NJB girls perfect in tourney

The Newport-Mesa National Junior Basketball All-Star girls’ team of sixth-graders went undefeated at the sectional tournament last weekend and advanced to the national tournament.

The Newport-Mesa All-Stars beat Villa Park, 46-26, at Beckman High to complete a 4-0 record in the tournament and secure a berth to the NJB national tournament, which begins March 31 and will be played throughout Orange County.

The national tournament will include teams mainly from Southern California as NBJ is played in seven states, Newport-Mesa Coach Eddie Golden said.

Dave Golden and Peter Nguyen were also coaches on the team.

Tia Grippo was the team’s floor leader, while Delani Guyot was one of the All-Stars’ top scorers. The Newport-Mesa NJB All-Stars also feature: Gwen Hart, Erica Rogers, Danielle Manderson, Chloe Harbilas, Jordan Golden, Miranda Cyr, Anne O’Connor and Nataly Shayan-Smith.

“They were excited,” Eddie Golden said of going 4-0 in the tourney. “They were thrilled and really motivated about the possibility to keep on playing.”

— Steve Virgen

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CdM wins Cup

The Corona del Mar Aquatics 12U girls’ water polo team won the championship game in the Gold Division of the Turbo OC Cup last weekend.

CdM defeated United WPC in the final, 9-8, to take the gold medal. CdM received contributions from the entire team over the course of the two-day tournament.

The CdM 12U team included: Ella Abbott, Layne Anzaldo, Brooke Banta, Megan Carey, Delaney Gendron, Chloe Harbilas, Lauren McCracken, Reagan Pfeif, Tatum Rausch, Riley Sidebotham, Erin Tharp and Kiana Viceroy.

Head coach Jon Puffer guided the girls to four straight victories during the weekend. In the Sunday morning semifinal CdM defeated Capistrano Valley, 16-6.

CdM advanced by beating Falcons WPC, 15-8, and Laguna Beach, 15-3, in the preliminary rounds on Saturday.

— Reader submission

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Tar Heels win Super-Sectional championship

The Newport-Mesa Tar Heels fifth-grade boys’ team won the 2012 All-Net Super-Sectionals championship in the top division March 3-4 in Orange County.

The Tar Heels crushed the opposition, averaging 62 points per game and holding the opponents to 35 ppg over the weekend.

The Tar Heels opened play with a tough away game against La Mirada. Newport-Mesa won, 67-52, and was led by the strong inside presence of DJ Rodman, who had a game-high 19 points and 10 rebounds. Jake Hamilton and Nico Dasca played stingy defense and added 12 points each, while Matt Olson chipped in with eight points and three rebounds.

The Tar Heels also beat the Fullerton Cougars team, 60-30, with the trio of Hamilton, Dasca and Olson leading the way with 10 points each. Luke Chelf had six points, three rebounds and two assists, while Mason Melcer added four points and four rebounds.

The Tar Heels beat the RSM Titans, 65-34 in the semifinals. Olson scored all 12 of his points in the second quarter, and Adam Flood added six points and two blocks. Johnny King had his most productive scoring game of the season with 10 points and six rebounds while blocking two shots. Ethan Barnes scored six straight points in the fourth period to put the game away.

In the final, the Tar Heels beat Placentia P-Town, 56-22. Placentia had handed the Tar Heels their only loss of the season. The first quarter was close, but Hamilton lit it up with 16 first-half points on four three-pointers and finished with a team-high 19 points, while Sam Barela added four assists and four rebounds. King totaled six points, six rebounds, three assists and three blocks.

Coach Scott Stucki praised his team for its tenacious defense and excellent team play over the weekend.

The Tar Heels will finish the season in the All-Net Nationals Friday through Sunday in Orange County.

— Reader submission

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Local duo helps hockey team

Matt Wiesner of Newport Beach and Blaise Johnson of Corona del Mar helped lead the Orange County Hockey Club 1 team that won the state championship in the Bantam AA division of the California Amateur Hockey Assn. state tournament March 11.

Wiesner, a forward, and Johnson, a defender, were a part of four playoff victories. The OCHC 1 team beat Jr. Gulls, 8-3, for the championship.

The team will represent California in the national tournament March 28-April 1st in Wayne, N.J.

— Reader submission.

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Cowboys win tourney

The third- and fourth-grade Cowboys were recently crowned the D3 Newport-Mesa NJB tournament champions.

The Cowboys went 9-1 during the regular season while leading the league of 20 teams in points scored with 493. Throughout the season the team showed strong ability on both offense and defense and outscored opponents by an average of 12 points. They took this momentum into the playoffs where the Cowboys went undefeated. They met up with the Clippers for the championship and dominated both ends of the floor on their way to a 52-43 victory.

John Griffin and Brad Humphreys coached the team that featured: Vanis Bucholz, John Humphreys, Will Patterson, Luke McKenna, Tommy Griffin, Brendan Read, Grant McCullough, Kieran Sidebotham and Jack Severson.

— Reader submission

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Boys’ soccer team reaches final

The Newport-Mesa boys’ U8 team were a finalist in the recent Legends Cup tournament in Chino Hills.

The Legends Cup is one of the most competitive tournaments in Southern California. The NMSC team beat Legends FC, 7-2 in its first game. The Newport-Mesa boys then beat Beach Black FC, 9-0, in a powerful display of both offense and defense.

With these wins they advanced to the semifinals against the Celtic Hibs and won, 4-3.

NCMC then lost in the championship game, 2-1, in overtime to TVSA. With one minute left in overtime, TVSA scored the game-winner.

With excellent coaching and direction from Mike Whittaker the newly formed team made an impression in its first tournament together.

For such a young group its passing skills, composure and level of play was impressive in all of its games.

The team featured: Liam Ramzgoo, Max Lane, Hudson Delorme, Van Sidebotham, Luke Harner, Niko Weber, Quinn Welton, Rusty Dahlke, Ryan Ramzgoo, Jackson McKinney and Danny Geary.

— Reader submission