THE PAPER DANA HILLS HIGH SCHOOL
SPORTS
PAGE 19 FRIDAY, JANUARY 22, 2010
Girls’ Basketball Undefeated in League By Stephanie Cheng Opinion Editor
The Dolphins have performed spectacularly, picking up from the steady surge of momentum from their first games of the season. They have emerged undefeated after the first four league games of the season, most notably defeating historic rivals San Clemente and
Capistrano Valley. Last night, on Jan. 21, the girls played against the Tesoro Titans. Results were unavailable at press time. The girls defeated Mission Viejo by a 23-point margin in their fourth league game, winning 55-32. With an early lead of 16-9 in the first quarter, the girls maintained the advantage for the rest of the game. Junior Haley Nordbak scored an impressive 18
points, and senior Lauren Shute scored 15 points in addition to grabbing 11 rebounds. Winning 48-37, the Dolphins competed against Aliso Niguel on Jan. 15. The girls again gained an early advantage and retained it for the remainder of the game, with junior Katherine Chastain and Shute scoring 12 points each, junior Kristi Nishihira scoring a three-pointer just before the end of the third quarter, and junior Olivia Winokur grabbing 14 rebounds.
photo by Emily Cullen
Battling against the opposition’s defense, Lauren Shute shoots over the head of her opponent while Olivia Winokur waits for the rebound.
With an impressive save by Winokur, the Dolphins defeated Capistrano Valley 5447 on Jan. 12, beating out the Cougars for first place in league. Shute and Nordbak scored 12 and 10 points in the game, respectively. Winokur earned six of her 14 total points in the remaining seconds of the game and helped pull the Dolphins to a victory. The girls played remarkably in the league opener against the San Clemente Tritons. San Clemente, which has remained undefeated in league since 1998, was beaten 57-49 on Jan. 7. Dana Hills last defeated San Clemente in 1991. Coach Taryn Commins returned to her former high school and led the girls to victory against her former coach. Shute scored 18 points, all in the third and fourth quarters, and grabbed nine rebounds; Nishihira scored a three-pointer. Nordback commented, “We were all really excited for it, because it was our new coach’s alma mater…when the time finally came to play, we were all really anxious. She continued, “We knew that we could beat them, so we just went out and played as a team. It was neck and neck for most of the game. In the fourth quarter, we started to kick up the gear a little more.” “San Clemente and Capo were our two biggest challenges, and we were about to go to
photo by Emily Cullen
Sprinting towards the basket, Kristi Nishihira leaves her defender in the dust and prepares to take a shot against the Wolverines on Jan. 15. their home courts and pull out two great victories to start off league in first place,” Winokur said. “[We’re] super excited for things to come. We’ve been working well as a team and
have had a ton of fun,” Nordbak added. Off to a thoroughly strong start in league, the girls hope to retain their title and finish their season as amazingly as it began.