With the Presidents Weekend holiday pushing up the week’s regular season schedule a day to make room for open dates on both Friday and Monday for Metro Conference teams, regularly scheduled basketball games on Friday were played on Thursday this week (as well as regularly scheduled Wednesday games being played on Tuesday).
The result was to create a high school sports lovers extravaganza of events on Thursday, with boys and girls basketball joining previously scheduled match-ups in boys and girls soccer, girls water polo and roller hockey.
The San Diego Section even held its dual meet championship finals on Thursday (which involved one Metro team).
Here’s a snapshot look at the day’s (and evening’s) events:
Boys soccer
The Hilltop Lancers completed the opening round of Metro-Pacific League play in sole possession of first place in the league standings with a 2-0-1 record. The Lancers are still in first place after Thursday’s 1-1 draw against second-ranked Chula Vista.
Hilltop opened the week with a 2-0 victory against visiting Sweetwater on Tuesday while Chula Vista played to a 1-1 tie against visiting Castle Park. The Lancers improved to 2-0-2 in league play following Thursday’s marquee draw while the Spartans saw their record go to 1-0-3 in four league matches.
Hilltop is 8-7-7 overall while Chula Vista, riding a marathon 19-match unbeaten streak (13-0-6), is 13-2-6.
The Spartans appear headed for a top tier berth in the upcoming Open Division playoffs while the Lancers appear, at this point, as if they will secure at least a bottom tier berth in the Division I playoffs.
With two matches remaining, however, the league title remains up for grab. Castle Park finished 1-1-1 in its opening three Metro-Pacific League games and has second-round match-ups against both Hilltop and Chula Vista left on its slate.
Metro-Pacific League Standings
Hilltop 2 – 0 – 2 8pts
CVHS 1 – 0 – 3 6 pts
CPH 1 – 2 – 1 4 pts
SUHI 1 – 3 – 0 3pts
In Metro-Mesa League action, Eastlake battled to a 2-2 draw with visiting Olympian to extend its league-leading mark to 5-0-1. The tie, coupled with Otay Ranch’s 1-0 loss at Bonita Vista, gave the 2014-15 league title to the Titans.
The league title is the first in program history for Eastlake, according to head coach Jason Renfro.
“It feels great — it’s my third year and, coming in, I felt there was rich talent in this area,” Renfro said. “It’s something great to accomplish but there’s still a long road to CIF.”
The tie dropped the Titans (9-4-3) to No. 3 in the Division III power rankings while moving the Eagles (0-4-2 in league, 5-11-4 overall) up from No. 13 to No. 11 in the Division II power rankings. The top 12 teams in the division qualify for the playoffs.
Eastlake advanced to last year’s CIF semifinals before losing to Fallbrook in a kicks-from-the-mark tiebreaker.
Renfro said this year’s team has been built to build on pressure by competing against top opponents in the early part of the season.
“This year’s team is collectively more together on and off the field — it’s a stronger bonded team,” the EHS coach noted. “I think one of our strengths is to stay composed because we’ve sort of been there and done that this season. We have the confidence that we know we can come back and score that game-winning goal when we need to.”
Kellen Sewell and Cade Alejos each scored goals in Thursday’s draw against Olympian.
The Titans play both of their remaining league games on foreign turf next week — Tuesday at Otay Ranch and Thursday at Mater Dei Catholic. “If we can pick up wins in both those games, maybe we can jump over La Jolla Country Day in the power rankings,” Renfro said.
Bonita Vista snapped a long winless spell with its key victory against Otay Ranch to improve to 1-3-3 in league play, 10-6-6 overall. The Barons moved past No. 2 Montgomery (12-5-6) to seize the No. 1 power ranking among Division IV teams.
Girls soccer
Bonita Vista retained hold on first place in the Metro-Mesa League standings by virtue of its 3-0 win at Otay Ranch. The Barons improved to 6-1 in league play, 12-5-2 overall. Bonita Vista is ranked No. 4 in the Division I power rankings while Eastlake (3-1-1 in league, 12-2-1 overall) is ranked No. 5. Both appear headed for berths in the upcoming Open Division playoffs.
Natalya Romaine scored two goals to lead the Barons while goalkeeper Amber White received credit for the shutout win.
Otay Ranch (1-2-3 in league play) is 13-4-4 overall and currently owns the No. 4 power ranking among Division III section teams.
The Division IV power rankings feature a trio of Metro teams at the top: No. 1 Olympian (14-4-3), No. 2 Mater Dei Catholic (9-7-3) and No. 3 Chula Vista (10-8-2). Meanwhile, Southwest (12-6-1) is ranked No. 5 in the division.
Boys basketball
Eastlake defeated Olympian, 75-32, while Otay Ranch handed Bonita Vista a 72-63 setback to draw closer to idle Mater Dei Catholic in the Metro-Mesa League standings. Mater Dei Catholic is 5-1 in league play, 15-9 overall, while Eastlake is 4-2 in league play, 14-10 overall, and Otay Ranch is 4-3 in league play, 16-11 overall. Bonita Vista is 3-4 in league play, 17-11 overall, while Olympian is 0-6 in league play, 6-17 overall.
Oscar Limon poured in 30 points to pace Otay Ranch while Justin Young dropped in 24 points to lead Eastlake.
Mater Dei Catholic sank Bonita Vista 45-36, on Tuesday to improve to 5-1 in league play, 15-9 overall. Miles Norris led MDCHS with 12 points and 15 rebounds.
The five Metro-Mesa League teams figure into a wide range of playoff possibilities:
Bonita Vista is ranked No. 1 among Division IV teams while Otay Ranch is No. 9 among Division II teams, Mater Dei Catholic is 16th among Division I squads and Eastlake (Division I) and Olympian (Division III) are both hovering near the cutoff for their respective divisions.
Metro-Pacific League leader Sweetwater (4-0 in league, 16-9 overall) is No. 5 among Division II teams following Thursday’s 71-34 win at Castle Park. Hilltop, which defeated visiting Chula Vista, 66-29, to improve to 3-1 in Metro-Pacific League play, 14-11 overall, is ranked No. 4 among Division IV teams.
C.J. Cadua had 11 points to lead Sweetwater while Michael Bembry paced Hilltop with 12 points in the teams’ respective wins.
Montgomery kept its championship hopes alive in the Metro-South Bay League after topping San Ysidro, 66-60, on Thursday behind 21 points from Charles Crawford. The Aztecs moved to 2-2 in league play (14-13 overall) behind league co-leaders San Ysidro and Mar Vista, both 3-1 in league play.
San Ysidro is 14-12 overall while Mar Vista is 11-10 overall. San Ysidro currently sites out of the Division I playoffs with the No. 22 power ranking (the top 20 make it in) while Mar Vista is ranked No. 12 in Division IV.
Girls basketball
Chula Vista topped visiting Hilltop, 32- 27, on Thursday to improve to 4-0 in Metro-Pacific League play. Julia Chambers led the Spartans with 10 and 13 rebounds while teammate Breanna Morales also dropped in 10 points. Brittany Gafare led Hilltop with 10 points.
Hilltop (11-11) ranks No. 6 among Division III teams while Chula Vista (11-14) ranks No. 14 among Division II teams.
Bonita Vista, which is 3-4 in Metro-Mesa League play, ranks No. 5 among Division II teams with a 17-6 overall record.
Eastlake, with a 4-1 record in Metro-Mesa League play, is ranked No. 7 among Division I teams, which would make the cut-off for the Open Division playoffs.
The Spartans, braced by 12 points from Samantha Miranda and 19 rebounds from Chambers, defeated the Castle Park Trojans, 44-27, on Tuesday to improve to 3-0 in Metro-Pacific League play, 10-14 overall.
Bonita Vista handed Mater Dei a key 57-47 loss on Tuesday to drop the Crusaders (4-2 in league play) to No. 15 among Division I teams.
Girls water polo
Mar Vista defeated visiting Eastlake, 10-5, on Thursday to finish 10-0 in Mesa League competition, 21-7 overall. Next stop for the Mariners will be a berth in the upcoming San Diego Section Division II playoffs.
The MVHS girls squad will be out to match what the school’s boys water polo accomplished during the fall sports campaign, which was to place second in the CIF finals. The Mariners currently hold down the No. 2 spot in the Division II power rankings behind top-ranked Rancho Buena Vista (17-8).
Eastlake, which finished 6-4 in league play, 14-12 overall, holds down the No. 1 spot in the Division III power rankings.
Bonita Vista also finished 6-4 in the Mesa League standings, followed by HIlltop at 5-5 in league play.
Bonita Vista defeated Mater Dei Catholic, 10-6, in a game played Thursday at Southwestern College while Hilltop sped past Otay Ranch by a score of 10-1 in a game played Thursday at the Loma Verde pool.
Bonita Vista (17-9) is ranked ninth in Division II while Hilltop is ranked 10th in the same division.
San Ysidro (17-10) ranks second among Division III teams while Olympian (13-14) is ranked sixth in the division.
San Ysidro and Olympian shared this year’s South Bay League championship with identical 9-1 league records.
Six Metro Conference teams are looking to secure berths in the Division III playoff field. Castle Park (6-4 in South bay League, 6-5 overall) is ranked eighth while Mater Dei Catholic (0-10 in Mesa League play, 2-22 overall) is ranked ninth and Chula Vista (3-7 in South Bay League play, 3-9 overall) is rnaked 11th.
The section playoff seeding meeting is Saturday. Playoff action is slated to start Tuesday, Feb. 17.
San Diego Section Girls Water Polo Playoff Seeding
Metro Conference Teams
Division II
(2) Mar Vista (21-7, 10 in league)
(9) Bonita Vista (17-9, 6-4 in league)
(10) Hilltop (13-11, 5-5 in league)
First round:
Tuesday, Feb. 17
(2) Mar Vista (21-7), bye to Friday’s quarterfinals
(9) Bonita Vista (17-9) at (8) La Costa Canyon (13-13), 8 p.m. at Ecke YMCA
(10) Hilltop (13-11) at (7) Poway (11-14), 4 p.m. at Rancho Bernardo HS
Division III
(1) Eastlake (14-12, 6-4 in league)
(3) San Ysidro (17-10, 9-1 in league)
(6) Olympian (13-14, 9-1 in league)
(8) Castle Park (6-5, 5-5 in league)
(9) Mater Dei Catholic (2-22, 0-10 in league)
First round:
Tuesday, Feb. 17
(1) Eastlake (14-12) receives bye to Thursday’s quarterfinals
(3) San Ysidro (17-10) receives bye to Thursday’s quarterfinals
(8) Castle Park (6-5) at Mater Dei Catholic (2-22), 3 p.m.
(11) Oceanside (1-16) vs. (6) Olympian (13-14), 7:15 p.m. at Loma Verde pool
