The Newport Harbor High sophomore boys' basketball team clinched the Sunset League title with a 51-47 win over Los Alamitos on Feb. 8.
The Sailors (15-4), coached by Jerry Murray, shared a 5-2 league record with Los Alamitos headed into the last game of the season. But Newport came out on top behind Cameron Holmes' 31-point performance.
"It was a great team," Murray said. "They played great team defense. They really got along and bought into the program."
Newport Harbor also won the Ocean View sophomore tournament in December, and finished second in the Edison Tournament.
Murray said the team held practice at 5:15 a.m.
"I call them the 'Breakfast Club,'" he said.
Also contributing for the Sailors were Justin Adams, Jeff Allee, Sean Cantwell, Paul Curtiss, Hamilton Day, Josh Fletcher, Kyle Lawrence, Darren Leggett, Chris Mendez, Austin Schmidt, Christian Scott and Amin Tavakoli.
EAGLES WIN LEAGUE
The Estancia High junior girls' basketball team won the league championship, finishing 8-1 in its first year in the Orange Coast League. The Eagles' (13-6) only league loss was the last game of the season at Costa Mesa, by only three points.
Estancia, coached by Xavy Castellanos and Bryan Jimenez, was led by co-MVPs Stacy Ramirez and Erika Sota. Diana Gutierrez and Julie Arreola helped carry the scoring load, and leading the Eagles in rebounds were Suzy Ruiz, Amber Thomas, Lovelle Pulizzi and Samantha Lazarus.
Also contributing to the team were Marleen Perez and Lindsay Atwood.
UP AND COMING is an occasional feature that highlights non-varsity teams and intermediate-school level squads. To submit your achievements for consideration e-mail details to Matt Szabo at matthew.szabo@latimes.com or Steve Virgen at steve.virgen@latimes.com.
