Cif

Marina High senior Victoria Anthony was named the Lower Weight Most Valuable Player on Saturday at the 2009 CIF Inland Division Wrestling Championships at Los Osos High in Rancho Cucamonga. Anthony claimed first place in the 103-pound weight class. She finished the tournament with two falls, two technical falls and one decision. Athletes from 41 schools participated in the two-day competition that began last Friday. In the team standings, Edison finished in sixth place. Fountain Valley placed seventh and Marina was 11th.

SANTA ANA — Anthony Brown said the Ocean View High boys’ basketball team wanted to set the tone early in Friday night’s CIF Southern Section Division IV-AA semifinal game. The No. 3-seeded Seahawks, as it turned out, wanted to play smash-mouth basketball against No. 2 Serra. “We wanted to attack them right from the beginning and not them let them have a chance to get in the game, or think they could play with us,” junior guard Anthony Brown said.

HUNTINGTON BEACH — They’ve spent time before every game of every CIF playoff match in a circle, chanting the words "I believe, I believe that we can win" over and over again. "That’s our word that we go by," senior outside hitter Kellie Turner said. "Just, ‘believe.’ " The Huntington Beach High girls’ volleyball team has always believed in its Cinderella story. Now everyone else can, too. The unseeded Oilers upset No. 2-seeded Santa Barbara in four games Tuesday night at home, 25-21, 15-25, 25-21, 25-18, advancing to the CIF Southern Section Division IA final.

Guards Maya Kennedy and Kelsey Minato - two key figures in leading the Huntington Beach High girls' basketball team to a share of the Sunset League championship and a spot in the CIF Southern Section Division 1A title game - have been named to the 2011-12 All CIF-Southern Section Division 1A Team. The 10-member team was headed by senior Jillian Alleyne of Summit, who was named Player of the Year. Summit, which defeated Huntington Beach in the Division 1A championship game in early March at Anaheim Arena, also had LaTrina Duncan named Coach of the Year.

Brandice Cutspec thought she had hit a pop up to the outfield. It wasn’t until the sophomore said she heard “loud cheering” from Ocean View fans and then caught teammates jumping up and down out of the corner of her eye that she knew she hadn’t hit into just any routine fly out. Cutspec’s sixth-inning shot cleared the fence in left-center field, helping the Ocean View softball team to an 8-3 victory against Bishop...

ANAHEIM - The Huntington Beach High girls' basketball team had nearly enough firepower in its arsenal to knock off another giant. Three days after taking down second-ranked El Toro, third-ranked Huntington Beach gave top-ranked Summit all it could handle in Friday's CIF Southern Section Division 1A championship game at Anaheim Arena. The SkyHawks scored the final five points of the game to pull out a 56-51 victory to give the school its first Southern Section title in girls' basketball.

For a photo gallery click here. IRVINE — Brandice Cutspec thought she had hit into a pop up to the outfield. It wasn’t until the sophomore said she heard “loud cheering” from Ocean View fans echo in her ears and then caught teammates jumping up and down out of the corner of her eye as she headed toward first base in the bottom of the sixth inning of Saturday’s CIF Southern Section Division IV softball title game...

HUNTINGTON BEACH - Marina High's baseball team is headed next week to Long Beach. It's the destination all CIF Southern Section Division 1 teams want to get to at this late stage of the prep season. It's the home to Blair Field, site of the Division 1 semifinals. Marina made its reservation for the division's Final Four on Friday by defeating visiting Agoura, 3-1. The Vikings, runner-up to the Sunset League title, will take on Los Angeles Loyola in one semifinal game Tuesday.

The second round of the CIF Southern Section softball playoffs proved to be the undoing for three local teams. On Tuesday, Marina and Edison were eliminated from title contention in Division 1, and Ocean View the same in Division 4. Sunset League champion Marina held the lead at Etiwanda late but the host Eagles rallied in the bottom of the seventh inning to pull out a 6-5 victory to move on to Thursday's quarterfinals. Sophomore Emili Olague went two for three with a double and two runs batted in , and senior Bella Secaira had a single and RBI for Marina.

Marina High is moving on in the CIF Southern Section baseball playoffs after picking up a big road victory Tuesday. For two other teams that day, the season came to an end. Marina advanced to the Division 1 quarterfinal round for the first time since 2009 after the Vikings traveled to Thousand Oaks and returned home with an 11-4 second-round win. Their Sunset League brethren, Fountain Valley and Huntington Beach, were eliminated in second-round losses,...

ORANGE - Craig Pazanti cradled the championship plaque securely under his left arm while he wiped his brow with his right hand late Saturday night at center court at Santiago Canyon College. "I've been telling the kids all year that I thought they were the best team," Pazanti said, still wiping away sweat on occasion, the beads the result of an intense match his Huntington Beach High boys' volleyball team had just fought through, and survived. Pazanti was proven right - his Oilers are the No. 1 team.

ORANGE - Craig Pazanti cradled the championship plaque securely under his left arm while he wiped his brow with his right hand late Saturday at center court at Santiago Canyon College. "I've been telling the kids all year, that I thought they were the best team," Pazanti said, the sweat he was still wiping away on occasion, the beads the result of an intense match his Huntington Beach High boys' volleyball team had just fought and survived. Pazanti was proven right - his Oilers are the No. 1 team.

Marina, Edison, Huntington Beach and Ocean View softball teams learned of their respective opponents in the CIF Southern Section playoffs, as pairings were released Monday. In Division 1, Marina (24-3), the Sunset League champion, plays host to Tuesday's wild-card winner in Thursday's first round. The Vikings await the winner between Corona (17-14, Big VIII League at-large) at Moreno Valley Rancho Verde (14-9, Inland Valley League No. 3) Edison (20-10), the Sunset League second-place team, plays at Moreno Valley Valley View (13-14, Inland Valley League No. 2)

Huntington Beach High and Edison are moving on in the CIF Southern Section boys' volleyball playoffs. Both the Oilers and Chargers started postseason play Tuesday, and both swept their opponents in first-round Division 1 matches. The Oilers won, 25-9, 25-23, 25-11, at home over Alemany (Mission League No. 4). The Chargers went on the road to face Aliso Niguel and knocked off the South Coast League champs, 25-17, 27-25, 25-15. In Huntington' win, Brenden Sander had 13 kills, TJ DeFalco 11 kills and nine digs, and Matt Butler had 22 assists.

TUSTIN — Less than two weeks ago, the Ocean View High boys' basketball team used a torrid shooting night to nearly upset Bellflower St. John Bosco in the semifinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 3A playoffs. In the first round of the CIF State Division 3 Regional playoffs Tuesday against Tustin, the Seahawks turned to their defense to hang with the host Tillers, a team that on Feb. 28 won the CIF Southern Section 3AAA championship. That defensive effort kept the Seahawks within striking distance, but the Tillers began to pull away midway through the third quarter, and went on to post a 65-48 victory.

The Huntington Beach High boys' volleyball team entered the season with a lofty ranking of No. 3 in CIF Southern Section Division 1. Tuesday on their home floor, the Oilers lived up to their preseason billing. Huntington opened its 2013 campaign with a sweep, as the Oilers defeated Servite, 25-19, 25-18, 25-19. Senior middle blocker Andrew TenBrink had 14 kills, junior outside hitter Brendan Sander 10 kills, senior setter Matt Butler 13 digs and junior middle blocker Drake Evans had three blocks.

IRVINE - It wasn't the ending envisioned, but it's the journey that the Ocean View High girls' water polo program will always cherish when the Seahawks look back on the season. Ocean View played from behind the entire way of Saturday's CIF Southern Section Division 7 championship game against Hemet at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center. The top-seeded Seahawks had their dream of winning the program's first section title in the sport denied by the third-seeded Bulldogs who earned a 6-2 victory.