Soccer and Volleyball Preview

Yet another wild and crazy year ahead?

Will this season’s varsity soccer and volleyball competition be as intense, hard-fought, and topsy-turvy as last year’s?
Could be.
It will, of course, be hard to duplicate the heart-pounding excitement induced by the worst-to-first comeback of last year’s Christian Learning girls volleyball team in the playoffs; and one almost has to hope that this year won’t see more than half of the boys soccer games ending in ties. (A tie, as someone has said, is like getting kissed by your sister.)
But very definitely things could be close again. Here’s the rundown on how the teams will shape up when the season starts Sept. 1.

Boys Soccer -- Junior is a Senior
Incredibly, Cambridge was the only team last year to win more than one game – and only one other team managed that many. All the other games – seven of the 12 played -- ended in ties.
The Knights won all of four games and could claim to be undefeated. However, Cambridge was tied twice and was only able to beat winless (but much-tied) International in the semifinals in a shootout after two scoreless overtime periods.
The Knights will again have Junior Sanchez – Junior is now a senior – who led the League in scoring by a very wide margin last year with 17 goals. However, they will not have Martin Pacor, the League’s second high scorer (with five), who has graduated, and who teamed up with Sanchez on several goals.
And that’s not all of Cambridge’s losses through graduation and students leaving the city. The Knights must replace goalie Juan Manuel Salas; stalwart defenders Christopher Cocciani, Yeshen Li Tan, and Jhonny Sejas; as well as swift and ever-dangerous strikers Nicolas Gamboa and Zhau Fua Zhou Zeng.
But they will be counting on tested players like Alexander Nagel, Fabricio Subirana, Matias Martinez and Alvaro Lopez, as well players coming up from last year’s strong junior varsity team to fill those gaps such as Javier de las Hera, Anthony Salvatierra, and Herless Diaz. The Knights will again be coached by Carlos Eulert.
Christian Learning, for its part, will have to learn to get along without two of its top scorers top scorers from last year, Esteban Eguez and Alex Apodaca, and may have even more trouble replacing goalie Alejandro Garcia, widely regarded as the best in the League last year. That could mean this season will be a “rebuilding year” for the Eagles.
On the other hand the Eagles will have ever-dangerous striker Josh Mojica and all-star defender Danny Canaviri to build around. The Eagles´ fate will depend on how quickly veteran coach Douglas Montaño can bring along his younger players.
Cooperative had perhaps the fewest losses due to graduation and looms as the biggest threat to Cambridge. The Jaguars will have back four potent scorers – Jose Alfredo Abuawad, Jose Maria Vasquez, Jean Andre Bretel, and Federico Sauto. The Jaguars could also get scoring help from Santiago Paz, who was the leading junior varsity scorer last year with 25 goals. Cooperative will also be augmented by another freshman flash, Jung Kim.
The Jaguars will be coached by former athletic director (now dean of students) Nicolaas Mostert, and will no doubt be hungry to be the first Jaguar boys varsity team to win a championship since 2006.
Last, but unlikely to be least, International will have one of its top scorers from last year, Jorge Harriague, to lead its effort to get back atop the League. (Cambridge and International have taken turns winning the championship over the last four years.) However, the Griffins will have to compensate for the loss of its other top scorer, Juan Javier Estennsoro.
A strong core of new additions may more than compensate for that loss, including seniors Diego Nostas and Mateo Terrinoni. Coach Eduardo ¨Presi¨ de la Riva expects to have outstanding goaltending with Santiago Maldonado in the nets.

Girls Soccer -- Jaguars could be even better
Again this year one has to like the prospects of the Cooperative girls varsity, which will have the services of a platoon of talented young players who enabled the Jaguars to run amok (and undefeated) through the League last year – with some important additions.
Back again is the League’s top scorer from last year, Tania Landivar (who is still only a ninth grader), as well as Cecelia Aponte, Carla Limpias, Sofia Sotelo, and Talia Rozenman.
Eighth grader Giovanna Varalta, who (assisted by some pretty passing from teammates) scored both of the Jaguars’ goals in last year’s championship game, will also be returning. So too will Fernanda Vaca Diez, a star in 2007 who had to sit out the season last year because of academic ineligibility.
And that’s not all. Cooperative expects some fireworks from sisters Maria Paz and Maria Jose Ribera, freshly returned from a successful year in the United States during which they were soccer standouts for their school. The girl Jaguars will again be coached by Rolando Cabrera.
Christian Learning made the most of the only three goals it scored last year to parlay its way into the championship game. Two of its scorers – Laura Lindahl and Lindsey Kehler will be back, as will the intrepid all-around athlete Kaylyn Lampen.
The other scorer, Whitney Belovicz, has graduated. Belovicz’ departure also creates a gap at goalie, where she was usually stationed. What’s worse, the player who filled in for Belovicz in the nets when she was injured – Tabitha Malloy – has moved to the US.
In short, Coach Larry Lindahl may have to reach even more deeply into his bag of tricks – overloading the defense, shadowing the enemy stars, and boosting morale through witty and inspirational pep talks. But Lindahl has shown it can be done.
International will have to get along without its leading scorer and most formidable player from last year, Melisa Roca, but will have some experienced players to build around, including Adriana Ocampo, Mariana Chavez, Maria Gutierrez, Matilde Gamarra, Arrianne Nostas, and Natalia Suarez. Promising newcomers include Natalia Davila, Beatriz Nallar, and Ana Laura Gutierrez.
The Griffins were the only team that gave the Jaguars a hard time during the regular season. In one game the score was tied well into the second half. They could pose a powerful threat again this year.
Cambridge will be starting the season without a single player on its roster who has scored a goal. However, the Lady Knights have a big pre-season roster -- 24 players -- that includes a nucleus of talented and experienced players. Among these are veteran goalie Raquel Lopez, Mariana Escaño, Ana Saavedra Banzer, Vitania Pulis, Manuela Yañez, Lucia Candia, and Lisa Delboy.
The Knights showed last year that they were capable of playing ferocious defense, and if they can find some scoring punch they could provide some surprises.

Boys Volleyball -- The past may be prologue
International and Christian Learning have dominated this competition in recent years, with occasional threats by Cooperative to upset the applecart. That pattern seems likely to persist this year though all three teams must replace key player who have graduated or moved.
Last year the Griffins dominated regular season play, posting a 6-0 record, but were upset – and actually pushed around -- in the championship game that Christian Learning won in two quick sets.
The Griffins this year will not have captain Rodrigo Bernal, Martin Gonzales, Jose Maria Landivar, Alex Roempler, or Christopher Saltzieder, who accounted for much of its starting line-up last year. However, they will have Mauricio Nostas, David Huang, and Renato Guzman to build this year’s team around. They will also get help from some of the outstanding players from last year’s strong junior varsity team.
(Last year’s junior varsity season followed the same pattern as the varsity. International finished first during the regular season, but was bested by Christian Learning in the championship.) International’s teams, coached by Eli Vilar, have a reputation of always being well prepared.
Christian Learning, for its part, will have to find replacements for its two Big Hitters, Jeff Stabler and Esteban Eguez, along with intrepid setter Kyle Swope, who was also capable of getting up above the net when necessary.
However, their line-up was not as depleted by graduation as International’s. Danny Canaviri and Andre Larsen have demonstrated spiking skills, and Paul Estes and Nicolas Smith are tested all-around players. Their 2008 junior varsity will also add some talent to this year’s varsity.
Coaching, though, will be a question mark. Christian Learning’s teams last year were all coached by athletic director Alejandra Salto, and three of the four won championships based as much on inspiration as perspiration. Salto has moved on, leaving a big pair of sneakers to be filled by the rookie boys coach Tim Gale.
Cooperative will again be looking to its big hitter, Jose Alfredo Abuawad, who last year demonstrated consistently that he had the highest vertical leap in the league. And he will again be abetted by Diego Morales, who jumps almost as high.
Missing, however, will be David Shin, the most artful setter in the League. Nonetheless, the Jaguars feel they have a worthy successor to Shin in Wilson Salvatierra. To challenge for the championship, however, the Jaguars will have to find a way to score consistently when Abuawad is not in their front line. They will be coached by the veteran taskmaster Jesus Flores.
Based on past history, Cambridge does not figure to be much of a factor. The Knights’ boys team has not won a regular season game since 2006 (though they did win one playoff game), and many of the better players they had last year have graduated or moved.
However, the Knights do have some skilled players returning, including Fabricio Subirana, Alvaro Lopez, Alexander Nagel,and Matias Martinez. And they have a new coach, Javier Maceda Baldiviezo. The Knight boys’ problem in volleyball in the past has been lack of interest rather than lack of talent, and perhaps the new coach will be better able to get the team’s attention.

Girls Volleyball -- Everybody's the favorite
No predictions will be offered here for girls volleyball. Last year the team that finished last in the regular season with a 1-5 record, Christian Learning, stormed through the playoffs to win the championship.
And, it´s worth noting, in that championship game they did not play the team that won the regular season, International. Instead they played Cooperative, which had finished second – but beat International two out of the three times they played during the season, including in the semifinals.
Third place Cambridge, for its part, demonstrated during the season that on a given Thursday they could (and did) beat both Cooperative and Christian Learning.
And so it went.
Instead of fearless forecasts, here are the reasons why each team should be considered the favorite to win this year.
Christian Learning will again have several of the standouts from last year’s playoffs, including Kaylyn Lampen, Natalia Eguez, and Daniela Doi. Tabitha Malloy is gone, but the Eagles have at least one tall player in Rachel Moss. New coach Alfred Bloomfield will need some bright ideas as to how the Lady Eagles can get along without Alejandra Valencia and Whitney Belovicz.
International, one must remember, won the regular season last year. They lost two big stars to graduation -- Melisa Roca, the most powerful server in the League, and Fabiana Murillo, an outstanding all around player. However, they will have many of excellent experienced players back. These include Soraya Dajbura, Stephanie Giotto, Ines Fernandez, Ana Laura
Gutierrez, and Laura Adriazola. And Coach Eli Vilar’s teams always show up ready to play.
Cooperative, for its part, should win because they have shown they can come up with the big wins when they need them (except, of course, for the time they got inundated by a tidal wave of Christian Learning adrenaline in the finals).
And every one of last year’s starters is back. Last year’s fabulous freshmen are now, of course, super sophomores – Ana Paula Peredo, Carla Limpias, Sofia Sotelo, and Audrey Saucedo. They will augment sizzling seniors Karla Flores, Veronica Richter, and Ana Paola Justiniano; and jamming juniors Aldana Roda, Florencia Arnera, and Vivian Froehle; not to mention fantastic freshman Tania Landivar.
And add in another senior -- Ximena Guzman -- freshly returned from a year in Colorado, where she was a volleyball standout.
One more factor: One thing can be said of Coach Misty Skidmore’s teams: They always get better.
Cambridge, however, will also have all of its starters back from a team that came on strong in the second half of last season (though not quite strong enough). The returnees include Ana Saavedra Banzer and Helen Yong, two of the most artful servers in the League, along with hard-hitters Mariana Escaño, Raquel Lopez, and Karen Aliaga, as well as veteran playmakers Vania Rueda and Maria Fornaguera.
Cambridge has, in the past, sometrimes had trouble getting enough players to field a team, but times may have changed. There were 21 players on their pre-season list. Their new coach, Javier Baldiviezo, has told them that this year they can go all the way, and the Lady Knights reportedly believe him.

Championship tournament planned

Soccer, Volleyball slated to start Sept. 1

If God's willing, the creeks don't rise, and flu epidemic doesn't get worse, the SCISL soccer and volleyball seasons will kick off (and tap off) on Tuesday, Sept. 1, with a full slate of action planned. (See schedule at right.)
Among the innovations planned for the season ahead is a three-day tournament planned for Nov. 5-7 to determine varsity championships in soccer and volleyball.
The tournament, which is to take place at Cooperative this year, replaces the playoff system used in previous years. While plans are incomplete it is hoped to include other events such as a ¨Knowledge Bowl¨competition to test in which the four schools will also compete. Social events involving all schools could also be included.
The idea behind it is to give more opportunities for the students involved to get to know one another and enjoy the competitive experience more fully. It should also reduce the post-season scheduling problems that have come up in the past.
In addition, the junior varsity teams will participate in a full playoff, with semifinals and finals, instead of having just a championship game involving the two top teams. It is hoped this will solve the problem that occurred several times last year when two (or more) teams had similar records and it was difficult to determine who should participate in the championship game.
Previews of the varsity soccer and volleyball seasons for both girls and boys will be published later this week.

Postscripts to the "Best Ever" debate

Of "Big Men" and "Little Guys"

Before we close down the office for the season, there were a few more contributions to the forum on “Which Was the Greatest Team Ever?” that are worth repeating.
Caleb Yoder, who starred on the 2005 Christian Learning team that won the first League championship, speaks with pride of that team. “In 2005, our team was the best. We played with heart.”
But he adds that since he left Bolivia he heard about the Cambridge teams of 2006 and 2007. (Caleb didn’t radio in his current location. He does say that he heard about the discussion from a girl studying at Cambridge, so evidently he still has relationships with Santa Cruz.) In any event, he was surprised – and impressed – to hear that Cambridge had won in those years.
“That was something curious for me,” he continues. “I remember Cambridge as a young team. They looked like kids. I think they had guys from ninth grade. “We (Christian Learning) always had big guys, and not having big guys is a big disadvantage.”
He concludes that Cambridge “must have grown up a lot” in the years after he left. And based on that he says, “I choose Cambridge [of 2007] as the best team ever, because of its improvement. Because they didn’t have big guys, they had to play as a team . . . and they had to mature as well. A team is not just 10 players. A team is a family.”
Interestingly those same themes about teams “growing up” and “family,” and not having “big guys” was echoed in a message received from Manfred Grote, the center on the 2007 Cambridge team, who is now studying at a university in Berlin, Germany, where he now lives with his family. Speaking apparently of his team as well as the Christian Learning team of 2007, he says “We were the children of the coaches.”
This was particularly so at Cambridge. No one at Cambridge, he says, had played basketball before the League competition started in 2005. They learned the game and were molded by their coach, Vince Coronado. The 2007 team was the “payoff” for three years of hard work and training. “Everything we did was the outcome of what he taught us,” Grote says.
He remembers and respects the Christian Learning team of 2005. They were, he says, the “real show,” artfully working the ball into their “big men.” The teams in 2007 were different, he says, and to his way of thinking, better.
In 2007, “those little kids [on both teams] had no big man anymore. They just had to go and score [themselves]. It was a fight of skills, training, tactics, defense and shooting.” Repeating the main point made by current International basketball coach Eduardo “Presi” de la Riva in an earlier article, Grote says, “2007 was the year of FULL TEAM VS. FULL TEAM.”
There was also a special chemistry to that year, he feels, because “all the players in almost every team knew each other. We had been playing against each other for more than three years straight.” That added to the intensity of a competition in which players “grew” and “evolved” on the court to become “better ballplayers.”
Grote is remembered by many as taller than he was because he is one of the few players in League history who could take the ball above the rim. “But I was only 6-1,” he notes. “I could just jump high.” (That he could. Until this year Grote was a co-holder of the League high jump record.)
So which team does he vote for as best ever? “Cambridge won the finals by one point, so as a proud member of that team I’ll have to say Cambridge. But we all know both teams were on the same level.”
Reading about the 2007 championship game “made me kind of cry,” he adds at the end. Nothing in life since then has aroused quite the same level of “feeling and passion” as the 2007 tournament,” he says. (Current players might want to reflect on this.) He still plays basketball, but it’s not the same. “It’s just a hobby,” he says.
Finally, we received another salvo from Pablo Muñoz at US Army artillery school at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. “I loved the article about the Christian Learning's success this year,” he writes, “and I agree that it is sad that there was not more competition. But don't be disappointed. Remember this is an endless cycle. This league was bound to have a season like this. But I can bet next year the competition will be very balanced as all the young players develop.”
He cites some examples from other sports to encourage Christian Learning’s 2009 opponents. “[Roger] Federer had almost a year with absolutely no contest (i.e., no [Rafael] Nadal). He won 97 percent of his games. In the NBA you got the Cavs this year going 38 wins and 1 loss at home. They seem impossible to beat. The Pepperdine 2005 mens volleyball team had 32 wins and 0 losses.”
The League, he thinks, is doing great. “While I played volleyball at International I also played on the Santa Cruz departmental team and for Universidad Catolica (with Jeff Stabler). I can tell you for certain that there are a lot of teams in the Santa Cruz league looking for volleyball players in the SCISL.
“In track and field you should know that Joseph Garay, a former International student, had one of the best times in Bolivia for 100 meters. In soccer you know how much talent there is. This league is THE BEST in the country.”
“We always have a next year,” Pablo concludes. “Plus the best part of the year is coming up, VOLLEY AND SOCCER. ( jeje).”
* * *
In closing, we might acknowledge that there was a little bit of a backlash against making so much of who was the best team in League history at this point. “The League has only existed for five years,” one player noted, quite accurately.
It may be time to admit that one of the ulterior motives of the SCISL News is to create for players and fans a sense of “serial immortality” a realization that what happens on the playing fields today is not forgotten. It lives on in memory, and is passed on to future generations as stories, thereby forming a tradition.
Traditions are important. Being part of a tradition makes one aware of the obligation one has live up to the achievements of those who have gone before, and to be an example for those who will come later. The stories of past achievements can inspire, and they can offer hope, as John F. Kennedy once said about his book, “Profiles in Courage.”
He added, and it may also be appropriate here as well, “They cannot, of course, provide courage itself. For that, each new generation must look into its own heart.”

Junior Varsity Championships

OUT OF THE WILDERNESS -- Coach Eduardo "Presi" de la Riva leads victory lap with International's first basketball champions. His T-shirt reads, "For you, Daddy!"
Jonatan Muñoz, International

International 16, Cooperative 14
Griffins outlast Jaguars in see-saw battle

The International girls junior varsity won their school's first basketball championship by defeating Cooperative 16-14 in a game that changed character completely between the first and second halves.
The first half started off as if this were going to be a relatively high-scoring affair for a couple of closely matched girls junior varsity teams. The Griffins jumped out to a quick 4-0 on a pair of baskets by Irene Vergara, but Cooperative came back to take the lead 6-4 by the end of the quarter on driving lay-ups by Tania Landivar, who would account for all of the Jaguars' points.
The two teams took turns holding the lead in the second quarter, and at halftime the Cooperative girls were ahead 12-10.
_________________________

BASKET WORSHIP -- Both teams prayed for baskets. Here the Griffins try to will Irene Vergara's shot into the hoop, while Jaguars beseech it to pop out.
Jonatan Muñoz, International

An unusually large crowd of Griffin students and faculty were present to urge their team onward with shouts and cheers, having heeded posters around the school urging them to stay for their game, which took place in the International gym.
A smaller group of Cooperative supporters was also on hand, mostly teachers and parents.
In the second half, with the championship now clearly on the line in every possession, the defenses of both teams tightened, and the shooters seemed to become more nervous.
At the end of the third quarter the score was knotted at 14-14, where it stayed until Vergara made another of her short range shots in which used her height to advantage to launch the ball accurately over the defenders.
International then took a time out that killed much of the final two minutes. (The clock continues to run during time outs in junior varsity games under a rule that is likely to come under review in the off season.)
The championship marked a big step upward for the basketball program at International under the direcrion of Eduardo "Presi" de la Riva, currently in his second season as coach of basketball.
The Griffin teams had generally finished last until last year, when the girls varsity moved up to third. This year the boys varsity reached the finals of the postseason playoffs, and the girls junior varsity triumphed, winning the playoffs after finishing first during the regulat season with a 5-1 record. Their only loss was to Cooperative.
A year ago the Griffin girls JV was winless, and was beaten on one occasion 74-6 by Cooperative, which represented the highest score ever amassed by any team in League history.
Cooperative had a down-and-up season in which the Jaguars began by losing their first two games, one a one-point loss to International, and the other a severe drubbing by Christian Learning.
But the Jaguars rallied to take their next four games, including convincing wins over Christian Learning and International. Their winning streak, however, ended Thursday.
Vergara led the scoring for International with 12 points. Angela Gagliardi and Katherin Ceballos had two points each.
Tania Landivar scored all of Cooperative's 14 points.

Knights 28, Eagles 16
Cambridge boys beat Eagles, stay unbeaten

The Cambridge boys junior varsity basketball unveiled a new, more diversified attack and took charge of the championship game against Christian Learning, winning 28-16.
The game, which was played on neautral turf in the Cooperative gym Thursday, was decided early as Cambridge took a 9-2 lead in the first quarter, and then stretched it out to 17-4 at halftime
The Little Eagles managed a minor uprising in the third quarter during which Cambridge appeared to lose focus and began to make mental errors, and cut the Cambridge lead back to nine points, 21-12.
But the Knights reasserted themselves in the fourth quarter, and won going away.
The Eagle fans on hand hoped, and the Cambridge contingent feared, that the Eagles were going put on the sort of insurrection that they had in the second regular season meeting between the two teams, which had gone into overtime, and which Cambridge had finally won by a single basket.
The Christian Learning strategy in that game had depended on shutting down Cambridge's big star, Jose Ribera, at which they were reasonably successful. This time, however, Cambridge had its full roster of players on hand, possibly for the first time this season, and was able to counter this strategy by spreading the scoring around.
Anthony Salvatierra was actually the Knights big scorer in the first half, accounting for ten of the Knights 17 points.
The Eagles for their part continued to play with elan, and kept the game from getting out of control with intensive defensive efforts, and some amazing shots by Luis Doi, Cesar Flores, and Caleb Hwang in which the ball was seemingly flung in only the general direction of the basket, and magically swished through the rim.
Hwang's shot at the final buzzer was perhaps the most amazing, fired with both hands from some distance out, while on the run.
The win completed Cambridge's undefeated season, in which the game against Christian Learning was the only one that was close. The jubilant players completed a couple of raucous, exuberant victory laps around the gym after completing the win, together with an assortment of fans, one on a rip-stick.
Salvatierra finished with ten points for Cambridge, and Ribera with nine. Alonso Tercero had three. Roberto Palenque, Kevin Mendez, and Gustavo Roca had two each.
For Christian Learning, Cesar Flores had six. Richard Enns, Nathan Brown, Claudio Sandoval and Caleb Hwang had two each. Wesley Ordoñez and Haziel Martinez had one point each.

Requiem For a Season

Is that all there is?

By David Boldt
Editorial Director

It seems as if there should be more to say about this past season and the remarkable achievements of the undefeated Christian Learning boys varsity basketball team, yet there’s nothing much left to write about
This season needs a better conclusion.
Why? In part because the Eagles were never really tested. Its closest game was a 42-26 win over Cambridge back in the first half of the season, a contest in which the two teams were actually tied (briefly) in the second quarter.
If there was justice in the world, the Eagles would have found themselves in the semifinals of the state championship, down by a basket and inbounding the ball with five seconds on the clock. The buzzer would sound as Danny Canaviri unleashed a shot from almost midcourt that rips soundlessly through the cords. Then . . . chaos.
That’s the sort of stuff of which legends are made. It would be like a movie – Hoosiers, Rocky, Friday Night Lights, Angels in the Outfield, Bad News Bears, etc. What we have this season is a screenplay without a chase to cut to.
I picked Canaviri because he is my hero, and not because of the amazing 28 points he fired in during the championship, or anything else he did this year. He is my hero because of something I saw two years ago.
I had come into the darkened Christian Learning gym long after school was out to pick up some papers from then athletic director Alejandra Salto. You couldn’t really see anything as you entered from the bright sunshine of the afternoon, but you could hear the “thunk . . . thunk . . . thunk . . . .” of grained rubber on concrete. Gradually you could make out a lone figure in the gloom at the far end of the gym.
It was Canaviri, all by himself, practicing jump shots.
One cannot help but wonder how beneficial it would be for the quality of play in the League if that kind of work ethic were more widely held. The fact that it is not has a bearing on the proposal I am about to make, and needs to be acknowledged directly.
My point, to reiterate, is that we need a more fitting finale. Let me give an example. I continue to be in contact with Juan Manuel Salas, the vagabond ex-Cambridge star now playing in Lima.
I recognize that this is a source of annoyance to many current Eagles. However, I bring this up because his club team this year had a record of success similar to that of Christian Learning, though the victory margins were not as wide.
And when last I heard his team was heading off to Buenos Aires for an international tournament of clubs, and a chance for appropriate closure to their season.
I suppose we could all offer to chip in and send the Eagles somewhere, but, frankly, I don’t think that is going to happen.
Another possibility is that they could challenge some other school in Bolivia to some sort of ad hoc national championship match. But I have no idea who. It’s possible that there is no worthy opponent.
The referees tell me that the SCISL plays high school basketball at the highest level in Santa Cruz, and the fact that Cambridge basically went through the city’s 17-and-under tournament like a hot knife through butter last year adds credibility to that.
The American Schools in La Paz and Cochabamba are not in contention. Santa Cruz Cooperative has been able to beat them handily in their "Friendship Games" in everything but soccer, even when Cooperative’s teams have finished well out of the money in the League.
So is there no possibility for a suitable test?
How about this: An exhibition match between the Eagles and a team made up of the best players from the other teams in the League?
Personally, I would pay money to see it (and this could help defray the League’s ever-threatening deficits) That is, I would pay IF that all-star agglomeration really got together and practiced. Otherwise the better organized Eagles would probably shred them much as they have all their other opponents this season.
“All-Star” games are somewhat in disrepute at present because it seems that many players look on playing in them as extra work, rather than an honor. Many athletes (including, it must be said, several Christian Learning stars) simply failed to show up for the last all-star contests. If there was a similar lack of esprit for this idea, it too would be doomed.
So it would be important to check to see if there is any enthusiasm for this idea before actually trying to bring it about. But if there were an appropriate level of support, it might be a proper way to give the season a climax.
Otherwise we could just wait until next season and figure something out then. After all, every Eagle player but one who was on the floor for this year’s championship will be back next year.
A frightening thought, no?

Varsity Boys Basketball Championship

DEE-FENSE! -- Eagle Jeff Stabler (7) suppresses a Griffin lay-up.

Jonatan Muñoz, International

Christian Learning 65, International 23
Eagles finish perfect season with excellent win

The Christian Learning boys varsity basketball team completed its undefeated season with a smashing 65-23 win over International that will go far to preserve the team's place in League history.
The Eagles posted their highest point total of the year, and missed by one point matching their biggest victory margin of the year. Moreover they did it against a determined and talented International team that came into the game shooting for the stars.
The high energy fumes that the Griffins had apparently been inhaling only lasted through the first quarter, however. At the end of it the Eagles led by only a single point, 9-8, and the large contingent of Christian Learning fans on hand in the packed gym had to be feeling a little jittery.

______________

OVER THE TOP -- Freshman Andre Larsen (14) gets off a shot over a determined (but shorter) Griffin.

Jonatan Muñoz, International

But then the floodgates opened, and by halftime the Eagles led 28-10. By the end of the third quarter it was 42-18.
And then the Christian Learning team brought in the heavy artillery. In the final quarter they outscored International 23-5.
Danny Canaviri tallied 28 poibnts, the highest total for an individual in a boys game at least in the last two years. Paul Estes was similarly unstoppable, and finished with 16 points, most of them meduim-range bombs that swished silently through the basket without disturbing the rim in the slightest.
Jeff Stabler, never a gifted shooter, picked up nine points, mainly on bruising inside rebounds. Dirty work on a basketball team that someone has to do.
Tim Zimmerman gathered seven points, gathering his rosebudswhere he might. Anytime there was a shot no one else wanted, they flipped it to Tim, who made it.
Andre Larsen got three points, less than usyal pèrhaps, but they seemed to fit in seamlessly, and Josh Mojica was credited with two points.
The Eagles did not stop International star David Huang, who got 13 points, more or less exactly his season average. But you could tell he would have liked more, and often nearly got them with his convoluted drives, contortuinistic releases, and remarkable outside shots. One could tell that he was a little over-adrenalined for the game when he uncharacteristically missed several foul shots early in the game. Later he recalibrated his sights and started sinking them without benefit of the rim, as is his custom.
Christian Learning was able to more or less shut down Huang's accomplices. Mario Rohrman, Huang's normal partner in crime, got only two points, way below his average. Nicolas "Yeyo" Bedoya, the League's high jump record holder, got only two. Once he went up high with a lay-up, as he might naturally have thought hge was entitled to to, and got stuffed by an Eagle defender, very possibly by second place high jumper Danny Canaviri.
International did get six points from Jan Ivo Sochtig, not normally a big part of their offensive game plan, but that was not enough to fundamentally alter the power relationships between the two teams.

THAT'S WHY IT'S A 'LOVING CUP' -- Eagles embrace their championship trophy.

Jonatan Muñoz, International

Girls Varsity Basketball Championship

JAGUARS REJOICE -- With the scoreboard showing the final score, Jaguar girls clebrate their victory. Joaquin Siles, Cooperative

Cooperative 21, Cambridge 20
Jaguars nip Knights by one point (once again)

The two teams had gone at each other all year long in nip-and-tuck fashion, and the playoff final was to be no different, but when the smoke cleared Friday in the Christian Learning gym the Cooperative girls varsity basketball team was posing with the championshìp trophy.
The female Jaguars defeated the Lady Knights 21-20, marking the third time that the Jaguars had defeated Cambridge this year -- once by two points, and twice by one point. The Knights had been bidding for their third straight League championship.
It was also a case of sweet revenge for the Jaguar girls, many of whom were on last year's team, which had lost to Cambridge in overtime in the finals, and lost twice during the regular season by two-point margins. This year the shoe was definitely on the other foot.
Though the margin was never large, Cooperative actually led virtually from the tap-off to the final buzzer. The three three-pointers fired in by team leader Cecelia Aponte were the key to the Jaguar victory.
The Jaguars were ahead 5-4 at the end of the first quarter, and 14-10 at the half. Cambridge caught up quickly in the second half, cutting the Jaguar margin to one at 16-15, and then taking the lead for one brief, shining moment at 17-16.
Two foul shots by Aponte put the Jaguars back on top, however, and they stayed there by one or two points for the rest of the game.
Cambridge can be said to have lost the game at the foul line. The Knights missed six foul shots in the first quarter alone, and made only three of ten during the rest of the game, including a pair of opportunities in the final minute that could have tied and/or won the game.
Cambridge's inability to cash in at the foul line meant that Cooperative paid no penalty for the hard-checking style it used to stop Cambridge's star forwards, Raquel Lopez and Maeiana Escaño, from driving the lanes and baseline, as they tried to do. Lopez, the league's leading scorer during the regular season, made only one field goal. Escaño did not score from the floor.
Cooperative also spread the fouls around evenly enough that they didn't get into individual or team foul problems.
Maira Lino, Cambridge's ace outside shooter tried to compensate, and tallied 11 points, including a thre-pointer of her own. Cambridge also made two nifty baskets on which multiple passes finally connected to a player loose under the basket, one at the end of the thirsd quarter, and the other at the beginning of the fourth, but they couldn't repeat the trick down the stretch..
Aponte had the hot hand this day, and finished with 15 points, including the Jaguars final field goal, which she scored on a fast break after stealing the ball at mid-court.
Sophia Sotelo had three points, Nicole Broersma two, and Ana Paula Perdo one.

2009 SCISL CHAMPIONS -- Cooperative girls with Coach Max Farfan

Joaquin Siles, Cooperative

Varsity Boys Consolation Game

THREE ON THREE -- Competing trios of Knights and Jaguars fight for rebound.
Joaquin Siles, Cooperative

Knights overcome improved Jaguars, 30-24

By Ana Saavedra Banzer
Cambridge College
The Cambridge boys varsity basketball team took third place by winning the consolation game against Cooperative 30-24 Friday in the Christian Learning basketball arena, which was home to the championship tournament this year.
However, Cooperative, a young and improving team, played its best game of the year, even though it was without the services of Top Ten scorer Diego Morales. The Jaguars, who were winless this year, showed that they could be much more of a factor next season.
Cambridge, for its part, could take satisfaction from getting over a serious and apparently highly contagious case of the "yips" that had hamstrung its scoring ability in the last two games.
The game started well for the Knights as Fabricio Suberana got the first basket of the day.
During the first five minutes both teams were dribbling well, but some magic was needed to spice up the scoring.
It arrived. Both teams started firing in baskets, and Cooperative had a one point lead at the end of the quarter, 8-7. Oliver Lederman tallied twice in the period for the Jaguars. Daniel Kim and Jose Ribera answered for the Knights.
The second quarter stared with a three-pointer by Jose Ribera, to put the Knights ahead. They did not surrender the lead after that, though a three-pointer by Jose Alfredo Abuawad made things close at 12-11.
Ribera and Alvaro Lopez scored for Cambridge to put the Knights ahead 16-11, but Abuawad hit another three-pointer to tighten things up again, 16-14. Lopez stole the ball the next time the Jaguars came down court, and went in for an easy lay-up that put Cambridge ahead 18-14 at the half.
A three-pointer by Ribera and a foul shot by Tae Han Kook right after the intermission made it 22-14.
At this point there was a heated altercation between the Cooperative coach Max Farfan and the referees that resulted in Farfan's neing expelled and two technical fouls.
Ribera connected on two of the four resulting opportunities, making the score 24-14.
The game then became extremely intense, with both the Knights and Jaguars realizing that this was their last chance to prove themselves this season. They dribbled furiously up and down the court and fought tooth and nail for the ball.
The third quarter ended with the Knights ahead 26-16.
The last quarter started with more of the same -- furious dribbling, intense defense, and little scoring. Both teams looked like little boys fighting for candy.
The score went to 28-19, and then 30-20.
Jaguar Andres Shin cut the difference to 30-22 with a brilliant lay-up that acted out, or expressed in motion, the Jaguar's pent-up fury and frustration. Not long afterward Shin connected again to make it 30-24.
Just a munute remained in the game, and the Knights clearly intended to bounce the ball around for the remaining time. The Jaguars finally got it again with 17 seconds to go, but didn't score.
And then it was over. The Knights won. Amazing job for them.
And a great job for the Jaguars too.
Ribera led all scorers with 16 points. Kim had seven for the Knights, Lopez four, Suberano two, and Kook one.
For the Jaguars Abuawad had nine points, including two three-pointers. Shin had eight, Lederman four, and Suarez three (on a three-pointer).

Varsity Girls Consolation Game

Eagles regain groove, beat Griffins 41-15

The Chrtistian Learning girls varsity basketball team broke out of a severe scoring slump with a vengeance in Friday's consolation game for third place, and easily defeated International 41-15.
The girl Eagles had not broken the 20-point barrier in the second half of the season, during which they went 1-2 after posting a 3-0 mark in the first half. Only a fortnight ago they had barely beaten the same Interational team 16-12, in a game that was tied during the fourth quarter.
However, the Christian Learning team had apparently cracked open several fresh new cans of Whip-It prior to taking to the floor before a big, largely friendly crowd in their home arena Friday.
They zoomed out to a 16-3 lead inthe first quarter, and led 22-7 at halftime. at the start of the game, and were ahead 22-7 at the half. But the best was yet to come.
In the third quarter they outscored International 14-0 toi go ahead 36-7. From there they simply coasted in. International managed to ourscore them in the final quarter 8-4, but at that point it no longer mattered. The Christian Learning point total in this game was the highest for any team this season.
Tabitha Malloy had her best day of the season, and led all scorers with 17 points for the Eagles. Erica Kienzle had 10, and Whitney Belovicz four. Kaylyn Lampen, Ruth Nyquist, and Cristina Chun had two points each.
For International, Camila Johnson had six points, Maria Isabel Barrenechea four, Stephanie Gioto and Ines Fernandez two, and Regina Landivar one.

Boys Varsity Basketball Semi-finals

UNSTOPPABLE FORCE MEETS IMMOVABLE OBJECT -- Griffin David Huang collides with Cambridge defender.
Jonatan Muñoz, International

International 25, Cambridge 24
Griffins edge Knights in ugly overtime thriller

By Ana Saavedra Banzer
Cambridge College
After having come very close to beating Cambridge twice -- once last year and once this year -- the International boys varsity basketball team finally turned the trick and defeated the Knights 25-24 in the playoff semifinal at Cambridge Thursday.
In overtime.
It was not a pretty victory -- neither team was shooting well -- but it was a sweet one for a Griffin team that has finished last every year since the League was founded, and hadn't won a game in recent memory until this year.
The Griffins now go into the championship game Friday against undefeated Christian Learning assured of at least a second-place finish, which would be the highest by any Griffin team in League history. The Knights will play the Jaguars in the consolation game for third place.
The Griffin players and a small but enthusiastic band of supporters burst into paroxysms of joy as time ran out in the overtime period, and the victory was theirs to have and to hold. The players formed a huddle and danced around the floor shouting while a downcast Knight team waited glumly to give them the traditional final hand slap.
The Griffins had been ahead for the entire regulation game, until the final few minutes, during which Cambridge first tied the game at 18-18, and then went ahead 20-18.
Griffin standout David Huang, ignoring a torrent of negative noise from the screaming, dancing Cambridge fans, tied the score by swishing in two foul shots with 20 seconds remaining.
Huang was the hero once again in the overtime. Cambridge had gone ahead 24-23, and the clock was running out again when Huang threw in the shot that gave the Griffins the win.
The Knights got one last shot -- but missed.
Cambridge had been missing all afternoon, and in fact did not score in the first period, at the end of which International held a 6-0 lead. The Knights seemed to be playing OK, but the ball just wouldn't go in the basket.
Cambridge has been inconsistent all year, hot for one game, and then cold as ice the next, and tends to play at its worst in its own gym. YOU NEVER KNEW what was going to happen with them, and in this game they were clearly having a bad day.
The Griffins, for their part, were not having that hot a day, but they were doing a pretty good job, especially in terms of hustling on defense.
Eighth grader Jose Ribera finally got the Knights on the board in the second quarter, and by halfrime the deficit was down to two points, 8-6. However, four of the Cambridge points came on foul shots, two of them on a technical called on an International player for unnecessary roughness.
The Knights for some reason simply could not hit from the floor, even on point blank lay-ups.
Not that International was rolling up the score. Their only basket in the second quarter was an artistic lay-up by Mario Rohrman.
Both teams were frustrated and upset by both the intensity of the defensive play, which was fast and furious, and their inability to zero in on the basket. The technical foul was a symptom of this tension and frustration.
As the third quarter unfolded, the outcome continued to be a mystery. Was Cambridge going to pull it out, or was International going to win for the first time this season?
The score was 8-8, then 10-10, both teams fighting for the spot in the finals.
The Griffins then surged ahead 14-10 on baskets by Huang and Rohrman as the quarter ended, and another basket by Huang at the start of the fourth quarter made it 16-10. That's where the score still stood with three minutes to go.
The action then became truly intense. Cambridge, which hadn't been able to buy a basket for love or money all afternoon, suddenly couldn't miss. The Knights scored three three-pointers -- two by Ribera and one by Daniel Kim -- plus a foul shot by Tae Han Kook to get to 20 points, while International managed only two foul shots to reach 18, with 20 seconds left.
The stage was then set for Huang to show his cool at the foul line, sinking both of his shots to tie the score.
In the overtime, Cambridge took the lead on a shot by Kim. Huang tied the score with a gymnastic lay-up. Kook nailed a basket to put the Knights back in front 24-22. That lead was cut to 24-23 as Rohrman sank a foul shot.
It was time for Huang to do his thing again -- and that was it. Suddenly the game was over.
For the winning Griffins, Huang finished with 12 points, Rohrman with 7, Ernando Tesch had four, and Jan Ivo Sochtig two.
For the Knights, Ribera had 13, and was high scorer for the game. Daniel Kim scored six, Tae Han Kook three, and Javier de las Heras two.

Christian Learning 51, Cooperative 22
Eagles cruise to final with win over Jaguars

By Trevor Reed
Christian Learning Center
The undefeated Christian Learning boys varsity basketball team beat a literally outmanned Cooperative team 51-22 Thursday in their home gym to advance to the finals.
The Eagles will play International in the championship game Friday, while the Jaguars will be matched up against Cambridge in the consolation game for third place.
The Jaguars had only six players in uniform for the semifinal contest, and it became clear fairly early that the Eagles were going to have little difficulty wearing them out.
The scoring was initiated by Eagle Danny Canaviri shortly after the game started. Two more Eagles baskets and one from the Jaguars quickly brought the score to 6-2.
A small scoring drought for both teams lasted until there were 4 minutes left in the first quarter, but in those last four minutes the Eagles scored 8 more points, while holding the Jaguars to a single basket. The first quarter ended 14-4 in favor of the Eagles.
Eagle Kyle Swope fell on his wrist during the first quarter and stayed on the bench for the rest of the game with his arm in a sling. He probably will not be able to play tomorrow in the championship game.
The second quarter started out with a burst of energy from the Jaguars who quickly scored 3 points while the Eagles tallied two. The Eagles then scored seven unanswered points before the Jaguars broke the streak with a free throw. The Eagles lengthened their lead to 18 points at the half, 31-13.
In the second half, Danny Canaviri again started the scoring, and soon afterwards he stole the ball and passed it to Tim Zimmerman who scored another basket.
After a basket by the Jaguars, Canviri got another assist, this time passing to Andrew Burgin.
Paul Estes, Jordan Newman, and Andrew Burgin each scored a basket before the end of the third quarter. Cooperative also scored one more basket, and the quarter ended with the score 45-17.
The Jaguars scored a free throw to start out the scoring in the last quarter. Four minutes then passed until the Eagles answered with 4 points of their own. Two free throws and another basket brought the Jaguars up to 22 points, and it looked like the game would end at 49-22.
However, with only a few seconds left in the game, Richard Ling made a long pass to Andre Larsen, who drove in and made the layup for two more points. The game ended at 51-22.
The leading scorers for the Eagles were Danny Canaviri with 15, Andre Larsen with 10, Andrew Burgin with 8, and Paul Estes with 6. Complete scoring statistics were not immediately available.

Varsity Girls Basketball Semi-finals

Lady Knights edge Eagles 17-15 in cliff-hanger

By Ana Saavedra Banzer
Cambridge College
The Cambridge girls varsity basketball team gained a weak but efficient win over Christian Learning Tuesday in a playoff semifinal game played in the Christian Learning gym.
This was the game that would decide which one of these two strong teams was going to the finals Friday, and the Knights were the ones who got the victory, sending the Eagles to fight for third place on Friday.
In terms of results, these were the same as occurred in last year's semifinal in which Cambridge defeated Christian Learning in another hard-fought battle.
The Knights, although they finished behind both Cooperative and Christian Learning in the regular season standings, will now get a chance to defend the title they eventually won last year by a similarly indirect route.
Both teams started unimpressively, but they were trying, and they were trying hard! For the Eagles, center Tabitha Maloy, was an outstanding player. She was doing everything she could to stop Knights Raquel Lopez and Mariana Escaño from shooting. The Eagles generally put on an excellent defense.
Though the Knights were not playing as well as they have on other days, they were played with a consistently strong effort, and clearly were not willing to lose this important game.
The crowd at Christian Learning is usually loud and vocal in its support of the Eagles, but for this game the Knights had their own "cheerleaders" in the form of students who went to the game. Their cheers of "Let´s go, Cambridge, lets go!" and (very importantly in this game) "Defense! Defense!" almost matched the noise of the home crowd, and made the game more exciting.
Also adding to the excitement was the fact from the moment the game started until the final buzzer, we all had NO IDEA who was going to win! All four quarters ended in either a tie, or one or two points of difference. SOOO close that you couldn't avoid biting your nails.
In the fourth quarter it looked like Cambridge was going to take control. A three-pointer by Cambridge star Maira Lino, plus a timely basket by veteran Vania Reueda opened a six-point advantage, 17-11, with only a few minutes to go.
However, Malloy knocked in two shots in rapid succession to make it 17-15, and with 2:35 to go it was nail-biting time again.
It almost got even closer when a foul shot by Eagle Whitney Belovicz twirled around the rim -- before popping out. (Whew!)
Cambridge was trying to freeze the ball to run out the clock. Not even Lino was allowed to shoot as they tried to bounce the ball around the perimeter, and the Eagles tried to steal it.
Twice Chrtistian Learning players knocked the ball loose and almost got a fast break to go for the tying basket, but both times the ball went out of bounds and Cambridge got it back.
Time-outs were called with 22 seconds and 14 seconds left. Much strategizing and yelling.
Finally the game was over and the Knights won.
But this story is not over. We still have the finals! Will history continue to repeat itself?
Tune in Friday.
For Cambridge, Maira Lino had seven points. Raquel Lopez and Mariana Escaño had four points each, and Vania Rueda had two.
For Christian Learning, Tabitha Malloy had nine points. Kaylyn Lampen, Ruth Nyquist, and Hiromi Kuuchi had two points each.

Jaguars cruise against pesky Griffins, 34-17

After looking a little rusty in the opening quarter, the Cooperative girls varsity basketball team went on to efficiently defeat International 34-17 to gain a spot in Friday's championship -- but no one can say the Griffins stopped trying.
The Jaguars will now play against Cambridge in the final on Friday, a team they have defeated twice this year, though by close margins. The two teams tend to play well against each other and it should be another close game, unless Cooperative gets rolling as it did in the semifinal Tuesday.
International will play Christian Learning in the consolation game to determine third place. The Eagles have won both meetings between the two teams, but the Griffingirls gfave them fits the last time they met, and this game too could be close.
The Jaguars led only 6-3 at the end of the first quarter, with the difference betwen the two teams accounted for by Jaguar star Cecelia Aponte's three-pointer near the start of the game. Both teams were scrappy on defense, and Cooperative's attack wasn't clicking.
It started clicking the second quarter, however, and the Jaguars ourscored the Griffins 13-2 to take a 17-5 halftime lead. The rally was sparked in large part by the fine play of Jaguar freshman Sofia Sotelo, who fired in a three-pointer of her own.
The Jaguars continued to dominate play in the third quarter, though the Griffins also started to show more offensive spark. The score stood 28-10 going into the final stanza in which the Griffins outscored the Jaguars 7-4 as both teams substituted freely. International used all nine of the players it had in uniform, and Cooperative used eight.
Sotelo led the scoring for Cooperative with nine points, including two three-pointers. Ana Paula Peredo made eight points. Cecelia Aponte had five (including a three-pointer), Carla Limpias had four, Nicole Broersma two and Roseleny Kefer one. One point was not attributed by the scorekeeper.
Stephanie Gioto had eight points to lead the Griffins. Ines Fernandez had four, Fabiana Zelada and Natalia Suarez had two each, and Matilde Gamarra had one.

SCISL Track and Field Championships

GOING FOR GOLD -- Griffin Nicolas Bedoya won the boys high jump with this leap.
Jonatan Muñoz, International

Griffin boys and girls back on top once again

The International boys and girls teams both emerged as champions, though by close margins, in the the SCISL track championships held Tuesday at Tahuichi Stadium and Cooperative during which eleven League records were broken or tied.
The girls competition was the closer, with the Griffins coming out on top by only three points, and the outcome being decided in the exciting final event of the day, the high jump. In it, International athletes placed first and third, while second place Cooperative's entries came in second and fifth. The points in this event erased what had been a two-point advantage for Cooperative and gave International the championship.
The points totals for the girls were as follows:
International -- 260
Cooperative -- 257
Christian Learning -- 57
Cambridge -- 21
The Griffin boys won a slightly more decisive victory, as follows:
International -- 259
Cooperative -- 223
Christian Learning -- 65
Cambridge -- 59
As the point totals indicate, the track and field competition this year was basically a two-team affair between International and Cooperative. Christian Learning and Cambridge fielded only small aggregations of athletes, and were not represented in many events, including all of Tuesday's relays.
Those two schools were further hurt by other circumstances. Cambridge's squad of runners, which although small included several potential medalists, was disqualified for arriving without the required credentials.
Another disqualification -- this one for not wearing the full school uniform --erased a winning performance by Christian Learning's Danny Canaviri in the boys 1500 meters.
But the big story of the day was the record-breaking number of records broken.
* Sofia Sotelo of Cooperative significantly lowered her own marks in the 1500 meters and 800 meters. Her winning times in those races were 5:35.52 and 2:40.01, respectively.
* Carmen Mansur of International lowered the girls 400 meters record by about a half second with a clocking of 1:08.66.
* Jorge Harriague of International set a new record in the 200 meters with a time of :24.11.
* Nicolas Bedoya of International knocked four seconds off the record in the boys 800 with a time of 2:21.04. The old record had been set by International's Martin Fernandez in 2007, and had been one of the longest standing records on the books.
* The International boys 4 x 100 relay team consisting of Jorge Harriague, Marco Antonio Parada, Mario Rohrman, and Jose Bedoya shaved 0.2 seconds offg the old record with a time of 49.12.
* The International girls 4 x 400 relay of Beatriz Nallar, Florencia Sosa, Carmen Mansur, and Maria Victoria Gutierrez lowered the record in that event to 4:57.31, an improvement of almost three seconds.
* Aldana Roda of Cooperative set a new mark in the girls shot put with a toss of 9.12 meters.
* Tabitha Malloy of Christian Learning improved her own record in the discus with a throw of 21.01 meters.
* In the high jump Florencia Sosa and Nicolas Bedoya, both of International, tied their own records. Sosa cleared 1.40 meters, and Bedoya 1.70. Going for a new record, Bedoya appeared to have cleared 1.75, but the jangling bar fell just after he hit the mat.
The victories, particularly the girls', were a sweet redemption for International. The Griffins loss last year to the Jaguar girls represented the first time in memory that either International team had lost a track championship, and the Jaguar girls had appeared ready to repeat the feat this year when they emerged from the first meet of the season with a four-point advantage. (The totals for the season, which are the ones used in this article, are computed by adding the points accumulated by a team in both meets.)
The Griffin girls were able to exploit their traditional strength in the running events to overcome the small advantage Cooperative's girls continued to have in the field events.
To illustrate, if the field events in Tuesday's championships -- long jump, high jump, discus and shot put -- were calculated separately, Cooperative came out ahead of International 41-38. However, International's girls bested the Jaguars in the running events 92-82, taking both of the point-rich relays.


GLEEFUL GRIFFINS -- International boys and girls teams pose with trophies.
Jonatan Muñoz, International

The medalists in the championship meet were as follows:
Girls 1500 meters -- 1. Sofia Sotelo, Cooperative; 2. Florencia Sosa, International; 3. Laura Sanchez, International. Time: 5:35.52
Boys 1500 meters -- 1. Alejandro Rios, International; 2. Alex Apodaca, Christian Learning; 3. Jose Mozza, Cooperative. Time: 5:30.14
Girls 100 meters -- 1. Tania Landivar, Cooperative; 2. Gaby Tang, Christian Learning; 3. Kayra Czerniewicz, Cooperative. Time: 14.54.
Boys 100 meters -- 1. Jorge Harriague, International; 2. Renzo Pinto, Cooperative; 3. Mario Rohrman, International. Time: 11.85.
Girls 400 meters -- 1. Carmen Mansur, International; 2. Macarena Valdez, Cooperative; 3. Maria Barrenechea, Intrnational. Time: 1:08.66.
Boys 400 meters -- 1. Juan Alfredo Abuawad, Cooperative; 2. David Huang, International; 3.Andre Larsen, Christian Learning. Time: 1:00.67.
Girls 200 meters -- Maria Victoria Gutierrez, International; 2. Tania Landivar, Cooperative; Ana Laura Gutierrez. Time: 30.89.
Boys 200 meters: 1. Jorge Harriague, International; 2. Renzo Pinto, Cooperative; Sergio Gonzales, Cooperative. Time: 24.11.
Girls 800 meters -- 1. Sofia Sotelo, Cooperative; 2. Beatriz Nallar, International; 3. Whitney Belovicz, Christian Learning. Time: 2:40.01.
Boys 800 meters -- 1. Nicolas Bedoya, International; 2. Lorenzo Chiovoloni, Cooperative; 3. Jorge Rojas, Cooperative. Time: 2:21.09.
Girls 4 x 100 relay -- 1. International (Laura Adriozola, Maria Victoria Gutierrez, Valerie Feijoo, Maria Isabel Barrenechea); 2. Cooperative. Time: 1:01.18.
Boys 4 x 100 relay -- 1. International (Harriague, Parada, Rohrman, Bedoya); 2. Cooperative. Time: 49.12.
Girls 4 x 400 relay -- 1. International (Nallar, Sosa, Mansur, Gutierrez); 2. Cooperative.
Boys 4 x 100 relay -- 1. Cooperative (Sergio Gonzales, Jose Alfredo Abuawad, Lorenzo Chiovaloni, Renzo Pinto); 2. International. Time: 4:12.38.
Girls long jump -- 1. Florecia Sosa, International; 2. Tabitha Malloy, Christian Learning; 3. Aldana Roda, Cooperative. Distance: 3.82 meters.
Boys long jump -- 1. Nicolas Bedoya, International; 2. Milan Marinkovic, Cooperative; 3. Marco Antonio Parada, International. Distance: 5.38.
Girls shot put -- 1. Aldana Roda, Cooperative; 2. Tabitha Malloy, Christian Learning; 3. Alexia Handal, Cooperative. Distance: 9.12 meters.
Boys shot put -- 1. Esteban Eguez, Christian Learning; 2. Jeff Stabler, Christian Learning; 3. Jorge Harriague, International. Distance: 12.51.
Girls discus -- 1. Tabitha Malloy, Christian Lerning; 2. Aldana Roda, Cooperative; 3. Camila Johnson, International. Distance: 21.01.
Boys discus: 1. Jeffrey Stabler, Christian Learning; 2. Marco Antonio Parada, International; Diego Morales, Cooperative. Distance: 29.43 meters.
Girls high jump: Florencia Sosa, International, 2. Alkdana Roda, Cooperative; 3. (tie) Flavia Nostas, International, and Tabitha Malloy, Christin Learning. Height: 1.40.
Boys high jump -- 1. Nicolas Bedoya, International; 2. Danny Canaviri, Christian Learning; 3. Diego Morales, Cooperative. Height: 1.70.

Revised Schedules Unveiled

League sets dates for basketball playoffs, track meet

The League announced Friday the revised schedule for the basketball tournaments, and new dates for the rain-delayed championship track meet.
The result is an amazingly action-packed week coming up:
Tuesday, April 14 -- Championship Track Meet. The meet, rained out on March 27-28, will now take place in one day, with the running events at Tahiuchi Stadium starting at 2:30 p.m., followed by the field events at Cooperative at 6 p.m.
Wednesday, April 15 -- Girls Varsity Baskertball Semifinals.
Thursday, April 16 -- Boys Varsity Basketball Semifinals.
Friday, April 17 -- Varsity Basketball Championships.
For the complete listing of the varsity basketball playoff schedule, with places, teams, and results, see "Playoff Schedule" at right. It will be updated as soon as the games are played.
The junior varsity championship games will be played on Thursday, April 23, at Christian Learning.

The Debate Continues

’07 Knights, Eagles best ever? Some say so

The most recent contributions to the “which team was the best ever” debate came in from near and far, and produced a boomlet of support for two new contenders – The Cambridge and Christian Learning teams of 2007 -- plus a vote for the undefeated Christian Learning team of 2005.
This all started as a discussion over whether the current undefeated Eagles boys varsity basketball team, which has rolled through the season without serious challenge, should be accorded the sobriquet of best in League history. Juan Manuel Salas, a former Cambridge player now playing on a championship team in Lima, has countered by nominating the undefeated 2006 Cambridge team for that title.
The first contribution to the debate from a current player comes from a member of the 2009 Eagle team, who asked that his name not be used, but who was clear in his opinion. “I have to say I don’t agree with anything Juan Manuel said. I don’t believe he has any right to say . . . [which] team was the greatest ever because he has not seen how good we are.”
This player concedes the 2006 Cambridge team was very good, but urges consideration as well for the Christian Learning team that won the championship in 2005. That was the League’s first year, which presented its own set of challenges. The team had a great shooter in Jim Estes, a skilled big man up front in Jake Kennedy, plus all-around players like Jeremy Childers and Caleb Yoder.
No one came close to beating them, and this was back when the season included twice as many games as now. (The teams played each other twice at home, and twice away that first year.). The 2005 Eagles could score 40 points in an era when 20 was considered a high total, and won games by ten or 20 points at a time when two points was considered a substantial lead. Teams, he suggests, need to be considered in the context of their times.
Next to be heard from was Pablo Muñoz, who played center for International in 2006 and 2007, and may be better remembered as the hard-spiking volleyballer for the Griffins championship teams of those years. He’s now Specialist Muñoz of the US Army, and keeping track of SCISL action from Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where he is in training to be an advanced system data specialist making the maps artillery gunners use to locate targets. (His probable next stop: Afghanistan. Keep your head down, Pablo!)
There’s “no doubt,” he says, that the current Eagles are one of the best teams ever, but he wonders if they have the size to measure up against either the Eagles or Knights of 2007, the two best teams he played against. “After all,” he says, “we all know that high school basketball is all about big men.”
In 2007, he recalls, “I was the smallest center in the League and I´m 6-4.” Both Cambridge and Christian Learning had “amazing big men” that year. He doesn’t remember their names, but for purposes of comparison he points out that in 2007 Jeff Stabler, one of the main big men on this year’s Eagles team, “was a small forward or a shooting guard.”
Cambridge, for its part, had “an amazing center and super fast small forward” (probably referring to Manfred Grote and Jorge Yuan).
And the rest of the players on those teams were not bad. “The 2007 Christian Learning guards were definitely the best guards of all time.” (Here he probably means Jim Estes and David Zimmerman, both of whom have brothers on the current Eagle team.)
“They could set, drive, and shoot. That year I averaged five blocked shots per game, but against Christian Learning I had only three all year,” Muñoz remembers. The Eagle team had both height and speed, and Cambridge matched them.
Eduardo “Presi” de la Riva, the current International coach, also believes that the 2007 Eagles and Knights need to be considered in any ranking of the “best ever,” though for somewhat different reasons.
“Statistically there is no question,” he says, “that the current Eagle team has the best numbers, but statistics are not the whole story. There’s team spirit, resourcefulness, the ability to execute strategies,” says Presi.
He argues that the 2007 Knights and Eagles could do more things better than teams before and since, and demonstrated these abilities in the remarkable championship game they played that year, which he regards as the most “tactically fascinating” contest he’s ever seen. (Presi watched the game as an interested observer. He was in charge of physical education at Cambridge that year, but did not coach basketball.)
The two teams had dueled closely all year, with each team winning on the opponent’s court by two or three points, at least once in overtime. They were tied at halftime of the championship, as each team probed the other with a series of strategies and counter strategies. However, in the second half the Eagles engineered a nine-point lead with about three minutes to play and seemed to have the victory in hand.
Interestingly, very few people are sure what the final score of the game was, but anyone who was there remembers what happened in those last three minutes. Cambridge went to a desperation strategy, throwing up three-pointer after three-pointer -- and it worked. Incredibly, the Knights made four three-pointers, while holding the Eagles to one two-pointer, and won the game by one point.
“Because they won,” says Presi,” you have to say Cambridge was the better team, but truly they were equal.” In many ways, he says, it was too bad someone had to win that game.
And while the debate will no doubt continue through this year’s playoffs as to which was the greatest team ever, it’s unlikely there will be another championship quite as heart-stopping as that of 2007.
Have a comment or another opinion? Can you correct or improve any of the facts? (The records are murky.) Write David Boldt at boldt27@gmail.com.