It’s rivalry week for the Santa Barbara High boys basketball team, and coach Dave Bregante is hoping his squad can put forth consistent performances in its battles against San Marcos and Dos Pueblos.
Bregante said at Monday’s Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table luncheon that the Dons have lacked consistency in their games.
“My big concern is our consistency,” he explained. “I’ve always had teams that one game they’ll play well and the next not so well. But this team, quarter to quarter you don’t know what you’re going to get. So, we’re trying to get a little more consistent and get better.”
He’s looking forward to the challenges of playing the crosstown rivals. The San Marcos game on Wednesday at SBHS will be a showdown for sole possession of first place in the Channel League as both teams are 4-0.
The Dons are at DP (2-2) on Friday.
“Should be a fun week,” said Bregante.
San Marcos is coming off its first crosstown game, a 69-66 win at Dos Pueblos last Friday.
Coach Jelani Hicks said for many of his players it was their first taste of playing in a high-intensity, emotional rivalry game at the varsity level.
“It was a very good game playing in that environment,” he said. “It was good for them to learn on the job.”
Freshman Shakir Ahmad stepped up and provided some good play off the bench in the win at DP.
“Shak’s been a good energy force coming off the bench this season,” said Hicks. “He hasn’t really shown too many signs of his age, which has been good for us.”
As a returning player, junior Andrew Frohling has played a key role in helping the new players get acclimated to the rigors of the varsity level.
“He’s done a great job bringing the new guys along, showing them the ropes on how we want to run our program,” said Hicks. “He’s always being accountable for the team and he’s a person I can go to when we need to switch things up. He’s always been a great communicator with the team and getting those things accomplished.”
Dos Pueblos has a pair scholarly players who bring a good work ethic and positive attitude to the basketball team.
Blaine Lundt and Kano Fujino-Harmachis carry weighted GPAs of 4.73 and 4.45, respectively.
On Lundt, coach Joe Zamora, in a report given by Anthony Califano, said: “He’s the ultimate team-first player. He always works hard in practice and always puts his best effort into everything he does.”
He said of Fujina-Harmachis: “He’s one of the most sincere and positive players in the program. He constantly strives to better in everything he does.”
Westmont women’s basketball coach Kirsten Moore reported the committee that does the NAIA national rankings has been impressed with quality of teams in the Golden State Athletic Conference.
“I’ve never heard raters from other parts of the country be more praiseworthy of our conference than they have this year,” she said. “We can make a case of having five teams in the top 15, top 20. That’s how hard and competitive our league is this year. We’re half way through and there’s five teams that can win our league.”
Westmont men’s coach John Moore said his team was thoroughly beaten by The Master’s last Saturday in a GSAC game in Santa Clarita.
“We had two bad halves, and when you play a top-10 team that doesn’t bode very well,” he said of the 88-66 loss.
“But,” he noted, “it’s always important on how you respond (to a loss) and I’m looking forward to see how we respond this week. We play another ranked team in Hope International on Thursday and host San Diego Christian on Saturday.”
Here’s a rundown of what the coaches said about the student athletes they brought to the press luncheon:
San Marcos Boys Soccer
Assistant coach Blake Joyner on senior forward Peter Aldapa: “The essence of tenacity on our team. He’s always working, it’s always go, go, go, go. Having someone like that is awesome.”
On senior forward Levi Sheffey: “The Athlete of the Week award speaks for itself. That’s typical Levi. He’s that good.”
Dos Pueblos Wrestling
Coach Anthony Califano on Telmo Ortiz and Diego Cruz, weight class champions at the Santa Ynez Battle of the Valley Tournament: “I’m excited about these guys because they’ve taken on the challenge of making adjustments from some earlier season frustrations to get better. I’m happy they won. It’s result of their hard work. But I’m more happy they made the right choice to get after it, making improvements, making adjustments. That’s going to carry them through the championship part of the season which starts in about a month.
Laguna Blanca Boys Basketball
Assistant coach Carlos Guerrero on Kyle Aitcheson: “If we had four more guys like him, we’d be undefeated. The guy is a workhorse, he’s a solid ballplayer.”
On sophomore Devin Hernandez: “He’s lights out — averages 18 points a game. Rebounds, passes, scores … great player, great kid.”
Santa Barbara High Girls Soccer
Coach Silas Fallstitch on senior Mikalya Thoits: “A three-year starter on varsity, she’s a box-to-box midfielder. She pretty much does everything for us. She checks boxes in terms of doing things nobody else does.”
On Madison Tobin: “She’s a very hard worker, physical. She adds a nice physical edge to some of our more technical forwards.”
Carpinteria Boys Soccer
Assistant coach Ryan Warner on senior Mario Jimenez: “He’s been a striker for years on varsity and now, as a senior, we’re like, ‘He needs to be a right back.’ And that’s a good thing. When you have a good attacking right back, you can do a lot with that.”
On freshman Brian Garcia: “He’s our keeper, which is a tall order for a freshman to come in and start. When we tied Santa Paula last week, he used every limb possible — foot, hand, face — to make saves. (Manchester United’s) David De Gea is getting all the headlines now. This kid needs to get a couple of them. He was impressive down at Santa Paula.”
Carpinteria Boys Basketball
On Noah Nuño, from Lucy Carleton, reporting for coach Corey Adam: “He has been getting it done at both ends of the court and he’s getting more people involved on the team. That’s been really helpful”
On the inside play of Jose Suarez: “He’s really using his body to his advantage.”
Carpinteria Girls Soccer
Assistant coach Lucy Carleton on twins Shayla and Savannah Alvarez: “They’re extremely coachable and extremely positive. You could put them in any position and they will do it.”
Bishop Diego Girls Soccer
On Nicole Borden, from assistant AD Mike Cano reporting for coach Ivan Becerra: “She’s brought a welcome calmness to the defense. She’s a leader who lets her play do the talking.”
On senior captain, forward Natani Earle: “She leads the offense with goal-scoring tenacity and passion for the game. Her drive to succeed is a motivating factor for the team.”
Bishop Diego Boys Basketball
On senior Tyler Tremblay, from Cano reporting for coach James Coronado: “He’s lead by example in practice and in games. He continues to stay positive with a young corps. His maturity has helped this season.”
On Tyler Tremblay: “He has been injured the past two seasons, but his positive attitude has never changed.”
San Marcos Girls Soccer
Coach Jennifer Sotelo on junior Reese Termond: “Reese is a midfield, but I put her back on the defense. Her height is very helpful.”
On Desiree Teran: “She’s a winger. The thing about Desiree is she is my daughter. It’s hard to be her and not call me mom or talk back as a kid on the field.”
Bishop Diego Boys Soccer
Coach Mick Luckhurst on senior defender Chris Mesipam: “He definitely is a rock. He’s a running back on the football team and sometimes those who play against him in soccer believe is still playing football. He is the rock in our back four.”
On his son, senior forward Jack Luckhurst: “MaxPreps has him leading the nation in goals per game. He’s played in seven games and scored 18 goals (2.66 goals per game average), which is absolutely ludicrous. His brother, Adam, leads the nation in assists (27) because he passes to Jack and Jack scores.”
Laguna Blanca Boys Soccer
Junior center midfielder Luca Wahlberg and senior midfielder Andrew Tolles talked about the 1-1 tie against Cate that was played in a driving rain at St. Bonaventure in Ventura on Saturday.
Wahlberg scored for the Owls.
Luncheon Notes
—UCSB swim coach Matt Macedo said men’s swimmers Logan Hotchkiss and Mason Tittle set school records at the UNLV Invitational.
Hotchkiss broke his own mark in the 500 free and is ranked in the top 11 in the country, which qualifies him from the NCAA Championships.
Tittle broke Wade Allen’s UCSB record in the 50 freestyle.
The Gaucho swim teams will have their Senior Day meet on Jan. 26 against Pacific.
—The Dos Pueblos wrestling team will be seeking its fifth straight Channel League dual meet title when it hosts Santa Barbara on Wednesday night.
The first-year Chargers girls wrestling team will earn a league co-championship with Lompoc, coach Califano announced.
—UCSB men’s basketball assistant Louis Reynaud said the two Big West wins over Cal Poly and UC Riverside last week came down to the last three minutes, “as we think all of our games in the conference will come down to.”
The Gauchos play at UC Davis on Thursday.
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