When it comes to Coronado High School Girls Basketball, the more things change, the more they remain the same. It appears that after posting a fine 13-7 record this season, including a 4-0 mark in the Central League, the conference title will come down to the two games between the Islanders and the Patriots of Christian High School.

Last week Coronado dominated Madison at the Blumenthal Sports Complex 44-28 and then doubled up Clairemont on the road by the score of 59-25. For their part the Patriots dominated Clairemont Tuesday 62-23 and are also perfect to date in league play.

The athletic rivalry between the two schools, particularly in Girls Basketball, goes back several years. The players arrive and graduate, the coaches occasionally change, the league title may morph from ‘Harbor’ to ‘Central,’ but historically, either Coronado or Christian emerges to win the league title.

Islander Head Coach Toler Goodwin knows what to expect from Christian. "They won the league last year and they basically have the entire team back. With their size, opposing teams don’t get a lot of second opportunities to score. They do a very good job of finishing their (scoring) opportunities."

Goodwin discussed the roles of several of his players in last week’s victories. "In both games, we got contributions from a number of people, which is nice. Farrell Pompa played really well in both games, as did Jessica Davis-Ricci. Farrell had 10 points and seven rebounds against Madison, while Jessica had 11 points, five assists and six steals. Against Madison, we got to play a lot of kids who don’t normally play."

According to Goodwin, the trend continued at Clairemont. "Friday Jessica scored 17 points, had three steals and played some really good defense. Farrell went for eight points and 14 rebounds and Tiffany Depfer had eight points and five steals. We were able to get some of our freshmen some early minutes. Angela Strohbeck scored three points and had nine rebounds in roughly 10 minutes of play. Kelsey Branch played well defensively for us and scored a little bit."

Goodwin starts the equivalent of four guards and a forward in his opening lineup, which means that Pompa, as the tallest of the guards, has to help with the rebounding chores. "Farrell has been really active rebounding and just playing, not over-thinking the game," said Goodwin. "She is strong athletically and she is allowing that to come through. She has gotten past thinking about what she is supposed to do on the floor and is just playing."

Tuesday Coronado resumes their rivalry at Christian at 4:30 pm. Friday night the Islanders are at home in the first game of a Girls/Boys Varsity doubleheader, as both teams host Crawford. The Girls game will begin at 6 pm.

Tuesday the Islander Boys Basketball Team traveled to Madison and played an unusual game against the Warhawks. Coronado emerged with a 58-54 victory, but was outscored 39-19 in the middle two quarters. The victory was due in large part to the Islanders outscoring the Warhawks 25-8 in the final frame.

"Finally with a minute to go in the third quarter, I looked at the kids and said this is still winnable," said Head Coach Sandy Dillon. "You can still win this. They’re just not this good. Drew Zeller was the catalyst. He played hard in the fourth quarter, causing problems for Madison. He allowed Geoff Worley and Ryan Guard to make some steals. We were down 13 at the end of the third quarter. In the last minute and a half, we took the lead and won by four points. It would have been an awful loss to come all that way back and not win the game. When this group of kids gets into competing, they compete really hard." Chas Marks led the Islanders with 23 points, followed by Zeller with nine.

Friday evening Coronado traveled to Clairemont and emerged on the short end of a 48-42 result. The Chieftains, who have seven of their top eight players back from last year’s team, jumped out to an early 11-3 lead, which the Islanders were never able to overcome. "Marks was great in the first half and did a really nice job," Dillon said. "Matt Oakley was really good in the second half."

Even in the short span of a high school season, players constantly improve their play as the season progresses. "Bryan Reed has played really well," said Dillon of the 6-foot, 6-inch senior. "He’s battling kids his size, who are way stronger, with quicker hands, more athletic, and he’s holding his own. He’s learning how to be a force in the middle without fouling out of the game. Zeller is playing better and with more confidence. Oakley has improved tremendously in the past couple of weeks. He didn’t play at all last year (due to a knee injury) and rarely as a freshman. He’s really tried to be more aggressive on defense. He will take the open shot and take the ball to the hoop when he can."

This week Coronado hosts Christian Tuesday at 6:30 pm. The Patriots feature three Lithuanian imports, including the starting guard from the Lithuanian Junior National Team. Friday night’s second game of the Girls/Boys twin bill features Crawford’s Tyrone Shelley, who is averaging 28.1 points per game and is considered to be one of the top hoop talents in the CIF San Diego Section.

The Islanders Boys Soccer Team scored one lone goal last week, but emerged with a victory and a tie to keep their unbeaten season intact and perhaps more importantly, lengthening their lead in the Central League race. Coronado tied Crawford 0-0 at Crawford and then defeated Hoover 1-0 at Coronado.

Showing that Your Natterer is quick to the ball strategy-wise, I stated the obvious when I spoke with Head Coach Brian Hiatt-Aleu at week’s end. "I gather your defense played well, since you didn’t give up any goals last week." German Soccer Hall of Fame defender Franz Beckenbauer’s got nothing on me.

"Everybody at the back played well," said Hiatt-Aleu of his defensive stalwarts. "Goalie Hugo Vera played well as did Travis Lindsay, Michael Dykstra, Jack Harms, Austen Speer, Pat Ahern and Nick Hamilton. In the Crawford game, Jack Harms got hurt. He injured his knee and it may be a season-ending injury. He’s really big and he scored some goals off of set plays for us. Lindsay got hurt in the first half. We were really strung out without our big seniors. Nolan Woodhouse stepped in at center mid and played 55 minutes. He really helped us out in the middle. Christian Bond scored on a penalty kick against Hoover. That was really good."

In the larger picture, Coronado is 16-0-2 and is the only team in San Diego County that hasn’t lost a game. In addition, the Islanders defense hasn’t yielded a goal in memory. Vera and his defensive teammates have recorded 13 shutouts this year, which is impressive to say the least. "We haven’t given up a goal in 2006," said Hiatt-Aleu. In fact the Islanders have yielded only six goals in 18 games this season.

Despite playing in that rarified air, Hiatt-Aleu wants his team to maintain their focus. "We need to take one game at a time, 40 minutes (a high school soccer game consists of two 40-minute halves) at a time. I don’t want to think about anything outside of that. We’re starting the second round of the Central League and to win the league, we have to win at Clairemont and at Hoover." This week the Islanders host Christian Tuesday and then travel to Clairemont Thursday. Both games will start at 3 pm.

Last week found the Islander Girls Soccer Team playing to a nil-nil tie with University City and then losing 4-1 to newly named Cathedral Catholic (formerly USDHS). According to Head Coach Kiko Medina, the team entered the week in fifth place in the hyper competitive Western League and left the week in the same slot.

"Against University City, we had chances and created some opportunities," said Medina. "We hit the post a couple of times. We played okay in that game. We gave them some chances as well, that they could have easily converted. It seems that whenever we play University City, it’s back and forth."

Despite the seemingly one-sided score against Cathedral, Medina liked his team’s effort. "Colleen Burns scored the goal for us. They had a corner kick and stuck a quick one (goal) on us. For the most part, we played really well. The effort was there. They went up 2-1 and we had to push forward. It wasn’t a 4-1 game. It was a good, close game. Sasha Vido has continued to play well and Leah Hatheway had a good game Wednesday. Friday I was disappointed about the result, but as a team we played really well. The team was working."

This week the Coronado travels to Scripps Ranch Wednesday and are at home Friday to play La Jolla. Both games will start at 3 pm.

CHS three-sport star Megan Mushovic has committed to attend Cornell University in Ithaca, NY in the fall. Mushovic will graduate with 12 athletic letters, four each in soccer, volleyball and track. She will play volleyball for the Big Red.

Mushovic, who played the libero or defensive specialist position for the Epic 18 and Under club volleyball team, is currently the starting goalie for the CHS Soccer Team.

Last week found the Girls Water Polo Team in their customary frenzy for this time of the year, studying and taking finals, while playing four games.

Their week began Wednesday with a 10-4 victory over La Jolla, which featured two goals each from Carly Hoshko, Katie Estrada and Emily Bigham. Morgan Ronimus was credited with eight saves in goal.

The following day the Islanders dispatched Patrick Henry 16-3. "Nothing really positive came out of the game," said Head Coach Dave Throop. "It was the last day of finals. We were beat up mentally and flat through most of the game." Hannah Sebenaler scored four times as did Estrada, to lead the Coronado attack.

Friday Coronado traveled to The Bishop’s School for their first game of the season, which was won by the Knights 9-7. If form holds, it will be the first of three times the teams will compete this season. The return match will be held Thursday, Feb. 9 at 3 pm at the Coronado Municipal Pool, so circle your calendar now.

According to Throop, the score was tied 2-2 at the end of the first quarter of play, 6-5 at half time, 7-7 at the end of three quarters, on the way to the 9-7 final score. "Most of the fourth quarter was a one-goal lead for Bishop’s," said Throop. "They were 5 for 7 in their man-ups and we were 1 for 6. I’ll have to watch the tape to see where the breakdown was. It could be poor shooting angle decisions. I honestly felt the girls came out well prepared for the game. It was a night and day difference from Thursday. One or two simple things can turn a close game around. I was as happy as I can be with a loss. We hope to play them every two weeks until the end of the season."

Ronimus had 11 saves and the Coronado scoring came from Estrada with three goals, two from Bigham, and one each from Kelly Phelps and Sandra Fernandez.

Saturday the Islanders hosted Foothill, one of the premier teams in the state and lost 12-6. Foothill was the runner-up to Corona del Mar in the recent Santa Barbara tournament, which featured 16 of the best teams in California. Fernandez scored twice and single goals came from Sarah Clinton, Hoshko, Phelps and Bigham. Ronimus had six saves.

Although the result of the game had been decided at the time, the contest featured a rare 6-3 situation as three Islander players were excluded on the same play. Throop said that he had never previously seen that situation as a player or a coach. Not surprisingly Foothill converted on the lopsided scoring opportunity, which earned Throop a yellow card from the game official.

"It was a good week, considering how tough a week it was with finals," Throop said. "They were as mentally and physically fried as they could be. I felt we handled it pretty well, considering. We hit a little bit of a mid-January wall, but I think we’re past it now. We’re making some mistakes, but we’re moving beyond that. We look pretty darn good in practice. We just have to put that into our games a little bit more. We’re in a qualitative mindset now, rather than quantitative."

This week the Islanders host Cathedral Catholic Wednesday and then Thursday they travel to Irvine for the Southern California Invitational. Coronado has the No. 6 seed and will face Canyon High School from the Foothill League of the CIF Southern Section.

A belated ‘thank you’ to the Andrew Ronimus of Ronimus Construction for his gift of a stainless steel gas grill to the Islander Sports Foundation. The grill was the focal point of the foundation’s snack bar operation during the football season and the donation was much appreciated. Moe Ronimus serves on the ISF Board of Directors as the president of the Girls Water Polo Booster Club. Thanks to both.

If you have a middle school-aged athlete in your home, sign-ups for CMS spring sports will be held Thursday, February 9 at 6:30 pm at the school’s Granzier Hall. The registration fee is $90 per sport, per child.

Spring sports offerings include Boys Lacrosse and Girls Basketball. Co-ed sports teams include Track and Field, Tennis, Water Polo and Golf.

Each athlete must have proof of having a physical examination within the past 12 months. Other required forms and documents may be downloaded by visiting www.IslanderSportsFoundation.com.

Saturday, February 11, the CHS Baseball Team is hosting their first ever Islander Baseball Fantasy Camp. The format is batting practice starts at 10 am; lunch will be served at noon; followed by a game at 1 pm.

The event is open for any baseball fan, or as Head Coach Sam Ceci describes the target audience, "the has-beens", the "wannabees" and anyone else in between. We’ll have high school kids there to chase the balls down. You’ll get to swing the bat, which most people haven’t done in years. The bottom line is to get some exposure for the program and raise some money."

For a suggested donation of $50, more if you prefer, each of the ‘campers’ will receive a fitted CHS baseball hat, a t-shirt, lunch and have a lot of fun. "You don’t have to be a Coronado grad," said Ceci of the event. "If you are in sight of the program and hear our plea, come on out." For more information on the Islander Baseball Fantasy Camp, please contact Coach Ceci at 435-0854.