Lamb Leads Marina Past Rosary

Jenny Lamb proved why she is one of the best players in the county, scoring two of her three goals in the fourth quarter to lead Marina to a 6-4 victory over Rosary in a nonleague girls’ water polo game Saturday at Golden West College.

Marina (14-4), ranked third in the county, beat fifth-ranked Rosary (13-4) for the second time this season. Rosary has also gone 1-2 against fourth-ranked Los Alamitos.

“I think Rosary is the most underrated team in the county,” Marina Coach Dave Carlson said. “The teams they’ve lost to, they have also beaten.”

Lamb made sure there would be no repeat of an early-season 6-5 overtime loss to Rosary. Marina edged Rosary, 7-6, Jan. 17, in the Long Beach Wilson tournament and Lamb helped provide another narrow margin of victory Saturday.

Lamb broke a 3-3 tie, scoring with 5 minutes 23 seconds remaining, then assisted on Erin Wilson’s second goal with 2:05 left. Lamb added an insurance goal with 1:31 remaining.

Rosary Coach Todd Sprague said Lamb’s impact was felt on both ends of the pool.

“She’s the best two-meter defender around,” Sprague said. “She takes away so much of your offense.”

Still, Rosary, top-ranked in the Southern Section Division III poll, came back after trailing Marina, 2-0, in the second quarter.

With 22 seconds remaining in the second quarter, Julia Wald scored from the hole with Lamb draped all over her to make it 2-1. In the third quarter, Natalie Golda scored the first of her two goals to make it 2-2. After Lamb put Marina ahead, 3-2, Julie Henn scored with 3 minutes remaining in the third to make it 3-3 heading into the fourth quarter.

“I was proud of the way the kids came back,” Sprague said. “Hopefully, it will be a learning experience.”

In other nonleague girls’ water polo:

No. 7 Villa Park 6, Costa Mesa 4--Kristyn Pulver scored all six goals for Villa Park (16-4), which led, 3-2, after two quarters. Amy Devey scored two goals for Costa Mesa (5-11).

At the Quartz Hills Desert Classic wrestling tournament:

San Clemente places first--San Clemente, ranked 10th in the county, won the team competition with 180 points, followed by Lakewood Mayfair (135.5) and Quartz Hill (96).

San Clemente had four individual champions. Ryan Bareng defeated Travis Westberg of Antelope Valley, 5-4, in the 105-pound division, Elias Valencia (154) beat Jay Guillen of Colton, 14-0, Chris Dollar (162) pinned Leonard Comou of Lancaster in 4:53, and heavyweight Robert Richardson pinned Jeff Enchanique of Quartz Hill in 1:55.

In Academy League boys’ basketball:

Orangewood Academy 67, Capistrano Valley Christian 53--Starly Alvarado scored 12 of his 28 point in the fourth quarter when Orangewood Academy outscored visiting Capistrano Valley Christian, 23-10. Nicholas Wolfsen added 20 points for Orangewood.