Green Grass grabs Cup

 Submitted by Scott Brown

The Green Grass from AYSO Region 57 won the boys’ U14 Mayor’s Cup championship game, 3-0, over Costa Mesa Sunday.

The Grass were anchored by their stalwart defense and goaltending, which did not allow a single goal in the tournament. Max Helman had a great game and was able to shut down Costa Mesa’s top goal scorer. Court Clark made several key defensive stops making things difficult for Costa Mesa the entire game.

Goaltenders Brett Davidson and Spencer Cornman both came up with huge saves for the Grass in the championship game. In addition, Giovanni Gentosi and Armaan Patel played strong games and were both defensive standouts for the Grass. Brad Shockey patrolled midfield like a lion for the Grass. Shockey created many offensive attacks and scored a big goal in the game.

Jonathan Skolnik, Nic Sefarian, Alex Wendland and Billy Hoffman made major contributions at midfield for the Grass in Sunday’s championship game. Offensively the Green Grass was led by center forward James Pflughaupt. He distributed the ball evenly to his teammates and played a part in all three Grass goals.

Ryan Brown and Preston Riddle added some excitement to the game with their speed and dribbling skills at the outside forward position. Forwards Blake Davidson and Finn Jeffrey saved their best for the Mayor’s Cup final. Davidson showed his great speed and gritty play at right wing for the Grass. He had several shots on goal in the game and gave the Grass some breathing room by scoring the second goal of the game. Finn played a great game and scored a goal.

Basketball

Hornets 36, Thunder 28

 Reader submission

The Hornets of the Newport Mesa NJB Boys’ Division 3 defeated the Thunder.

The game was close throughout with many lead changes, but in a classic exhibition of teamwork, every player for the Hornets scored. Great team defense and the steady leadership of Will Black and Jack Pitchess at point guard led the Hornets to the final-quarter victory. Aggressive mid-range play and tough defense by James McConnoughey and Alex Rosen helped limit the opponents’ scoring opportunities. Ferocious rebounding and smart play by Michael Ferry, Aidan Steinke and Jake Burri sealed the victory.

The Big Cats win two

 Submitted by Mike Kincaid

The Newport Mesa National Basketball All-Net fifth-grade boys’ team won its first two games of the season.

The Big Cats defeated Rancho Santa Margarita, 51-35, then defeated Chino Valley, 43-22.

Newport Mesa’s team includes: Will Ueberroth, Chase Garbers, Mitchell Haly, Jacob Jones, Luke Vafiadis,Colin Pipkin, Connor Kincaid, Will Rodosky, Chase Furey and Matthew McDonald. The coach is Mike Flamson.

Newport Mesa NJB

Boys’ Division 3

Spurs 46, Gators 25

 Submitted by Buck Schwartz

The Spurs had a great team effort in a season-opening victory. Every player did a great job defensively and nearly every player contributed by scoring.

JT Schwartz led the way with 18 points and 20 rebounds, and found teammates for a few assists. Nathaniel Espinoza and Luke Chelf ran the offense scoring nine and five points, respectively. Chris Loucks scored seven points while hitting from the perimeter. Ben Siegel scored five points with some fine cuts to the basket, and Parker Susolik scored a bucket and showed great hustle.

Jake Bays played great defense and had several steals. Brandon Getter hustled and played well on defense.

Spartans 31, 76ers 20

 Reader submission

In Newport Mesa NJB Division 2 action, the Spartans and 76ers met in the opener. The 76ers were down, 22-10, at halftime, and fought back with a furious run before losing out to the quicker Spartans. The 76ers were led by Matt Morton with 10 points, six of which were in the last period. Max Nanula had six points and Braden Wolf and Henry Bagdasar scored two each.

Bruins rally in opener

 Submitted by Mark Poivre

The Newport Mesa Boys’ Sixth-Grade All-Net team scored a 53-45 come-from-behind win in its season opener against the always tough Irvine Lakers. Irvine through some sharp shooting and an aggressive full-court press, led at the half by 16 points. Newport cut the lead to 10 by the end of the third quarter. It went on to further rally with 25 points in the fourth quarter, to emerge with the victory. Leading the come-from-behind surge was Sam Kobrine, who ended the game with 20 points, as well as playing sterling defense. The other comeback kids who worked hard to win this first game were Joe Alvarado, Nick Bauer, Matt Ctvrtlik, Connor Deverian, Nate Harding,Taso Marcopulos and Carson Poivre. Cheering from the bench, on injured reserve, were Nick Premer and Charlie Stassel. Leading the team was Coach Mike Alvarado.

Boys’ Division 2

Heat 23, Blue Devils 22

 Submitted by Ralph Grippo and Greg Super

Heat players Patrick Jennings, Gianluca Vassalli, Alec Nguyen, Krishan Arora and John Holland anchored the defense and Derek Mathuny contributed the two Heat points.

For the Blue Devils, Matthew Hamadani did a great job getting open, being smart and taking good shots. Lorenzo Espinoza was tough under the boards with rebounds and disrupting the Heats’ offense. Jack Raimondo played well on defense. Will Minck played hard and brought strong leadership at every moment. Brian Roberts was everywhere and opened up many opportunities for everyone to score. Darrah Shaygan found himself boxing out anyone that was near him disrupting the Heat’s defense. Neil Ontiveros was strong and very focused providing great defense and rebounding. Chase Grippo provided assists. Nick Silvernail got many opportunities inside, creating foul shot opportunities and an outstanding offensive attack.

The Heat started their comeback with three points from Brett Super in the third quarter. Drew Johnston got hot in the fourth quarter and added eight points. Mitch Dean chipped in four points in the fourth quarter and Johnston and Dean both added another two points.

Flag Football

Mariners capture title

 Submitted by Mac Thompson

The Mariners Christian School eighth-grade boys’ flag football team won the league championship after beating Calvary Chapel, 32-8.

Late in the game, the Dolphins pulled out some razzle dazzle on fourth-and-long to secure the Christian Athletic League of Orange County’s Division I title.

Quarterback AJ Sanchez handed off the ball to wide receiver Todd Jarvis, who then tossed a 40-yard bomb to wide-open tight end Brett Olson in the end zone. That was Olson’s second touchdown of the game.

“Our team rose to the occasion time and again throughout the season and particularly in the championship game,” Coach Mike Hatcher said. “Winning takes care of itself when great players step up and make great plays.”

Hatcher credited the defense of linebacker Mason Garell, who snatched up two interceptions in the game. Also, he noted that Sanchez threw three touchdown passes.

The title game capped off a remarkable season for the Dolphins who finished 7-1 overall and 7-0 in league play.