California's boys HS leagues have a better idea of who fits where after this weekend.
Here's a quick look:
SoCal Multi-School
These are school teams that might have a percentage of players from other schools to round out the squad. Because the do that, they are in their own league.
Saturday evening, Oceanside put in possibly their best performance of the season with a 57-19 defeat of Rancho Cucamonga in the semifinals. Two weeks ago these two teams met up and Oceanside won, but just 31-26.
In the other semifinal, it was a little different, as Murrieta battled a little closer to San Clemente. The Tritons still won, however taking the semi 26-10 and setting up next week's final of Oceanside vs San Clemente. These two met on January 24 with Oceanside winning 34-19.
SoCal Single-School Premier
Orange Lutheran kept up their winning ways with a 34-22 defeat of Mira Costa to win the LA Division side of the semifinals.
"I am proud of the boys stepping up and staying committed which has shown with their undefeated record," said Head Coach Jay Harris.
Over the winter Orange Lutheran has defeated Loyola of LA (finalists in the SoCal school league last year), Mira Costa, Murietta, Oceanside, and D2 leaders Fallbrook. Those last three games were non-league matches and were needed after St. John Bosco couldn't finish the league dues to numbers issues.
Orange Lutheran has numbers issues, too, and generally had a small, or almost non-existent bench. As a result, players had to front-up.
"They've battled through every match, had each other's backs, and stayed committed to supporting one another throughout the season," said Harris. I am very proud of the boys' efforts.
Shawn Barnes capitalized on a couple of errors from Mira Costa and converted those opportunities into tries. With Benjamin Fuerte tenacious at scrumhalf (he burst through for a crucial try), the backs were playing good defense.
The Orange Lutheran forwards established excellent go-forward, with Corey Panapa, Auma Jennings, Josh Paquette, and Kye Robles all making solid contributions.
"Similar to our first encounter with Mira Costa, we came out a bit flat-footed and it took some time to settle into our structure," said Harris. "Once we were able to establish our rhythm, we controlled the game and played in the right parts of the field, which proved to be the key difference. It was an all-around team effort with the following key contributors."
Their defeat of Mira Costa on Saturday was the second time the Lancers had defeated the Mustangs, leaving their current record (including a forfeit win over SJB) at 7-0.
In the matchup between the two San Diego Division leaders, Torrey Pines defeated La Costa Canyon 24-7. The first half was very evenly-matched, and perhaps LCC had more of the run of play. They did get to the tryline only to be penalized. However, the Mavericks did indeed score first on a breakaway try.
The Falcons responded, pounding the ball over just before halftime to make it 7-7. The Torrey Pines forwards worked it over early in the second half and added a penalty goal midway through the second half to make it a two-score game.
That was enough of a cushion for Torrey Pines as they iced it with a try launched off a lineout play.
Torrey Pines will play Orange Lutheran in the SoCal Pemier final, with both teams expected to compete in the all-California crossover matches after that.
