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College Women's Water Polo

The San Diego State unbeaten streak was snapped Saturday but the Aztecs battled back for three straight victories to give themselves a 13-1 record by nightfall Sunday.

Upstart UC Davis nipped #6-ranked SDSU on Saturday 8-7 but the team weathered a final flurry to down Michigan 11-9, edged UC Irvine 9-8, and then came from behind with four unanswered goals to top Arizona State 7-5 all at the UC-Irvine Tournament.

Goalie HEATHER FENSKE posted save totals of 8, 12, 5, and 9 with three of her 12 against Michigan coming in the final four minutes. Captain BECCA UR scored against Davis and netted another against Michigan to give the Aztecs their 11-8 advantage to provide a cushion before the Wolverines’ final push.

Becca now has 12 goals for the season, while Heather has 114 blocks.

The #6-ranked Aztecs open conference play at Stanford on Saturday and at San Jose State on Sunday.

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College hoops

SEATTLE— A ragged University of Washington team fell 77-63 to Arizona State Saturday night. The Sun Devils lifted themselves to 7-7 in the Pac-10 while UW fell to 6-9.

JOEL SMITH went 0-for-4 from the field in 15 minutes of play. He snagged three rebounds, dished an assist and blocked a shot. The Huskies visit Palo Alto to play Stanford on Thursday, and Berkeley to face Cal on Saturday.

Bismarck, ND – Fourth-ranked Northern State blacked out the University of Mary Marauders on the boards Saturday and took home a 72-50 victory. The Wolves outrebounded U-M 58-20.

GEOFF WEST led the Marauders with 14 points. He also had two assists and two steals.
The Marauders conclude the regular season at 8-19 and finish eighth in the NSIC at 5-13. The Marauders open the NSIC men’s basketball tournament at regular-season champ Winona State on Saturday,

Winter Sports CIF Pairings

CIF Pairings have been announced for the winter sports. LPL information is listed below, for complete bracket information click on the various links.

Basketball

Girls:

Div II-A [Los Padres League] 32 teams 1st Round: Thurs 14 Feb 2008 (7:30 pm)

# 4 St. Joseph (LPL #1) vs Glendora (Sierra # 3)
Unsd Lompoc (LPL #2) @ Palmdale (Golden # 2)
#13 Morro Bay (LPL #3) @ Schurr[Mtbl] (Almont #2)
Unsd Cabrillo (LPL # 4) @ Valencia (Empire #1)

{other SLO, SB, & Vent county leagues: Marmonte (I-A), Channel (I-AA), PAC-7 & Pacific View (III-A), Tri-Valley (II-AA), Coast Valley (IV-AA), Condor (IV-A), Frontier (V-AA)}

http://www.cifss.org/download_playoff_bracketts.php?sport_id=4


Boys

Div III-AA [Los Padres League] 33 teams
1st Round: Friday, 15 Feb 2008 (7:30 pm)

# 8 St. Joseph (LPL #1) vs. Alhambra (Almont AL)
#10 Lompoc (LPL #2) vs Bell Gardens (Almont #3)
#13 Morro Bay (LPL #3) @ Workman (Montview #2)
Unsd Cabrillo (LPL #4) @ #5 Santa Clara (Tri-Valley #1)

{other SLO, SB, & Vent county leagues: Marmonte (I-AA), Channel (I-A), PAC-7 & Pacific View (II-A), Tri-Valley (III-AA), Coast Valley (V-AA), Condor & Frontier (V-A)}
http://www.cifss.org/download_playoff_bracketts.php?sport_id=20


Soccer

Boys

Div III:
Wild Card Round - Wed, 13 Feb 2008
1st Round - Friday, 15 Feb 2008

1st Rd Santa Ynez (LPL #1) vs. Pasedena (Pacific #2)
1st Rd Santa Maria (LPL #2) @ Burroughs [Brbnk] (Pacific #1)
WC Rd Cabrillo (LPL #3) vs. Anaheim (Orange #3)
WC Rd Templeton (LPL #4) @ Dominguez [Cmptn] (SGV #2)

{other SLO, SB, & Vent county leagues: Marmonte (I), Channel (II), PAC-7(IV),Pacific View (IV), Tri-Valley (V), Condor(VI) ; Frontier (VI)}
http://www.cifss.org/download_playoff_bracketts.php?sport_id=22

Girls
Div IV:
Wild Card Round - Wed, 13 Feb 2008
1st Round - Saturday, 16 Feb 2008

1st Rd Santa Ynez (LPL #1) vs. WC 'E' (Magnolia/San Marino)
1st Rd Cabrillo (LPL #2) @ California (Del Rio #2) 2pm
1st Rd St. Joseph (LPL #3) @ Santa Ana Valley (Orange #1)
WC Rd Lompoc (LPL #4) @ La Salle (Del Rey #3)

{other SLO, SB, & Vent county leagues: Channel (I), Marmonte (II),PAC-7(III),Pacific View (IV), Tri-Valley (V), Condor(VI) ; Frontier (VI)}
http://www.cifss.org/download_playoff_bracketts.php?sport_id=12

Water Polo [Girls]
Division IV (24 teams):
1st Round - Tuesday, 12 Feb 2008 (3:15 pm)
2nd Round - Thursday, 14 Feb 2008 (3:15 pm)
Quarterfinals - Saturday, 16 Feb 2008 (3:15 pm)

Cabrillo (LPL #1) BYE
St. Joseph (LPL #2) vs San Luis Obispo (PAC-7 #4) at Paul Nelson Pool
Santa Ynez (LPL #3) vs Cate (Tri-Valley #3) 2pm at Paul Nelson Pool

#2 Arroyo Grande (PAC-7 #1) BYE
Paso Robles (PAC-7 #2) vs Camarillo (Pac View #3)
Nipomo (PAC-7 #3) @ Louisville (Mission #2)

Malibu (Tri-Valley #1) BYE
Carpenteria (Tri-Valley #2) vs Glendale (Pacific #3)

{other SLO, SB, & Vent county leagues: Channel (II), Marmonte (II),PAC-7(IV),Pacific View (IV), Tri-Valley (IV)}
http://www.cifss.org/download_playoff_bracketts.php?sport_id=18

Wrestling
The Team wrestling playoffs for CIF Southern Section took place on February 9th, 2008. The PAC-7 and the LPL were each represented by two teams. Area leagues competed in the following Divisions: PAC-7 (I), Marmonte (II- both teams lost semifinals), Channel (III- went 1-2), Pacific View (IV, 2-2), Los Padres (V), and Tri-Valley (VI, 0-1).
In Division 1, PAC-7 #1 Atascadero went 1-1, defeating Dana Hills (48-31) before losing to Sultana. PAC-7 #2 Righetti lost in the first round 44-26 to Hesperia.
The LPL had slightly better results in Division V. League Champions Morro Bay beat Mira Costa (48-21), and Canyon Springs 38-30, before falling to Loara 47- 20. Santa Ynez lost their first match to Highland 46-27.
The Individual Competitions begin this weekend.
http://www.cifss.org/download_playoff_bracketts.php?sport_id=17
---- el stato

Weekender--Fenske Stars in SD's Roaring Start

Heather Fenske, Lompoc's "Rudy"

In the feel-good story of the winter San Diego State is 5-0 and won the weekend UC San Diego women’s water polo tournament. Better yet, a Lompocan was the star of the event…a most unexpected Lompocan at that

Senior goalie HEATHER FENSKE was a dominant force as she recorded a career-high 14 saves in the San Diego State Aztecs' season-opening 11-8 victory against Hartwick last week.

Then, just to show that performance was no fluke, Fenske turned in nine more in a 13-6 whipping of Maryland and eight later in the day in an 11-6 triumph over Cal State Northridge in the first two games of the UCSD Triton Invitational.

In the semifinal Sunday the Aztecs won 8-6 over UCSB, Fenske registering 10 saves, and in the title game the ‘Tecs won yet again, 10-9 over Loyola-Marymount. Fenske totaled five blocks. In 13 seasons SD State had never before won the UC San Diego early season tournament.

Fenske had scarcely played in it before. She played in just nine matches out of 30 each of the last two years and has won just one letter over three seasons, but she is a six-time scholar athlete at SDSU.

Aztec co-captain BECCA UR netted three goals in the five contests and against UCSB led the defense with four steals.

Earlier in the tournament KATHRYN NELSON of UCSB scored her first collegiate goal in a 16-15 victory over Hartwick.

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College Hoops

Joel
Thursday JOEL SMITH got 17 minutes and scored two points as the Washington Huskies lost their fourth straight Pac-10 basketball game, this to USC. On Saturday when the Huskies snapped the loss skein upsetting #5-ranked UCLA Joel got only four minutes.

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Geoff
Friday in St. Paul, Minnesota GEOFF WEST scored six but the University of Mary fell to the outside shooting of Concordia 86-59. On Saturday West scored eight but the Marauders lost 58-56 to Minnesota-Moorhead in the final three seconds. The Marauders slip to 6-18 with the loss and 3-12 in the Northern Sun.

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College baseball

JAKE KOUGL
JAKE KOUGL is on the South Dakota State baseball roster for his senior year after serving as the Jackrabbits’ closer in 2007. Kougs totaled nine saves to lead the team. He posted an ERA of 3.38

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JC baseball

Hancock
At Hancock COREY DOTZLER must like openers. He rapped two hits for two RBIs in a 6-4 victory over Taft in the Bulldogs’ season opener. Then in the home opener on February 5 he did the exact same thing—two rips, two RBIs. But he wasn’t done. On February 8 against West Hills he rapped two more, including a three-run homer. On Saturday against Rio Hondo he was good for two more including a double. En Fuego!

On February first at Reedley KIRK FRIDRICH notched his first win of the season in a 2 1/3 –inning outing against College of the Sequoias.

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SB City College
At SBCC JOHNATHON TERRONES is batting .222 after 2-for-9 in six of the Vaqueros’ first seven games. One of those raps was a triple. Catcher BRIAN GREGORY has gotten into two games and in one at-bat has an on-base percentage of 1.000. He drew a walk. Pitcher JAMES ROOT has taken the mound for one inning. He struck out one, walked one, and gave up one earned run.

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Boxing
ROY'S BOXING GYM MOVING AGAIN

Effectively immediately, Roy's Boxing Gym will be moving to 960 East Chestnut or next door to the Lompoc Food Pantry. Contact Coach Baca at 588-2901 for more information.

Old Airport News , 7 Feb 2008

The sports day began and ended with overtime, starting in the pool and ending in the stadium. In between, there was action in many areas of the old airport - LHS baseball & softball were warming up for take off at Bodary Field and the LHS softball field, basketball was practicing in the Paisola Pavillion for Friday nights games, at COLAC three Tsunami members were preparing for next weeks Junior Olympics, and the LPL girls water polo tournament finals were played, plus Lompoc & Cabrillo faced off in boys and girls soccer at Huyck Stadium. Lets start with the ending and begin at Huyck.

I am so proud of you....

When an emotional Lompoc boys soccer head soccer coach Phil Galfano addressed his tired but jubilant charges after a momentous 1-0 overtime win over Cabrillo, he knew exactly what to say. He began with "I am so proud of you". In a turbulent season that brought many disapointments, he had never stopped believing in his squad and kept working to get them to believe in themselves. In many games they had outplayed their opponent, but their inability to get the ball into the net had resulted in losses. But over the course of the last three weeks, they truly began to gel as a team. They did not lose in their final five league games, and by tying perennial powerhouse Santa Maria, and defeating the Conquistadores they proved they could play with anybody in the area. They also had a major effect on the LPL standings: the tie bumping the Saints to second, and the defeat dropping Cabrillo from first to third.
Both schools had chances throughout the game, but the defenses were intense. Several yellow cards were shown and play was quite physical. Many people's emotions grew quite heated during the game. Oscar Torres of the Conq's was assisted from the field, but later returned to the game. The Braves Andy Maldanado was not so fortunate, he had to leave the field on the cart and it is believed that he might have a leg fracture.
The play in goal was outstanding with several incredible stops by keepers Alex Zavala (CHS), Roberto DeLuna (LHS), and Jorge Hernandez (LHS) who finished the game after replacing DeLuna mid-way through the first half when DeLuna was injured on a collision in the box. Hernandez, in particular, had a brilliant series late in the game. He made three stops in continuing action inside the goal area, the last one, only partially blocked, was slowly trickling towards the goal from about two feet away before being cleared by Juan Elizalde.
The winning goal was scored in extra (injury) time of the second half of overtime. Alex Botello (#3) lofted a penalty kick, from about 5 yards beyond the box, towards the right-hand goal post, where a charging Marco Vargas (#5) headed it into the goal. Lompoc had several similar opportunities earlier in the game, but was unable to convert. The ball, however, always just managed to elude the net.
Galfano had one final message for the Conquistadores as they head into CIF competition - "Let me know where you are playing and I will be there to support you."

More Soccer

The Girls varsity soccer teams also met at Huyck, with Cabrillo prevailing 2-1. Diamonne Mitchell scored in the first off an assist by Amanda De Temple, she returned the favor in the second half when De Temple scored off a header by Mitchell. Lompoc' goal came late in the second when Sunny Estrada made a nice move on the left side, spun across the front of a defender, an booted the ball past a stunned Cabriilo goalie to cut the lead in half. This was also a very physical game.

Both the LHS varsity teams held reconition ceremonies prior to thier games. The girls honored the seniors on the team and support staff and also on the Cabrillo team. The boys honored their seniors and the seniors parents.

The CHS JV girls won their match 5-0 to finish league play 8-0-4. Goals were scored by Milinda Favela (2), Alisha Melatti, Christina Goodchild (just returned from a knee injury), and Emily Paz.
The boys JV match-up was another overtime affair. Tied 0-0 at the end of regulation, it was eventually won by the Braves on penalty kicks despite two great saves by Isaias Suarez.


Not ready to give up the title yet

The Cabrillo girls water polo team faced off against the upstart St. Joseph Knights in the LPL Championship Game. Both teams had won their preliminary match-ups on Tuesday - Cabrillo beating Morro Bay & St. Joe defeating Santa Ynez. There was even some talk around the pool that the Conquistadores reign at the top was shaky, if not entirely over. The problem was that apparently no one had checked with the girls in the pool. Cabrillo came out fired up, scored 3 goals in the first two minutes, 8 unanswered in the first period, and cruised to a 19-2 win. Cabrillo scoring: Rachel Nelson (8) [above], Ashley Coski (7), and one each by Daniela Alvarado, Maggie Carroll, Leesha Taylor, and Chloe Huggins. Michelle Buss [below] played well before being substituted.

In the third place game, Santa Ynez overcame a 4-1 deficit halfway through the 3rd period to win 6-5. It was a very close game with the game tied for most of the 4th quarter and both teams having good shots on goal.

The day started, however, with Lompoc attempting to hold on to 5th place. They jumped out to a four goal lead (5-1) at the end of the first, but Santa Maria managed to nibble away at it for the rest of the game and eventually tied it up at eight with 4:08 left in regulation.

A major factor in the comback was the decision by the Saints to continually pressure goalkeeper Erica Elenes. This forced her to pass the ball off and negated one of the Braves primary weapons - her down-pool passing on transitions which had set up several of the early goals. It also delayed the start of the Lompoc set offense by burning 5-10 seconds off the 30 second shot clock.

Niether team could score again before the clock ran out and the game went to overtime. The first overtime consisted of two three minute periods with a changeover between them. The Saints outscored the Braves in the first half 3-2 , but Lompoc evened it up with 14 seconds left in the 2nd half of the overtime period. The second overtime was a single three minute sudden-death period -- neither team scored. Another sudden-death period ensued, and Santa Maria posted a goal with 1:40 left.

Lompoc received 5 goals from Brooke Crouse, two each from Shelby Carpenter and Amanda King, and great goal play from Erika Elenes. The Saints got five goals from Bryanna Torres, four from Patty Vogel, and absolutely dominating physical play from goalkeeper Liz Loshbaugh.

Off to Bakersfield

Three members of the Lompoc Tsunami Aquatics Team have qualified for the Junior Olympics in Bakersfield next week. Paola Hernandez and Tiffany Hubbard both plan to swim in the maximum seven events selected from those in which they qualified. Rebecca Riley was able to qualify in the 100y breaststroke at the central area Last Chance meet last weekend. Paola (LVMS) and Rebecca (VMS) also like to play soccer, while Tiffany is a talented cross-country runner at LVMS. [Rebecca, Tiffany, Paola] -- el stato

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

Black & Blue Basketball Two

The Lompoc Braves won four out the six contests on the day (including a sweep of both varsity contests), but the Cabrillo girls soccer team were the clear winners of the LLR "Fan Spirit Award".

VARSITY BOYS

Lompoc prevailed 44-38 in a tough physical match-up. The game was effectively decided in the third period when a stifling Braves defensive effort held Cabrillo to three points in the quarter until David Terrones' 3-pointer with 21 seconds left brought the Conquistador faithful to their feet. The Braves still pushed a three point halftime lead (17-14) to eleven which Cabrillo could never erase despite a valiant effort in the fourth. That effort was led by Wes Hain who had 10 of his game-high 13 in the period.

Besides the 13 from Hain, Cabrillo scorers were David Terrones (7), Terance Phillips & Jerrod Keith (6 each), Calvin Hoffeld (4), and Paul Carter (2). Lompoc had relatively balanced scoring - Trae Vernon (11), Joe Alerta (10), Jake Morehart (9), Josh Villa (6), Steven Morehart (5), & Tony Turnier (3). Jake Morehart's nine included consecutive baskets in the first quarter which eliminated the Conq's only lead of the game.

The Lompoc effort was made more impressive by fact that the Braves only had seven players available for the game. The already shorthanded squad was further depleted when Nick Brundy was lost with a right-hand injury and Yucca Valley transfer Carl Bruce is still waiting for CIF clearance. The required letter from LPL coordinator & CHS AD Bob Boyer was apparently sent out last Friday, but approval has not yet been received from the CIF office.

Lompoc moves to 6-1 in the LPL and travels to Sant Ynez on Friday , while Cabrillo drops to 3-4 and hosts Santa Maria.

Varsity Girls

This was a tale of two quarters. Cabrillo taking a dominating 16-6 lead in the first, only to be outscored 20-5 in the second stanza. Lompoc eased the lead out to seven on occasion, but the Conquistadores always cut it back down. However, the only real scare was mid-way through the fourth period when six points by Shabraya Hayes brought the Conq's to within a point (39-38) at 3:40, but two buckets by Chelsea Cassulo helped the Braves to a six point lead with two minutes left in the game. Lompoc then pushed the lead back out to seven before Roxanne Rentschler's 3-point buzzer-beater closed the contest. The Braves 2nd-half margin was significantly aided by 7-13 FT shooting, while Cabrillo

Lompoc was led by Jozza Ray (12), Cassulo & Courtney Stumpo (11 each), Denee Lane (8), Cameron Lizzaraga (2pts & several key rebounds), and Lauren Lopes (2). Cabrillo scorers included Hays (12 - 6 4th qtr., and 11 rebounds), Rentschler (12 - 5 4th qtr., 13 boards), Tiara Phillips (11 plus 10 rebounds), and Ashley Bonenfant (6).

Junior Varsity and Freshman

The boys JV game was a back and forth affair. Lompoc was down 10-3 early in the first before Jamel Whitaker helped spark a Braves resurgence. The Braves took a 14-11 lead early in the 2nd, but with four minutes left the score was tied at seventeen. Lompoc had again forged a lead at halftime (26-22), then saw it vanish in the 3rd as Cabrillo held a 39-38 advantage at the end of the period. Tied at 41 all with 6:51 remaining, the Conq's blew the game open during the next two minutes. They used intense defense to create empty trips down the floor for the Braves - forcing several turnovers, and converted their own opportunities, going up 49-41. The Braves never recovered, ending up on the wrong end of a 61-51 final.

The Lompoc girls JV, on the other hand, jumped on the Conquistadores early - taking a 10-1 lead after one period, and a 18-6 lead at the half. Keeping the hammer down they outscored Cabrillo 11-4 in the third, before cruising to a 38-17 final. The only real challenge by the Conq's was at 4:37 in the 2nd quarter when Cabrillo closed the score to 10-5 before the Braves pulled away. Lompoc scorers were Rayshonne Ray (11), Maureen Silva (6), Cluadia Aguirre (5), Gabby Rodriguez (4), Stephany Baca (3), Casey Stumpo & Shandee Berryman (2 each), and Kayla Fajardo (1). Cabrillo point leaders were Vanessa Cervantes (7), and Stacy Damschroder (5).

Maureen Silva returns to cheer on the other Braves
Rayshonne Ray
Maureen & Rayshonne wait to check into the game

The Lompoc freshman girls got revenge for their loss in the teams first meeting this year defeating Cabrillo 33-29 at the CHS gymnasium. Kayla Barnes had 17 points & Chyane Fabing had 11. Briana Vickery (5) and Miranda Ledesma (2) rounded out the Braves scoring.

In the second game at CHS, Cabrillo simply out-played the Braves winning 50-40. Lompoc played well, couldn't keep up. Lompoc was led by Zach Powell (10 points, 12 rebounds) and Jason LaShore (9 points, 6 assists).

OTHER NEWS

The Cabrillo girls water polo team traveled to Santa Maria to take on the St. Joseph Knights in an LPL first-place showdown at Hancock College. The Conquistadores scored three goals in the opening minutes of the contest en route to a 16-6 victory. Cabrillo soph Ashlea Coski had six goals on the afternoon to lead all scorers. Rachel Nelson had four, and Daniela Alvarado had three goals for the Conq's. Senior Kelsey Ellis had three goals for St. Joe's. Cabrillo is now 4-0 in league, St. Joseph is 3-1. --- el stato

"At Least No One Drowned," says Davis

"Well, at least no one drowned! " was the response LHS Athletic Director Jesse Davis received in response to a query yesterday. It also summed up the the day in Brave athletics.


The Girls water polo program was in action at the COLAC against a pair of Cabrillo squads that were larger, faster, stronger, more physical, more experienced, and were better in almost any adjective you care to name. The results were predictable- a 16 to 4 loss by the varsity and a 14-0 swamping for the JV. Lompoc was also dealing with the dismissal of two veteran players from the team for disciplinary reasons, but Head Coach John McNutt was pleased with the way the team came together later in the game - outscoring the Conqs 3-2 in the fourth quarter. He was also philosophical about the loss- " No one wants to win more than I do, but the idea is to play hard the entire game, get better, and have fun doing it". Brooke Crouse had two goals for the Braves, and seven different Conqs scored on varsity, ten in the JV game.


The varsity game also experienced a surreal moment in the fourth period when the center strip of the pool was deluged by a burst of torrential rain through the opened roof panels. The panels were open to try to prevent the creation of fog and heat build up in the building. Center director Jeff Storie reports that the city has received and is evaluating bids to install an air handling system in the facility. He hopes to have it operational this fall.


Erika Elenes Lompoc's sophomore goalie had a very good game for the varsity

The boys soccer games at LHS had to be reshuffled due to the rain. Since the JV field was "under water" according to Davis, both games were played at Huyck Stadium. The playing surface at Huyck was in great shape, although the track and surrounding areas were a morass. A few fans "Braved" the weather to watch the JV lose 2-1, followed by a 4-1 loss by the varsity - both to Santa Ynez. The varsity had lost five players from the team over the weekend and had called up two from JV. The girls varsity lost on the road to the Pirates 2-0.

The depleted grapplers were at Morro Bay. Only 7 of the 14 weight divisions actually had matches - Lompoc winning three. ----- el stato