The Corona Del Mar Middle School seventh grade boys basketball team improved to 3-0 on the season with wins over TeWinkle 43-14, Ensign 54-35 and Dwyer 49-32.

The Seaweeds were led in scoring by Fritz Miller (9 points per game); Jake Pearson (9 points per game); Jacob Jones (6 points per game); Mikey Ruiz (6 points per game); Tyler Flood (5 points per game); Kyle Hatch (4 points per game): and Mitch Haly (4 points per game).

They have held opponents to 27 points per game with stifling defense from Chase Garbers, Billy Shaw, Danny Rogers, Chase Grippo and Cameron Schank.

The team has averaged 15 steals per game and 15 assists, thanks to the stellar play of guards Cameron Kormos, Will Rodosky, Sachin Gokhale and Ryan Meckler.

CDM plays Harbor Day and Costa Mesa this week in league action and is coached by Scott Stucki and Malia Grippo.

The Newport-Mesa Tar Heels boys fifth grade all-net team improved to 9-0 on the season with two impressive wins last weekend over Chino Valley Team Jordan 46-26 and Niguel Aliso Evolution 51-24.

The Tar Heels were led by the solid all-around play of guards Luke Chelf (8 points per game/2.5 steals per game); Jake Hamilton (10 points per game/3.5 assists per game); Matt Olson (7 points per game/2 steals per games); and Nico Dasca (4 points per game/3 rebounds per game) while big-men DJ Rodman (6 points per game/6.5 rebounds per game); Johnny King (10 rebounds per game/2 assists per game); and Sam Barela (3 points per game /2 steals per game/2 assists per game) manned the paint.

Adam Flood had another big game against Evolution, grabbing eight rebounds and stealing two passes while Ethan Barnes (2.5 steals per game) and Mason Melcer (3 points per game/3 rebounds per game) played shut-down defense against both teams.

The Tar Heels play at home against Fullerton Sunday at Newport Coast Community Center.

Matt Olson led all scorers averaging 10 points per game and 2 rebounds per game while DJ Rodman (7 ppg and 4 rpg) and Sam Barela (6 ppg and 2 steals per game) helped lead the way to the wins.

Adam Flood had his best game of the season against the Scorpions with 10 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 assists, while Mason Melcer (4 ppg) and Luke Chelf (4 ppg / 2 spg) held the top scorers for all of the teams in check.

Johnny King was big in the championship game against the Camarillo Swoosh coming up with 9 rebounds and 2 blocks, while Ethan Barnes led the team in steals with 3.5 per game and used his stifling defense to create havoc on the court.

The Tar Heels are undefeated in the Winter season so far going 6-0 in league and 7-0 in non-league games.

The Newport-Mesa Tar Heels All-Net 5th grade team continued its strong winter season, improving to 6-0 with two road wins last weekend. The Tar Heels beat the Irvine Bulls 45-26 in Irvine, and the Fullerton Cougars 45-31 in Fullerton, keeping its record unblemished to start the season.

Ethan Barnes led the way with 14 points, 8 steals and 6 rebounds while Matt Olson added 16 points, 2 steals and 2 assists in the two wins. Jake Hamilton (11.0 ppg / 3 rpg), DJ Rodman (6.0 ppg / 4.5 rpg), Nico Dasca (6.0 ppg / 2.0 steals per game), Sam Barela (3.0 ppg / 5.0 rpg), Adam Flood (3.0 ppg / 3.0 spg), Luke Chelf (3.5 ppg), Johnny King (3.0 ppg / 4.5 rpg / 3.0 block per game) and Mason Melcer (3.0 ppg) all played big minutes in the wins and keyed the team to victory.

The Tar Heels are on the road this weekend playing an AAU tournament in Downey.

The Newport-Mesa Tar Heels boys fifth grade all-net team started the regular season off with a big win Dec. 4 in Yorba Linda, beating the host Placentia P-Town 43-28.

Jake Hamilton led all scorers with 13 after being out more than two months with an injury. Matt Olson hit two big threes and finished with 10 points, while Adam Flood added seven rebounds and three points. DJ Rodman and Johnny King manned the paint all game and combined for 13 rebounds, while Ethan Barnes defended Placentia’s best player and held him to eight points.

Luke Chelf, Sam Barela and Mason Melcer combined for 11 points, six steals and six rebounds while playing excellent defense throughout the game. Barela led the team in assists with four. Nico Dasca was unavailable due to illness.

The Tar Heels are on the road again this weekend and play the Yorba Linda Pumas Black and RSM Titans.

The Newport Lightning Basketball Girls played extremely well throughout last weekend and finished with four undefeated wins in their bid for first place in the Eighth Grade Gold division.

The Lightning began the Halloween Ball Tournament with a convincing win over SGV 40-15. Natalia Bruening started the Lightning with a quick six points to set the tone for the game.

Leading in scoring and the offense was point guard Frankie Wade with 12 points. Also contributing to the game was Heather Fujii, who played an all around great game.

The second game was the closest of the tournament against the always strong Aikanes team. The Newport Lightning — who lost to the Aikanes two weeks ago — stepped up play to win the match 40-34. Justine Modde led all scorers with game high of 14 points. She also outhustled the opponent by scrambling for loose balls and grabbing several rebounds.

In game three, the Lightning faced the So Cal Stars from El Cajon, last year’s tournament winners. Krista Anderson dominated the boards and contributed 10 points. Marcie Bott contributed to the team with several minutes of play and displayed great hustle. The Lightning’s fourth and final match ended with a score of 34-14 against the San Diego Sol. The Lightning saved the best for last and played well as a team offensively and defensively, stealing the ball and dominating the boards. Their tough man defense limited the Sol to 14 points for the entire game. Marina LaPuzza, the player of the game, stripped the ball and accumulated an impressive amount of steals. Kelly Tam also sank two 3-pointers in the second half to seal the win.

Overall the Lightning played well as a team and showed great improvement throughout the weekend. The Lightning is coached by Julia Bruening.

Story and photo courtesy of the team.

The Newport Lightning Basketball Club’s Fifth Grade Team completed a stellar fall season by winning back-to-back tournament titles in October. On Oct. 15 and 16, the team won the Swoosh Fall Showdown beating Moreno Valley Bulls, Crown City and Triple Threat winning by an average of 20 points. On Oct. 22 and 23, the NLBC won the BCS Great American Bash by sweeping BCS, The Wood and Edge before facing the Wood in the championships and prevailing once again.

The Lightning were led by the team play of Sam Barela, Ethan Barnes, Luke Chelf, Adam Flood, Jack Garza, Will Hanna, Tyler Hollander, Cameron Kayl, Peter Larsen, Mason Melcer, Bryce Motal, Matt Olson and DJ Rodman.

The team went 24-10 from July to October, winning four tournament championships and placing second twice. The team is coached by Scott Stucki.

Photo courtesy of Dana Flood and Julie Hollander.

By Scott Stucki

The Newport Lightning Basketball Club (NLBC) continued its strong Fall season by taking home two championships at the BCS “Back To School Bash” in Garden Grove and Anaheim.

The NLBC Boys 11U team went undefeated and took home the trophy beating RC Bulls, Open Gym, PD and BCS over the September 20-21 weekend. The boys played excellent team-ball with timely passing, stifling defense and hitting key shots throughout the weekend.

Sam Barela, Adam Flood, Will Hanna, Luke Chelf, Jack Garza, Peter Larsen, DJ Rodman, Cameron Kayl, Mason Melcer, Matt Olson, Tyler Hollander and Bryce Motal all played key minutes while Chelf/Barela/Olson led the team in scoring and Flood/Rodman/Larsen led the team in rebounding. The 11U team is coached by Scott Stucki.

The NLBC Boys 12U Elite team also won another championship adding to its stellar play over the last six months. They were keyed by the strong play of Jordan Alvarado, Dylan Thoerner, Preston Hartsell, Ben Coffman and Kevin White. David Atencio, Ryan Palacio, Kevin Kobrine, Jake Bashore and Jake Griffin played excellent throughout the weekend and were praised by Coach Nick Flamson for their defensive intensity. The NLBC 12U Elite team has won four of the last six tournaments they have played in.

The NLBC Boys 13U team also played well over the weekend, garnering a second place trophy after going 3-1 and winning some great games over the weekend.

Photo courtesy of Dana Flood.

The Anteater Water Polo Club 10U team placed third in the country in the National Junior Olympics Tournament that took place July 30 through Aug. 2.

The Anteaters went undefeated on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, defeating Laguna Beach 12-6, Davis 11-2, Santa Barbara 11-7, 680 Drivers WPC 8-6, and Elite WPC 11-9. The team then advanced to the semi-finals on Tuesday morning and faced last year’s national champion United WPC. The game went to a shootout after ending in a 6-6 tie, where United ultimately edged out the Anteaters. The Anteaters went on to defeat Elite WPC in the bronze medal match on Tuesday afternoon with a score of 9-5.

Photo courtesy of the team. Pictured in the back row from left are Shane Papa, Cole Fisher, Warren Loth, Connor McManigal, Caden Strauss, Brannon Syler, Grant Loth, Michael Paduano, Coach Jesse Briggs. The front row from left shows Justin Cottrell, Spencer Wardwell, Makana Sanita, Sophie Wallace, Triton Scott, Jonathan Lefebvre and Kaveh Moaddeli.

Harbor View Elementary School track team members Golden Bachelder, Ava and Alyssa McKenzie, Joshua and Jessica Means and Matthew Poska marched in the parade representing Newport Beach at the SCMAF (Southern California Municipal Athletic Federation) Regional Track Meet in Laguna Hills on Sunday. Pomp and circumstance was present on the track as the athletes held a Newport Beach banner as they marched around the track with athletes from cities throughout Orange County while music played over a loudspeaker. Also competing from Harbor View were Tori Varela and Payton Williams.

The athletes competed in various running and field events throughout the day based upon the year they were born. In order to participate, they had to qualify to compete in the meet by placing in the top 8 at the Newport Beach Youth Track Meet of Champions held in April.

Athletes placing in their events were:

Alyssa McKenzie: 1st place, 100 meter dash; 2nd place 200 meter dash (girls division 01)

Ava McKenzie: 5th place, long jump; 8th place, 800 meter run (girls division 00)

Jessica Means: 1st place, softball throw (girls division 03)

Joshua Means: 3rd place, softball throw; 4th place, 400 meters (boys division 01)

Matthew Poska: 1st place, long jump; 5th place, 50 meter dash (boys division 02)

Payton Williams: 7th place, 100 meter dash; 4th place softball throw (girls division 00)

Tori Varela: 5th place, 100 meter dash (girls division 03)

Athletes placing in the top 4 qualified to represent the Orange County Region at the SCMAF Track and Field Finals scheduled for June 5 in Downey.

Some results have not been verified; the SCMAF has not yet posted official results.