Schea Cotton to Compete in O.C. Today

Schea Cotton, the well-traveled former Mater Dei High standout, and his Long Beach teammates will play in the Irvine Valley College men’s basketball tournament starting today.

Cotton played two seasons at Mater Dei, then went to Bellflower St. John Bosco. He was at St. Thomas More, a prep school in Oakdale, Conn., last year.

Long Beach, which plays at 4 p.m. against Riverside, is 3-0 and averaging 100 points a game. Cotton is averaging 28 with a high of 33.

The other first-round games are Southwestern vs. Hancock, 2 p.m.; Cerritos vs. Mt. San Jacinto, 6 p.m.; and Canyons vs. Irvine Valley, 8 p.m.

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The Zodiac A-League soccer team is planning to make Santa Ana Stadium its home again, beginning next season.

“We’ve reached an oral agreement with the city and we expect a contract to be signed soon,” said Dan Abdalla, the team’s media relations director.

Abdalla said the Zodiac is planning to refurbish parts of the stadium with money from permanent signage it plans to have inside the stadium.

The Zodiac played at Santa Ana Stadium during its first season in 1997. Last year, the team played at UC Irvine and Mission Viejo High.