La Mirada

GIRLS' SOCCER La Mirada 1, Estancia 0 LA MIRADA — The Eagles played strong defense, but saw it season end after allowing a goal in the 65th minute of the CIF Southern Section Division 4 second-round game Tuesday. Estancia (10-3-11) fired off at least nine shots in the final 15 minutes, but couldn't find the back of the net, Eagles Coach Jessica Perry. Seniors Marlene Calderon and Shantel Romero as well as sophomore twins Sarah Leahy and Caitlin Leahy (goalkeeper), and freshman Brandi White led the Estancia defense, Perry said.

FULLERTON - Micah Young scored 25 points to lead the Estancia High boys basketball team to a 54-36 pool play win over La Mirada at the Fullerton Tournament Friday night. Eliasar Maldonado chipped in with 13 points as the Eagles duo outscored the Matadors themselves. With the win, the Eagles improve to 2-1 and will continue tournament action today. FULLERTON TOURNAMENT Pool play Estancia 54, La Mirada 36 Estancia 17 17 6 14 - 54 La Mirada 8 12 5 11 - 36 Estancia - Maldonado 13, Stoddard 4, Young 25, Prado 2, D. Valbuena 5, K. Valbuena 3, Romero 2, Berame 0, Rodriguez 0, Niles 0. 3 pt. goals - Stoddard 1. Fouled out - None.

Tony Altobelli PLACENTIA - It was a good, old-fashioned trip to the woodshed for the Newport Harbor Baseball Association Pony 14 All-Star team in the first round of the district playoffs Friday night, losing, 9-0, to La Mirada. "What can I say except we got our butts kicked," Manager Taras Young said. "We came out flat and La Mirada took advantage of it. No matter how you look at it, we lost bad." Newport fell into an 8-0 hole after three innings, which was more than enough runs for the La Mirada pitching duo of Alex Schickling and Brice Stowell, who combined to strike out 14 Newport hitters, while allowing only four hits.

Korey Cablay returned an interception 67 yards for a touchdown with less than two minutes to play to give the Newport-Mesa Junior Clinic (7-8-year-olds) Seahawks a 19-13 victory over La Mirada in Newport-Mesa Junior All- American Football action Sept. 13. The Seahawks began the scoring early when J.C. Genova returned the opening kickoff for a TD. Jeff Carlyle then scampered 55 yards to paydirt, assisted by blocking from Cablay, James Christian and Rocky Feinberg.

Richard Dunn ORANGE - There are moments during Costa Mesa High boys basketball practices when junior guard Nolan Clark plays with a certain edge, driving and slashing aggressively to the basket and finishing with a soft touch. The challenge for Mustangs Coach Bob Serven was to find a way to bring those moves out in Clark in a game. That game came Tuesday as Clark capped a big first quarter for the Mustangs, who won their third straight game, defeating La Mirada's Matadores, 60-42, in the opening round of the Orange Holiday Classic at Chapman University.

LA MIRADA — The Estancia High boys’ soccer team had rebounded well from a 1-6-2 start. But the Eagles struggled to respond against La Mirada in a CIF Southern Section Division IV second-round match Tuesday. In the end, La Mirada held off visiting Estancia, 2-1. The Eagles (14-9-3) were forced to rally from a 2-0 deficit, even though they dominated play during the game, Eagles Coach Robert Castellano said. La Mirada, which lost to Estancia in the playoffs last year, scored within the first five minutes.

Jason Hitchens makes his coaching playoff debut in his first year at Corona del Mar High tonight. On paper, the No. 2-seeded Sea Kings (8-2) open with a first-round game, just as the rest of the schools in the CIF Southern Section Southern Division playoffs. Hitchens said the game against La Mirada (4-6) at Newport Harbor High at 7 p.m. feels more like a quarterfinal game. “You kind of need to get past the formula and look at the team itself,” said Hitchens, referring to La Mirada earning the Suburban League’s third playoff entry despite sharing second place with two others teams.

At the start of the season, one of the boys’ soccer teams Corona del Mar High Coach George Larsen said to look out for was La Mirada. Larsen has never seen the Matadores play in person this season, but he knows the game of soccer is huge in La Mirada. Larsen and the Sea Kings get to see the Matadores live for the first time Friday. The match will be the biggest in each of their respective program’s histories. Top-seeded CdM plays La Mirada in the CIF Southern Section Division IV championship at Mission Viejo High at 7 p.m. If you believe the Sea Kings’ 23-1-1 record is impressive, no team has figured a way to take down the Matadores this season.

The Newport Wipeout, a girls' Under-11 Extra team from AYSO Region 97, won the Carlsbad Cup, completed in early August. Coach Jeff Braun and his team had few expectations, as the girls had just three land practices under their belts heading into the tournament. However, the stamina and athleticism of these ladies who had trained on the beach for a month, with most also participating in the Newport Junior Lifeguard Program, proved too much for club teams from La Mirada, San Diego and Temecula.

BASEBALL Vanguard 7, Biola 3 LA MIRADA - Bryce Arroyo went three for five with two runs batted in for the Lions in the Golden State Athletic Conference game Friday. Adonis Tountas went two for five with two RBIs for Vanguard 9-8, 4-8 in conference. Biola is 13-10, 5-8. * Portland 2, UC Irvine 0 IRVINE - The Pilots scored two runs on Anteaters' starter Andrew Thurman in the first inning and held on for the nonconference win Friday. Thurman (1-1)

GIRLS' SOCCER La Mirada 1, Estancia 0 LA MIRADA — The Eagles played strong defense, but saw it season end after allowing a goal in the 65th minute of the CIF Southern Section Division 4 second-round game Tuesday. Estancia (10-3-11) fired off at least nine shots in the final 15 minutes, but couldn't find the back of the net, Eagles Coach Jessica Perry. Seniors Marlene Calderon and Shantel Romero as well as sophomore twins Sarah Leahy and Caitlin Leahy (goalkeeper), and freshman Brandi White led the Estancia defense, Perry said.

COSTA MESA - Jackie Hubbard spent last year at Edison High. She didn't play soccer at the school. She never played in high school until this season, when she transferred to Estancia. "It was just way too competitive," Hubbard said of soccer at her former school. "It wasn't really about fun. "It's just like a better experience [at Estancia]. " Coach Jessica Perry has sweetened the deal for players like Hubbard at Estancia. On Valentine's Day, Hubbard and her teammates received candy from Perry.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL Vanguard 72, Victoria BC 62 LA MIRADA - Nicole Ballestero scored 20 points to help the undefeated Lions improve to 9-0 after the Biola Holiday Classic victory Saturday. Esther Timmermans scored 14 points, Maya Kennedy had 10 points and Maree Drennan grabbed 12 rebounds for Vanguard. Victoria BC is 6-6. * Ventura 74, Orange Coast 58 VENTURA - Michelle Angel had 18 points for the Pirates in the semifinal game of the Ventura tournament Saturday at Ventura College.

LA MIRADA - Illinois is of course known as the Land of Lincoln. But Olivet Nazarene, an NAIA Division II women's basketball program from Bourbannais, about 50 miles south of Chicago, would likely find three-point land a more appropriate moniker. The Tigers, who came in ranked No. 10 in their division, launched 68 of their 101 field-goal attempts from three-point range in an 89-77 loss to Vanguard on Friday in the opening round of the Biola Holiday Classic at Biola. Vanguard (8-0)

MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY Highlander Invitational RIVERSIDE - Junior Steven Melena placed second to lead UC Irvine to the team title on Saturday at UC Riverside. Melena completed the 6,000-meter course in 17 minutes, 45.8 seconds to lead five Anteaters in the top nine. Sophomore Alex Tebbe (fifth in 17:57.8), senior Nick Osborne (sixth in 18:00.1), senior Sam Hyams (eighth in 18:03.5) and Tommy Newton-Neal finished (ninth in 18:05.1), helped UCI post 30 points, 11 better than runner-up Wyoming.

WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL Biola def. Vanguard LA MIRADA - Kelly Heenan had 22 digs for the visiting Lions in the 25-22, 25-13, 25-16 Golden State Athletic Conference loss on Tuesday. Charlotte Heerlyn and Jessica Neves had eight kills apiece for Vanguard (9-7, 1-1 in conference). No. 4-ranked Biola is 15-1, 2-0.

The Newport Wipeout, a girls' Under-11 Extra team from AYSO Region 97, won the Carlsbad Cup, completed in early August. Coach Jeff Braun and his team had few expectations, as the girls had just three land practices under their belts heading into the tournament. However, the stamina and athleticism of these ladies who had trained on the beach for a month, with most also participating in the Newport Junior Lifeguard Program, proved too much for club teams from La Mirada, San Diego and Temecula.

MEN'S VOLLEYBALL Orange Coast def. Golden West HUNTINGTON BEACH - Dylan Emery had 25 kills to help lead the Pirates to a 26-24, 21-25, 30-28, 18-25, 15-13 Pacific Coast Conference win Friday. Chris Van Buren and Rusty Sary had 12 kills each, while Michael Ensign had 54 assists and seven digs for OCC (6-4, 3-1 in conference). "It was a battle," OCC Coach Travis Turner said. Golden West is 6-3, 2-1. OCC plays host to San Diego Friday at 6 p.m. * WOMEN'S WATER POLO Claremont Covergence Tournament POMONA - Hannah Croghan scored seven goals in two wins, helping UC Irvine to a 15-4 win over Pomona-Pitzer and a 19-5 win over Redlands Friday.

At the start of the season, one of the boys’ soccer teams Corona del Mar High Coach George Larsen said to look out for was La Mirada. Larsen has never seen the Matadores play in person this season, but he knows the game of soccer is huge in La Mirada. Larsen and the Sea Kings get to see the Matadores live for the first time Friday. The match will be the biggest in each of their respective program’s histories. Top-seeded CdM plays La Mirada in the CIF Southern Section Division IV championship at Mission Viejo High at 7 p.m. If you believe the Sea Kings’ 23-1-1 record is impressive, no team has figured a way to take down the Matadores this season.