Girls' Volleyball: South Bay schools strut their stuff

Can anyone beat Mira Costa? Um, no, apparently not.

Senior outside hitter Lane Carico had 14 kills and 23 digs to lead the Mustangs past Archbishop Mitty in a final match for the second time in three weeks, this time winning, 25-17, 25-23, 27-25, to win the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions title for the second year in a row Saturday night at Santa Barbara.

The teams also met in the Torrey Pines California Challenge title match on Oct. 13.

Carico, who has committed to Miami, was named the tournament MVP. Sophomore right-side hitter Falyn Fonoimoana and senior libero Lauren Law also were selected to the all-tournament team. Fonoimoana had 11 kills, 10 digs and two blocks against Mitty. Law finished with 16 digs and a service ace.

North Hollywood: One of several potential seeding headaches

North Hollywood (6-3, 5-0) claimed at least a share of the Sunset Six League championship by defeating Grant, 38-17, on Friday. The Huskies have gotten back several players who were injured earlier in the season and are peaking at the right time -- five consecutive wins with one league game remaining against Canoga Park on Nov. 9.

In other years North Hollywood could expect no worse than to be seeded fourth in the Invitational Division playoffs. They may still get it.

Injuries beating down San Pedro

San Pedro (6-2, 1-2) is losing more than ground in the rugged Marine League race.

The Pirates went into Friday's game against Narbonne having lost seven players for the season because of injuries. The most recent was starting quarterback Barry Heads, who fractured his right wrist. His absence was evident against Narbonne, which beat San Pedro, 28-8.

"It's not an excuse," Coach Mike Walsh. "But I've never gone through anything like this before. I don't think I've ever had a season where I've lost more than one kid to injury."

Walsh is hopeful Heads could return for the playoffs. But San Pedro still has to make the playoffs. That won't be easy. The Pirates finish up against Banning and Washington, and neither game will be a gimme.

-- Mike Terry

-- Image from www.piratemerch.com

Right-minded, but OC superintendents got it wrong

Many coaches I spoke with as the week unfolded wanted to make day-by-day decisions to determine whether their games would be postponed or canceled this weekend. Certainly, if game-time conditions warranted it, a game could be put off at the last minute. But if a reasonably sound decision could be made by noon, coaches seemed to think that was fair enough. 

They were critical of the superintendents' blanket decision to halt all school activities through Sunday. No football, no volleyball, no homecoming dances, no debate tournaments. And, with few exceptions, no travel outside Orange County to compete in events -- even indoor events -- where the on-site conditions were healthier than they are in Orange County.

At noon, you could have made the call

If you had to make the call at noon as to whether or not you'd play a football game Saturday night in Orange County, some folks would have a tough decision to make.

And some would have had it easy.

In inland and south Orange County, noontime conditions were such that games probably should have been scrapped. Forecasts by the Air Quality Management District indicated that the Air Quality Index was good, but that particulate matter would be unhealthy. Actual readings at about 12:30 p.m. indicated that it was already unhealthy, but only for sensitive individuals.

In case you were headed to Moreno Valley....

Hold those travel plans to Rancho Verde. Kevin Stipp, boys' athletic director at the school, just called to tell me the Inland Valley League game against Moreno Valley has been delayed until Monday.

That pretty much eliminates any reason for me to leave the house tonight. Darn.

Other games delayed from today to Monday include:

Glendora at Chino in a Sierra League game, 7 p.m.; Kaiser at Jurupa Valley in a Sunkist League game, 3:30 p.m. (doubleheader); Summit vs. Patriot at Jurupa Valley in a Sunkist League game, 7 p.m. (doubleheader); Linfield Christian vs. Calvary Murrieta at Vista Murrieta in a Big Sky League game, 7:30 p.m.

- Dan Arritt

Downhill slant

Millikan, which staged a nice fourth-quarter comeback against Compton before falling short, 34-28, in a Moore Leage game Friday night, is one of several teams in the Long Beach/South Bay/Westside areas that started out the season so well, only to see things take a turn for the worse.

"We're disappointed," Millikan Coach Kirk Diego said. "I would've loved to have come all the way back."

Now, the Rams (5-3, 2-3) must try to rebound from a three-game losing streak, which started after they opened the season with five consecutive victories.

The Rams, however, aren't the only ones who will be trying to rebound in Week 9.

Woodbridge, Northwood, will forfeit football games Monday

Football coaches at Woodbridge and Northwood said Saturday that their schools will forfeit Sea View League games scheduled for Monday.

The only question is whether principals decide to cancel all games or let El Toro play at Huntington Beach in the other remaining game on the schedule. The games were postponed because of Southern California wildfires.

"We're trying to get our league to reconsider," said Rick Curtis, coach of Northwood, which is supposed to play Foothill after 10 days of inactivity. "We're going to forfeit it if they don't cancel it. No practice, no preparation, no conditioning, no nothing. We couldn't even meet today."

Curtis said the air quality at his school Saturday morning was worse than it was on Friday, although Air Quality Index readings Saturday at 12:30 p.m. indicated air was in the lowest, or "good," range, unlike the high readings for Friday that placed it in the "moderate" range.

"I don't even know if we'll be able to practice on Monday," Curtis said. "It's unfortunate, but it's a minor inconvenience compared to what these other people are going through. Somebody has to make a stand, and we're making a stand."

Rick Gibson, whose Woodbridge team is supposed to play Trabuco Hills, agreed. "We sat down and said this is the right thing to do," he said. "This is uncharted water. Our No. 1 priority is the kids. Is it safe to go that long without practicing, and then on game day put them in that situation. That's one part of it. The other part is you've got kids who have been here four years and you're taking a game away from them."

- Martin Henderson

Week 8 rundown

Here's a look at some of the regional standout performances and results from Friday night:

Upset of the night: Righetti may have diverted Atascadero's seemingly unstoppable march to another PAC-7 League title with a 21-13 upset of the Greyhounds. The Warriors defense was the hero in this one, stalling out the Greyhounds' calling-card running attack and forcing them to use a shaky passing game that wasn't up to the task. Things are looking pretty good for Paso Robles right about now.

We should have known: Does it surprise anyone Saugus RB Ryan Zirbel rushed for 363 yards and five TDs in 25 carries to push the Centurions to a 70-27 Foothill League victory over Golden Valley? Well, it shouldn't because the boys on Centurion Way might be the best team in the Santa Clarita Valley.

Game saver: DB Parker Sutton's second-quarter interception was huge for Canyon since it helped set up the game-winning TD in the Cowboys' 10-3 victory over West Ranch. You've got to hand it to the Wildcats' defense for keeping QB Sean Gavin and friends under control and the victory within reach.

It's a team effort: Lancaster Coach Chad Shrout isn't shying away from taking a committee approach to the running game, and the Eagles proved its effectiveness in their 49-21 victory over Highland. Taveon Burke rushed for 125 yards and two TDs in nine carries and Devon Whitson scored four TDs, including one off a 94-yard kickoff return.

It's about time: Thanks to Tyler Beaudette's late-game, one-yard TD, Littlerock picked up its first Golden League victory in nearly two years with a 25-22 triumph over Knight.

- Austin Knoblauch

Poly's Fennell is feeling better

Morgan Fennell has played two games in a row for Long Beach Poly, and that's good to see.

The Jackrabbits' junior quarterback had missed two previous games and struggled with pain through another one because of back spasms and stiffness, but he has been behind center for the team's latest victories over Long Beach Wilson and Long Beach Cabrillo.

Poly's 31-0 decision over Cabrillo on Friday at Veterans Stadium was the Jackrabbits' first shutout and ran their Moore League winning streak to 71 games since a 28-20 loss to Long Beach Jordan in 1994. Check out Earl Williams' coverage of the Poly-Cabrillo game in the Press-Telegram.

-- Lauren Peterson

-- Image from www.risemag.com