Nado Natterings
A weekly column by David Axelson

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

19 Dec 2007 Issue #49

Islander Basketball, both the Boys and Girls programs, were busy last week. The Boys won two home games and the Girls posted two victories in their three contests.

After participating in the Hilltop Tournament, where they went 1-4 while facing primarily Division I and Division II opponents, the Boys Basketball Team returned home to host Mountain Empire last Wednesday. The Islanders raced to a 25-9 first quarter lead and never looked back on their way to a 75-29 victory.

Four Islanders scored in double figures including Justin Parsons with 24, Josh Williams chipped in 11, and Lynden Ostrander and Dallas Taylor contributed 10 points each.

Thursday evening, in a rare back-to-back scheduled home twin bill, Coronado defeated the Christian Life Academy Eagles 64-39, in what was a surprisingly good game. Parsons, the Islanders six-foot, six-inch starting 6-6 center, presented a large, moving obstacle that the Eagles couldn’t overcome. The junior three-sport athlete accounted for 18 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Islanders in both departments.

Other contributors in the Christian Life game included Dallas Taylor with 15 points and four steals; Cole McLean with 11 points and four rebounds; Tyler Hustwick had eight points and eight caroms; and point guard Matt Fowler who added six points, seven assists and three rebounds.

Although pleased with the two victories, which pushed Coronado’s overall record on the young season to 3-4, Coronado Head Coach Ken Caesar knows that things will be tougher when the Islanders face San Ysidro, Lutheran, Sweetwater and Julian in the Islander Holiday Tournament from Dec. 27-29. “The games last week were good from a confidence standpoint, and the kids are excited with the wins, but the speed (from the opposing teams) you just came from isn’t there.”

The Islander team has improved tremendously from their early-season practices sessions, according to Caesar. “One of our parents said that when we played Chula Vista in our pre-season scrimmage, that it didn’t look like we belonged in the game. Then two weeks later we beat them in the Hilltop tournament. Chula Vista had a couple of quick guards and a 6-6 kid with great feet and post moves. They have some guys who can go. A coach said to me, ‘It’s going to be interesting to see your team in January’.”

Parsons, who hasn’t played competitive basketball since his freshman year, is improving as the season progresses, according to Caesar. “JP is getting better and he is getting his legs under him, scoring, rebound and doing the heavy lifting for the team. Fowler is starting to figure it out and is playing better for us. I want him to score more. He has the most feel for the game (on our team) and he can break down a guy (defender) and score. He’s starting to get more comfortable getting into the paint (lane).”

Count senior Co-Captain Cole McLean as among those improving as well. “Cole is playing better, going harder and stretching the floor. He has to understand that if we run wide, the post will be open. What I like about Cole and all of the team is that they are all receptive to getting chewed out about things they haven’t heard before. A lot of this is new to all of them and they are doing a good job of handling it.”

Coronado doesn’t play between now and the Islander Holiday Tournament, but the annual event, which serves as a fundraiser for the Boys Basketball program, will provide fans with four opportunities to see Coronado play Dec. 27-29. Dec. 27^th, Coronado plays San Ysidro at 1:30 pm and then plays the feature game that evening at 7:30 pm against Lutheran. Dec. 28^th, Coronado plays Sweetwater at 7:30 pm and Dec. 29^th, Julian provides the opposition for Coronado at 8 pm.

Ticket prices to the Islander Holiday Tournament are: Tournament passes for all games, for all three days are $15; Adult single admission tickets are $6 per day, Students with school IDs are $4 per day; CHS students with ASB passes, and children under the age of 6 are free.

Girls Basketball Posts 2-1 Week

The Girls Basketball Team took to the hardwood three times since we visited last and emerged victorious in two of those contests, which were collectively part and parcel of the Coronado Round Robin Tournament.

In their first outing, Coronado defeated University City 44-39 behind 23-points from senior Bria Phillips, an effort that got the attention of Head Coach Toler Goodwin. “In that game, Bria was the difference, she carried us. She also had seven steals and nine rebounds. We don’t win that game if she didn’t play the way she did. The rest of us weren’t up to speed that night.”

Following the win over the Centurions, Coronado traveled Thursday to Francis Parker and fell 51-32. Angela Strohbeck and Phillips led the scoring for Coronado with 11 points each. “Parker is a good team and they handle the ball well,” said Goodwin. “They have good guard play with two or three kids who are Division I (university level) players. They take care of the basketball and are very efficient offensively. We played a poor third quarter and we didn’t match their intensity at all. But the kids played well after that and regained their composure. We saw some good things from Angela.”

Then it was a return home to face Mar Vista Saturday night, a club unfortunately (or fortunately) without their leading scorer who was out due to injury. Coronado took full advantage of the situation and managed 33 defensive steals and never let the Mariners into the game. Coronado easily won all four quarters of play and the final score was 54-15.

Phillips again led the way with 19 points and six steals, followed by Tiffany Depfer with 14 points and nine steals. Strohbeck had another good game with 11 points and nine rebounds. Melissa Humphrey had four points, nine rebounds, three assists and six steals. Arrielle Luna contributed six rebounds, three assists and six steals.

“Angela has been scoring a little bit more and in the Mar Vista game she started to get more tough rebounds,” Goodwin explained. “She is able to do some of those things because of Melissa and Arrielle, who are taking up space and boxing out. Those two haven’t scored the way they are capable of, but they set screens and have an understanding of what we are trying to get done. They are two unsung heroes outside of the box score stuff, with what they add to the team.”

Currently the owners of a 5-5 record, Coronado hosts Lutheran High School Friday night at 7 pm. On Dec. 26^th they travel to Murrieta to participate in a holiday tournament.

CHS Girls Soccer Ties and Wins

The Islander Girls Soccer Team started their week with a 1-1 tie with Canyon Crest Academy. CHS Head Coach Kiko Medina said of the match, somewhat jokingly, “It was one of those games where if we had played another hour, we wouldn’t have scored another goal. We outshot them 35-6 and did everything but put the ball in the back of the net.”Callie Caldwell accounted for the Islander goal.

Thursday found Coronado hosting Eastlake in a much-anticipated contest. “Eastlake is a very good team,” said Medina. “We had one of our best games of the season and won 2-0. Cassie Callahan had our first goal, which was assisted by Courtney Ryan. Kaitlyn Couture had the second goal, assisted by Callie Caldwell. Andrea Davis had the shutout in goal.”

Medina expounded on the victory, which may be important to Coronado at playoff seeding time. “Defensively Eastlake didn’t have a clear shot at goal all game and overall it was a team effort. Katie Ferrar is out until the end of January and I pulled Callie out of the back to the midfield. We’re starting Rosie Harris, Sandy Shepherd and Courtney Ryan in the back field. In that game, we had to make quite a few substitutions and everybody that went into the game stepped up their level and played extremely well. We’re getting a lot of good performances from the freshmen. We have a good mix with leadership from the seniors and the underclassmen aren’t playing scared, which is good.”

The Islanders are now 3-1-2 overall and host Valley Center at home Thursday evening at 6 pm.

Strange Week for Islander Boys Soccer

Tuesday evening the Coronado High School Boys Soccer Team played La Jolla to a nil-nil draw (proving that Your Natterer can speak soccerese) on their home pitch (see). In what is becoming a familiar refrain for the Varsity Boys in the early going of the new season, they controlled play but couldn’t score.

“We dominated most of the game and should have won,” said Head Coach Brian Hiatt-Aleu. Once again our inability to finish in and around the goal let us down. Our defense played well, we’re just not finishing our opportunities to score goals.”

Hiatt-Aleu noted the fine defensive play of center back Austin Speer and goalie Jeffery Bucklew in the victory. “Jeff is starting to be more vocal and directive out of the back. He’s catching his crosses (shots) and organizing people on the corner kicks. He had four or five saves against La Jolla.”

A scoreless tie against a good team isn’t unusual, but the ‘strange’ element of the week presented itself Friday when Coronado made their way to Crawford, only to find the field unlined and therefore unplayable. Hiatt-Aleu explained the procedure for that happenstance. “The referees have to write it up as ‘field not ready to play at game time’ and they sent it to the CIF office. Their coach said (to make up the game) we’ll go to your place.”

The Crawford game or non-game as the case may be, was to be the initial Central League game for Coronado (1-2-2) for the current campaign. Instead the first league contest will be played at Niedermeyer Field in Coronado against Madison Wednesday evening at 6 pm. Friday the Islanders travel to Hoover for a 3 pm game.

CHS Boys Football Honors and Awards

The CHS Football banquet was held Monday, Dec. 17^th at the Coronado Recreation Center. The Varsity Awards as presented by Head Coach Bud Mayfield and his staff went to: MVPs – Kyle Brown and Ricardo Oberwager; Team Captains – Oberwager and Brown; Most Improved – Tyler Suggett; Most Valuable Lineman – Tim Leary; Most Valuable Back – Mason Mills; Scholar-Athlete Award for highest team GPA – Eric Blackwood; Heart of an Islander Award – Keith Englehart.

The Junior Varsity, which posted a perfect 7-0 season and were Central League champions, had as their award winners the following athletes: Most Valuable Player – Billy Garigen; Team Captains – Kodie Englehart and Patrick Toomey; Most Improved – Todd Kelleher and Chris Page.

Several varsity players were named First Team All-Central League including: Leary, Mills, Keith Englehart, Brown, and Oberwager. Second Team All-Central League players were: Blackwood, Ray San Giovanni, John Mikesell, Blake Malkemus and Charlie Moore.

Natterings Notes

The San Diego Hall of Champions recently announced the All-CIF teams for the 2007 fall sports season. Included in the roster of honorees was Coronado cross country athlete Ben Enowitz, who made the San Diego Section All-CIF squad and will be announced as the Cross Country All Academic Team Captain by the “San Diego Union-Tribune” in the next several days.

All-CIF Water Polo First Team honors went to Jacob Smith and Sean Cook, while Norbert Karoly was named to the All CIF Second Team. Coronado Head Coach Randy Burgess was named CIF Water Polo Coach of the Year.

Christy Mebust has accepted an offer to continue her volleyball career at Division I Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. If you are keeping track from last week, the team nickname is ‘Leopards’ and as an additional bit of information, the school’s colors are maroon and white.

Trivia question: Who said “Lafayette we are here?”

Baseball Alumni Game to be Played Dec. 31st

Coronado Head Baseball Coach Sam Ceci relayed the information recently that the school’s annual Alumni Game will be held New Year’s Eve Day, Dec. 31^st at Strand Field. For those of you who still believe the Nike advertising slogan ‘Chicks Dig the Long Ball,’ this is your chance to prove it. Batting practice will begin at 9 am and the game will be played at 11 am.

Expected to participate are several recent CHS graduates who have gone on to success in their baseball playing careers. Pitcher Joe Woerman was recently added to the 40-man roster of the MLB Seattle Mariners and is scheduled to attend. Morgan Cummins, who had a good year with the Florida Marlins in their New York-Penn League, will be on hand as will USC Trojan Kyle Couture. David West, an outfielder playing for Biola University in the Los Angeles area will be on hand as well.

Or as Ceci, a three-time NCAA champion at USC put it, “I think I’ll play on the alumni team this year.” For questions regarding the event, please contact Coach Ceci at 435-0851.

Trivia Answer

In 1917, General John Pershing, commander of U.S. troops in Europe said “Lafayette we are here” at the tomb of the French patriot. The Marquis de Lafayette fought for the Americans in the Revolutionary War and Pershing said the phrase following the liberation of France by Allied Forces.

U.S. Olympic Water Polo Team Fundraiser

Four Coronado High School graduates are currently on the U.S. Olympic Water Polo training team and they will have a sense of déjà vu at the end of the month. Layne Beaubien, Thomas Hopkins, Genai Kerr and Jesse Smith, who are all in contention for slots on the squad that will play compete in the Beijing Olympics in 2008, will be training at the new aquatics facility at Coronado High School.

Pending final approval from the San Diego County Health Department and the new Brian Bent Memorial Aquatics Center being officially opened, a training scrimmage will be held Dec. 29^th at 3:30 pm. The team will train in Coronado and at the U.S. Olympic ARCO Training facility in Chula Vista from Dec. 26-31. The other team practices are not open to the public.

To honor the Coronado grads and to raise much-needed funds for the U.S. Olympic Water Polo Team, there will be a fundraising dinner event Dec. 29^th at 5 pm at the Hansen Mansion located at 711 A Avenue. Admission is $50 per person, with the proceeds benefitting Team USA. Additional donations on top of the admission price will be gladly accepted. Checks should be made payable to USA WP – Men’s Team.

Reservations are required, with a deadline of Dec. 27^th. Please make your reservations by E-mail at go-usa@san.rr.com, or you may also call Janie Hansen at 435-7387 for additional information.