Nado Natterings
A weekly column by David Axelson

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

17 Jan 2007 Issue #2

In last week’s edition, Coronado High School Head Basketball Coach Sandy Dillon predicted, “The gym will be rocking and rolling Friday night,” for the Islanders’ first Central League game of the year against Christian High School. Dillon, fresh from earning his 300^th coaching win of his career against Sweetwater two nights prior, got his wish. Unfortunately Coronado came out on the short end of a double-overtime thriller 65-59.

The student cheering section, which can be complacent at times, literally rose to the occasion, standing through the end or regulation time and both overtime periods. In addition, the cheers ran the gamut from the conventional (Let’s Go Na-do), to a European soccer chant, and then on to a rhythmic number (Go Naaadoo). During the second overtime, when Christian was ahead in the game, due in large part to hitting their final 12 free throws, the students brought out “Let’s play football,” a reference to Coronado’s successful 9-3 football season this year.

On the floor, the game was particularly well played, with senior Chas Marks scoring 23 points and snaring 12 rebounds. Matt Oakley scored 11 points and contributed nine boards; with Geoff Worley adding 11 points, three rebounds and three assists; and Alex Rowan chipping in with 10 points and six rebounds. Liam Cronan completed the Islander scoring with four points.

The game began in frantic fashion. Half way through the first quarter Coronado had forged a 16-3 lead before the Patriots put a scoring run together to close the gap to 20-11 at the end of the frame. The Islanders stretched the lead to 30-19 at halftime.

Quarter number three belonged to Christian as they outscored Coronado 16-4, largely due to a 5 ½ minute scoring drought by the home team. Nothing would fall for the Islanders from the field and they looked like they had expended too much energy to stay with the Patriots.

But the fourth quarter brought a rejuvenated Islander lineup onto the floor. With 1:40 remaining in the contest, Christian held a 43-40 lead. A layup from Marks was answered by a Patriot jump shot in the lane, but a three pointer by Worley with 17 seconds on the clock knotted the game at 45-all. Marks had a good looking three-pointer off in time at the buzzer that just missed.

The Islanders jumped ahead 51-47 with 2:05 left in the first overtime on an offensive rebound and follow shot by Oakley, but that was their last score of the period. Oakley took a great-looking long jump shot as the horn sounded to end the period, which rimmed out.

An Oakley three-pointer, followed by a Marks three-pointer gave the Islanders a 57-55 lead, but Christian then ran off 10 straight points to clinch the game.

“I thought the kids played super,” said Dillon of his squad’s effort. “I was proud of our kids. They fought back. It was a good high school game.”

Just prior to Friday night’s tip-off, Dillon was presented with an autographed team picture and a signed ball, in honor of his 300^th basketball victory at Coronado. Oakley’s 16 points, followed closely by Worley’s 15 helped Coronado defeat Sweetwater for the second time this season Wednesday. Coronado won all four quarters of the game on their way to a 53-35 victory.

Dillon also praised the development of junior forward Rowan. “He played well (against Christian) and is starting to fight a little bit. He’s growing by leaps and bounds. The other night on defense Alex played their center decently and fought for rebounds against kids who were way bigger than he is. Drew Zeller went out and gave us some good minutes, which really helped. Oakley played very well. It was funny that he had a shot (at the end of the first overtime) and came right back 30 seconds later and drained one from the same spot.”

The Islanders are now 10-5 overall. They play Friday night at Madison at 7:30 pm in another Central League contest.

Girls Basketball Team Rallies for Victory

The ebb and flow of the girls’ basketball history between Christian and Coronado added yet another chapter Friday night as the Islanders finished strong defeating the Patriots 38-35 in the first Central League game for both teams.

Coronado started the game in unique fashion, being credited with nine steals and only 10 points in the first quarter. Steals often lead to easy baskets, but Coronado had to earn all of their scoring opportunities against Christian. A 10-4 first quarter lead turned into a 19-13 margin at intermission and all seemed to be going well for the Islanders.

Not so fast. In the third quarter Christian regained their lost momentum and outscored Coronado 11-4. Worse, the Patriots held the Islanders scoreless in the final 5:15 of the quarter. Coronado point guard Tiffany Depfer showed her toughness after being slammed into the baseline wall earlier in the game, in what should have been a flagrant foul, by returning to the game and helping pace the Islander comeback. A free throw by Arrielle Luna, a steal and free throw by Depfer, a then a Depfer layup gave Coronado the lead.

But Christian kept pace, taking a 33-31 lead with 2:19 remaining in the game. In ‘winning time,’ the closing minute of the game, Coronado outscored Christian 7-2 to grab the victory. A steal and short jumper by Kelcey Branch was followed by a three-pointer from Bria Phillips on an assist from Branch. Depfer completed the scoring with two free throws to ice the game with 7 seconds remaining.

Luna finished with 14 points and seven rebounds; Phillips had 11 points and seven steals; Depfer had seven points and another seven steals; while Branch had six points and three assists.

The victory evened Coronado’s record at 9-9 for the season.

“I thought we played well,” said Head Coach Toler Goodwin. “But we didn’t attack them very well in the third quarter. We let them get the ball wherever they wanted. We weren’t aggressive coming out at halftime. With two minutes to go, they were up by two points and we had four team fouls at the time. I told the kids to go to full court man (defense) and put pressure on the ball. We wanted to be aggressive and go after the ball. Being aggressive, rather than not trying to make a mistake, paid off.”

Goodwin provided a quick personnel overview and their contributions to the victory. “Arrielle did some nice things and was productive. Melissa Humphrey made some nice passes off of the short corner (baseline). I’d like to get her more involved offensively. She’s a good athlete and makes a difference for us. Bria did a nice job of stepping into the passing lanes and stealing the ball, while Tiffany had some steals rotating from behind on their people.”

From a team perspective, Goodwin knows what his team needs to accomplish. “We have to continue to stay focused throughout the game and play a full 32-minute game. We have a chance to win every game throughout the league schedule. If we don’t have energy, we’ll struggle. But we continue to get better.”

Like the Boys squad, the Girls lone game is at Madison Friday night. The Girl/Boy doubleheader tips off at 6 pm.

Girls Water Polo Defeats Newport Harbor

Since our last visit with the Girls Water Polo Team, the squad has run off four straight victories to run their record to 7-1. Included in the winning skein were Scripps Ranch (by the score of 18-1), University City (17-1), La Jolla (11-1) and Patrick Henry (15-0).

But the most significant game was a 12-10 win over Newport Harbor, a team that Head Coach Dave Throop says Coronado hasn’t defeated since 1999. “The Newport game was huge in my opinion. They are very young, a very good team and very, very well coached. They are ranked third in the Southern Section (Los Angeles area), have been ranked No. 1 twice already, and have beaten everyone ranked ahead of them. Their coach Bill Barnett is a legend in the sport. Our girls are starting to realize that they are doing some good things.”

Leading scorers for Coronado included Hannah Sebenaler with five goals and Katie Estrada with three. Morgan Rominus and Alex Adamson continue to share the duties in goal. Coronado was up 10-5 at halftime and hung on for the eventual victory.

“My message to the girls was that they played really well in the first half,” Throop said. “To maintain and then to hold on and win was a really good lesson for us. We did good things defensively in the first half. When the momentum is going the other way, we need to focus on the defensive end and control tempo that way.”

Junior center Sabrina Anonas is battling some shoulder problems, which hampers the explosiveness of the Islander offense somewhat according to Throop, who then went on to assess some of the team’s contributors. “Sabrina is a huge contributor on the offensive end of the pool. Not having her available has limited our options a bit. Molly Patrick will not stand out statistically, but she does a lot of very good things. She is the one kid that as a coach, you want to have on the team. She is doing a lot of the intangibles for us. We rely on Molly and Carly Hoshko a lot for our defense. Our energy comes from Danielle Goldblatt. She does a lot of things away from the ball that attract attention. She is not shying away from being aggressive. Alana Burgess is doing a very nice job. We are asking her to be our point. There are a lot of things being asked of her and she is handling that role very, very well.”

This week the Islanders will play Cathedral Catholic Wednesday and then travel to Santa Barbara for the SoCal Invitational. Coronado is seeded fifth and will play Santa Margarita in the first round. “We will play four great games and we will have an opportunity to do some things,” Throop said. “The Newport game was a good starting point. We have come a long way, but we have a long way to go. We are seeing some dividends on the things we have been asking the team to do.”

Boys Soccer Kicks Two Central League Rivals

The CHS Boys Soccer Team didn’t let the start of Central League play derail their great start to the season, as they steamrolled over Hoover 3-1 Tuesday and followed that with a 4-0 white wash of Madison Thursday. Both games were played on the road.

The two victories push Coronado’s record to a fine mark of 15-2-1. Coronado and Crawford are now tied atop the Central League standings with 2-0 marks.

Nick Hamilton’s return to health was obvious in the fact that he scored twice in both contests. Matt Ganyard added the third goal against Hoover, while Charlie Wood and Jake Vita supplied a goal each in the Hoover game.

“Nick had a great week,” said Head Coach Brian Hiatt-Aleu. “He actually only played three-quarters of the game Tuesday and 25 minutes Thursday and he’s only playing forward (Hamilton is normally a midfielder). He has a quad (thigh) injury and we’re keeping him up front. He’s not playing on the defensive side at all.”

Also playing well according to Hiatt-Aleu were Austin Speer, Wood, Connor Marcone and Nolan Woodhouse. “Jake Vita had his best game of the year Thursday. He played really well. Give him credit. He marked up with a lot of hustle and hard work.”

Having a veteran team allows Hiatt-Aleu remarkable flexibility in his ability to change systems. “Against Hoover, we played a 3-5-2 and we had a 2-0 lead. In the second half, we played a 4-4-2, which put more players in the middle and gave us a better result for the half. Against Madison we played a 3-4-3. The kids responded real well to all three systems. The more years you have a team, the more things you can put in.”

This week the Islanders host Crawford Tuesday and host Christian Thursday. Both games kick-off at 5 pm.

Girls Soccer Loses Lone Game to Cathedral

Whether by the name Cathedral Catholic, Cath Cath, or for the more mathematically minded ‘C squared,’ the Dons from what used to be University of San Diego High School have a great soccer tradition. In their lone game last week, the Coronado Islanders fell to the Dons 5-0.

“We played very well in the first half,” said Head Coach Kiko Medina. “I have to give credit to our goalie Lauren Shuffett. She kept us in the game in the first half. It was one of her better games of the year. Cathedral is a good team. We didn’t keep possession of the ball and we had to defend the whole time. We didn’t keep the ball long enough to make things happen.”

High-scoring forward Leah Hatheway has returned to the team after an injury, but senior Co-Captain Kylie Cusick has been hampered by a broken arm. Cusick wraps her injured arm and is able to play.

Overall the team is 4-7-1. “Considering the last tournament when we had a bunch of injuries and we were coming off of a long week, I think it’s a decent record,” Medina said. “It’s not as bad as it seems. I’m not too upset about it.”

CHS Sailing Team Competes in Rose Bowl Regatta

Islander sailing coach Jon Rogers checks in with a report on the team’s trip to the Rose Bowl Regatta. “The event was hosted by USC in Long Beach. It is a unique event as both the college and high school regattas are run simultaneously. It is an opportunity to watch some of the best college sailors in the U.S. and to meet coaches from most of the major sailing programs.

College regatta entrants included St. Mary’s of Maryland, USC, Charleston, Georgetown, Boston College, Stanford, the U.S. Naval Academy, and the Coast Guard Academy. One of the highlights of the weekend was Saturday night, when the college coaches made presentations regarding their programs.

Representing the CHS varsity were the ‘A’ Team of Pike Harris sailing and his crew Alexa Cavalieri; one ‘B’ Team of Ryan Sullivan sailing with Hayley Eyer; the other ‘B’ Team of Philip Lozier with Lisa Joy Juergens. The varsity finished in 24^th place.

The JV squad consisted of the ‘A’ Team of Alex Wood sailing with Cragan Smith; the ‘B’ Team of Jessie Kephart with Karisa Chapa and the other ‘B’ squad of Nick Gomez-Hall and Chapa. The JV finished in 21^st place.

Upcoming events include the Stanford Cardinal Regatta Feb. 24-25; the UCSB Gaucho Regatta March 17-18 and the Pacific Coast Championship at the Olympic Sailing Center in Long Beach April 21-22.”

Stop the Press – Correction Please

In the ‘Year in Review’ column that sandwiched either side of the New Year, Your Natterer noted the accomplishments of Danielle Eckert, who though new to the sport won the Central League pole vault title last spring. That’s great, but her victory was in fact Danielle’s third title in the sport. Which would lead to the logical question, “Where were you for the last 2 years?” Well, ‘not paying attention’ would be the short answer. Congratulations Danielle and sorry for the error.

Coronado Middle School Spring Sports Registration on the Horizon

Wednesday, Feb. 7, at 6:30 pm, registration for the CMS spring sports season will be held at Granzier Hall. Spring sports offerings include Co-ed Track, Boys Lacrosse, Co-ed Tennis, Girls Basketball, plus Boys and Girls Water Polo. The registration fee is $90 per child, per sport. All pertinent ISF/CMS athletic forms may be downloaded from www.IslanderSportsFoundation.com. If you have questions, please call 435-1343 for additional information.

Golf Clinic Information

CHS Head Girls Golf Coach Hanna Raine Cohan is one of the instructors at the coming Golf and Life Coaching Clinic that will be held January 20 from 10 am to 3 pm at the Salt Creek Golf Course. The registration fee is $49 per golfer. The clinic includes coaching by LPGA players and instructors, putting and driving, life coaching, and fun. For more information and to register, please contact Cohan at 619-990-8755. Fore!

Lacrosse Clinics Coming Up

The Coronado Boys Lacrosse Clinic will be held on five consecutive Saturday mornings at the CHS and CMS fields from Jan. 27 to Feb. 24. Clinic times are from 9-11 am.

The clinics are designed for boys in third through eighth grades. For new players, the clinics present an excellent opportunity to learn skills and game strategy. The fee is $100 per player, with checks made payable to Coronado Schools Lacrosse.

Included in the fee are a U.S. Lacrosse Association membership, a Coronado lacrosse sticker, and a player mouth guard. Players are required to provide a stick and shoulder pads. Helmets, gloves and arm pads are available to be loaned on a first come – first served basis. A deposit for the loaned equipment is required.

Clinic registration dates are Jan. 20 from 9-11 am and Jan. 27 from 8-9 am. Registration will be held at the Sixth Street entrance to the CHS football field. Questions may be directed to Megan Stanley at 435-1649 or megandyno@sbcglobal.net or to Sue Runyon at 435-7364 and suerunyon@sbcglobal.net.

Home Run Derby Event Benefits CHS Baseball Program

The CHS Islander Baseball Team is hosting the Greater San Diego Home Run Derby Sunday, Feb. 11 at Islander Field at Bayside Park (immediately behind Silver Strand Elementary School). The event will run from 10 am to 3 pm.

The event offers food, music, prizes and raffles aplenty. All proceeds will benefit the Islander Baseball program. Entry fees are $15 for high school-aged athletes, with all other age categories $25 each. High school teams are $25 each. Baseball shoes and helmets are required for participants.

For more information, please contact event organizer Bruce Johnson at 619-851-1600. To pre-register, contact Bruce at CoronadoIslanders@gmail.com.