Traditionally the week following Christmas on the Coronado High School sports scene is dominated by the Boys and Girls Basketball programs. All of the winter sports teams continue to practice at varying degrees of intensity, but varsity games are the exclusive province of the cagers. (Why is ‘cagers’ a nickname for basketball teams? See the trivia answer later in this column.)

The Boys Basketball Team hosted their own Christmas Tournament, which in addition to providing them with four games leading up to the Harbor League season, serves as a fundraiser for the program. The first day of play was Tuesday, with Coronado defeating the Preuss Academy Tritons 55-39 in the early afternoon session. The evening session found Coronado dominating Lutheran 76-26.

In the Preuss game, the statistical leaders were Alex Fairman with 12 points; Reid McLean added 11 points; followed closely by Adam Munns with seven points and team-high totals in steals with five and rebounds with eight. Chas Marks chipped in six points and four rebounds.

Preuss lead the game 9-8 at the end of the first quarter, before aggressive defensive pressure from the Islanders turned the game around with a 16-2 run in the final seven minutes of the second quarter. The Islanders followed that effort with a 15-6 third quarter to put the game out of reach.

The best game of the tourney was Wednesday evening’s game against Pacific Hills of Hollywood, won by Coronado 51-35. In this contest senior Jonathon Smith turned in a fine all-around game, leading the Islanders in points scored (12), rebounds (seven) and assists (five). For good measure he committed three steals. Smith, an under-sized but aggressive center, is the team’s best passer. The Islanders’ best outside shooter is sophomore guard Ryan Guard, who scored 10 points and dished out three assists. Other contributors included Brad Munns and McLean with identical statistical lines of seven points, four rebounds and three steals each; Marks with five points and three boards; and Fairman with two points, five rebounds and three steals.

The Pacific Hills game followed a pattern similar to the Preuss Academy game, as the first quarter was fairly even before Coronado’s defense took over the game in the second quarter. The Islanders yielded only four second quarter points, while scoring 11 themselves. Steals by McLean, Smith, Fairman, and Smith again turned into Islander scoring opportunities.

The fourth game was a 71-17dismantling of Julian in the tourney finale. Junior center Bryan Reed had a game-high 12 points; Smith added nine points; Drew Zeller and Guard had eight each, with Marks and Blake Spitzer adding seven points apiece.

Understandably Head Coach Sandy Dillon was pleased with his team after sweeping the tournament on their way to an overall record of 9-2. "The other night against Pacific Hills, it all came together. They figured out they could play with teams like us. They were a decent team that had scouted us well."

Twins Adam and Brad Munns, who often substitute for each other during a game, were factors in the team’s fine play in the tournament according to Dillon. "It’s nice to get Brad back (from a foot injury). We put him outside on defense. Both of the twins have such long arms that Pacific Hills had trouble getting by them. Adam played the weak side on defense and had his head on a swivel, looking for the skip pass. Also, I was really pleased with Reid McLean. He hadn’t been playing well, but this week he came out and played really, really well."

The Islanders have another week before the Harbor League schedule kicks in and they will be busy playing at Montgomery Tuesday at 7 pm; hosting Imperial Friday evening at 7 pm; and then hosting Otay Ranch next Tuesday at 7 pm.

Dillon scheduled the games, particularly the road match at Montgomery to prepare for the league season. "We play three teams now about like us. Montgomery is a big school with some athletes. Imperial is better than they were last year and Otay Ranch is very athletic. It will be interesting to see how we react. Montgomery is very much like Crawford and Madison."

Handicapping the Harbor League race is tough. Hoover appears to be the front runner and one of the best teams in the county. Crawford is waiting for a CIF eligibility ruling on two transfers from Christian High School, Tyrone Shelley and Tyler Tucker. If they are allowed to play, Crawford becomes a contender. If not, Crawford joins Madison, Clairemont, and Coronado in the mid-level of the league. Christian due to the transfers figures to be down this season.

"We could be 0-10, or we could be 5-5," said Dillon of the League schedule, which starts Jan. 14 at 7:30 pm at home against Clairemont, as the second game of a Girls/Boys Varsity Basketball twin bill. "Overall I’m pretty pleased with what’s going on."

Playing the host team in a Christmas basketball tournament is like being the opponent for a football homecoming game, you figure you are there at least in part for the advancement and glorification of the home team.

Coronado could have played that role in their third game of the four-game Montgomery Tournament last week, but the plucky Islanders battled the Aztecs Wednesday before falling 55-42. In fact their result was closer (13 points) than the tournament final between West Hills and Montgomery, which the Aztecs won 48-31 (17 points).

Honesty compels me to report that the Islanders didn’t turn in a stellar first quarter against their hosts, as they trailed 18-4 at the conclusion of the first eight minutes of play. Montgomery scored on four layups, a free throw and three three-point bombs and seemed headed to a blow-out win.

Coronado’s defense found itself in the second quarter and a good contribution off the bench by junior forward Crystal Curtis and a spark ignited by freshman guard Tiffany Depfer helped get the Islanders offense in gear. Once in the third quarter and once again in the fourth frame, the Islanders closed the gap to 10 points, but the Aztecs rallied back for the victory.

Jessica Davis-Ricci had one of her best all-around games of her Islander varsity career with 15 points, five rebounds and five steals; Brooke Becky, who provided the Islanders with most of their ball handling against Montgomery’s pressure defense, contributed seven points, three rebounds, and three steals; Farrell Pompa added six points, six rebounds and two assists; Ashley Depfer chipped in with six points and four rebounds; Tiffany Depfer had five points and three assists; and Crystal Curtis grabbed six rebounds to go with her three points.

In the other Aztec Holiday Tournament games, Coronado lost their first game to Hilltop 38-25; won their next game with Point Loma 28-22; lost to Montgomery; and won their final contest EC Southwest 31-24. Becky paced the Islander’s offensive attack with 11 points, and had help from Amanda Marks, who was one of four Coronado players with four points.

Head Coach Toler Goodwin, who saw his team complete the week with a 6-9 record, liked what he saw of his team’s effort against Montgomery. "In the tournament as a whole, we got a lot out of it. We had some competitive games and we were able to meet the challenge and the pressure that Montgomery applied. That was good for us and we played a good second half. Another good thing was that we had different people step up in each of the games. Jessica Davis-Ricci played really well against Montgomery. Crystal Curtis played well this week coming off of the bench."

The Harbor League outlook for the Islanders appears to be more muddled than it is for their male counterparts, with no clear leader among the conference membership at this point in the season, even though Coronado has won the last three consecutive Harbor League titles. "We have a good chance to win the league," said Goodwin. "We have to do things correctly. Christian will be there along with Clairemont. Madison and Hoover have new coaches and they will be competitive. Crawford has some scorers and they have turned things around. It’s going to be a real competitive league."

This week the Islanders host Grossmont Wednesday at 6:30 pm for their only game. Next week they play at Otay Ranch at 6:30 pm Tuesday, and then start their Harbor League campaign Friday Jan. 14 against Clairemont at 6 pm as the front end of a Girls/Boys varsity basketball doubleheader.

In the early days of basketball, the court was surrounded by chicken wire to keep the fans from throwing objects on the floor. The wire created a ‘cage’ around the court, hence the term ‘cagers’ when referring to basketball players.

The cage concept is still in force in parts of South America and Europe to keep volatile fans away from the court. A personal favorite is the practice of heating coins and then launching the projectiles at the players.

Congratulations to Thomas Hopkins (CHS ’02), who was recently named First Team All American by the American Water Polo Coaches Association. Hopkins, a junior at Stanford, was the team’s second leading scorer last year with 60 goals, second only to senior and U.S. Olympian Tony Azevedo who scored 80 goals. It was the first All-American First Team recognition for Hopkins and the fourth for Azevedo.

Proving they are smart as well as athletic, CHS senior Jake Ruzevick and junior Sean Castillo were named as All-Academic First Team members by "The San Diego Union-Tribune" in their respective sports. Ruzevick, who won the CIF Division IV Cross Country title, was named to the All-Academic team with a 4.42 grade point average. Castillo, who earlier had been named to the All-County Water Polo First Team, earned his recognition on the basis of his 3.92 grade point average.

A reminder that the CHS Sailing Team dinner and auction will be held Thursday, Jan. 27 from 5:30 to 8 pm at the Coronado Yacht Club. Dinner tickets to the dinner are $15 each for adults and $5 each for children.

The family-style pasta dinner is served by the team members. Other events during the evening include a live and a silent auction for items donated by local merchants, as well as cash raffles.

The proceeds from the banquet benefit the CHS Sailing Team, which is not funded by the school district, and covers such costs as regatta entry fees, boat maintenance, sails, travel expenses and stipends for the coaches.

For more information regarding the event, to purchase tickets, or to donate a prize for an auction or a raffle, please contact Karen Paquin at 435-0643.