El Dorado

SANTA ANA - Daniel Kush shot a 1-over 37, to lead Newport Harbor High's golf team to a 20-shot lead over El Dorado in the first half of a nonleague match with the Golden Hawks played at the Santa Ana Country Club, par 36. Kevin Olson shot a 3-over 39, while Scott Tippett came in with a 40. The Sailors will conclude their match with the Hawks on March 30 at the Western Hills Country Club. The Sailors will finish their match with Mission Viejo today at 2:30 p.m. at Western Hills Country Club.

Corona del Mar High's boys soccer team opens the CIF Division II Playoffs today on the Sea Kings' campus with a 3 p.m. matchup with Century League representative El Dorado in what appears to be one of the more attractive first-round games of the day. Corona del Mar, 16-5-2 and the No. 1 entry from the Pacific Coast League, enters with the favorite's tag after sharing the PCL crown with Northwood. Coach Pat Callaghan's Sea Kings are one a five-game winning streak, including shutout victories over Tesoro, University and Calvary Chapel, capped by the 2-1 victory over Northwood in the regular-season finale.

Joseph Boo PLACENTIA - At least the fans thought it was exciting. After Corona del Mar High's boys water polo team gutted out a dramatic, 7-5, overtime win on Wednesday over host El Dorado in the CIF Southern Section Division I quarterfinals, CdM Coach John Vargas said bemusedly, "I don't like exciting games." Well, it certainly provided for high drama, as the Sea Kings (16-9) had to overcome a tough El Dorado goalie to take the lead, only to lose it, and finally won in overtime with goals from Garrett Bowlus and Morgan Johnston.

CHINO HILLS - Newport Harbor High's boys golf team continues its winning ways, improving to 8-0 with an overall 386-425 nonleague victory over El Dorado at Western Hills Country Club Thursday. Daniel Kush led the way with a two-under 33 for the nine holes, giving him a 70 when combined with the first-half of the match played at Santa Ana CC March 1. Other key components for the Sailors, who had nine birdies over the course of 45 holes, were Jake Allanach (37-78)

TODAY Basketball College women -- UC Irvine at Eastern Washington, 7 p.m. High school boys -- Sage Hill vs. Calvary Baptist at Tarbut V'Torah tournament, 3:15 p.m.; Estancia at Santiago in Garden Grove tournament, 6 p.m. High school girls -- JSerra at Estancia, 7 p.m.; Costa Mesa at El Dorado in El Dorado tournament, 6 p.m. Soccer High school boys -- Costa Mesa at Mater Dei, 3:15 p.m.; University ...

Kate Younglove scored in the third minute to give Newport Harbor High the edge over El Dorado in a 1-0 victory for the Sailors in the first round of the Excalibur girls soccer tournament at Foothill High Thursday. Amy Burlingham had the assist as the Sailors improved to 2-4-1. Kara Demille made six saves to earn her second shutout of the season. Also contributing on defense for Newport Harbor was Kristin Nahin. Amy Ross played in her first game since suffering a sprained ankle.

Newport Harbor 22, El Dorado 0 Score by Quarters El Dorado 0 0 0 0 - 0 Newport Harbor 0 7 8 7 - 22 Second Quarter NH - Stewart 47 run (Gaeta kick), 11:07. Third Quarter NH - Safety, Manderino tackled back in end zone, 9:50. NH - Manderino 1 run (kick failed), 5:56. Fourth Quarter NH - Stewart 7 run (Gaeta kick), 8:12. Attendance: 3,100 (estimated). INDIVIDUAL RUSHING ED - Zehner, 12-39; R. Guydon, 11-22; Reese, 6-19; Zurheller, 8-minus-56.

NEWPORT BEACH -- Sage Hill School's girls' volleyball team swept past the Bishop Diego, 25-18, 25-10, 25-12, in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division IV-A playoffs on Tuesday night. Cat Dailey led the way with 20 kills, two aces and two blocks. Senior Haywood Wright tallied six kills and Kelsey Lawler added 27 assists for No. 1-seeded Sage Hill (24-8), which will host Murrieta Calvary Chapel in a second round match on Thursday night. Calvary Chapel defeated Upland Christian, 25-6, 25-9, 25-10, in its first-round match.

Steve Virgen A simple explanation to Corona del Mar High's loss would be that its boys soccer team did not finish any of its many scoring chances. Yet, something more dramatic took place at the Sea Kings' field, where an emotionally driven El Dorado squad defeated CdM, 2-0, in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs Saturday. With the Sea Kings trailing, 1-0, in the 13th minute, a loud gasp came over a crowd of about 350 when El Dorado senior Brett Mullinax and CdM senior Tristan Harris collided and their heads crashed against each other, while the two went for a 50-50 ball.

Tony Altobelli COSTA MESA - Sometimes, patience and understanding gives way to a good, old-fashioned trip to the shed. Just ask the Corona del Mar High boys basketball team, following Tuesday night's 85-35 pool-play loss to El Dorado at the Coast Christmas Classic at Estancia High. "I chewed them (the CdM players) out a little bit at halftime," CdM Coach Paul Orris said. "It's one thing to be patient, but when the team isn't executing the offense properly, that's a different story."

GIRLS' SOCCER Estancia 1, El Dorado 0 PLACENTIA — Senior midfielder Jackie Freiberger scored the Eagles' lone goal in a season opener Tuesday. The goal came in the 35th minute on a corner kick from Heather Flores. El Dorado had beaten Estancia, 5-0, in the past two years. Goalkeeper Alex Mera made four saves in the shutout. Los Amigos 3, Sage Hill 2 FOUNTAIN VALLEY — Meg Crade and Rannah Dabiri scored an unassisted goal each for the Lightning in its season opener Tuesday.

El Dorado Nature Center is part of the El Dorado East Regional Park and provides a quarter mile worth of paved trails and two miles of dirt trail around two lakes and a stream for visitors to enjoy. The 102.5 acre center was opened to the public in 1969 and offers a place for visitors to see various wildlife, like coyotes, ground squirrels and hawks as well as extensive plant life. The nature center began as a barley field, but was soon turned into a ranch by Spanish settlers in 1772.

WRESTLING CIF Masters Meet RIALTO ? Newport Harbor High senior wrestler Josh George won two matches at the CIF Southern Section Masters Meet Friday at Carter High, advancing to the championship quarterfinals. The 140-pounder beat Justin Irribarren of Santa Fe, 20-9, before topping RJ Pilkington of El Dorado, 14-5. Pilkington had beaten George at the Five Counties Invitational, 9-8, in January. George (42-4) will wrestle Five Counties champion Cody Bollinger from Sultana in today?

The Corona del Mar frosh-soph girls’ water polo team had a successful season, finishing as undefeated Pacific Coast League champions and earning a record of 22-2. CdM also won a pair of tournaments, starting with the Newport Harbor frosh-soph tournament on Feb. 2. The Sea Kings beat Beckman, Huntington Beach and Los Alamitos before topping rival Newport Harbor, 2-0, in the final game. A week later, Corona del Mar also came out on top at the El Dorado frosh-soph tournament on Feb. 9. Corona del Mar defeated Los Osos, Riverside Poly and host El Dorado before again beating Newport Harbor, 5-1, in the championship game.

So far, it seems Dana Hills High might be the school that best embodies the definition of a “sleeper.” With an 0-4 start to the season, the Dolphins haven’t recorded a win since Nov. 9, 2006, when they beat Capistrano Valley 28-13. Dana Hills finished 3-2 in the South Coast league. But all losses are not created equal. Dana Hills took a 28-7 season-opening dive at the hands of Orange Lutheran, ranked second in the CIF Southern Section Pac-5 Division this week behind Mater Dei. The Dolphins also lost, 10-0, to El Dorado, ranked first in the CIF Southwest Division.

HUNTINGTON BEACH ? The style of play in the boys' and girls' Orange County high school all-star basketball games was as diametric as it was ideal for Newport-Mesa representatives Haywood Wright and Scott Knox. Wright, a 6-foot-1 post from Sage Hill School, appeared comfortably cast in the defensive struggle won by her South squad, 45-44, at Ocean View High. Conversely, the breakneck pace of the boys' game ? a 134-130 overtime win for the North ? seemed to suit Knox, a 6-2 sharpshooter from Costa Mesa High.

NH grid preview vs. Charter OakNewport Harbor aims to duplicate last year's quarterfinal victory over Charter Oak in tonight's Division VI contest.Déjà vu would be twice as nice for the Newport Harbor High football team, which, for the second straight season, will attempt to defeat visiting Charter Oak in the CIF Southern Section Division VI quarterfinals tonight at 7. The Sailors (8-3) completed the first portion of their 2004 postseason rewind by topping El Dorado, 32-31, in overtime in the first round.

PLACENTIA -- Trailing by one with the season on the line in overtime of Friday's first-round CIF Southern Section Division VI playoff game, Newport Harbor High football coach Jeff Brinkley chose wide-bodies right over wide left. And after senior tailback Ryan Rippon darted one yard off right tackle for the game-winning two-point conversion to top El Dorado, 32-31, at Valencia High, the proof was in the poundage. After the Sailors answered an overtime-opening touchdown and conversion kick by the Golden Hawks with an 8-yard scoring pass from Tom Jackson to fullback Jack Tracy, Brinkley merely followed his own script.