Nado Natterings Back to Islandersports
A weekly column by David Axelson

Nado Natterings
by David Axelson, Chief Executive Officer
The Islander Sports Foundation

13 Feb 2008 Issue No. 6

Islander reserve guard Maggie Harris hadn’t been on the floor in the entire second half of Coronado ’s home game with Crawford Friday night, but the sophomore sharpshooter hit a long jumper as the final horn sounded, to give her club a hard-fought 35-34 victory over the Colts.

Head Coach Toler Goodwin describes the build up to the play, which was preceded immediately by a defensive rebound by Angela Strohbeck and a Coronado timeout with 4.9 seconds left in the game. “We were on the opposite end of the floor (from our basket) with the ball. I told Maggie with three minutes to go to do some jumping jacks so she would be warm and ready to go in the game.”

Goodwin sent his best five shooters on the floor, a quintet that included Bria Phillips, Tiffany Depfer, Natalie Brooks, Melissa Humphrey and the now-famous Harris. “We got the ball to Tiffany, with Bria and Maggie on the floor as options. They double-teamed Tiffany, she passed to Natalie who took one dribble and passed the ball to Maggie in the corner, who let it go. The ball left her hand and I said ‘that’s good.’ That’s a big shot that will stay with her for a while. Everyone who has played sports has had the imaginary 5-4-3-2-1 countdown for the winning shot. She swished it from the corner.”

Fortunately for Coronado, they only needed two points to win the game. Goodwin said that a tape replay of the game-winning shot showed Harris was well behind the three-point arc and the shot was good from the range of 19-20 feet. Said Goodwin of the Harris baseline bomb, “That’s why she was on the court.”

Two interesting statistics emerged from the game. Coronado, fueled by two three-pointers from Brooks, and one each from Depfer and Phillips, took a 16-6 lead after the first quarter of play. From that point on, the Islanders scored a total of 19 points in what became a physical game.

The other interesting statistical sample was Coronado’s free throw defense (basketball joke), which allowed the Colts to convert only three of their 19 free throw attempts.

The practical application of Harris’s game-winning shot is that the win over Crawford places Coronado in position to be Co-Champions of the Central League, as the Islanders and Colts split their two conference games. A league title means that Coronado will host at least one CIF Division IV playoff game. Crawford, which by school enrollment plays in Division III, will be accorded a similar honor.

In other games last week, Coronado (16-9 overall) opened with a determined, but inartistic 40-22 victory over the Hoover Cardinals. It was the type of grind-it-out victory you have to have to win league titles. Or as Goodwin put it, “The game was never really in doubt, but we didn’t play with a lot of energy and focus. The kids were geared for Crawford. We had a pretty comfortable lead every quarter.” Harris and Phillips had nine points each to lead Coronado, with Arrielle Luna chipping in six points.

Saturday found the Islanders hosting Preuss Academy and Coronado emerged with a 56-35 victory. Sophomore Samantha Saunders saw a lot of floor time in the victory.

Goodwin handicapped the upcoming Division IV playoff seeds. “I think it will be La Jolla Country Day, Bishop’s Mater Dei and Francis Parker in the Top Four, probably in that order, unless Mater Dei and Bishop’s switch spots. We will be in the next three in the division, probably No. 6, would be my guess. The ‘next three’ include Horizon, us and Santa Fe Christian.”

A total of 12 teams qualify for the Division IV playoffs, with the top four seeds receiving a first round bye. If Goodwin’s prognostication holds, Coronado would host a first round game with the No. 11 seed.

This week the Islanders need to complete their successful run through the Central League to emerge as Co-Champions. They play at Madison Tuesday at 3 pm and then at Christian Thursday at 6 pm.

CHS Boys Basketball Team Wins Two Games Out of Three

After initially commenting about the week’s first contest on the road at Hoover that ‘there was nothing good about that,’ CHS Head Coach Kenny Caesar complimented the Cardinals who defeated the Islanders 81-38. “We won’t see another speed team like that in the playoffs.”

Caesar elaborated on the Cardinals, who are currently ranked No. 4 in the “San Diego Union-Tribune’s” Writers’ Poll. “They get the ball out of the basket and up the sideline and in the post. Their post guy will seal the big defender for a layup. When you shoot, make or miss, they are running. It’s really hard to slow down the game against them. You can’t bring it and run your half court stuff, because they will trap you. We’ll see some big teams (in the playoffs) but not that kind of speed.”

After the initial loss last week, Coronado (12-8) rallied to take the next two games, which included a 66-55 win over Crawford at home Friday night and a 48-40 win over the Preuss Academy Saturday evening.

“They were a little better than before,” said Caesar of Crawford. “In the Central League, everybody is improving. They jumped out on us a little bit. Blake Malkemus kept their guard under wraps and did a really good job on him. Josh Williams came in and hit a couple of big shots for us. Matt Fowler and Justin Parsons both played well. We beat them by 11, but in the last two minutes I put everybody in the game.”

In the Preuss game, Malkemus who has the well-earned reputation as a defensive stopper led the Islanders with 11 points. Fowler added 10 more, with Cole McLean and Parsons chipping in eight each. Dallas Taylor and Williams with four each and Krishna Samperio with three points rounded out the scoring.

Coronado is at home against Madison Tuesday at 5 pm and Thursday they play at Christian at 7:30 pm. The games carry some additional incentive for Coronado. If they win out, the Islanders will finishe alone in second place in the Central League behind Hoover.

Girls Water Polo Clinches Western League Title

It was a relatively quiet week for the CHS Girls Water Polo Team, if you can call winning a conference title ‘quiet.’ By defeating La Jolla 8-2 Thursday, behind three goals from Hannah Sebenaler and two more from Ashley Young, the Islanders won the Western League title and clinched the No. 1 seed in CIF Division II.

The unfortunate part of the week occurred Friday evening when a fire in the wood shop classroom at CHS, located roughly 30 feet from the chemical room at the Brian Bent Memorial Aquatics Center, forced the cancellation of the Islanders home tilt against Foothill of Tustin.

Head Coach Dave Throop reflected on the week past and the upcoming playoffs. “It was unfortunate that we couldn’t play on Friday, but we are looking forward to opening the playoffs on Thursday (Valentine’s Day) at 6 pm at the BBMAC pool. The seeding committee meets Monday night so our opponent will be announced then. We’re obviously excited to begin the playoffs as the No. 1 seed, and we’re looking forward to playing our best games in these final four contests.”

Throop continued. “For these six seniors (Alana Burgess, Sebenaler, Aly Rodgers, Carly Hoshko, Lenea Smith, and Sabrina Anonas) who have been playing together since elementary and middle school, this is their swan song. Along with the underclassmen, they are looking toward a great finale.”Subsequent playoff games will be held at the La Jolla Coggan Family Pool with the times to be determined.

Water Polo Honors and Awards

Congratulations to the aforementioned Hannah Sebenaler, who was named one of the Union-Tribune’s ‘Athletes of the Month’ for January 2008. Sebenaler, who also stars in lacrosse, will continue her water polo career at UCLA in the fall.

Kudos also to three Islander Boys Water Polo players for earning All-American status this year. Jacob Smith was named to the All American First Team as an attacker; Sean Cook was named to the Fifth Team as a defender; and goalie Kyle Pokorny earned Tenth Team honors. The important fact is that the trio will be All Americans forever.

High School Baseball Coming Soon

If you need proof that the seasons are about to change, although in Southern California the ‘change’ is often negligible, the high school baseball season is fast approaching. Junior Varsity and Varsity tryouts will be held Saturday, Feb. 16^th at 9 am at Islander Field. Coronado begins their regular season in the Bully’s Tournament against La Jolla at Islander Field Saturday, March 1 at 1:30 pm.

Islander Field is located behind Silver Strand Elementary School. Can I get a ‘hum babe’ for the coming baseball season?

Girls Soccer Ties Twice in Western League Competition

In what has become something of a recurring theme, the CHS Girls Soccer Team tied twice last week in Western League play. The result of the week’s play was a symmetrical but not overly satisfying 8-5-8 overall record and a somewhat odd 1-3-5 mark in the Western League.

To begin the week, Coronado invaded Christian and found a field that featured two elements that don’t endear themselves to soccer players, a bumpy and muddy field. Trailing 1-0 at halftime and then 2-0 in the second half, the Islanders rallied to tie the game.

Head Coach Kiko Medina provides the details. “We gave up some silly goals and the field presented some problems for us. It was tough for us to play our type of game and it took us a while to adjust to that. It took a lot of guts for the girls to come back from being down 2-0 to earn the tie. Considering what the girls had to get through, a tie was a very, very good result.”

The Coronado goals came courtesy of Courtney Ryan from a corner kick by Callie Caldwell (that’s good writing). The other Islander goal was scored by Brooke Clifford.

Thursday evening the Islanders hosted No. 6 ranked La Jolla at Niedermeyer Field and this time there was a scoreless tie. The game had plenty of up and back action, just no scoring.

“La Jolla has one loss all season and that is to Cathedral Catholic,” said Medina. “I think we match up well with La Jolla. We played good soccer and created some chances. They broke us down at times. Andrea Davis made some big time saves to keep us in the game. There were two teams who are even and it was a fun game to be part to coach and to watch.”
This week the Islanders play at Our Lady of Peace Tuesday at 3:15 pm, a contest which concludes their regular season. “Then it’s wait for Saturday and see how the seeding match up for the CIFs,” Medina added. “Bishop’s should be No. 1 and then it is between us and Parker for the 2-3 seeds. I’d be surprised and shocked if we don’t get at least the No. 3 seed.”

Boys Soccer Repeats as Central League Champs

Last week it appeared that the Coronado Boys Varsity Soccer Team had a playoff date in their future with Central League rival Hoover, to compete for the conference title. However, Crawford defeated Hoover 3-2 last week and the Islanders find themselves atop the Central League for the second consecutive season.

To start the week, Coronado tied Clairemont 2-2 on goals from Clay Butner and Kramer De Laurentis. In addition to those athletes, Head Coach Brian Hiatt-Aleu noted the fine play of midfielder Daniel Ross. “Daniel played well and had a strong game in the middle for us.”

Clinching day for the conference title followed on Friday when Crawford did their thing over Hoover. The Islanders knew that Hoover had lost and went out and scored three goals in the first 15 minutes of the game.

“The game was over early,” Hiatt-Aleu said. “We knew we were the champions. We are done now in the regular season. Everyone else in the league has a game this week, but we’re done. It was the first time that we have won the league back-to-back, so that was nice. The Central League is one of the better leagues for boys’ soccer this year. We have a lot of teams with winning records in the league. Lincoln and Madison are the only teams who won’t make the playoffs. Five of the seven clubs should make the playoffs in different divisions.”

Now that the regular season is over, it’s safe to look ahead at the playoffs, which Hiatt-Aleu did. “We’re hoping for a No. 1 or 2 seed. We were No. 2 last year in Division III. With our strength of schedule, we should be in the Top 2 in Division IV this year.”

But don’t think the team is taking it easy with the conclusion of the regular season. Monday morning, an off day from school, found the team running over, around and through Coronado, a six-mile training circuit around town. “We’re doing the Coronado run each day this week,” Hiatt-Aleu said. “We ran it in 42 minutes this morning, which is pretty good, and we run it as a group. The players all run it together.”

Circle the Date for Recruiting Realities Program

Thursday, March 6 the Islander Spots Foundation will present a program by Jack Renkens on the myths and realities of college athletic recruiting. The event will be held at the Coronado High School Auditorium at 7 pm and admission is complimentary for all student-athletes and their families at the high school and especially at the middle school level. 

Renkens is a former college coach with first-hand knowledge of the subject. His presentation is billed as ‘an entertaining, humorous and informative program,’ and it’s an important evening for parents and kids alike.