Mountain Empire’s Boys Basketball Team made the journey to Coronado Thursday evening, launched 32 three-point attempts from the field and returned home on the short end of the 84-60 score.

However, Coronado Head Coach Sandy Dillon, whose teams consistently rank in the Top 10 in San Diego County for team defense, wasn’t happy with the way the Islanders defended the attempts from beyond the 19-foot, 9-inch three-point line. "Mountain Empire had three kids that as soon as they were a couple of steps inside of half court, shot the ball. We have to go out and defend that and defend them hard. We had a nice lead, up 24 points and then all of a sudden they hit some threes and got it down to 12 or 14. Mountain Empire made five three-point shots in the fourth quarter, but the game was a good learning experience for our kids."

The game proved to be a break-out night for sophomore guard/forward Chas Marks, who scored 24 points, with many of the points coming on offensive rebounds and follow shots. "Most of his points were on mid-range to short-range jump shots," said Dillon of Marks. "No doubt he did a really good job. Between his 24 and eight more points from Drew Zeller, we had 32 points from two sophomores. Drew is playing very well. He understands the game real well and he also understands the bounce pass very well. He’s done a really nice job."

Adding to the scoring parade were Jonathan Smith with 14 points, Brad Munns with 12, and Bryan Reed who added seven points. Coronado now sports a 4-2 record on the season.

This week the Islanders host San Dieguito Academy in a Monday evening game, two teams that, according to Dillon, are pretty evenly matched.

But the big basketball event on the horizon is the Coronado Christmas Tournament, which will be held Tuesday through Thursday, Dec. 28-30. The annual event serves as the major fundraiser for the Islander Boys Basketball program and will feature four games Coronado. The tournament is later in the year than normal, as Christmas falls on a Saturday and CIF teams are not allowed to compete on Sundays. Dillon will throw a day of practice at his team Monday, followed by four games in three days.

Coronado plays Preuss Academy at 1:30 pm next Tuesday (Dec. 28) and then plays Lutheran at 7:30 pm Tuesday evening. Wednesday the Islanders play Pacific Hills from the Los Angeles area at 7:30 pm. Thursday night Coronado plays Julian at 8 pm. The four teams will play each other throughout the day Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, so plenty of good high school basketball action is yours for a modest admission fee. Bring some extra money and eat at the snack bar, with net the proceeds benefiting the Islander Boys Basketball Team.

The CHS Girls Basketball Team returned to their non-conference schedule with a vengeance last week, sandwiching victories over Otay Ranch (46-16) and Mar Vista (36-22) around a loss to La Jolla (33-29), and improved their record to 4-6 in the process.

Top-flight performances during the week included a 16-point effort by sophomore Brooke Becky against Otay Ranch, eight points each by Becky and Ashley Depfer against La Jolla, and 10 points each by Depfer and junior Farrell Pompa against Mar Vista.

Although the Mar Vista game score (a 14 point Coronado victory) seemed lopsided, it was actually a 2-point game with 10 minutes remaining in the contest. At that point, Becky who had not scored in the game, teamed with senior Amanda Marks to take the game over. From the 2:22 mark of the third quarter until the final horn, Becky scored all 7 of her points and grabbed four rebounds. Marks scored five points, snared three rebounds and made three steals, as the pair lead an 18-6 run that won the game for Coronado.

In addition to her 10 points against the Mariners, Pompa also gathered eight rebounds, while Becky added eight rebounds and five assists.

According to Head Coach Toler Goodwin, the challenge for his team remains the same. "It sounds like ditto from last week, but we have to get more consistent offensively. We have to get better at executing and we have to be able to get the shot we need, when we need it. We just couldn’t put the ball in the basket against La Jolla."

Goodwin acknowledged the fine week that several of his players had. "Ashley Depfer played hard defensively and she hit a couple of shots that got us started against Mar Vista. Farrell Pompa played well most of the week. And we got some help from the bench this week, with some good minutes and some consistent play from some people. Lindsey Negrete played well and Crystal Curtis played well, after struggling coming out of the Thanksgiving Tournament. She played much better later in the week."

A game Tuesday at home against Valley Center at 6 pm, represents the Islanders only game this week. Starting next Monday, Coronado plays in the Montgomery Tournament on three consecutive days against Hilltop, Point Loma and Montgomery. The fourth game is Thursday and the opponent will come from among Kearney, Otay Ranch, West Hills and Southwest (El Centro), who collectively comprise the other side of the tournament bracket.

Through the first 11 games of their season, the Girls Soccer Team is 10-0-1, winning four games last week and in the process outscoring their opponents 12-2. Their offense is so potent that senior Goalie Jamie Klages struck from 50 yards out against Christian on a free kick. She assisted on another score in the Otay Ranch game, when Ashley Copp scored off of a header on a long entry kick from the University of Nebraska-bound Klages. Coronado games are worth the price of admission just to see the booming kicks Klages uses to clear the ball and set up her teammates on the offensive end of the field.

Copp has now scored 11 goals in the team’s 11 games, an amazing pace for the senior forward who will continue her soccer career at Pepperdine University next season.

In total the week included a 3-0 win over Otay Ranch, a 3-1 victory at home against Marian Catholic, a 3-0 victory over Christian in the Western League opener for Coronado, and a 3-1 win against Mission Hills.

Possibly the two prettiest goals of the week belonged to senior Ashley Walsh, who found the back of the net twice within a 3-minute span against Marian Catholic at home Tuesday. Walsh, who plays left-midfield for the Islanders, scored on two beautifully placed, left-footed, high arching shots, that both found the top corner of the net, over the outstretched arms of the Crusader goalie. Sasha Vido made a steal deep in the Crusader end of the field and scored a goal at the 27:30 mark of the first half to account for the final Coronado score.

The lone Marian Catholic goal came via a penalty kick awarded for a hand ball in the box, which nobody saw except for the referee, who was a full 50 yards away from the play. The call was met with a healthy degree of skepticism from the knowledgeable Coronado home fans.

One of the elements that sets this Islander team apart from some of the recent Coronado squads is the quickness and speed of the defensive backfield, anchored by Maureen Mulvey. Klages is rarely challenged in goal, mainly because the defense runs most of the long shots and counter attacks down before they become serious scoring attempts.

"The team is starting to find their roles and learn their responsibilities," said Head Coach Miles Ramirez. "Sasha Vido is playing well. Kelly Walsh (who scored a goal in the 3-1 victory over Mission Hills) is playing out of her usual center mid position and doing a great job on the outside right mid. She’s filled a huge gap for us. Some of the new kids like Colleen Burns (who tallied her first varsity goal against Christian), Leah Hatheway, Greer Goebels, Katie Ferrar and Callie Caldwell are getting the experience needed to carry on the winning tradition here at Coronado."

A comic moment in the Marian Catholic game was supplied by Goebels, who won a mini-battle with a Crusader opponent. "All season long we have been trying to get the kids to be physical," laughed Ramirez. "She hit that girl and she went flying. Greer is a 14-year-old kid, playing with 16-18 year old kids. She did a very good job."

This week the Islanders complete the Vaquero Tournament, with a bracket game against La Jolla on Monday, followed by the tourney semi-finals and finals Tuesday.

Boys Soccer Head Coach Brian Hiatt-Aleu is a little frustrated with the CIF San Diego section’s high school soccer schedule. After a slowish start, his Islander team has put together a nice run with a 1-0 victory over El Cajon Valley, followed by a 1-0 victory over La Jolla last Thursday. Christian Bond had the game winner against El Cajon Valley, while Kelcey Fisher won the La Jolla game with his goal.

The Islanders are now 5-2 on the season.

"It’s like having two seasons," said Hiatt-Aleu of the team’s schedule. "We started slow, then we start playing well in December, then there’s the holiday, which kills everything. Then we start again in January. In between, we don’t have any games for 2-3 weeks. I really wish we could change the dates for high school soccer."

"Everybody played well," Hiatt-Aleu continued. "We won two games and had two shutouts. We’re not making any mistakes in the backfield, which had been killing us. Our two center backs Travis Lindsay and Mike Dykstra are playing well."

Over the Christmas break, the team will continue to practice, with their next game scheduled for Jan. 11 against Crawford at Niedermeyer Field at 3 pm.

When the CIF adopted Girls Water Polo as an officially sanctioned sport, the two best teams in San Diego County were Coronado and Patrick Henry. Only the Islanders can claim that distinction currently, as Patrick Henry’s fortunes have fallen over the past couple of years.

The Islanders invaded Allied Gardens last week and came away with a 24-5 victory, which when you consider that a prep water polo game contains 28 minutes of regulation time, is a lot of scoring.

Katie Estrada led Coronado with six goals, while Kelly Phelps, who is coming off of a successful volleyball season, scored four goals and was credited with three steals. Head Coach Dave Throop said of Phelps, "she’s a 6-fooot, lefthander, who creates match-up problems at the center back position."

The domination by Coronado over Patrick Henry can be looked at another way. A total of eight Coronado girls scored goals, which since only six players (plus the goalie) are in the water at one time, that’s a lot of lineup shuffling. "One of our main highlights was that we had 20 assists on the 24 goals and 10 different girls had assists. Everybody on the roster now has had a chance to play some varsity minutes."

In addition to Estrada and Phelps, multiple-goal games were turned in by Sandra Fernandez, Lizzie Hansen, Molly Patrick, and Danielle Goldblatt. Elizabeth Hopkins and Emily Bigham each scored one goal.

Throop and his troops are now in full training mode for the holidays. "The Henry game was a good way to finish the 2004 part of the schedule. We have an overly ambitious holiday training schedule, and the team normally bonds really well. The girls that make that training commitment are amazed at how far they come. They have been awesome to this point and have done everything we have asked. They are still learning and they are very young."

The Islanders return to play with a game Jan. 5 vs. USDHS. They then travel to the SoCal Tournament in Santa Barbara, where the state’s Top 16 teams will compete.

Contrary to public perception, I do root for the San Diego Chargers to do well. It’s just that they often pursue an unusual (Ryan Leaf) path (summer camp in Los Angeles) to the playoffs (missing the last 8 years). As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I believe they are a team in every sense of the word and as such, they are better than the sum of their individual parts. Here’s hoping the magic continues… As their respective public relations campaigns rolled into high gear last week, I was trying to figure out who I wanted to hear from less, pro basketball’s Kobe Bryant or pro football’s Ricky Williams. Faced with that quandary, I decided to mute them both for the foreseeable future and to listen to neither. Enough with the spin already…Much was made about De La Salle High School of Concord’s Football Team and the fact that they started their season 0-2-1 after accumulating an amazing winning streak of 151 straight games. But don’t feel sorry for Spartans. They rolled to a 41-0 victory in the CIF North Coast section Class 4A Championship game against Amador Valley of Pleasanton and have now won 35 straight CIF playoff games and have appeared in the title game 13 straight years. Amador was 12-0 entering the championship game… Closer to home, if you are a college basketball fan, be sure to circle Sat. Jan 22 on your calendar. That is the date that Gonzaga University’s Men’s Basketball Team will play the University of San Diego. The game time is 4:05 pm and it will mark the only visit of the Zags to San Diego this season. Coming off of their recent defeat of No. 3 ranked Georgia Tech, Gonzaga should break into the Top 15 in the polls this week