Brethren Christian Coach’s Hopes for At-Large Playoff Berth Dashed
Brethren Christian won’t be in the girls’ basketball playoffs, but its coach experienced some playoff anxiety anyway.
When the pairings were released Sunday, Coach Kim Harris saw the at-large list and her team was listed, but under the wrong division.
Brethren Christian, defending champion in Division IV-A, is a V-AA team this season because of reduced enrollment. But the Warriors were listed as an at-large team in V-A.
Harris said she felt panic when she saw it.
“You hope that’s a mistake in our favor,” Harris said. “I knew that can’t be us. I was concerned they would leave another team [whose school name] sounded like us, like Bethel Christian, off.”
Harris pointed out the mistake, hoping her team was instead an at-large team in Division V-A. It wasn’t.
It’s too bad, she said, “we’d have done real well.”
Brethren finished fifth in the Olympic League. The top four teams advanced. Last season, three teams from the league played in section finals.
“The Olympic League’s a tough league for girls,” Harris said. “We lost to Calvary Chapel by two and four points, and we’re the only team in the league that got that close to them. We lost to Cerritos Valley Christian by four.”
Calvary Chapel was seeded third in Division IV-A, Valley Christian was seeded second in IV-AA.
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Ryan Moreau, a four-year starter on the boys’ basketball team at Fountain Valley, set a school career scoring record. A 6-foot guard, Moreau averaged 15.5 points a game this season and finished his career with 1,068 points.
The old mark of 951 points was held for more than two decades by Roger Holmes, now the boys’ basketball coach at Marina.
Said Holmes when informed about his record being broken: “It lasted 20 years. That’s long enough. It’s time for someone else to hold it for a while.”
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Chandra King, a forward/striker for the Capistrano Valley girls’ soccer team, has committed to Yale, her father, Richard, said. King, 17, also considered Ohio State and Washington State.
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There was one silver lining for the county at the annual State Cup California High School Championship Tournament for in-line hockey teams.
Marina won the junior varsity championship Monday, defeating Lake Elsinore Elsinore, 5-2.
A total of 52 teams from Sacramento to San Diego participated in four days of competition on the varsity and junior varsity levels at Inline Sports Center in Corona.
Sue Stedale of Anaheim, a team manager whose son, Sam, played for Servite, said event organizers hope the success of events such as the State Cup will persuade the Southern Section to make roller hockey a sport at the high school level.
“Kids love to play for their schools,” Stedale said.
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Brea Olinda girls’ basketball team, the top-seeded team in Division II-AA, has played all four of the seeded teams in the largest division, I-AA. The Ladycats won all of them, defeating No. 1 Peninsula, 50-47; No. 2 El Toro, 72-67; No. 3 Chino Hills Ayala, 72-46; No. 4 Rialto Eisenhower, 78-56.
The Ladycats lost to the second-seeded team in Division I-A, Chino Don Lugo, 74-66.
Times staff writers Paul McLeod and Mike Terry contributed to this report.