Los Alamitos

When/where: Tonight, 7 at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach Key Sailors: Sr. LT-DT JB Salem; Sr. LB Blair Luchs; Sr. RT Dillon Gillette Key Griffins: OL Ben Wysocki; Sr. LB Aaron Davis; Sr. OLB Andrew Faraimo Breakdown: Newport Harbor ended a two-game skid by opening Sunset League play with a 28-6 home win against Huntington Beach last week … The Sailors (4-2, 1-0 in league) will have all-purpose threat Parker Norton (40 catches for 385 yards and four TDs)

Newport Harbor High's girls tennis team fell, 11-7, in nonleague play to one of Orange County's best tennis squads, Los Alamitos. The Sailors lost five of six sets in the opening round, and could not overcome the deficit. "I was impressed with our girls," said Sailor Coach Fletcher Olson. "After we dropped far behind in the first set, the girls really turned it around in the second and third sets." Newport won five of nine doubles sets. Melissa Chinn and Alex McIntosh had the most impressive match, rallying from 4-5 to a 7-5 victory in their opening match.

Eric Neff The Newport Harbor Baseball Association Pony All-Star team bowed out of the District tournament Tuesday night, losing to Los Alamitos, 10-0, at the Los Alamitos Pony Baseball Field. Newport Harbor was held hitless through five innings before play was stopped by virtue of the mercy rule. "We actually played real well," Newport Harbor Manager Chris Hone said. "When you run into a kid who throws a no-hitter, it's hard to win a game." The two teams were playing for third place and Orange County's final berth in the section tournament.

The Newport Harbor High girls’ water polo team can clinch at least a share of the Sunset League title when it tangles with Los Alamitos tonight at 7 at Newport Harbor. The Sailors (15-2, 2-0 in league), who lost to rival Corona del Mar in the final of the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions on Saturday, were still ranked No. 1 in the CIF Southern Section Division I poll released Monday. Newport Harbor is led in scoring by junior Nicolina McCall (31 goals) and senior Mimi Bury (24)

LOS ALAMITOS - Natalie Braverman and Kristin Case were nearly perfect as Newport Harbor shutout host Los Alamitos, 18-0 in nonleague girls tennis action Wednesday. Braverman and Case each lost only one game in their matches, while Chelsea Godbey and Sarah Barker led the doubles for the Sailors (4-0), ranked No. 1 in the Orange County Sportswriters poll. Today's contest against Pacific has been canceled, but the Sailors will host Peninsula High Tuesday at 3 p.m. NONLEAGUE Newport Harbor 18, Los Alamitos 0 Singles - Braverman (NH)

CHICAGO — The Newport Harbor High girls’ volleyball team defeated St. Francis High of Wheaton, Ill., 21-25, 25-23, 25-12, in the seventh-place match of the Nike Challenge Saturday night. Coach Dan Glenn’s Sailors dropped a pair of matches earlier Saturday, including a 25-10, 15-15 quarterfinal setback to tournament host Mother McAuley. The Tars were then topped, 25-20, 17-25, 25-21, by Downers Grove South to fall into the seventh-place match. Senior outside hitter Mary Buckingham had 22 combined kills in the three matches, while junior Katey Thompson added 20 combined kills for the Sailors.

Bryce Alderton The vat of offensive punch went dry for the Corona del Mar 14-year-old Pony All-Stars against a polished Los Alamitos team in a District 2 elimination game Monday afternoon at the Los Alamitos Youth Baseball fields. CdM, which had defeated Costa Mesa by 10 runs Saturday and downed Placentia, 7-4, Sunday, managed two hits and no runs in a 10-0 Los Alamitos victory in a shortened, six-inning semifinal game in the loser's bracket.

DANA POINT - The underdog story came to a sudden end Wednesday night at Dana Hills High. The most successful Corona del Mar High girls' lacrosse team in program history fell to mighty Los Alamitos, 12-6, in the U.S. Lacrosse Southern Section South Division title match. While the ending was a bit bittersweet, the tears in the eyes of so many of the Sea Kings weren't because of Wednesday's result at all. They cried because the special season, the one that had them win a share of the Pacific Coast League title, survive sudden-death overtime in a first-round playoff win then come right back and upset No. 2 Foothill and No. 3 Beckman, had finally ended.

ALISO VIEJO - Gabby Smith, a four-year varsity player in the Corona del Mar High girls' lacrosse program, celebrated her 18th birthday on Saturday. It happened to coincide with a huge game, the semifinals of the U.S. Lacrosse Southern Section South Division tournament against league rival Beckman. Smith now can vote. The senior certainly gave her No. 7-seeded team a vote of confidence following a historic 13-8 victory over the No. 3-seeded Patriots at Aliso Niguel High. "Best birthday present ever," Smith said after CdM earned its second straight upset, earning a spot in the Orange County title match against top-seeded Los Alamitos at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Dana Hills.

GIRLS' TRACK & FIELD Meet of Champions ORANGE - Estancia High's Diana Guido won the 300-meter hurdles in a personal-best 49.25 seconds to win at El Modena Saturday. Persis Williams finished second in the 200 in 26.12. Jessica Placentia took third in the 100 in 14.21. Guido and Williams were also on the 4x100 and 4x400 teams that both finished fourth. Mariah Chapin and Marissa Lamerton were also on the 4x400 team. Placentia and Lamerton were also on the 4x100 team.

BOYS' VOLLEYBALL Newport Harbor def. Los Alamitos LOS ALAMITOS - Kevin Rakestraw and Clay Carr had 15 kills each to help the Sailors rally to win the Sunset League match, 20-25, 28-30, 25-22, 25-21, 15-10 Friday night. Peirce Ward had 12 kills, Max Richley had 17 digs, Nic Sargeant had 13 digs, Steven Duhoux had 12 digs and Connor Leggett had 41 assists for Newport Harbor (13-5, 3-0 in league). * Sage Hill def. Whitney CERRITOS - Jack Burgi had 17 kills and six digs to help lead the Lightning to a 25-19, 28-26, 22-25, 25-22 Academy League win Friday.

Shaun Vetrovec wasn't sure what to do at Newport Harbor High last week. Stay on first base or return to the batter's box? It was late, the bottom of the ninth inning against Los Alamitos. The game-winning run was on second with one out. After facing a couple of pitches, the home plate umpire told Vetrovec to take first base. Apparently, the Griffins put him on, not wanting to pitch to the clean-up hitter. He hurt them in the seventh, when he singled in the game-tying run to force extra innings.

GIRLS' WATER POLO Irvine Southern California Championships CORONA DEL MAR - Senior Diana Murphy scored seven goals as top-seeded Corona del Mar beat Warren, 17-6, in the second round of the tournament Thursday at CdM. Pippa Saunders had four goals and Cassidy Papa added three for CdM (21-1), which beat Long Beach Cabrillo, 14-2, in the first round earlier Thursday behind four goals from Papa and three from Saunders. Senior goalie Alex Musselman made a combined 14 saves in the two games for the Sea Kings.

Students are in finals this week at Corona del Mar and Newport Harbor High. For the schools' girls water polo teams, the final big tournament before the CIF Southern Section Division I playoffs begins Thursday. The Irvine Southern California Championships boasts 32 teams, the biggest of the three in-season tournaments. There's still a good chance the Sea Kings and Sailors, the top two ranked teams in Division I, could meet in the finals for the second straight tournament. Corona del Mar (19-1)

Elissia Schilling listened to her father, John, on the car ride just more than two weeks ago. In her first year starting at center, Elissia was averaging about a goal per game for the Newport Harbor High girls' water polo team. John believed his daughter could do more. "He's always pushing me, which is a great thing," Elissia Schilling said. "We were driving up to Santa Barbara and talking in the car. I remember he was like, 'This is going to be your tournament. I can feel it.'" Little more than a stone's throw from where he played basketball at UC Santa Barbara, John watched his words come true.

NEWPORT BEACH - It looked like the shot in the closing minutes bounced square off the noggin of Newport Harbor High sophomore goalie Cleo Harrington. Harrington said it only hit her on the right shoulder before brushing by her face. If she had taken the head shot in the key Sunset League girls' water polo game, it still wouldn't have been an issue. "I don't mind it, as long as it doesn't go in," she said. The Sailors' resiliency certainly went a long way Wednesday night in possibly determining the league champion.

GOLETA - The first time the Corona del Mar High girls' water polo team played Dos Pueblos this year, the Sea Kings snapped the Chargers' 68-game winning streak. Another streak was on the line when the teams met Friday night. Dos Pueblos had won the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions three years in a row. In its home pool, Dos Pueblos wasn't going to go down without a fight. Turns out, neither was Corona del Mar. The third-seeded Sea Kings owned the fourth quarter to knock off the Chargers, 7-6, at Dos Pueblos High.