Two things to take away from the Kings’ first-round series against St. Louis Blues in the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs: Kings fans are spoiled and have no appreciation for goalie Jonathan Quick.

Sure, Quick is the reason the Kings lost Game 2 of the series against the Blues. It was the last game the Kings lost.

How quickly Kings fans forget how the team won the Stanley Cup last year. Timely short-handed goals were part of it. But make no mistake, Quick’s stingy net-minding were a big part of it too. Whenever the Kings scored a short-handed goal in the playoffs, Quick made sure it didn’t go to waste.
It took him a couple of games to gather his playoff legs, but Quick looks like he is back on his game.

It is the bandwagon Kings fans who want to blame Quick for every loss. Those fans need to keep their mouths shut and their eyes open.

Alas, there are those fans who expect nothing less than another Stanley Cup. Those fans have no room to complain. Those fans weren’t at the Forum with 300 of their closest friends watching coach Tom Webster playing dump and chase with Wayne Gretzky.

Those new Stanley Cup demanding fans have not suffered enough. The Kings’ winning the Stanley Cup last year was nothing short of a miracle. They were the eighth seed in the playoffs, the last team to qualify for the playoffs. They were road warriors playing unconscious hockey in places they had no business winning. They were a good team that hit a hot streak at exactly the right time.

To put it in perspective, the Kings have been so bad in recent years, that the next series against the Sharks is the first time since 1992 that the Kings have had home-ice advantage in the playoffs.

The last time the Kings won a playoff series with home-ice advantage was in 1989, when the Smythe Division existed and the San Jose Sharks didn’t. (Thank you, Arash Markarzi.)

These Kings are definitely Stanley Cup contenders again, perhaps even better than last year’s team. But if they fall short, it takes nothing away from what they accomplished last year.

Expectations are high, but only one team can win the Stanley Cup. Until they’re eliminated, go Kings go!
…

Saugus sophomore Abbey Weitzeil won two individual titles at the CIF Southern Section Division 1 finals at the Riverside Aquatics Complex and set two records in the process.

She won the 100-yard freestyle in 49.01 seconds breaking the Southern Section Division 1 record of 49.26 seconds set by Courtney Cashion of Irvine in 2004.
Weitzeil lowered her mark to 48.83 seconds in the first leg of the 4×100 freestyle relay. Because it was the first leg of a relay, the 100-yard freestyle Southern Section Division 1 record is 48.83 seconds.

She also won the 50-yard freestyle race in 22.25 seconds, breaking her own Southern Section Division 1 record. She was 0.01 seconds off the state record of 22.24 seconds set by Maddy Schaefer of St. Francis High in Mountain View in 2010.

Weitzeil’s time in the 50 freestyle was the fourth fastest in the country, according to the National Federation of High Schools Association.
…

Six high school baseball teams from the Santa Clarita Valley are in the CIF playoffs. Three are from the Foothill League and only one of those teams has a home game.

West Ranch, which reached the semifinals in the CIF baseball playoffs last year, opens against Los Alamitos at home on Thursday. Los Alamitos is the third-place team from the Sunset League.

West Ranch won a share of the Foothill League championship with Canyon.

The Cowboys, making their first CIF playoff appearance in six years, play on the road on Thursday against Loyola, the second-place team from the Mission League.

Canyon perhaps has the worst draw of any team from the Santa Clarita Valley. Loyola is 19-10 and stumbled into the playoffs after losing a pair of games to Chaminade to end the season.

Before that, Loyola put together a 12-game winning streak that started with a 9-4 victory over Hart on April 4 in the Scott Boras Classic.

Loyola and Canyon met once already this season. Canyon beat Loyola, 4-3, in the Anaheim Lions Tournament in April. The Cowboys scored three runs in the fourth inning to erase a 3-1 deficit.

The Valencia baseball team, the third-place team from the Foothill League, opened the CIF playoffs in the wild-card round on Tuesday against Westlake.

The Santa Clarita Christian baseball team won the Heritage League and will open at home in the Southern Section Division 7 playoffs against Delphi Academy.

The Trinity Classical Academy baseball team, the second-place team from the Heritage League, plays Coast Union High in Cambria in the first round of the Southern Section Division 7 playoffs.

The Albert Einstein Academy baseball team made its first trip to the CIF playoffs and played Faith Baptist in the wild-card round of the Southern Section Division 7 playoffs on Tuesday.
…

The West Ranch softball team opens the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs against Rancho Cucamonga. West Ranch won the Foothill League championship with an undefeated 10-0 record. Rancho Cucamonga is the third-place team from the Baseline League.

The Saugus softball team plays Orange Lutheran on the road in the first round of the Division 1 playoffs.

The Valencia softball team opened in the wild-card round of the Southern Section Division 1 playoffs against Santa Margarita from the Trinity League on Tuesday.

Tim Haddock is the sports director for KHTS AM 1220. He also writes for the Ventura County Star, the SCV Beacon, the Team USA website, SB Nation and covers NASCAR for the K&N website. He can be reached by e-mail at tim@hometownstation.com. Follow him on Twitter @thaddock.

By Andrew Thompson
Even at fourteen, Valerie Gonzales could be considered something of a veteran in her sport. Having spent almost a decade playing pitcher, catcher, first base, shortstop – indeed, every position on the diamond – she knows a thing or two about how to contribute to a team.

That’s why Valerie wasn’t the least bit shaken when, as a freshman at Canyon High School, she decided to attend a tryout.

“It just felt like a regular tryout – like I’ve always been trying out,” she says. “It didn’t feel any different.”

Valerie

But while her experience was nothing more than typical, Valerie is not just a typical player. After all, Valerie tried out for her school’s baseball team – not its softball one. And when she made it onto the roster, she became the first female baseball player ever to do so in the history of Canyon High.

“We’re pretty proud… [we] think it’s a really big accomplishment,” Valerie’s mother says.

To her, Valerie’s decision to try out for baseball rather than softball was no surprise.

For whatever reason, softball has never been attractive to Valerie. It’s hard for her to put a finger on a single reason softball doesn’t suit her; there’s nothing “bad” about it, she concedes, it’s just that baseball has always been her sport. If for some reason she didn’t make it, Valerie notes, she would probably run track instead.

“I wouldn’t train for just softball, ever,” she says with a hint of a smile.

Valerie’s parents say that her preference for baseball may even date back to before her birth.

“She has an older brother that – that ate, drank, and slept it,” Valerie’s mother says. “So, when I was pregnant with her, she probably heard it the whole time, and then [we] brought her to every practice, every game when she was a baby.”

Valerie’s mother recalls how Valerie crawled with her brother’s helmets on, then started wearing his uniforms. At three she was already swinging baseball bats, and at four she landed on her first Parks and Recreation team. It would be the first team of many.

As Valerie grew older, however, the external pressure on her parents to push her toward softball seemed to increase. Other parents often questioned her participation in baseball, Valerie’s father says, and they usually weren’t shy about expressing it.

Still, her parents wanted the choice to be hers alone.

“It’s her decision; it’s not ours,” Valerie’s father says. “We’ll support her whatever she decides to do. If she wants to play baseball, well, that’s what it’s going to be.”

Of course, the entire family is aware of the surprise she sometimes causes when she takes the field against an opposing team.

“They’re always, like, whispering in the dugout and stuff,” Valerie says. “I’m kind of used to it, because it’s, like, been happening since I was little… they just whisper. But I don’t really know what they’re whispering about.”

Valerie behind the plate at catcher

“They’re surprised,” admits Valerie’s mother. In a recent Saturday game in which Valerie had been playing catcher, she recalls, a boy on the other team did a double take after passing Valerie on the field.

“Until they see the long braid, they don’t really realize,” Valerie’s mother points out. “All he could say is, like, ‘You had a great throw down,’” she adds.

Fortunately, Valerie’s parents acknowledge, most of the more negative reactions occurred in the past, when Valerie played in travel leagues. Now that Valerie has reached the high school level, she’s playing with many players she’s known for quite a while, and both the surprise and outside criticism have somewhat subsided.

As for Valerie’s parents, they aren’t exactly complaining about her choice – especially considering the success that has followed it both on the field and off.

In addition to playing baseball, Valerie frequently volunteers, often participating in tasks such as cleaning fields at Hart Park, where she used to play. And she excels in the classroom as well. Her most recent progress report indicates she been able to manage a schedule that includes honors classes with a 4.0.

“With her grades, and with her playing softball… we wouldn’t have to pay anything for college,” her father says hopefully, with a laugh.

If Valerie does decide to take it that far, she can take comfort in knowing that there is actually some precedent of female baseball players going on to make a college team. Marti Sementelli, a female pitcher from California, recently made news when she was offered a spot on the baseball team of Montreat College in North Carolina.

And while Valerie’s parents know that she’s still young, they also know that there are no limits on what the future could hold.

“It’s not unobtainable,” Valerie’s mother says, referring to the possibility of a college baseball career. “It’s a matter of how far she wants to take it from here until there.”

As far as the big leagues, that’s also not necessarily out of the question. Valerie has already made the acquaintance of Justine Siegal, the first woman to pitch batting practice and bullpen for the Major Leagues. Siegal is also the founder of Baseball for All, a non-profit that focuses on providing instruction and support for young baseball players, especially girls. Valerie and Siegal connected through Facebook.

Valerie on the mound, pitching

But it’s too early for Valerie to seriously consider joining Siegal as one of the first women to contribute at the professional level just yet. Valerie’s mother is the first one to acknowledge that Valerie is only in ninth grade; her more immediate goal is simply to make varsity. But Valerie’s mother is pleased to see that she seems to have made such a connection with her current team.

“They take her on, on the team, as one of them… they don’t look at her differently, they don’t judge her, they bring her right on in,” her mother says.

Valerie agrees that that camaraderie is one of the best parts of playing the sport.

“Everybody… takes me in,” she says. “It’s like a family, kind of.”

And so, for now, perhaps Valerie can be forgiven if she just takes a moment to enjoy being one of the guys.

The Lakers’ season ended unceremoniously with a first-round sweep by the San Antonio Spurs. So much for the Lakers having a better chance against the aging Spurs than the youthful Oklahoma City Thunder.

The pieces of blame pie are being dished out. Dwight Howard and Kobe Bryant are receiving their share. Jim Buss, Mike D’Antoni and Mitch Kupchak are being forced to choke down a portion as well. What can the Lakers do to return to championship status? Clearly this roster is not getting the job done.

Here are some of the options facing the Lakers:

Let Howard go. This might be the worst option the Lakers have. For one, Howard has no equal. When he is healthy and motivated, he is the best center in the NBA. Defensively, no one even comes close. He is the top rebounder in the league, 12.4 per game in 2012, and one of the better shot blockers. Plus he bails out his teammates on so many defensive breakdowns, it’s impossible to count. Like any great catcher in baseball, whatever Howard contributes on offense is a bonus. If the Lakers let Howard go, it might be years before they are championship contenders again. The Lakers need to bring in players to help Howard, not try to build a team without him.

Change Bryant’s game. This is another bad idea. Bryant tried changing his game, being more distributor than scorer this year, and it didn’t matter. He is going to find a way to win with the Lakers, be it by leading the league in scoring or assists or steals or 3-point percentage. If he could find a way to lead the league in passing out Gatorade, he would do it. Bryant needs to be the leader in scoring, leader in directing the offense, leader on defense, leader on the bench and leader in the locker room. Bryant’s better days are behind him, but he has at least one more championship run in him. The Lakers would be smart not to waste it.
Jim Buss should hand the reigns over to Jeanie Buss. This might not be such a bad idea. Jim Buss has shown many times how he wants to run the team differently than his dad. Jim Buss wants to create his own identity, put his own fingerprints on the franchise. Jim Buss needs to learn one simple rule: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Aside from the league salary cap, the Lakers have all the resources in the world to put together the top team in the NBA. Finding the best players to fit the style of Jim Buss has not been a good formula. He needs to find the best players to win a championship. Perhaps Jeanie Buss has a better way of putting that formula together.

The Lakers should fire D’Antoni. The coach is always the first scapegoat. D’Antoni likes to play a young man’s game and he has a group of stars at the end of their careers. Steve Nash is nowhere near the player he was eight years ago when they were together on the Suns. Pau Gasol was never fast enough or quick enough for D’Antoni’s system, yet was able to post triple-doubles when the game was slowed down. When Bryant comes back, he will be recovering from Achilles tendon surgery. As tough as Bryant is, that type of surgery will slow any player down. Metta World Peace was one of the few aging stars on the 2012 version of Lakers who showed any type of hustle, but he is in no condition to be running in an offense that shoots the ball every seven seconds. Firing D’Antoni is an easy solution and one that might make the biggest difference for the 2013 Lakers.

Kupchak needs to blow up the Lakers roster. This team was put together for one or two championship runs. It failed miserably for one year. It doesn’t deserve another chance. Metta, Gasol, Nash, Steve Blake need to go. But Earl Clark, Chris Duhan and Jodie Meeks are not the answers. Kupchak doesn’t have much room or money to work with. The Lakers are already over the salary cap. They don’t have the money to bring in talented players. But he has to find upgrades at three starting positions and three players on the bench. He needs another miracle, Kwame Brown-for-Pau Gasol trade.

…

Zack Greinke gone. Chad Billingsley gone. Chris Capuano gone. Even Steven Fife couldn’t make it to the pitcher’s mound for the Dodgers before injuring himself.

Thank goodness the Dodgers have a deep pitching staff. Most teams would be 10 games out of first place by now with the type of injuries the Dodgers have suffered. That they are .500 is nothing short of miraculous.
Still, some healthy Dodger arms would be nice.

…

The Kings are the No. 5 seed in the NHL playoffs. Something doesn’t feel right about this.

The reigning Stanley Cup champions entered the playoffs as the No. 8 seed last season. They played better under adversity. It just doesn’t feel right this time around.
…

The Canyon baseball team is hanging tough. The Cowboys were a game out of first place after the first 11 games of the Foothill League season. They trail West Ranch, but look like a playoff team.

It has been a great baseball season in the Santa Clarita Valley. West Ranch will have to fight for its life to win the Foothill League title.

Canyon emerged as a top team in league.

Valencia’s Luke Soroko tossed a no-hitter against Hart.

Hart and Saugus have been league spoilers.

Even Golden Valley posted a couple wins in league to make it interesting in the final week of the Foothill League season.

It will be fun to watch how it all unfolds.

Tim Haddock is the sports director at KHTS AM 1220. He writes for the Ventura County Star, the Team USA website, SB Nation and covers sports for the SCV Beacon. He can be reached by e-mail at tim@hometownstation.com. Follow him on Twitter @thaddock.

The Lakers and the Dodgers both suffered through some bad news on the injury front last week.

Zack Greinke, the prize of the free-agent pitching market, broke his collarbone after a bench-clearing brawl against the Padres.

Kobe Bryant tore his Achilles tendon in the closing minutes of a loss to the Golden State Warriors and had season-ending surgery to repair it.

Both losses are big blows to the L.A. teams. Let’s start with Greinke.

By most accounts, Greinke might not be able to return to the rotation until the All-Star break. Quentin received an eight-game suspension and will not be able to return to the Padres’ lineup until April 23 against the Milwaukee Brewers.

That means Quentin missed the three-game series against the Dodgers that started on Monday, Jackie Robinson Day. He will also miss the road trip to San Francisco. Not that the Padres had much of a chance against the reigning World Series champions, but any win against the Giants is a good win, even if it comes at the hands of the newly hated Padres.

Instead of appealing the suspension, like most ballplayers do in this situation, Quentin and the Padres decided to start serving it immediately. Padres manager Bud Black told MLB.com that Quentin and the team want to put the bench-clearing brawl behind them as quickly as possible.

“There have been many different ideas, thoughts and concerns put out there,” Quentin told MLB.com. “I will say this about the Dodgers series — I will obviously miss this one, but I will be part of the rest of them. We play them many times.”
The Padres are back for a three-game series against the Dodgers starting on June 3.
As for Bryant, he will be out for at least six months. Some say he will be back in time for opening day in the fall. That might be a little optimistic, but if anyone can do it, it’s Bryant.

Bryant is as tough as they come, but you have to wonder if the number of minutes he played this season contributed to his Achilles tendon injury. It was like the Lakers were using a Maserati as a commuter car to drive to work every day. It was bound to break down eventually.

The Kobe critics in this town will finally get what they’ve been asking for, though – a chance to see how good the Lakers are without Bryant. They have been second-round playoff fodder the past couple of seasons. Now they might be lottery material.

The Lakers did look pretty good against the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday. That might be a first-round playoff match-up. But even if the Lakers pull off the upset, they will most likely lose in the second round again, and have to face the prospect of life without Kobe.

Forgive me if memories of Cedric Ceballos leading the Lakers in scoring start surfacing.
…

The Valencia softball team pulled off a bit of a shocker in the Foothill League opener against Saugus last week.

Valencia won the game, 9-6, scoring five runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Nicole Joseph hit a three-run home run to cap the rally. Sydney Mundell went the distance for the Vikings to earn the win.

Saugus entered the game with a seven-game winning streak and was the overwhelming favorite to win the Foothill League championship.
Valencia lost four of five games in the Michelle Carew Classic in Anaheim over spring break and hasn’t won the league title in two years.

Mundell and Mariah Lopez, the freshman starter for Saugus, matched each other with three shutout innings to start the game. But Saugus took a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning and added two more runs in the fifth inning.

Down 4-0, Valencia cut the lead in half in the bottom of the fifth inning and tied the score in the sixth inning.

But Saugus took the lead again by scoring two runs in the top of the seventh off Mundell. Her teammates got her off the hook with a rally in the bottom of the seventh.

“Sydney pitched basically well enough to win and we got her the runs,” Valencia coach Donna Lee said. “She made a couple mistake pitches, but really, we didn’t help her out by making some errors. Couple of those runs were unearned, obviously.”

Valencia is off to a 2-0 start in Foothill League play. Saugus bounced back with a 12-2 win over Hart to even its record at 1-1 in the Foothill League.

“In this league, you have to play your A game every game,” Saugus coach Julie Watson said, after her team’s game against Valencia. “We didn’t do that. We just need to learn from this and go from there.”

West Ranch is tied with Valencia at 2-0 atop the Foothill League standings. The Vikings are looking for their first league championship since 2010.

“We have an expectation now of playing at this level,” Lee said. “Our job is to make sure we go to every game and have the same intensity.”
…

The Canyon baseball team went 4-1 in its first go-round in Foothill League play. The Cowboys are 0-2 after the first two games of the second round through league. Canyon has definitely cooled off after its hot start. West Ranch avenged a loss to Canyon, 10-3, scoring seven runs in the seventh inning to win the game.
After seven games in Foothill League play, West Ranch is in first place with a 5-2 record. Canyon, Valencia, and Saugus are tied for second at 4-3.

Golden Valley won its first Foothill League game of the season, 4-2, over Valencia on Friday. The Grizzlies came into the game with only one win all season.

The Hart baseball team proved it can pull off a stunner or two as well. The Indians were the first team to beat Canyon in league play. They knocked off Saugus, 3-2, scoring the winning run on bases-loaded balk on Friday.

Halfway through Foothill League play, the championship is wide open. It also looks like there aren’t any easy games for any of the teams in the Foothill League.

Tim Haddock is the sports director at KHTS AM 1220. He writes for the Ventura County Star, the Team USA website, SB Nation and covers NASCAR for the K&N website. He can be reached by e-mail at tim@hometownstation.com. Follow him on Twitter @thaddock.

Opening day at Dodger Stadium was full of surprises.

Clayton Kershaw pitched a shutout against the Giants. No real surprise there. Kershaw owns the Giants, especially on opening day.

He surprised everyone with a solo home run in the eighth inning to break up a scoreless tie. It started a Dodgers’ four-run rally, and led to the eventual winning margin, 4-0.

His opening day home run was the first of its kind since 1988. Joe Magrane of the St. Louis Cardinals was the last starting pitcher to hit a homer on opening day. The last Dodger to hit a home run on opening day was Don Drysdale in 1965, a year that ended with a World Series title for the Dodgers, by the way.

The last time a pitcher threw a shutout and hit a home run on opening day was in 1953 by Bob Lemon of the Cleveland Indians.

It’s been quite a while since anyone has seen the type of game Kershaw had on opening day. Here’s to hoping the Dodgers have a few more surprises up their batting gloves.

The real surprises were off the field. New Dodger Vision. New sound system. New bathrooms. New concession stands. More space to walk. More spaces to watch the game. More space for kids to play. More places for grown-ups to enjoy the game.

The new Dodgers ownership made some major upgrades. The unveiling of the new scoreboard and big-screen video screens brought tears to some of the eyes in the stands on opening day.
The new Dodgers lineup took a while to wake up, though. Kershaw provided the spark. Carl Crawford, one of the new Dodger faces, made sure the fire stayed alive in the eighth inning. He doubled and scored on a wild pitch in the four-run eighth.
Some of the familiar faces on the Dodgers came through with some productive at-bats as well. Mark Ellis had a couple of hits. Andre Ethier and AJ Ellis each knocked in a run in the eighth inning. Perhaps a sign of things to come.

…

John Gilbertson from The Master’s College put the world on notice at the Stanford Invitational track and field meet.

He set the world’s fastest this year in the 10,000 meters. He won his heat race in 28 minutes, 30.35 seconds, nearly 20 seconds faster than the previous best time in the world, set by Elroy Gelant of South Africa.

“I felt the race went pretty well,” said Gilbertson. “I tried to stay relaxed throughout the entirety of the race and to hang with the rabbits. Halfway through, the leaders broke off and things started picking up. I was able to make a final push when it came down to the finish. Praise the Lord for this victory!”

Gelant recorded a time of 28 minutes, 50.24 seconds in the 10K earlier this year.

Two runners at the Stanford Invitational broke Gelant’s mark. Parker Stinson from the University of Oregon was second in 28 minutes, 34.71 seconds.

Gilbertson is quickly becoming one of the most accomplished athletes from The Master’s College, the likes of which the Newhall campus hasn’t seen since Mike Penberthy was playing basketball at Bross Gymnasium. Penberthy went on to play with Shaq and Kobe on two of the Lakers NBA championship teams.

But Gilbertson is still a bit of an unknown entity, even in the most seasoned track and field circles. One of the commentators on Flotrack.org webcast asked out loud, “Who is that guy, Gilbertson? And where is The Master’s College?”

Gilbertson already made a name for himself at Stanford in cross country. He won the Stanford Cross Country Invitational in the fall to cap an undefeated season and was selected as the 2012 NAIA national champion in November.

Perhaps he needs to win a world championship in the 10K to put The Master’s College back on the map.

…

The UCLA Bruins are the big losers in the basketball coaching carousel.

Three NCAA programs in Southern California were looking for new coaches. UCLA settled for Steve Alford, who took an underachieving New Mexico team to the NCAA tournament as a No. 3 seed and lost to Harvard in the first round.

USC, which didn’t make the tournament, hired one of the rising coaching stars in college basketball. The Trojans landed Andy Enfield from Florida Gulf Coast University. All Enfield did was take a No. 15 seed in the NCAA tournament to the Sweet 16.

Even Cal State Northridge made a better hire than UCLA. Reggie Theus will coach the Matadors, according to reports by ESPN. He was the coach of the Sacramento Kings in the NBA and at New Mexico State in college. Theus has spent the past two seasons as the head coach of the Los Angeles Defenders in the NBA D-League.

Nice job Bruin nation. You have been upstaged in basketball by USC and CSUN.

…

The Canyon baseball team, predicted by one local newspaper that will remain nameless to finish in fourth place in the Foothill League, is in first place after the first round of league play.

The Cowboys beat West Ranch to open league play and followed with wins over Valencia and Saugus. Their only loss came against Hart. Some might even say the Cowboys beat themselves in that game, committing six errors in a 5-4 setback.

The Indians scored five runs on one hit. Canyon starter Max Weinstein pitched a gem, but the Cowboys committed four errors in a three-run fourth inning. Hart took the lead and held on for the win.

But Canyon bounced back and won its next three league games in a row. The Cowboys are all alone in first place, a game ahead of Valencia, Saugus and West Ranch, during spring break.

Canyon won its fourth game in a row, 2-1, over Oxnard in the Anaheim Lions Tournament. The Cowboys were 2-1, losing to Santa Margarita on the second day of the tournament, after the first three games of the Lions Tournament.

Foothill League play resumes on April 10 when Canyon faces West Ranch.

Tim Haddock is the sports director at KHTS AM 1220. He writes for the Ventura County Star, the Team USA website, SB Nation and covers NASCAR for the K&N website. He can be reached by e-mail at tim@hometownstation.com. Follow him on Twitter @thaddock.

The Trinity boys basketball team became the darlings of the CIF playoffs. The Knights reached the championship game of the Southern Section Division 6 playoffs with a roster of seven freshmen and only one senior. They reached the championship game after having a varsity program for only three years.

Trinity lost to Rio Hondo Prep, the top-seeded team in the Division 6 playoffs, in a low-scoring affair at Mater Dei High School on Saturday morning. Both teams shot poorly from the field and Rio Hondo gutted out a 47-40 win.

Ryan Brooks scored a team-high 12 points for Trinity. He was the only player from Trinity in double figures. The team shot 37 percent from the field and made only 4 of 17 3-pointers.

Andrew Pablan hit one of those rare 3-pointers with a minute to play and cut the Rio Hondo lead to two points, 42-40. But Rio Hondo scored the last five points of the game for the seven-point margin of victory.

Two of Rio Hondo’s players combined for 35 of its team’s 47 points. Trinity had a more balanced offense, but it lacked effectiveness.

Trinity had a chance to make some Santa Clarita basketball history. Only one other team has won a CIF boys basketball championship. The Saugus boys in 1987 took down the top two seeds in the Southern Section Division 3-A championship to capture its only CIF basketball title in school history.

The Knights play Tranquility in the first round of the CIF Southern California Division V Regional playoffs. Trinity is the No. 9 seed in the Southern California Regionals. Tranquility, from the Central Section, is the No. 8 seed.

It won’t take long to see if Trinity will make a deep run in the state playoffs. The winner of the game between Trinity and Tranquility will play Horizon Christian, the top seed in the Southern California Regionals, in the second round.

Whatever happens in the CIF state playoffs, it looks like Trinity will be in good shape for a few years. Three freshmen are starters and all but one player is returning next season. Trinity might be CIF contenders for a few years.
…

With a one-point win over the visiting Atlanta Hawks, the Lakers are .500 for the first time in 2013. The last time they had a break-even record was on Dec. 28.

Even at .500, the Lakers are 2 ½ games behind the Houston Rockets and the Utah Jazz for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

After the game against the Hawks, the Lakers have 22 games remaining. One of those games is against the Hawks on March 13. It’s hardly a gimme. The game will be in Atlanta and the Lakers will need another win to stay in the playoff hunt.

If the Lakers do make the playoffs, their likely first-round opponent will be the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder won the first three meetings between the two teams. The Thunder won those three games by an average of 10 points. The closest game was in Oklahoma City on Dec. 7. The Lakers only lost that game by six points.

Even if the Lakers find a way to make it into the playoffs, they probably won’t stay for very long.
…

The Clippers, despite having one of the best seasons in franchise history, are in the same playoff boat as the Lakers.

If the playoffs started today, the Clippers would play the Golden State Warriors in the first round. That’s a bad match-up for the Clippers. The Warriors have won three of the four games against the Clippers this season.

The Warriors’ average margin of victory is 10.3 points per game. That includes a 21-point blowout on Jan. 2. The Clippers did return the favor three days later with a 26-point win over the Warriors.

Still, if the Clippers have to play the Warriors in the first round, it might make for a short stint.
…

Yasiel Puig is going to make Dodger fans forget about Mike Piazza.
…

Danica Patrick made quite an impression at the Daytona 500. She won the pole, finished in the top 10 and brought more attention to the race than any driver has in years.

She followed up with a 39th-place finish and a crash at Phoenix International Raceway.

Meanwhile, Jimmie Johnson won his second Daytona 500 and Carl Edwards ended a 70-race drought by winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Phoenix.

Danica-mania is fun to watch, but what will happen first: Danica wins a Cup race or Johnson wins another Cup championship?
…

On a more local level, Canyon High graduate Greg Pursley won the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West season opener at Phoenix International Raceway. He was part of a 1-2 finish for Gene Price Motorsports. His teenage teammate, Cameron Hayley, the winner of the UNOH Battle at the Beach all-star race in Daytona, was second.

Santa Clarita’s Rich DeLong III, making his West Series debut, was 22nd at Phoenix.

Tim Haddock is the sports director at KHTS AM 1220. He writes for USA Today, the Team USA website, SB Nation and the Ventura County Star. He can be reached by e-mail at tim@hometownstation.com. Follow him on Twitter @thaddock.

Before everyone gets all excited about Danica Patrick winning the pole position for the Daytona 500, here’s a little tidbit: Only seven drivers in the 55-year history of Daytona 500 have won the race from the pole.
Patrick made NASCAR history by becoming the first woman to win the pole for the Daytona 500 on Sunday. While she only claims responsibility for 10 percent of the record-breaking feat, her crew chief, Tony Gibson, gives her at least half the credit for putting the car out front to start the race.

“I appreciate the recognition, but it really falls, as I think I said before I went out on the track, 90 percent on Tony and his guys, everybody that gives me the car to go out there and be fast, and maybe 10 percent on me,” said Patrick, the driver of the No. 10 Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing. “All I have to do is think about going out there, being smooth, not letting the car bind up, running on that yellow line. Outside of that, I think it shows how well prepared Tony and everybody was, how strong the Hendrick engines are, how good the new Chevy SS is. We’ve been fast since practice in January.”

Yes, Chevy seems to have the new Gen-6 cars figured out, for Daytona at any rate. Kevin Harvick, driving a Chevy for Richard Childress Racing, won the Sprint Unlimited race. Jeff Gordon, driving a Chevy for Hendrick Motorsports, will start on the front row with Patrick for the Daytona 500.

Having good cars certainly helps, especially at tracks like Daytona International Speedway, where too many outside factors contribute to determining the race winner. But a good driver contributes more than 10 percent to a team’s success.

“It’s a team effort. Like I told Danica, it’s more than 10 percent driver,” Gibson said. “I was talking to David Green on the line, about five cars away. He’s just like, ‘Remind her to hit her shifter. I’ve messed up and overshifted and messed the lap up.’ It’s more than 10 percent  because you can put a good product out there, but if you don’t have the person to drive it, put everything else together, it can really damage your day.”

Winning the pole position for the Daytona 500 is no small accomplishment. It is one more milestone in a long list of accomplishments for Patrick. She was the first woman to win an IndyCar Series race. She was the first woman to lead a lap in the Indianapolis 500. She has been a trailblazer since she started her auto racing career.

It’s a role she embraces.

“I mean, I’ve had the experience with mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, listening to them say the reason why they’re here as a family today is because of me out there, whether it brings the girls out, the guys out, whatever it is, I don’t care. That’s nice to hear,” Patrick said. “It’s also nice to hear families talk about the fact that a little girl might say, ‘But, mommy, daddy, that’s a girl out there.’ Then they can have the conversation with their kid about you can do anything you want and being different doesn’t by any means not allow you to follow your dreams. I love to think that conversation happens in households because of something I’m doing.”

Her work is far from over. Winning the pole at Daytona is one thing. Winning the race is another. But Patrick said she craves the limelight. Well, maybe not crave, but she certainly enjoys the challenge of delivering when all eyes are on her.

“I love it when people put me on the radar, I do,” Patrick said. “I think it’s good. It’s a confidence boost when people are saying, I heard Mr. Childress say he thought I was the one to lose the pole. When people put you on the radar, that feels good to me,” Patrick said after winning the pole on Sunday. “I like that after practice in January and yesterday after practice that people were saying I was the one that could go out there and get the pole. That to me was some of the coolest feelings.”

Now for that pesky Daytona history. Dale Jarrett was the last driver to win the Daytona 500 from the pole in 2000. Gordon did it the year before in 1999. Fireball Roberts was the first to do it in 1959.

Only two drivers have won the Daytona 500 from the pole twice. No driver has done it three times. In recent years, Daytona has become the NASCAR version of “Survivor.” If Patrick can make it to the finish, it will be an accomplishment. If she wins the race, the NASCAR universe might very well collapse.

“It’s really amazing how much effort is put into a qualifying car for Daytona, for the 500, and really only the front row is what sticks for Sunday,” Patrick said. “It’s nice that all that hard work can pay off and that we can give ourselves that opportunity to lead the pack down into the tri oval for the green flag of the Daytona 500.”
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The high school basketball and soccer playoffs are under way. Here’s a quick update of who’s still alive and whose seasons are done.

The Hart boys soccer team is the darling of the CIF Southern Section Division 4 playoffs. The Indians are in the second round after winning their wild-card playoff game and have outscored their opponents 4-0.

Hart won its first game, 2-0, over Workman and followed with a 2-0 shutout over Beverly Hills. The Indians play Santa Paula on Wednesday.
The West Ranch boys soccer team is alive and well in the Division 4 playoffs and could meet Hart in the semifinals. The Wildcats beat North Torrance, 2-1, in the first round and play Oak Hills in the second round.

The Valencia boys soccer team advanced to the second round of the Division 4 playoffs after a 2-0 win over Chino. The Vikings play Temescal Canyon on Wednesday.

The Valencia girls soccer team reached the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division 2 playoffs after a 1-0 win over Moorpark.

The Canyon and Hart girls also advanced to the second round of the Division 2 playoffs. The Saugus girls were the only team from the Foothill League to lose in the first round of the soccer playoffs.
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The Valencia girls basketball team won its first-round Southern Section Division 1AA playoff game, 64-34, over Pacifica of Oxnard. The Vikings play Centennial Corona in the second round.

The Canyon girls also won their first-round playoff game in Division 2AA. They beat Channel Islands, 75-44, and play Kaiser in the second round.

The Saugus girls won their first-round playoff game in Division 2AA. The Centurions beat Sultana, 42-36, and will play Murrieta Valley in the second round.

The West Ranch girls lost their first-round playoff game, 54-45, to Highland in Division 1AA.

The West Ranch and Valencia boys basketball teams reached the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division 1A playoffs. West Ranch, the No. 3 seed in the playoffs, beat Ventura, 77-59, in the first round. Valencia, the No. 11 seed, beat Arroyo Valley, 76-57, in its first-round playoff game.

The Saugus boys lost to Redlands East Valley, 67-51, in the first round of the Division 2A playoffs.

The Hart boys basketball team was upset in the second round of the Division 3AAA playoffs. The Indians, the third-seeded team in Division 3AAA, lost to West Torrance, 64-55.
The Canyon boys basketball team lost to Lawndale, 73-63, in the first round of the Division 2AA playoffs.
The Trinity Classical Academy boys basketball team is in the quarterfinals of the Division 6 playoffs. The Knights, the No. 2 seed in Division 6, beat Southwestern Academy, 77-36, in the first round and Hope Centre Academy, 64-47, in the second round.
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In college basketball, the College of the Canyons men’s team won the Western State Conference South Division championship. The Cougars beat Santa Monica, 82-76, in the regular season finale and finished with a 9-1 conference record.

Tim Haddock is the sports director at KHTS AM 1220. He writes for USA Today, the Team USA website, SB Nation and the Ventura County Star. He can be reached by e-mail at tim@hometownstation.com. Follow him on Twitter @thaddock.

In the battle of Super Bowl car ads, the checkered flag goes to Audi.

The Audi commercial about the dad letting his son take his car to the school dance took the lead early and held it throughout Super Bowl XLVII. The car gives the son enough courage to kiss the prom queen, only to drive home with a black eye, courtesy of the prom king. The reward far outweighed the risk. Nice message, Audi.

The Dodge Ram ad about farmers was a close second. The only problem with that ad was that not many farmers can afford to buy new trucks. What are we supposed to do? Buy farmers a new Ram because they work so hard and deserve one?

The Mercedes ad was third. Willem Dafoe had his best role since “To Live and Die in L.A.” The music, “Sympathy for the Devil,” was classic, but didn’t quite fit when the potential car buyer refuses to sign a contract with said Devil.

Interesting side note on the Mercedes commercial: The race car scenes were shot at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana.

In fourth place was Toyota. Kaley Cuoco as the Rav 4 Genie was pretty hot, but the puns and twisted wishes quickly turned into a bad Saturday Night Live sketch.

Rounding out the top five was the Volkswagen commercial. Nothing says sale like a happy Swede. Well, lots of things say sale better than a happy Swede. There are four perfectly good examples provided by Audi, Dodge, Mercedes and Toyota during the Super Bowl. Doritos and M&Ms were good examples too.

GoDaddy had the worst commercial of the Super Bowl. According to Twitter accounts, and we all know how accurate those are, “Walter” needed more than 60 takes to shoot the commercial. By the looks of Bar Refaeli at the end of the commercial, six takes were too many.

As for the game, it’s nice to see Joe Flacco off the list of best quarterbacks to never win a Super Bowl.

Randy Moss can deservedly take possession of the title of best receiver to never win a Super Bowl.

This was the first time since 2003 in the Super Bowl, when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers played the Oakland Raiders, that Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Eli Manning or Ben Rothlisberger wasn’t in a Super Bowl.

With the emergence of Flacco, Andrew Luck, Robert Griffith III and Russell Wilson, the quarterbacks in that fantastic four probably won’t play in another Super Bowl.

Eli Manning has the best chance, but this was definitely an era-shifting Super Bowl. Time for the Patriots, Steelers, Giants and Broncos to rebuild. Ravens fans, Seahawks fans, Colts fans and Redskins fans, rejoice. Your time is now.

San Francisco 49ers fans are in good hands with Colin Kaepernick. He won’t have the Dan Marino albatross hanging around his neck, not as long as Frank Gore, Michael Crabtree and Patrick Willis stay Niners.

Flacco, on the other hand, might fall into the Mark Rypien, Trent Dilfer category of Super Bowl quarterbacks. Good enough to win one, but his supporting cast probably doesn’t have another Super Bowl run in them.

Make no mistake, the strength of this Ravens team was the defense. Ray Lewis and Ed Reed, the heart and soul of the defense, are at the end of their careers. It will be hard to find players to pick up the slack in their absence.
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The Los Angeles Kings, your reigning Stanley Cup champions, are 2-2-2 after the first six games of the season. Before pressing the panic button, remember the Kings were the eighth seed, the last team to make the playoffs, last year.

Once in the playoffs, the Kings rolled, easily dispatching the top-seeded Vancouver Canucks in the first round. Then the St. Louis Blues, then the Phoenix Coyotes before toppling the New Jersey Devils in the Stanley Cup finals.

Still, after six games, only two players have scored more than one goal. Jeff Carter leads the team with three. Kyle Clifford leads the team in scoring with five points, one goal and four assists.

The whole team has scored only 11 goals in six games. That comes out to a 1.83 goals per game. It doesn’t take a math whiz to figure out a team isn’t going to win many games scoring less than two goals a game.

But this team seems built for the playoffs. Let’s hope they are built for the playoffs. They need to figure out a way to get into the playoffs for all of us to find out.
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The Hart and West Ranch boys basketball teams look like they are headed for a share of the Foothill League championship.

The two teams are tied for first place in the Foothill League standings. They both have 7-1 records. They both beat one another in Foothill League play. The Wildcats won the league opener. Hart avenged that loss two weeks ago.

They are both contenders for CIF championships as well. Hart has been ranked No. 1 in the Southern Section Division 3AAA poll, but has slipped to No. 2 in recent weeks.
West Ranch was ranked as high as No. 2 in the Division 1AA poll, but dropped to No. 3 after losing to Hart.

Still both teams are poised to make deep playoff runs, perhaps even a trip to a CIF championship game.
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The Valencia girls basketball team won its first seven Foothill League games before losing to Canyon on Friday night. The Vikings look like they will finish with at least a share of the Foothill League title with the Canyon girls.

But once CIF playoffs start, the Valencia girls might have a tough time. They are in the Southern Section Division 1AA, the top division in the Southern Section. They are ranked seventh in Division 1AA.

Mater Dei, the reigning CIF State Division 1 champion, is the top-ranked team in Division 1AA. Long Beach Poly and Milikan are No. 2 and No. 3. The Vikings will be lucky to make it past the quarterfinals, but it would still be a good playoff run.

Canyon, on the other hand, is tied with Valencia for first place in the Foothill League standings and will have a little easier time in the CIF playoffs.

The Canyon girls are in the Southern Section Division 2AA and ranked No. 6. Cajon is ranked No. 1. There are a couple teams from Ventura County, Camarillo and Thousand Oaks, in the top 10. For the most part, the competition in Division 2AA is nowhere near as tough as Division 1AA.

But like Valencia, if the Canyon girls can reach the quarterfinals of the playoffs, it will be a good run.

Tim Haddock is the sports director for KHTS AM 1220. He writes for USA Today, the Team USA website, SB Nation and the Ventura County Star. He can be reached by e-mail at tim@hometownstation.com. Follow him on Twitter @thaddock.

It wasn’t until I received a Facebook message from a friend of a friend asking if I could help cover a story for USA Today that I started giving Lennay Kekua any more than a passing thought.

Of course, Lennay doesn’t exist. She is the fake girlfriend of Notre Dame star linebacker Manti Te’o. She made a great story, though, becoming the tragic love interest of one of the most popular college football players in the country.

But instead of living happily ever after, like all good fairy tales, she wound up in a car accident, then contracted leukemia and died. Te’o told Sports Illustrated and ESPN, among other reputable media outlets, about his girlfriend’s tragic demise. They all bought it, never once stopping to ask if she had any family members, friends or classmates who were grieving as passionately as Te’o.

Te’o claimed he was duped. Writers and editors at Sports Illustrated claimed they were duped. Reporters and producers at ESPN claimed they were duped. As the hoax unraveled, a trail led to Palmdale, where the suspected creator of the fake girlfriend lived.

Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, a once promising football player at Antelope Valley and Paraclete high schools, was fingered as the perpetrator of the preposterous. I drove up the Antelope Valley Freeway in the middle of the night in search of Tuiasosopo with the hopes he would say something to explain why he created a fake girlfriend for Te’o, what was his motivation, and why did he carry on with the charade for as long as he did.

I wasn’t the only one on the hunt either.
When I arrived on the cozy cul-de-sac in Palmdale where Tuiasosopo’s family lived, a reporter from the Daily Mail in England greeted me. From a quiet car parked on the street, I heard the subtle whispers, “Mate, mate, do you live here?”

Well, no, I was there to see if Tuiasosopo lived at one of the houses at the end of the cul-de-sac, was the response. The Daily Mail reporter was staking out the house for a few hours. There was an old lady in the house who answered the door when he knocked. She told him to leave and the family had no comment.

TV news vans and a reporter from the Associated Press arrived later that night. None of us had any luck finding Tuiasosopo. The next day even more media members were camping out on the street. Reporters from ESPN, Reuters, Good Morning America as well as the usual suspects spent the day outside the Tuiasosopo house.

Whoever was tweeting from Kekua’s Twitter account promised a statement at 11 a.m. That proved to be another joke in the same vein as the original hoax of creating a fake girlfriend.

After two days of waiting for Tuiasosopo to offer any comment about Te’o, Kekua or the relationship between the two, I was ready to move on. It was clear the person or people orchestrating the hoax had no interest in coming clean.

All we have left is to speculate on the motivation. Money? Te’o hasn’t said he was asked for money or extorted in any way. All he has said is that he is a victim, 100 percent, and had no role in creating the fake girlfriend. That’s hard to believe.

Could it be that Tuiasosopo is some 20-something old kid with no job, no college and too much time on his hands? He and his friends, because it appears there was more than one person pretending to be Kekua, still have way too much time on their hands. No one from the family is talking, even the father, Titus Tuiasosopo, a pastor at a church in the Antelope Valley. Ronaiah Tuiasosopo has almost completely disappeared. Te’o told ESPN that he talked to Ronaiah and he apologized. But how can anyone believe anything Te’o says at this point?
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Another liar whose pants are on fire is Lance Armstrong. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, he admitted to doping during his seven Tour de France victories. He was the cheatiest of the cheaters in cycling. But it wasn’t so much that he lied about doping that is so offensive. It is that he reportedly bullied and threatened anyone who questioned his claims of racing clean.

Teammates, sponsors, even cycling officials and organizers experienced Armstrong’s furor. He sued people who accused him of cheating. He won million-dollar settlements from people and newspapers he sued for libel and defamation. It looks like all those people are vindicated, but still had to pay for being whistleblowers.
Armstrong told Oprah he was sorry for cheating. It sounded like a desperate plea from an athlete at the end of his career. His Live Strong campaign is dying. He is losing supporters quicker than Mitt Romney on Election Day.

Armstrong has plenty to be sorry for. But again, who is going to believe his sincerity at this point?
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Now for some good news. The Master’s College women’s basketball team is having one of the best seasons in school history. The Lady Mustangs won their first 17 games and are ranked No. 8 in the NAIA.

Their most recent victory, over Biola 59-53 on Saturday, was their fourth in a row in Golden State Athletic Conference play.

The Master’s College women led 35-9 at halftime. But Biola made a furious charge in the second half, outscoring the Lady Mustangs, 44-24.

Still, The Master’s College women held on and won by six points.
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It didn’t take long for hockey fans to forgive the NHL for the 113-day lockout that postponed the start of the NHL season for nearly three months.

The shortened season opened to sold-out arenas across North America on Saturday. Staples Center was one of those sold-out arenas. Kings fans, players, coaches and staff celebrated raising the first Stanley Cup championship banner to the rafters.
Then the party quickly soured, as the Kings lost to the visiting Chicago Blackhawks, 5-2, and trailed 3-0 after the first period.

Well, at least it’s a long season. Oh wait, no it’s not. Better pick it up, Kings.

Tim Haddock is the sports director for KHTS AM 1220. He writes for USA Today, the Team USA website, Ventura County Star, the SCV Beacon and SB Nation. He can be reached by e-mail at tim@hometownstation.com. Follow him on Twitter @thaddock.

In the immortal words of Wayne Campbell: Game On!

The NHL season will commence after a 113-day lockout. Reports indicate that the season will be at least 48 games and could start as soon as Jan. 19.

Don’t forget, you can listen to every Kings game on AM 1220 KHTS.

The big question is will the fans come back? Of course they will. They always do. It might take years for the NHL to attract the casual sports fan. But casual sports fans have never embraced hockey. It is a niche sport, in the same vein as beach volleyball or NHRA drag racing. It has a loyal fan base, but no mass appeal.

Hockey in Los Angeles showed some signs of life during the Stanley Cup playoffs last year. The Kings made an unlikely run as the eight seed out of the Western Conference to win their first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history.

Tickets for Stanley Cup Finals games were going for $500 for the cheapest seats and there were no empty seats at Staples Center for the series against the New Jersey Devils.

Let’s see if the Kings can sell out the delayed opening night, when the team can raise its one and only Stanley Cup championship banner.

It shouldn’t be a tough sell, but it will be a good indicator if the NHL and the Kings have a strong fan base in Los Angeles.

Now for some player updates. The Kings all-star forward Anze Kopitar injured his knee while playing for a team in Sweden, according to a report from ESPN. He is expected to be out three weeks.

Since the season probably won’t start for at least another two weeks, that might make for some good timing. But no team has much room for error, with less than 50 games of a regular season to jockey for playoff position.

More potentially bad news: Kings goalie Jonathan Quick is looking for medical clearance after having off-season back surgery. He is expected to be cleared, but recovering from back surgery can be a little tricky. Just ask Dwight Howard.

On the bright side, the NHL is coming back. The deal should keep the puck on the ice for another 10 years. The Kings have a team that should contend for another Stanley Cup. All in all, it’s a good time to be a hockey fan. Hug one if you find one.
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Wonder who will have a statue outside Staples Center first: a Clipper or a Spark. The Sparks already have two retired numbers hanging in the rafters at Staples Center. The Clippers don’t even have a ribbon yet.
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The UCLA and USC football teams ended their seasons with bowl losses. UCLA lost to Baylor in the Holiday Bowl. USC lost to Georgia Tech, the only team in a bowl game with a losing record, at the Sun Bowl.

UCLA lost three games in a row to end its season. Two of those came against Stanford, though.
The Trojans became the first team in NCAA history to be ranked as the preseason No. 1 team and lose six games.

Neither team gave their fans much to look forward to in 2013.
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The Hart boys basketball team won its first 16 games of the season. The Indians are undefeated with three tournament championships, including its own Holiday Classic over the high school winter break.

It’s quite a streak, one shy of the franchise record 17-game winning streak the Clippers went on in December. It has people talking about the Campbell Hall team that went undefeated at 32-0 in 2005. Memories of the Glendale team that went 28-0 in 1985 are surfacing.

What people can’t remember is if any Hart team started 16-0. There have been some talented teams at Hart in the past, one that made the Southern Section finals eight years ago, but even that team had some losses in the regular season.

As good as the Hart boys have been playing, there are a couple other unbeaten teams in the Santa Clarita Valley.
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The Saugus girls soccer team, ranked No. 3 in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 poll, ran its unbeaten streak to 15 games after winning the Los Tacos Tournament over host Flintridge Sacred Heart in Glendale.
The Saugus girls won the championship match, 5-4 on penalty kicks, after the two teams played to a 1-1 draw in regulation. The result of the game officially goes down as a tie, putting Saugus at 13-0-2.
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The Master’s College women’s basketball team improved to 13-0 with a 96-62 win over Simpson on Saturday night.

The Lady Mustangs, ranked No. 13 in the NAIA, are off to their best start in school history.

The Master’s College women are getting production from all over the roster. Kimmie Iverson was the latest, scoring 18 points and making six 3-pointers off the bench to lead The Master’s College in scoring against Simpson. Six players scored in double figures for the Lady Mustangs.
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The Hart boys and girls soccer teams made a sweep of the championships at their own Showcase Tournament before the end of 2012.

The Hart boys shut out Valencia, 1-0, in the championship match.
The Hart girls shut out Quartz Hill, 3-0, in the other championship match.

Both teams repeated as Hart Soccer Showcase Tournament champions.

Tim Haddock is the sports director at KHTS AM 1220. He also writes for the SCV Beacon, the Team USA website, Ventura County Star and SB Nation. He can be reached by e-mail at tim@hometownstation.com. Follow him on Twitter @thaddock.