Winter sports at Coronado High School are nearing the home stretch and several of the teams are involved in tight regular season title chases. All of which lead to the CIF Playoffs and all five Islander teams that compete during the winter months will qualify for the post season.

One team attempting to close fast is the Islander Girls Basketball Team (17-7, 9-1), which enters play this week trailing first place Kearny by one game. Central League competition this season is broken down to essentially three levels. The penthouse is occupied by Coronado and Kearny, rising fast is Christian and in the competitive basement for 2010-11 are populated by Clairemont, Crawford, Point Loma and Madison.

The first time Kearny and Coronado played was on the Komets home floor and the Islanders fell 39-35. Depending on your point of view, the good news is that neither starting forward Alex Evans or key reserve guard Camille Wilson played for the Islanders in the game. With the venue changing to Coronado, Evans and Wilson at full strength and the Islanders playing well, the result may well be different.

The bad news is that the game is being played Tuesday, the day before “Nado Natterings” hits the streets. However, you can see the next best thing, which will be the continuation of the rivalry between Coronado and Christian on Friday night.

“We definitely have the tougher schedule,” said Coronado Head Coach Toler Goodwin of his club’s remaining two games, as compared to Kearny’s. “We will have to play well to win both games. We did a nice job on Christian last time. We need to repeat that performance.”

Last week Coronado had only one game, due to the fact that the Central League has seven teams and they weren’t schedule to play Friday night. But they took care of business in their lone contest, winning 57-25 over Clairemont. The aforementioned Evans had 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Peri Curtis added 15 points, 12 boards and seven assists. Nicollette Abrantes scored eight points, Cory De Marco and Rachel Brennan added six each, with Wilson scoring four points and Samantha Kirk adding three. Meganne Weissenfels missed the contest due to a sore back sustained in the previous week’s Point Loma game. 

Goodwin described his team’s victory. “We were a little sluggish early and not as aggressive offensively early in the game. We had a 10 point lead at halftime. Then in the third quarter we came out with more energy and outscored them 21-6. We put it away there. We had a pretty solid game and did a nice job sharing the basketball. We didn’t force a lot of shots and we got the ball in position where we were able to finish. We did a good job limiting the number of shots they took.”

One big surprise to both the CHS Girls and Basketball programs is that the Islanders will be competing in the Division IV playoffs this year. At the beginning of the basketball season, the San Diego CIF office had Coronado competing in Division III. >From the perspective of both programs, it means that two and one-half months of scouting and taping prospective Division III playoff opponents was wasted. Word on the divisional change came last week.

Goodwin previewed the Division IV playoffs. “I think we could be seeded as high as No. 4 and no lower than No. 7. I would expect us to be either No. 5 or No. 6. We’ll get a home game as long as we aren’t playing a league champion. If we win the Central League, we would probably be No. 4. Imperial is in the mix for a high seed, as are Del Norte and Francis Parker.”

Friday night the Islanders will hold Senior Night with the tip-off for the Christian game coming at 6 pm. The Boys game will follow, with the starting time at approximately 7:45 pm.

Islander Boys Lose to Clairemont 47-42

Generally speaking those of us located on the upper floor of the Nado Natterings World Headquarters try to take a positive approach to the coverage in this eponymous column. Let’s say that pretty much zero game content of a positive nature came out of the first half of the Islanders home game Tuesday evening against Clairemont. Coronado didn’t score in the first four and one-half minutes of the game and didn’t score in the first six and one-half minutes of the second quarter. The score at the half was Clairemont 24, Coronado 10.

Moving along, the Islanders picked up the pace considerably in the third quarter, but actually trailed by a larger margin, 40-23 eight minutes later. However, Coronado embarked on an 11-0 run to start the fourth. It was Clairemont’s turn to go cold, as the Chieftains couldn’t score in the first four minutes of the final frame.  

“It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that we actually got some defensive stops,” said Islander Head Coach J.D. Laaperi. “It was one of those situations when it was too little, too late. We talked at halftime that we should control what we could control. One of those things was to keep them out of the middle (lane). In the fourth quarter we actually stopped somebody. But you have to give some credit to Clairemont. They shot the ball tremendously well. They had a big enough lead that when we caught fire and went on a run, their lead was big enough that we couldn’t catch them.”

With 1:55 remaining in the game, Coronado closed the gap to 43-40 and with 42 seconds left in the contest, the gap was 45-42. The Islanders 19-7 fourth quarter score wasn’t quite enough to get it done.

Danny Hebert lead Coronado with 17 points and six steals, while Luke Gillingham had seven points, eight rebounds and six steals. Harley Ralph added seven points, Billy Schmitt and Chris Banks had four points each and Justin Hebner had three points and four assists. Although he didn’t score, Dylan Gouthro provided a defensive spark during the Islanders fourth quarter run, with four rebounds, two assists and three steals.

Last week it was also announced that the Islanders will forfeit their 77-42 Central League victory over Crawford on January 4, for using an ineligible player.  The player in question no longer had a valid residence in Coronado at the time of the game. This means that the Islanders now have a two-game lead in the Central League with two games to go. “Kearny has gone on a run,” Laaperi explained. “If they beat us (Tuesday at Kearny) and beat Madison Friday, they will tie us and we would share the league title.”

As noted in the Girls Basketball portion of the column above, the CHS Boys Basketball Team in now in Division IV for the playoffs and Laaperi talked about the change. “I think it gives us a chance to win the CIFs. Francis Parker will get the No. 1 seed. If we win out, we should be the No. 3 seed. Either way we will get a bye. If we lose two games, we might fall to the sixth seed.”

North County Times Boys Basketball Poll

John Maffei of the “North County Times” forwarded the latest version of the Sportswriters and Sportscasters Prep Boys Basketball Poll. Here are the results: No. 1 Lincoln, No. 2 Rancho Buena Vista, No. 3 Torrey Pines, No. 4 La Costa Canyon, No. 5 El Camino, No. 6 Hoover, No. 7 Francis Parker, No. 8 St. Augustine, No. 9 Otay Ranch, and No. 10 Eastlake. Also receiving votes (in order) were Rancho Bernardo, Mission Hills, Helix, Monte Vista, Coronado, Westview, Fallbrook, Mount Miguel, San Ysidro and Grossmont.

Islander Boys Soccer Tops Madison and Hoover

The team with the best record among the winter sports teams at this juncture belongs to the Islander Boys Soccer Team, which is 19-1, and 8-1 in the Central League. They are currently ranked No. 2 in the “San Diego Union-Tribune’s” Coaches Poll, behind only No. 1 ranked Poway.

Last week the Islanders defeated Madison 3-2 in their first game of the week, in an unusual fashion. Coronado scored the first three goals of the game, all in the first half. Madison rallied for two in the second stanza, but Coronado held on for the victory. Andrew Toomey, Kyle Koshland and Ryan Keeney scored goals for Coronado and Ricardo Gonzalez-Diaz earned the win in goal.

“We were winning 3-0 before we took our foot off the pedal,” Brian Hiatt-Aleu, CHS head coach commented. “We were tired at the end of the Madison game. We’re losing a little steam at the end. I hope we didn’t peak too early this season.”

Thursday night at home, Coronado avenged their only loss of the season, which was to Hoover, riding a two-goal effort by Koshland to a 2-1 win. Coronado looked much sharper against the Cardinals than they had one week earlier against Crawford. Hiatt-Aleu supplied his thoughts on his team’s improvement. “We realized the importance of the game. If we won, we controlled our own destiny. We need one win in the last two games to clinch the Central League. Our first and only loss was to Hoover. We realized what we needed to get done and put ourselves in the driver’s seat. We’re playing to the level of our competition, which is a little worrisome at the end of the season.”

Hiatt-Aleu commended several of his players for their efforts against Hoover. “I thought Nathan Andersen and Matthew Ovrom played well and shut down their forwards. Koshland covered the midfield, delaying Hoover’s attack out of the back. Jake Nicholson was our goalie in the game. He brings a positive vibe with him. He has great athletic ability and a good attitude. Sometimes that can get you through. He didn’t want to let his teammates down.”

Look for Coronado to snare the No. 1 seed in the CIF Division IV playoffs.

Islander Girls Soccer Earns Win and Tie Last Week

So far we have had a team trailing by one game in the league race, and two clubs with narrow leads in their respective conferences. Now we have the CHS Girls Soccer Team, which is in an exact tie atop the Western Conference with their rivals from Cathedral Catholic. The Islanders are currently ranked No. 8 in the U-T’s Coaches Poll, which covers teams in San Diego County.

Last week the Islanders (9-5-4) defeated the Academy of Our Lady of Peace 4-1, doing it the hard way by spotting OLP the first goal and then rallying back for the victory. Kiko Medina elaborated on the game details. “We were a little sloppy at the start, but once we got into it, we settled things down. We moved Cassie Callahan to sweeper and that calmed things down a little. Our center mids really played well. Once we got up, we controlled the game and put it away. The midfield did really well.”

Medina described the first Islander goals. “Ali Culora took on players on the outside, got the service in and Stephanie Hamilton crashed the front post. Their keeper dropped the ball and Hamilton was in good position for the easy finish. The second goal was pretty much the same. The service was from Abigail Callahan and it surprised everybody that it got through. Olivia Lillegraven got a foot on it and scored. We had two goals from good services.” Hamilton scored the third goal on a Lillegraven assist and Ariel Ochoa had the fourth goal on a cross from Abigail Callahan. Cory De Marco and Olivia Nebo shared time in goal.

Then the Islanders traveled to face University City and had to come from behind to tie 1-1. “It’s just a difficult place to play,” Medina noted of the Centurions’ home field. “Maybe it’s just me reminding the girls. We were shell-shocked early and a little flat. They had a great finish in the first couple of minutes. They scored on a one-touch ball from outside the 18. Cory got a hand to it and popped it straight up. With the spin on the ball, it bounced in.”

But Coronado rallied according to Medina. “We responded well and went at them. Hamilton took over things in the box and had a great finish. We controlled the game in the second half. It was just one of those games where we couldn’t put it together. It was a 1-1 tie on the road, but it felt like a loss.”

This week Coronado needs to win out in their final two regular seasons games,  as they have a Wednesday home game against La Jolla at 6 pm and a Friday afternoon game at Christian at 3 pm. “The La Jolla game is a big one for us,” Medina said as he previewed the week ahead. “We need to keep pace with Cathedral Catholic. It’s Senior Night Wednesday and a big game for us. The girls will be pretty motivated and ready to go. As long as we take care of business against La Jolla, we can win the league outright. But we have to get the result Wednesday first.”

Girls Water Polo

The lone CHS team not in their league playoff race is the CHS Girls Water Polo Team, but they figure to play a major role in the CIF Division III Playoffs. In the seedings announced Monday evening, the Islanders are No. 4 behind No. 1 Bishop’s, No. 2 La Jolla, and No. 3 Cathedral Catholic. Coronado’s strength of schedule contributed to their high seed, despite owning a 7-20 record on the season.

The Islanders received a first round bye in the 12-team division and will launch into action Saturday morning in the quarter-finals at 9:45 am.  They will play the winner of the Mar Vista vs. Mission Bay game that will be played this Wednesday. If form holds, Coronado will face Bishop’s Wed. Feb. 23 at 5:45 pm. All of Coronado’s playoff games will be played at the Coggan Family Aquatics Center on the campus of La Jolla High School.

CHS Head Coach Dave Throop reviews last week’s games. “Wednesday we played Bishops for the second time and I thought there were some really good moments, counter-balanced by some inexplicable moments.  When we moved and passed the ball, we looked good. When we were static, we had issues.  To their credit, Bishops played well and we were hesitant and early foul trouble contributed to our dysfunction a bit. 

Kendall Hoshko and Lauren Carroll scored a goal each, Shelby Couture had both assists and Kendall Martin had a steal. Carroll contributed four steals in addition to her goal.  We turned the ball over 14 times, which is higher than we've done this season. We went 0-4 on our power plays, compared to Bishop’s which was 3-7.  

Brooke Bernardy had a solid game with six saves and an incredible seven steals. I think Bishop’s will be scouting her for the next time we play, which will be in the CIF semi-finals.  In the end we lost 7-2 and it meant that Bishop’s won the conference and secured the No. 1 seed.

Friday we traveled to Santa Ana and played an enthusiastic Foothill squad.  I think the momentum and confidence slipped away from us, as throughout the first quarter we hit the post or crossbar on almost every effort. They scored four goals in the frame and we eventually lost 17-4.  

Martin and Hoshko each had a goal, while Couture had two goals.   Bernardy had five saves, a steal and an assist.  As with Bishops, we had some good results when we had our offensive movement. We have a few practices to focus on our timing and technique, before the playoffs begin for us Saturday.” 

Islander Baseball to Play Game at Petco Park

The defending CIF Division IV Baseball Champions from Coronado High School have a date April 30th to play Madison at Petco Park, the home of the San Diego Padres. The game is a Western League contest, with both Madison and Coronado figuring to contend for the Western League title.

“We have to sell a lot of tickets,” said Head Coach Sam Ceci of the game, the proceeds from which benefit the CIF San Diego Section playoff travel fund. “But it’s a good thing. It’s something everybody will remember. It’s what high school athletics are all about.” If you are interested in purchasing tickets to the game, contact CHS Baseball Booster Club President Scott Meloche at scottmeloche@aol.com or contact an Islander baseball player.

While we had Coach Ceci on the phone, we talked about the new BBCOR aluminum bats that are required to be used in California high school and NCAA college games this year. The concept of BBCOR, which stands for “Batted Ball Coefficient of Restitution,” is to reduce the trampoline effect of the old metal bats and in theory make the game safer, particularly for pitchers.

“It slows down the game, which makes it safer,” said Ceci of the new bats. “It also will take some excitement out of the game. The games will be more pitching and defense oriented. In high school the kids aren’t strong enough to warrant that kind of attention, in my opinion. It will cut into batting averages in general. It’s going to have an impact on the game. There will be fewer runs and they won’t be scored in bunches.”

Ceci and the Islanders have historically relied on ‘Small Ball,’ and not the power game. “In our yard, it’s almost impossible to hit a homer. We didn’t hit many homers on the road either. The change of the bats won’t hurt us too much. We’ll play our outfielders in a few more steps and have the other team prove to us they can do it.”