Tag: High School Sports

  • Softball Starts Off Rough

    Softball Starts Off Rough

     

    The Long Beach Poly softball team has started their season with a rough stretch with a 2-4 record. Against Tustin High School Poly won 8-2 and unfortunately St. Anthonys beat us in a 7-1 loss this past weekend.
    3 year varsity player and returning shortstop  Evelyn Sablan said, “our defense did a good job, we hit the ball hard but it wasn’t the outcome we were looking for.” The girls have been playing well but some teams are better than others, but that’s not a problem for our Lady Jackrabbits they are ready to face the Moore League teams and hope to win Moore League.
    Their next game is not until March 25 which gives the team time to practice harder and improve on their communication skills. Returning catcher, senior Crystal Cepeda says, “I’m looking forward to playing with the team after taking a year off and enjoying my last year playing softball as a senior.”
    Another key point is that the team needs to work together as two year returning varsity catcher Alexis Durand said “I’m looking forward to everyone playing together as a team, I think we can be better than last year if we put in enough hard work we can succeed.” The team has a lot of potential this upcoming season after moving players up from junior varsity. “There is a lot more talent on the team, which should lead to a Moore League title,” said senior Jaclyn Pangelinan.

  • Basketball’s Journey through CIF

    Basketball’s Journey through CIF

    Game of the Year: Long Beach Poly vs. Chino Hills

     

    After defeating Bishop Alemany on Friday, February 17, the Long Beach Poly Boy’s Basketball team was scheduled to play the popular Chino Hills.

    The Chino Hills Huskies are the number one ranked high school basketball team in MaxPreps, and are also even more famous for members of the team called the Ball Brothers. These are three actual brothers: Lonzo, Liangelo, and LaMelo Ball. Senior Liangelo Ball and sophomore Lamelo Ball are famous on Youtube channels such as Ballislife or BallerVisions which features basketball mixtapes for the best high school phenomenons in the nation.

    The team also features three other less known yet still great players, such as sophomore

    Onyeka Okongwu and senior Elizjah Scott who are cousins with the ball brothers. The key players on the Chino Hills team all stand over 6 foot, with Okongwu being the tallest at 6’9”. This puts Poly at a height disadvantage, and the rest of the factors also make them the underdog in the matchup.

    Poly certainly knew they came in as the underdog, and certainly had an immeasurable pressure coming in. With over 2,500 tickets sold, fans sitting in the stairways of the stands and even standing on the rails, it could be seen that people expected a lot from both of the teams.

    Starting from the tip-off, Poly fought their way through the whole game. For most of the first quarter, they stayed in the lead, capped off by a near half-court shot by junior Darryl Polk at the end of the first.

    Senior Zafir Williams’s layup is denied by Chino Hills sophomore Onyeka Okongwu.

    However, Chino Hills slowly started to pull away with the victory after the first quarter ended. Although sophomore Lamelo Ball was held scoreless, big men Scott and Okongwu always found a way to get the

    rebounds to either push the ball up court or put the ball back in the hoop. The two bigs combined for 17 offensive rebounds and combined for 51 points.

    Senior Zafir Williams continued to fight, and ended with 31 points and 16 rebounds. This didn’t prove to be enough, and with Poly missing easy layups and rebounds, they ended the night with a loss of 98-74. Poly will continue on to play Corona Centennial in the consolation bracket, and Chino Hills will go on to play Mater Dei in the CIF semifinals.

    Boys vs. Alemany

    Long Beach Poly Jackrabbits played a non-league playoff game hosted by the Alemany Warriors on Friday, February 17, at 7 P.M. This game was part of the CIF Southern Section 2017 Boys Basketball Championship – Open Division. The Jackrabbits defeated the Warriors with a score of 66-48. Poly dominated most of the game.

    In the first quarter they scored 17-6, in the second quarter they scored 18-7, in the third quarter they scored 18-21, and in the fourth quarter they scored 13-14. This upgraded the Jackrabbits overall record to 22-6 and the Warriors 24-4, and both teams still have 12-0 league records. Long Beach Poly ranks 83 Nationally, 19 in California, 11 in the Southern Section, 17 in Division 1, and 11 in Division 1AA.

    Girls vs. Alemany

    On Saturday, February 18, the girls basketball team defeated the visiting Brea Olinda, 61-33. It was a closely contested contest, until the second quarter where the Jackrabbits went on a 15-4 run.

    The scoring for the Jackrabbits was lead by senior Ayanna Clark who scored 15 points and also snagged 13 rebounds on the night. This win marks number 500 for Coach Carl Buggs. Coach Buggs was as cool as a cucumber the whole game, even when Poly entered the 2nd quarter tied. “There was no adjust- ments to make, you work all year so that in that moment you know who you are, just play Poly basketball,” said Coach Buggs.

  • Softball

    The girls varsity softball team will start their season in a tournament on February 25, which is this coming Saturday at Katella High School in Anaheim. “The girls have been practicing hard to prepare for the upcoming tournament,” said senior and three-year varsity player Jacyln Pangelinan. Girls varsity softball coach Kenith Munger has been coaching for many years, and knows the game very well. He hopes to lead the team to a Moore League title.

     

    The team has a chance with the new additions to the team who came from the Junior Varsity team. First baseman and two-year varsity player Madison Demos said, “I can’t wait to get back between the lines and play.”

  • Spring Sports 2017 Preview

    Track:

    As track season is rapidly approaching, the Trackrabbits are getting ready to dominate. In order to prepare for the season they are “training for two to three hours after school and on Saturdays,” said senior Lauren Fillipow who is committed to Southern Oregon. This is a tight-knit team whose goal is to “just push each other to do our best, so that we can all improve together and since a lot of the team is seniors, we want to have a great last high school season,” said senior Melissa Tanaka.
    Nate Cooper, a junior who recently participated in a cross country race in Oregon, stated, “My personal goals for the season are similar to everyone else’s goals on the team. I hope to make my times as fast as I personally can, and to help my team as much as possible.” Hopes are high for the Trackrabbits, and we can be positive that they will live up to their expectations.

    Swim:

    The next sport for the Poly Jackrabbits in the upcoming spring season is swim. Last season for girls swim, junior Tevykah Pouv coined the Varsity group as the “dream team.” Looking back on last year, junior Priscilla Long said, “Last season for Moore League we won and it was such an amazing feeling” and for this coming season Long wants to “work towards the same goal we had last year. I’d like our team to continue to work together and stay united no matter what the outcome is.”
    For boys swim, Poly came in second with Wilson in first. Junior Ethan McCarthy stated, “This year I think we have high hopes for beating Wilson at Moore League and that’s the goal, too.” Both girls and boys swim are looking towards a bright, ambitious season.

  • Boys Basketball

    Boys Basketball

    On Saturday, February 4, the Long Beach Poly boys basketball team played Orange Lutheran at the Nike Extravaganza at Mater Dei High. Poly won the game with a score of 72 – 49.

    Poly’s senior guard, Jeremiah Sadler, made a total of 26 points throughout the game. Sadler was 9 of 16 from the field, including an impressive 5 out of 9 from 3 point range. Sadler scored 16 of those just in the first half, and made 4 out of those 5 three pointers in just the first 16 minutes of the game.

    The first quarter ended with Poly leading 27 – 11. Out of those 27 points, 13 were made by Jeremiah Sadler. Senior Myles Johnson added 13 points with 15 rebounds and senior Zafir Williams added another 11 more points and 12 rebounds.

    This game Jeremiah Sadler showed off his skills because this game was really important to him. He recently had surgery and couldn’t do anything related to basketball for 7 months. Jeremiah is just now getting back to playing basketball and adjusting to practicing and being on the court again.

    Poly’s next game is Thursday, February 9 at Long Beach Polytechnic High School vs. Compton.

  • Girls Basketball

    The Poly Jackrabbits girls basketball team won a home conference game by a score of 76- 33 against Millikan on February 1.

    The girls started off the game well, with the first quarter score being 26-8. The more games the girls have played, the more used to things they are. Their competitive side always gives them the advantage. Varsity team player, Makauaenalahni Diamond Salevao, said it best when she stated, “It was a good game. It was a little more competitive, I feel like I could have played better.”

    It seems no matter how great the Lady Jackrabbits play, they always

    feel the need for improvement. They stay hard on themselves and practice just as hard. With an overall record of 20-3, that hard work is definitely paying off.

    On the February 7, they played the Cabrillo Jaguars and the Jackrabbits ended up winning once again. There was nothing for them to worry about, as they ended the game with a score of 86-16.

    On Thursday, February 9, they will play yet another game against Compton. They have so much going on that when Makauaenalahni Diamond Salevao was interviewed, she was unclear on which game was which. As far as she’s concerned, “All the games are competitive, hard, and still very fun.”