Sonora

GARDEN GROVE - Corona del Mar's girls basketball team finally got the complete performance it wanted on Tuesday, defeating Sonora, 40-25, for its sixth consecutive win in the Cavalier Classic at Santiago. The Sea Kings (9-3) shocked the Raiders in the first half, taking a 30-13 halftime lead. Charlene Quon caused the most damage for CdM, hitting four of her five three-pointers in the first half. Sonora, who won the Mission Viejo Tournament earlier this year and defeated CdM, 59-48, in that tourney, finally pulled itself together in the second half, holding the Sea Kings to 10 points.

COSTA MESA (2007)— A four-goal deficit wasn't about to disappoint the third-and fourth-grade boys and girls of the College Park Elementary team. During halftime, Coach Juan Dominguez, a senior at Costa Mesa High, talked about defense. Meanwhile, the boys and girls bounced, lifting their hands, asking for playing time. PT. That's what was most important in this game. College Park's A team, which wore green tank-top jerseys instead of Daily Pilot Cup T-shirts, lost, 5-0, to Sonora A, another co-ed team, but you wouldn't really know it by the way the College Park boys and girls played and finished in the Bronze Division game Thursday.

For a video, click here. For a photo gallery, click here. COSTA MESA — For many of the boys from Victoria and Sonora elementary schools, the nerves were at an all-time high. Tuesday was their first organized soccer experience. For many in this third- and fourth-grade bronze division game, this was their first time in the Daily Pilot Cup. Bryan Vivar made quite the debut, leading Victoria’s B squad to a 3-0 win over Sonora B at Costa Mesa High. Vivar’s performance was one of many highlights during the opening day of the huge youth soccer tournament in its 10th year.

COSTA MESA - While observing just how young some players are at the 13th annual Daily Pilot Cup, one would only need to watch Aidan Gassel complete his hat trick. After he dribbled past a drawn-out goalie, the Newport Elementary forward had the goal all to himself. But his black headband was slipping off the top of his head. So in the 29th minute, Gassel adjusted it during his run, while continuing to dribble, and scored easily. One wouldn't really imagine a professional player like L.A. Galaxy forward Landon Donovan doing that.

Martha Fluor is a bit different than the typical school board trustee in that, for the most part, she didn't attend American schools growing up. She speaks fluent Spanish because she lived in South America for a while. And in addition to Chile and Venezuela, she also lived in Northern Africa -- in Liberia. But Fluor, now a nearly 20-year area resident, certainly has Newport-Mesa children, including her granddaughter, at heart. That's why Fluor, an 11-year school board trustee, serves the Newport-Mesa Unified School District.

MISSION VIEJO - The Corona del Mar High girls basketball team surrendered a fourth-quarter lead, then lost, 58-49, in overtime to Sonora in the pool-play opener of the Mission Viejo Tournament Monday at Mission Viejo High. CdM junior Kristen McCoy, who scored a career-high 27 points, hit an awkward follow shot off a missed free throw with two seconds left in regulation erasing a two-point Sonora lead created when it rebounded a missed foul shot, was fouled and made both.

Sophomore guard Pancho Seaborn scored 20 points, grabbed six rebounds and handed out four assists for Corona del Mar High's boys basketball team Thursday, but Chaparral defeated the Sea Kings, 55-49, in a seventh-place semifinal in the Sonora/Troy Tournament at La Serna High in Whittier. Junior Kevin Mancillas added 18 points for the Sea Kings (3-6), who will play for ninth place Saturday at 9 a.m. at Sonora. CdM scored 9, 10 and 8 points, respectively, in the first three quarters, before rallying for 22 points in the fourth quarter and closing the gap. Chaparral improved to 5-5. "We just had a lot of trouble scoring," CdM Coach Ryan Curry said.

Every time Robert Murtha scores a touchdown, he gets ready to take a blow to the head. The guy who delivers it is not on the opposing team. He's not even wearing a helmet when he hits Murtha. But every time Murtha finds the end zone, he seeks out the guy who will head-butt him once he reaches the Estancia High sideline. That guy is his father, Robert Murtha Sr. Father and son have head-butted each other 48 times in three years. After seeing his son record his 48th career touchdown on varsity last week, dad took his hat off and grabbed his son's facemask.

Sonora Elementary School third-grader Kyler Schumacher showed off a 3-inch seedling he'd just received in a small plastic pot. He wasn't sure how long it would take, but he already decided he was going to help it grow until it was 50 feet tall. He and his classmates, who were lined up on the blacktop Thursday morning, each got a prize for listening intently to a 20-minute Arbor Day ceremony: a tiny carrotwood tree seedling. The Newport-Balboa Rotary Club gave the plants to every Sonora third-grade student in preparation for the annual day of tree planting.

For those who attended the Battle for the Bell, or who read about it last week, Ben Beck's 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown proved to be the difference. Estancia High beat Costa Mesa, 15-13, after Beck took one back for the second time in as many weeks. None of those two returns compare to his return from a serious right foot injury last year. Getting back on the field to play special teams, or wide receiver and free safety wasn't automatic for Beck. The player who outran the Mustangs to the end zone last week couldn't go at full speed in last year's rivalry game.

Every time Robert Murtha scores a touchdown, he gets ready to take a blow to the head. The guy who delivers it is not on the opposing team. He's not even wearing a helmet when he hits Murtha. But every time Murtha finds the end zone, he seeks out the guy who will head-butt him once he reaches the Estancia High sideline. That guy is his father, Robert Murtha Sr. Father and son have head-butted each other 48 times in three years. After seeing his son record his 48th career touchdown on varsity last week, dad took his hat off and grabbed his son's facemask.

Estancia (2-2) vs. Sonora (2-2) When/where: Friday, 7 p.m. at La Habra Stadium Key Eagles: Sr. RB-KR Robert Murtha (399 yards and four TDs on 54 carries); Sr. CB-WR Levi Stillman (three INTs, two catches for 36 yards and one TD); Sr. OL-LB Adahir Aguilera (team-best 48 tackles). Key Raiders: Sr. RB-CB Matthew Villasenor (416 yards and six TDs on 70 carries); Sr. WR Nate Miranda (15 catches for 339 yards and two TDs); Jr. FB-LB Justin Min (co-team high 40 tackles)

COSTA MESA - While observing just how young some players are at the 13th annual Daily Pilot Cup, one would only need to watch Aidan Gassel complete his hat trick. After he dribbled past a drawn-out goalie, the Newport Elementary forward had the goal all to himself. But his black headband was slipping off the top of his head. So in the 29th minute, Gassel adjusted it during his run, while continuing to dribble, and scored easily. One wouldn't really imagine a professional player like L.A. Galaxy forward Landon Donovan doing that.

Quantum mechanics and physical chemistry student Stephen Shinjiro Sasaki loves teaching, but he isn't interested in rushing through the curriculum to meet rigorous state standards. So when he finished UC Irvine's Cal Teach program, which trains math and science teachers, he started his own course that allows him to spread his passion for science to kids, but also go in-depth about higher-level science topics. "I wanted to make the program because essentially I could do all the fun things," said Sasaki, who aspires to become a UCI professor.

COSTA MESA — Anyone walking around Sonora Elementary School this year would notice the changes. University flags hang outside classrooms. Teachers and students wear different college T-shirts. Words like graduate, dormitory and dean's list have entered the student lexicon. College is everywhere. Sonora was recently accepted into the No Excuses University, a network of elementary, middle and high schools across the U.S. dedicated to exposing students to collegiate symbolism and preparing them for college.

COSTA MESA — Sonora Elementary proved at the Daily Pilot Cup that it's about quality, not quantity. The fifth- and sixth-grade Newport Elementary girls had 10 shot attempts and four untouched crosses in the goal area. Sonora had only four attempts, but two of them went in — including one in the last few possessions. Minutes later, the 12-girl squad that sometimes started only nine players celebrated a 2-1 win at the Costa Mesa Farm Complex and became the silver division champion.

COSTA MESA — Estevan Bahena admitted he was nervous during a quarterfinal game of the Daily Pilot Cup on Saturday at the Costa Mesa Farm Complex. His Sonora Elementary boys' fifth- and sixth-grade gold division team had been in this situation before. Just last year, Sonora was knocked out after losing a controversial penalty-kick shootout in the quarterfinals. The nerves kicked in for Bahena, but at least he knew he was prepared. The Sonora team had been working on penalty kicks after each practice.