Joel #2 in Treys; Burtley Transfers; Ornelas to 3B

GEOFF & JASON

Grand Forks, ND – Tate Kick and GEOFF WEST each scored 14 points for the University of Mary but it wasn't enough as the University of North Dakota defeated the Marauders 84-70 Tuesday night.

With U-Mary down by just two at intermission with the score 32-30, UND erupted for 52 points in the second half .

West continued his outstanding outside shooting, connecting on 4-of-6 three point attempts as he tallied 14 points. He added two assists.

The defeat snapped a two-game win streak for the Marauders. Saturday night they face a major challenge when they travel to Aberdeen, South Dakota to tackled conference leader Northern State. The Wolves are 16-1 and lead the Northern Sun at 7-1. They are ranked No. 12 in NCAA Div. II. The Marauders are 3-5 in conference, 6-11 overall.

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JOEL

In Seattle at the University of Washington Junior JOEL SMITH ranked No. 2 in the Pac-10 at 51.4 percent (19-37) on three-point shots entering Thursday night’s game vs. Oregon. In that game which Washington won 78-70 for its first PAC-10 victory in three tries, Smith went 0-for-1 from beyond the arc. He scored two points and brought down two rebounds in 11 minutes after entering the game as the Huskies’ sixth man. The Huskies host Oregon State Saturday.

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ANTHONY

Lizard Breath AL HUNT reports that ANTHONY BURTLEY has transferred from Lewis-Clark State in Idaho, where he was red-shirted, to University of Mary There he will join the West Brothers. University of Mary is in NCAA Division II while Lewis-Clark plays in the NAIA.

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College baseball

ORNELAS TO THIRD BASE

Hunt also reports that BEN ORNELAS (pictured above) is in the running for the third base job at Lewis-Clark State, the NAIA champions. This is a change for Ben. He played center field at Cypress College the past two years. Also on the team, in fact named an NAIA pre-season All-American, is pitcher MATT FITTS. Fitts is the son of 1982 Lompoc High grad Matt Fitts. The link is former Lompocan GUS KNICKREHM, who is assistant to head coach Ed Cheff. Hunt also reports the news which appeared here months ago, that Ornelas’ roommate, ISAAC SIMMONS, has decided to retire from baseball to concentrate on academics.

Comments from College

A Compendium from the College Avenue Carousel:

• The Lompoc Girls Soccer teams both recorded victories over Santa Maria on Tuesday (Jan 15) -- the varsity jumped out to a 6-0 halftime lead and coasted to a 10-0 final. The JV, on the other hand, started off slowly, dropping to a 1-0 deficit before exploding late in the game for a 5-1 win. Scoring for the varsity Braves were Lindsey Eckersley (2), Stephanie Miranda (2), Sameeha Husayn, Elicity Fabing, Lily Zuniga (from 25-30 yards out), 'Sonny' Estrada, Veronica Villareal, and Teresa Carreno ; Jennifer Justice (3), Brittany Fabing, & Sonia Pantoja scored for the junior varsity.






Spectators help the JV Girls Celebrate




The Girls will host a fundraiser BBQ & Bake sale in the Walgreens parking lot on north 'H' st this Saturday from 10 am to 2 pm .






The recently renamed Lompoc Tsunami Aquatics will be holding an event this weekend (the 19th & 21st) to raise money to pay for practice facility lane fees. The group hopes to raise part of the $6,000 annual cost with a " Lap-A-Thon", with individual swimmers securing pledges for laps swum. Donations and pledges are always welcome. Lompoc Aquatic Center director (and Tsunami coach) also announced that there will be additional open swim hours this coming Monday (the 21st).






The LHS Wrestling squad meanwhile recorded a narrow 42-40 win on the road at Santa Maria. The JV result was lopsided once again partially due to forfeits at 9 weights. Lompoc won one of the five contested JV matches.






On Wednesday, the Cabrillo Girls Water Polo team defeated an over matched Santa Maria squad eighteen to four. Rachel Nelson had five goals; Celeste Sazzani, Cloe Huggins, Jessica Carreon, and Maggie Carrol each had two goals. The Saints only have eight girls in the program - all sophomores except for senior goalie Liz Lashbaugh (who had six first half saves). Hence there was no junior varsity action.





The Entire Santa Maria girls water polo program


Unfortunately, due to technical problems (progress has been made), the pictures with this post, the report on last nights basketball contests, & the LHS Girls hoops update scheduled for today have been temporarily delayed . -- the s

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

Flower Queen to Co-Host Lompoc Locker Room

MIRANDA RICH, Queen of the Lompoc Flower Festival, will join Lompoc Locker Room--the TV Show as a co-host, it was announced today.


Rich was a cross county runner at Cabrillo High before graduating last year and served as assistant coach in the recent girls cross country season. She is a fulltime student at Allan Hancock College majoring in public communications and already has experience in television on Youth Network TV.


"I am very excited and grateful to have the opportunity to work on these shows," Rich said. "It is the kind of experience a young person only wishes for and I am so thankful to have such a supportive community helping me pursue my career in broadcasting and television. I have met some amazing people and look forward to working more on the shows and practice talking on TV. I think it will be a lot of fun and I know it will prepare me for the future!"

JOHN McREYNOLDS, producer of the show, expressed delight. "Miranda is a super addition," he said. "She brings the youth and enthusiasm we've lacked. We need to see a little less of the old bald guy with dark glasses."

A resident of Lompoc for the past 10 years Rich is a member of the Lompoc Youth Commission, a Girl Scout leader to a young daisy troop, and dances with the Garcia Dance Studio. Her Flower Festival candidacy was sponsored by the Lompoc Rotary club.


She will make her first appearance on Monday, January 28 with co-host MIKE "The Statmeister" LONEY.

Joel Shines on Defense; Geoff's Assists Pace M's

JOEL SHINES ON DEFENSE

JOEL SMITH came off the bench again on Saturday for the University of Washington, but once again he outplayed his replacement in the starting lineup.

Thursday against UCLA it was Justin Dentmon who took Smith’s guard spot. Saturday at USC it was Venoy Overton. Smith ended up with more minutes and more points each time but UW still lost. Saturday the score was 66-51.

Smith played 21 minutes and collected six points, two rebounds, an assist, two blocks and a steal. Overton in 19 minutes scored three points, snagged one rebound, made one assist and one steal. He also turned the ball over four times to Joel’s two.

On defense, Joel sparkled. He drew USC’s superfrosh O.J. Mayo. Here’s what the Seattle Times’ Bob Condotta noticed with 10:55 to play--

HUSKIES TAKE FIRST LEAD --- With O.J. Mayo out for a minute or two, UW shifted to a zone and finally was able to take the lead on a three-pointer by Joel Smith, who’s playing one of his better games of late when you throw in his defense on Mayo. It's 41-40 UW.

Smith and his mates held Mayo to 4-for-13 from the field though he ended up with 15 points.
The Huskies are now 0-3 in Pac-10 play. They host Oregon on Thursday.

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WEST ASSISTS GIVE MARAUDERS WEEKEND SWEEP

Bemidji, MN – Two clutch shots from Eric Erdmann – one at the end of regulation and the other at the end of overtime - lifted the University of Mary to a 71-69 overtime win at Bemidji State
Saturday. The win gave the Marauders their first weekend sweep of the year.

With one second left in overtime, Erdmann scored on a lay up under the basket off a pass from GEOFF WEST to give the Marauders a two point lead. BSU couldn’t convert a desperation shot from half court to seal the U-Mary win.

Erdmann’s overtime winner was a mirror image of his basket that forced the extra session. After the Beavers hit 1-of-2 free throws with 6.1 seconds remaining in regulation to go up 59-57, the Marauders pushed the ball quickly down court. Erdmann, again off a feed from West, nailed the lay up from right under the basket as time expired to force overtime.

In an intense back and forth game featuring and incredible 15 lead changes and 17 ties, the largest lead held by either team was a six-point BSU lead. Trailing Bemidji State 33-29 at intermission, the Marauders opened the second half with a 10-2 run to grab a 39-35 lead.

West led the Marauders with 12 points, dished four assists and made three steals. The victory improves the Marauders' record to 6-10 overall and 3-5 in the Northern Sun. After starting the weekend in 10th place, wins over Bemidji State and Minnesota, Crookston has lifted U-Mary into seventh place. BSU falls to 5-11 overall and 2-5 in the NSIC.

Geoff West Leads Marauders; Smith Now Sixth Man

GEOFF WEST LEADS MARAUDERS

Crookston, MN – Eric Erdmann put the University of Mary Marauders in position to win and GEOFF WEST knocked down the go-ahead trey as the University of Mary snapped a four-game losing streak with a 77-71 win over the University of Minnesota-Crookston Friday night.

In a game that featured 13 ties and eight lead changes, it was the Marauders who were able to grab the final momentum swing of the game. Down by as many as 10 points in the second half, U-Mary outscored UMC 12-2 to tie the game at 57-57 with nine minutes remaining.

Later tied at 68-68, the Marauders grabbed the lead for good when West hit a three-pointer with 2:58 left. Erdmann led all players with 23 points and had a team-high six rebounds. West added 12 points.

U-Mary improves to 5-10 this season and 2-5 in the Northern Sun while UMC drops to 4-11 overall and 1-5 in the NSIC to fall behind the Marauders in the league standings. U-Mary is next in action Saturday, January 12, when the Marauders play at Bemidji State University at 8 p.m.

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SMITH BECOMES SIXTH MAN

JOEL SMITH dropped from the Washington Huskies’ opening lineup Thursday night but produced just as many minutes as before.

Unfortunately for UW, the revamped fivesome was no match for UCLA which won 69-55. It was Washington’s second PAC-10 defeat in two tries.

Smith was replaced by Justin Dentmon but they played about the same number of minutes, Dentmon 16, Smith 17. In that span Joel scored five points, snared six rebounds (second high on the team), and dished out two assists. Dentmon scored four points, grabbed one rebound, and made two assists and a steal.

Smith had started in the previous six UW contests in which the team had gone 5-1, losing only to undefeated Washington State. In that contest, though he started, he played just eight minutes.

The Huskies, now 9-6 overall, visit USC Saturday night.

Churchie on TV; Conq Polo Rocks

RYAN CHURCH TO APPEAR ON TV

Lompoc’s RYAN CHURCH will appear on Lompoc Locker Room, the TV Show on Monday at 5:30, it was confirmed today.

“Count me in,” wrote the New York Met rightfielder in an e-mail. Church will phone in from his Florida home. Appearing, in person, will be Cabrillo multi-sport star WES HAIN.

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Cabrillo Polo Rocks SY

By Deanne Nelson

Well, Cabrillo High School's girls water polo head coach, Corey McIntyre, said it best, "I really liked the way they played this afternoon! The starters, led by Rachel Nelson, played with such intensity and ferocity ..that really set the tone for the game!"

Rachel Nelson #10, a junior and co-captain, won the sprint, passed the ball back to Cabrillo's #8 Leesha Taylor, and she passed back to Rachel, who went on to score the first goal within the first 30 seconds of the game! A few moments later, Rachel passed the ball to sophomore, Ashlea Coski and she scored! A minute or so later, Coski stole the ball, swam down the pool and made her second goal! Now, it's 3-0 in the first three minutes of the first quarter, Chloe Huggins scored, and seniors Daniela Alvarado and Jessica Denton went on to score one each and Cabrillo ended the first quarter 6-0.

Second Quarter - Rachel Nelson assisted #21 Phoebe Huggins to bring the score to 7-0. Nelson then stole the ball and drove hard to score her second goal (score: 8-0).

Then Daniela Alvarado scored, assisted by #8 Leesha Taylor (score: 9-0). Rachel Nelson then stole the ball from Santa Ynez's sophomore #11, Jenna Barbonias, then passed it to #15 Ashlea Coski to make her third goal and brought the score 10-0.

The Conquistadores went on to score 11 to 0 by the end of the second quarter! (Rachel Nelson and Ashlea Coski both scored 3, total, for the game.)

Coach McIntyre also said," He really liked the second group of players' work in the second half - they worked hard (against Santa Ynez's virtual "new" team and new female coach) to get the ball into the two-meter position." The final score was Cabrillo 14 to Santa Ynez's 3.

Their next game will be on Wednesday, January 16th at the Lompoc Aquatic Center Pool at 2:30 pm against Santa Maria High School.

Hoops Woes

GEOFF & JASON SHOW: HARD TIMES

BISMARCK, North Dakota – In a game featuring eight lead changes, eleven ties and where seven points is the biggest lead held by either team, the unfortunate part is that one team goes home with a loss. Friday night, it was the University of Mary falling 77-73 in overtime to Minnesota State--Moorhead in Northern Sun action.

Down five with 2:39 left in regulation, the Marauders scored the last two baskets. Jordan Engelhardt hit a trey with 1:36 left to pull within 68-66. After a Dragons turnover, Tate Kick leaped through a crowd of players to tip in a miss off a U-Mary three-point attempt, tying the game with 40 seconds left.


After Engelhardt rebounded a missed shot by the Dragons, GEOFF WEST had a chance to win the game for the Marauders in regulation, but his off-balance jumper took a bad bounce off the rim and went out of bounds with two seconds left in the game. MSUM couldn’t get a shot off and the two teams went to overtime.


The Dragons would score first in OT, but West would hit his fifth trey of the day to put the Marauders up 71-70. Unfortunately, MSUM scored the next six points, making four of six free throw attempts and a lay up while U-Mary would turn the ball over three times and commit three fouls.


Geoff West was U-M’s second leading scorer with 15. The powerful Dragons are now 10-2.


On Saturday night the result was the same, minus overtime. The Marauders fell to Concordia of St. Paul 74-68. West scored 14 to again rank No.2 in scoring. Concordia is 9-5. U-M fell to 4-10 and 1-5 in the Northern Sun conference. They have last all four games since their winter break.

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JOEL’S MINUTES SHRINK

SEATTLE--Undefeated Washington State opened PAC-10 play Saturday out-defensing Washington 56-52.

JOEL SMITH started in his customary guard spot for UW but played just eight minutes. He did not score. The Huskies visit UCLA Thursday night.

Statmeister: Brave Hoops Down Conqs

Lompoc basketball gives Cabrillo "The Blues."

by Mike (Statmeister) Loney

A battered, but jubilant JOE ALERTA celebrated with his LHS teammates at mid-court of the CHS gym Wednesday night after an intensely physical defensive trial was eventually decided in the Braves favor 52-42.

The game was the culmination to an afternoon and evening slate of intra-valley match-ups between the two local high schools to open Los Padres League play. The event started with both the girls and boys freshman squads playing their counterparts at Paisola Pavilion on the LHS campus, while the JV & varsity units played at Cabrillo. Lompoc prevailed in five of the six contests, defeating the Conqs in all but the first one played.

Frosh girls

The freshman girl Conquistadores blew out (52-28) a Braves squad that was demoralized early in the second period by the loss of team leader KAYLIN BARNES to injury. That already depleted group seemed to lack cohesion despite playing with great effort against a very coordinated CHS attack. CHS coach VINCE FLOWERS credited Cabrillo's prowess to a group of nine players who had practiced hard all through the Christmas break. Barnes is expected to be out at least a week.

Frosh boys

The freshman boys followed with one of the best games of the young season. Lompoc jumped out to an 8-point lead after one quarter, then surrendered a 1-point deficit at halftime. Both teams scored ten in the third, and Cabrillo held a 36-35 lead with 2:45 left in the game. Lompoc, stepping up their defense down the stretch, led 39-38 at the 0:39 mark, and had possession of the ball. But missed free throws, several mad scrambles, and a held ball put the ball in the Conqs hands with the score unchanged and 13 seconds on the clock. A deep penetration was foiled when LHS knocked the ball out of bounds with 0:04 remaining. Cabrillo's last shot, a mid-range jumper from the left baseline, slowly slid over and off the front of the rim.

JV

The Lompoc girls JV team posted a narrow 2-point victory in a low scoring contest, and the boys JV won by 12 (69-57). Coach EARNEST REESE was quite pleased with his outfit's effort - especially the extremely low number of turnovers. This was in marked contrast to a series of rather indifferent practice sessions leading up to the game, including one Tuesday night cut short by a randomly operating fire alarm at LHS.

Girls varsity

The dual main event began with a girl's varsity game that was not for the faint of heart. Anyone who thinks that basketball is a non-contact sport or that girls are not competitive obviously did not see this one. Lompoc started quickly, taking a 14-2 lead in the first quarter, but Cabrillo definitely did not quit. They fought back to within six points by the end of a low-scoring opening half (20-14), during which neither team was shy about using fouls. In the third quarter the scoring pace picked up (18-16)-- surpassing the prior half as Lompoc eased out to an 8-point lead. Thus the fourth period began with Lompoc in familiar and unfriendly territory. They had the elements seen in several previous losses - a small lead, several players in foul trouble, and JOZZA RAY (27 points on the night) racing around the court. Tonight, however, would be different. The Braves were buoyed by the return from injury of ASHLEY CROMP, who provided much needed relief to post players CHELSEA CASSULO and COURTNEY STUMPO. CAMERON LIZARRAGA and LAUREN LOPES picked up significant points. So even though Cassulo and point guard DENEE LANE fouled out with nearly six minutes left, the Braves were able to hold off a series of charges by the Conqs and hold on to win 57-50.

Boys varsity

The near-capacity crowd barely had time to recover from the girls game, when the boys took the court. They were, if possible, more physical.

The Braves again jumped out to an early lead (6-2), but Cabrillo roared back - leading 10-6 at the end of one period. Lompoc's Joe Alerta had to leave the game midway through that initial stanza, wobbling off the court after colliding head-first with teammate STEVEN MOREHART while diving for a loose ball. He was able to return in time to hit a number of very timely shots (and 10 of 12 free throws), helping the Braves to a 24-19 halftime advantage. The second half was an extremely rugged affair with both teams having two more fouls than made baskets. Lompoc stretched its lead at the end of the third to 41-27, before Alerta went down again. This time laying on the court for several minutes after receiving a lower-body injury. Cabrillo out-scored the Braves down the stretch, but wasn't able to catch them although cutting the lead substantially at least twice.

Other notes

The LHS girls soccer teams had rough outings against Santa Ynez at home -- both varsity & JV losing by significant margins. In happier news both the boys and girls varsity basketball teams recieved additions recently. Yucca Valley transfer CARL BRUCE, a 6-3, 195-pound. athletic swingman, hopes to suit up for the fellas sometime next week. He is awaiting CIF clearance after moving to join his mom. The other new addition is Tara Nicolette Terrones, the new daughter of girls head coach CLAUDIA & (JV football coach) PAUL TERRONES (pictured). Current physical dimensions are in flux but it is reported that she has already begun work on her dribble.

Smith Ends 2007 Like Clockwork

Happy New Year to JOEL SMITH.

Joel and his mates ended 2007 with another victory.

The Washington Huskies had no difficulty with Idaho State Monday night, dumping them 82-50.

Joel started once again as part of the three-guard starting lineup, the one which has gone undefeated in five straight games. He was 2-for-6 from the field as he cashed in two three-pointers for six points in 15 minutes of floor time. He also brought down two rebounds, made three assists and a steal.

The Huskies open PAC-10 play Saturday night hosting Washington State.