Wildcats

A balanced attack in the air and the ground and a stifling defense contributed to the Newport-Mesa Jr. Midget Seahawks blanking the Long Beach Poly Wildcats, 34-0. Newport's defense contributed to the scoring after defensive end Brett Houten stripped the ball loose from a Long Beach player and the Seahawks ran the ball in for the touchdown. The blitzing defense was led by Chas Vickery III, Will Brown, Steven Dean, Brice Stillman and Matt Lutton.

Kelly Heenan scored 20 points while Kathleen Etuale added 10 to pace the Wildcats to a 43-14 victory over the Pirates in recent Newport-Mesa National Junior Basketball girls fifth-and sixth-grade action. In other games: Lakers 43, Mavericks 24: Lindsey Anderson scored 21 points for the Lakers while LiAnne Sarisuk added 12. Samantha Archie tallied in six points. Emily Rosales led the Mavericks with 10 points. Shock 37, Globetrotters 16: Kadee Malone led the Shock with 12 points while Saylor Schroff added eight.

IRVINE — The UC Irvine men's soccer team was handed its first defeat of the season Monday, as visiting Northwestern earned a 2-1 victory in the final game of the UC Irvine College Classic at Anteater Stadium. Senior preseason All-American Brad Evans put the Anteaters (2-1) on top with his first goal of the season in the ninth minute, with assists from senior Anthony Hamilton and junior Shane Westbrook. Northwestern (3-1) tied the score in the 61st minute, then got the game-winning goal in the 83rd minute.

The electronic scoreboard at Redlands East Valley High will only display part of the score visiting Corona del Mar is trying to settle in the Southern California Regional Division II final of the CIF State girls’ volleyball playoffs. For this match, which begins at 7 p.m., is yet another rematch in a recent string of meetings between the two Southern Section powers, the latest being a four-game win for REV in the Southern Section Division II-AA final Nov. 21. The top-seeded Wildcats (36-3)

NEWPORT COAST — After playing as if they had forgotten, the Sage Hill School boys' basketball players were reminded at halftime by Coach Steve Keith and his staff about the importance of Thursday's game. The Lightning left the locker room with thoughts of the playoffs riding on the outcome. While the situation was not that dire, a 38-point second half led to a 63-44 Academy League victory over Whitney. A win in either of the Lightning's final two league games will clinch third place and an automatic berth in the CIF Southern Section IV-AA playoffs.

CERRITOS — Lightning can strike quickly out of the Wildcat formation. Sage Hill School senior Taylor Ross proved it at Valley Christian High on Friday night. Ross, normally a running back, had fun lining up in the quarterback position in the second half. Fairmont Prep had less fun trying to stop him. Ross rushed for 250 yards and scored all three touchdowns to help lead the Lightning to a 20-13 nonleague victory in the season opener for both schools. Coach J.R. Tolver said before the season a primary goal was to get Ross the ball.

As the 255th pick and dead-last selection of the NFL Draft wide receiver Tim Toone became Mr. Irrelevant XXXV. The Detroit Lions picked Toone (5-foot-10, 175 pounds) out of Weber State, where he left as the all-time leader in pass receptions (206), receiving yards (3,607) and touchdown catches (29). He led the Wildcats with 83 catches, 1109 yards and 10 touchdowns last season. He will be celebrated, honored and roasted during the 35th annual Irrelevant Week in Newport Beach, which usually takes place in June.

BLOXOM ENDS IT MANHATTAN, Kan. — Kansas State sophomore Justin Bloxom hit a walk-off, two-run home run in the bottom of the 11th inning, lifting the Wildcats past the UC Irvine baseball team, 9-7, in a nonconference game Wednesday. The No. 11 Anteaters had battled back from a 5-0 deficit, as junior Brock Bardeen hit a pinch-hit, two-run home run for UC Irvine (25-10) in the eighth inning. The blast tied the score at 7-7. Sophomore left fielder Francis Larson also had a pair of hits for the Anteaters, including a double, as UCI suffered an extra-inning loss for the first time this season.

The regular season for the girls fifth- and sixth-grade Newport-Mesa National Junior Basketball league wrapped up with the first-place Lakers defeating the Shock, 25-22. The Lakers were led by Lindsay Anderson's 14 points, followed by 10 points from LiAnn Sarisuk. Ellie Nadal kept the Shock close with three three-pointers and 14 points. Silvie Reynolds helped on the boards while Saylor Schroff added strong defense. In other games: Pirates 16, Globetrotters 15: Kelsey Carrido and Allie Moskovits paced the Pirates with six points each while Duran Sharp led the Globetrotters with eight points.

NJB Division I, 7-8 grade Jeffs-Bruins The Jeffs nipped the Bruins 31-27. Adam Freeman and Alex Murello led the Jeffs's attack with 8 points each. Lakers-Cordovas The Lakers' big men dominated, with Patrick Halle pouring in 30 points in the Lakers' 51-39 victory over the Cordovas. All Lakers scored, including Mitch Dean, Liam Murphy, Harrison Hewitt, Gage Thomas, Matt Alessi and John Redoutey. Wildcats -Spartans In a very physical hard fought close game the Wildcats just edged the Spartans, 27-25 Point Guard Jordan Hauser had 10 points with Blake Kormos scoring 6 and Corbin Thomson and Ford Secrist totaling 8 points between them.