Holmes Hired to Coach Marina Boys’ Basketball Team

Marina announced Wednesday the hiring of Roger Holmes as boys’ basketball coach. Holmes, who was an assistant coach for Bill Reynolds at Southern California College the last two years, takes over from Steve Popovich, who will return to Saddleback College as an assistant basketball coach.

Popovich, who came back last season to coach Marina after coaching at Saddleback College, had coached Marina for 17 seasons.

Before joining SCC, Holmes, 34, was head coach at Santa Margarita for two years and was an assistant coach at Ocean View for nine years. He played at Fountain Valley where he was named MVP of the Sunset League in 1978.

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Rick Hayes will resign as Century High baseball coach, Athletic Director Bill Brown said.

Hayes said he is quitting to spend more time with his family and pursue other opportunities.

Hayes has been the Centurions coach for the last five seasons, starting the program on the freshman-sophomore level. He has a 45-50-1 varsity record, heading into the first round of the Southern Section Division III playoffs Friday against West Torrance. The Centurions defeated Irvine, 3-2, Tuesday in a wild-card game, the school’s first playoff victory in baseball.

Century has finished second in the Pacific Coast League the past two seasons.

Hayes previously coached at Westminster and led the Lions to a Major Division championship in 1981. He has also been an assistant coach at Long Beach State.

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Jason Ferguson has been hired as Costa Mesa boys’ basketball coach, Athletic Director Myron Miller said.

Ferguson, 23, becomes the youngest coach in Orange County. He replaces Bill Brewer, who resigned to take a teaching and coaching position at Brawley Union High.

Brewer was 24-67 in three seasons with Costa Mesa. The Mustangs were 6-18 overall and 0-10 in the Pacific Coast League last season.

Ferguson has been a lower-level coach at Costa Mesa the past three seasons.

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Mater Dei announced the hiring of David Mikesell as water polo coach and Pete West as girls’ volleyball coach.

Mikesell is a graduate of University High and UC Irvine and has been coach of the SoCal Water Polo Club since 1988. He replaces Frank Kennedy, who was head coach last season and varsity assistant the previous two. He is returning to school. Mater Dei finished 0-5 in the South Coast League last fall.

West coached the Orange County Volleyball Club for four years and was men’s coach at Concordia from 1990-92. He replaces Laura Kennedy, who is taking maternity leave. The Monarchs were 10-5 last season, losing in a Southern Section Division I wild-card playoff game, and 34-14 in three seasons under Kennedy.

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Ramin Bastani of Corona del Mar said he will play basketball at Chapman.

Bastani, a 6-foot-3 guard, averaged 17.1 points for the Sea Kings last season. He helped them reach the semifinals of the Southern Section Division IV-AA playoffs, where they lost to La Puente Bassett, 67-64. Bastani scored 24 points in that game.

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Dave Searle, Edison’s top golfer, has accepted a scholarship to play at San Jose State. He finished third in the Sunset League individual final. Searle, a 4.0 student, intends to major in business.

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Chris Linkhorn of El Toro signed a letter of intent to play men’s soccer at Seattle Pacific University, the defending NCAA Division II champion.

Linkhorn, a 6-foot-2, 185-pound sweeper, was a first-team All-South Coast League selection and helped the Chargers win the league title.