The Coronado High School winter sports season got off to a blast or perhaps more accurately a series of bounces last weekend, as the Islander Girls Basketball Team hosted their annual Thanksgiving Tournament. Coronado played two games Friday and two more Saturday, and came away with a 3-1 record.

In their first tournament game, junior guard Brooke Becky led the Islanders to a 43-33 victory over Southwest, scoring 17 points and snaring nine rebounds. Becky had considerable assistance from senior Jessica Davis Ricci, who chipped in five points, seven rebounds and committed seven steals.

Another significant contributor was sophomore varsity newcomer Arrielle Luna, who added eight points and 11 rebounds, prompting Head Coach Toler Goodwin to praise her effort. "Arrielle played well and I thought she did a very good job. She had moments when she tried to force too many things, but that is part of the learning curve."

Tournament Game II found the Islanders defeating San Dieguito Academy 35-20 behind 14 points from Becky and 11 more from sophomore point guard Ashley Depfer, who Goodwin relies on to run the team on the floor. "I thought Ashley showed a lot of toughness and development in understanding game situations. She hit some big free throws and made some strong drives to the basket. She also did a lot of things that were momentum changing, like making steals and creating dribble penetration that made for open shots. Everybody (the team’s outside shooters) benefited from the kickouts."

Saturday morning and Game III found the Islanders defeating Imperial 30-25, with Becky accounting for eight points, seven from Luna, six from Depfer, while Davis-Ricci added five and Farrell Pompa scored four points.

In the evening session and Game IV, Coronado faced a deep Serra squad and fell to the Conquistadors 46-29. Becky and Depfer had eight points each, with Luna adding five points, six assists, three steals, an assist and two blocked shots. Davis-Ricci had six points and five rebounds, while freshman center Angela Strohbeck scored her first two varsity points to round out the box score.

Goodwin was pleased with the results of his squad’s first four games. "I’m definitely happy with 3-1. That was the minimum boundary of where we wanted to be. As a collective group we have to be better working with each other, creating scoring opportunities for everybody."

Although she didn’t turn up a lot of statistics in the first four games, Goodwin noted the play of junior Lisa Bernardy. "Lisa played pretty well coming off the bench and gave us good solid minutes. She gave us some energy, getting on the floor for loose balls and playing smart minutes. We’ve got to have that from the people coming off the bench."

Coming up this week, Coronado hosts Mar Vista Thursday evening, with the JV playing at 5:30 pm and the varsity game scheduled for 7 pm. Saturday will be the finals of the Thanksgiving Tournament, with Coronado likely to play Westlake High School from Northern Virginia in the 5:15 pm time slot. The championship game will be played at 7 pm between the tourney’s two undefeated teams Cathedral Catholic and OLP.

The most often asked question of the past week was, "Where is Valley Center?" The short answer is drive north on I-15 for about 45 minutes, then go east for another 15 and you are in the vicinity.

In a slightly surreal setting, with a stadium in the middle of nowhere and the fog rolling in, Coronado’s 2005 football season ended with a 55-6 quarter-finals CIF playoff loss to the Jaguars. Valley Center, the defending Division III champions playing in Division IV this year, scored on each of the eight possessions they had in the contest.

The Islanders gained a total of 121 yards of net offense and got on the scoreboard with 26 seconds remaining in the contest via a 20-yard touchdown pass from David Loving to Daniel Mercado.

Head Coach Bud Mayfield summarized the loss by saying, "they’re not that good and we’re not that bad. I expected the game to be more competitive than that."

One of the game highlights from the Coronado perspective was the punting of senior Mike Baker-Denson, who had five attempts and punted for an average of 42.8 yards per kick. His longest effort on the evening was for 63 yards.

A total of 18 of the 34 players on the CHS roster are seniors this year.

CHS Head Cross Country Coach George Green checks in with a report on the state meet. "Sophomore Ben Enowitz finished 95^th in the state Division IV cross country meet held in Fresno last Saturday. His 5:04 first mile took a bit out of him at the finish, but his time of 17:31 over the 5K state course was an improvement of 50 seconds over last year’s time.

This was the last meet of a cross country season that saw the Boys remain unbeaten to repeat as league champions. The Girls placed second in league, losing only once."

Coronado Head Boys Basketball Coach Sandy Dillon is the has more coaching victories under his belt than any other roundball coach in the history of the school, but even he isn’t sure what to expect from this year’s squad. Two tough pre-season scrimmages against Otay Ranch and La Jolla have proven that his team can compete.

"Tuesday we fought Otay Ranch tooth and nail," said the veteran coach. "The kids played hard and every quarter was decided by only three points. Our kids competed really hard. Against La Jolla, we beat them easily in the first quarter 16-8. After that, we played everybody equal minutes."

For the 2005-06 season, think quick guards and forwards surrounding the club’s lone big man, senior Bryan Reed. "Bryan has really improved. He’s a true 6-6 and 220 pounds. He knows how to use his body better (than last season) and he can shoot the 15-foot jump shot."

The offense will start with junior point guard Geoffrey Worley, who takes over that position from Ryan Guard, who has been moved to the starting shooting guard slot. Joining in the rotation at guard will be junior Drew Zeller. A pair of juniors in Chas Marks and Matt Oakley will work out of the small forward slot. Oakley is coming off of knee problems from last season. Senior captain Blake Spitzer is a tad undersized at the power forward spot, but brings smarts and ball handling ability to the team.

Dillon, who employs a lot of players, will also have J.J. Pontes at the big forward slot and at backup center. Casey Zapatka and Anthony Ott will contribute as well. "Casey played well in the scrimmage on Tuesday and Anthony played real hard and well on the press," said Dillon of the two seniors.

Friday evening the Islanders host Mar Vista for a 7:30 pm game to tip off their season. The following week they will participate in the Small Schools Tournament, opening Wed. Dec. 7 with Midway Baptist at La Jolla Country Day at 2:45 pm.

The Boys Soccer Team is coming off of a great season in 2004-05, where they won all 10 of their Harbor (now Central) League games and the league title. The Islanders host their own tournament starting Monday and play their first game Wednesday (Nov. 30^th) against Bishop’s at 5:30 pm. The tournament schedule also includes a Friday night game at 5:30 pm against Mar Vista and a 6:15 Saturday evening game against Brawley. All three games will be played at Niedermeyer Field.

Head Coach Brian Hiatt-Aleu returns his entire defensive back five, including goalie Hugo Vera and defenders Michael Dykstra, Travis Lindsay, Pat Ahern, Austin Speer and Charlie Wood. The only fly in the proverbial defensive ointment is that Wood has a broken foot and will miss the beginning of the season. Jack Harms has returned to Coronado after a year abroad with his family, and will also be a defender.

Returning midfielders include Nick Hamilton and Christian Bond. Hiatt-Aleu also can deploy newcomer Matt Ganyard at the midfield spot and may move Speer into the midfield, if needed. Junior Thomas Foote and freshman Eduardo Ruiz also figure to see action at midfield.

Returning forwards in Hiatt-Aleu’s 4-4-2 formation include Taylor Patino and Pat Murphy.

"Everybody is going to be better," said Hiatt-Aleu of the Islanders’ opposition in the Central League. "Crawford has their big defensive back returning and Hoover has their two midfielders coming back. Madison has a new coach and he swears they are the best team in the league. I’m not sold on Madison, until I see them play. Clairemont will be stronger. They are always a tough team. It’s always hard to repeat (as league champion)."

Coming off of a CIF title in 2004 and a tie for the title in 2005, the Coronado Girls Soccer Team looks to be talented, but very young, this year. Kiko Medina, who had extensive coaching experience at Chula Vista High School and with the Alvion Soccer Club in San Diego, replaces Miles Ramirez as the head coach of the team.

Medina will employ a 4-4-2 formation, meaning four defensive backs, four midfielders and two forwards. The team’s first scrimmage will be Wednesday at Grossmont.

Five members from the very successful senior class return to the squad. CHS Volleyball MVP Megan Mushovic takes over in goal and is joined by forward or attacking midfielder Sasha Vido, midfielders Marissa Nagler and Lindsay Naple and defender Kindall Caldwell.

The junior class is represented by midfielder Kelly Walsh and defender Kylie Cusick, who is returning to Coronado after a year at Cathedral Catholic.

A huge sophomore class includes defenders Rosie Harris and Emily Kopp; midfielders Callie Caldwell (Kindall’s sister), Katie Ferrar, Greer Goebels, Leah Hatheway and Becka Runyon; plus forwards Colleen Burns and Jenny Bolander.

Freshmen include defender Sandy Shepherd along with midfielders McKenzie Coutts and Brianna Baszak.

"We’re in Division III again," said Coach Medina. "And we return to the Western League. Cathedral Catholic is going to be good and University City seems to be a strong team as well."

The team will start their season with Western League games Dec. 14 and 16.

CHS Girls Water Polo Head Coach Dave Throop had 20 players on his squad last season, which finished in second place in the CIF Division II playoffs last year. Only two players, goalie Megan Braun and driver Elizabeth Hopkins, graduated from that team.

The 2005-06 team is talented, has depth, and should probably charge admission to watch their practices. The Islander second unit could compete for the title in most leagues.

Leading the way are six seniors, including drivers Emily Bigham, Sandra Fernandez, Natalia Lopez, and Callie Martin. Kelly Phelps, who has signed to play at Arizona State next year, is a center back and defender. Sarah Clinton plays center forward and center back.

The junior class has seven players on the squad and they will see a lot of playing time among them. Morgan Ronimus is the team’s lead goalie. Molly Patrick, who Throop describes as "an all-around type player, who is big, strong and fast," is a driver. Katie Estrada, the team’s primary inside scoring option and "a force to be reckoned with" plays center, as will Maggie Sosnowski. Drivers include Danielle Goldblatt, and Lauren Corcoran. Junior driver Lizzie Hansen, who is coming off of shoulder surgery rounds out the group that Throop describes as "one of the most athletic classes we have had in a while."

Sophomores include scoring machine Hannah Sebenaler, center Carly Hoshko, along with drivers Alana Burgess, Ali Rodgers and Lenea Smith. Sabrina Anonas is also recovering from shoulder surgery and may have to concentrate on rehabbing her injury this year.

The lone freshman representative at this stage of the season is goalie Alex Adamson. "She is a gifted freshman, who will have opportunities to play," said Throop. "She’s very athletic."

"In general, we’re pretty excited about where we’re at," said Throop of his team. "There’s not a lot of drop off from our best player to our worst player. Our philosophy is that the practices will be some of the gnarlier games we will have all year. Our practice situations could be tougher than the games."

The coaching staff includes Program Head Coach Randy Burgess, JV Head Coach Ian Silverman and two new additions to the staff in Elizabeth Equez and Sarah Sherlock. "I feel good about the staff," said Throop. "We have two women who have played club and college water polo. We’re happy to have female role models to help with the team."

Throop expects Bishop’s, La Jolla, University City and Coronado to be the Top 4 teams in the division and in the Western League.