Playoffs Begin Today in Tennis, Water Polo

Peninsula’s girls’ tennis team and Long Beach Wilson’s boys’ water polo team will attempt to defend their Division I titles when playoffs begin today.

Second-seeded Peninsula plays host to San Gabriel, which defeated El Rancho, 10-2, in a wild-card match Wednesday. Corona del Mar is the top-seeded team in the division.

Other top-seeded teams are Dana Hills in Division II, Harvard-Westlake in Division III, San Marino in Division IV and Brentwood in Division V.

In water polo, Wilson hosts Santa Ana Valley.

Other top-seeded teams are Los Alamitos in Division II, defending champion Bell Gardens in Division III, Righetti in Division IV, Arlington in Division V and Rowland in Division VI.

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Chris Hanks of Cathedral High ranks second in the state in rushing behind John Bordenkircher of Dixon in the San Joaquin Valley.

Hanks, who has 2,711 yards and 40 touchdowns, carried 22 times for 466 yards and seven touchdowns in Cathedral’s 80-36 Santa Fe League victory over Murphy last week. It was the third consecutive game in which Hanks scored seven times for the unbeaten Phantoms, who compete in Division XI and play Mary Star of the Sea on Friday.

Bordenkircher has gained 2,776 yards and has 35 touchdowns. He gained 409 yards in only 13 carries and scored six touchdowns in a 58-40 victory over Justin Siena of Napa last week. Bordenkircher plays for a school in one of the Sac-Joaquin Section’s smallest divisions.

David Dotson holds the state record for yards in a season with 3,523, a total he achieved in 11 games in 1991 for Moreno Valley Valley View.

Like Hanks, Tustin’s DeShaun Foster has 40 touchdowns, seven shy of the state record set last season by Oscar Arzu of Baldwin Park Sierra Vista.

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Michelle Greco of Crescenta Valley, Cal-Hi Sports’ basketball state player of the year as a freshman, sophomore and junior, said last week she will attend UCLA.