Sarchet's basket helps Woodbridge top Uni in PCL opener

BY TIM BURT / Staff Writer

Published: Jan. 13, 2014 Updated: 6:28 p.m.

 

Woodbridge junior Bonnie Sarchet had some big baskets Friday night in the Pacific Coast League opener.

But Sarchet saved the best for last.
She tossed in a close-range follow-up shot at the buzzer to lift the Warriors to a 34-32 victory over University at Uni.

Sarchet was one of the Warriors’ leading scorers with 13 points.

“That was definitely the most nerve-wracking and exciting (moment) at the same time,” said Sarchet. “I think we were pretty prepared going in but we were pretty nervous too because we knew everyone was gunning for us but it was a great learning experience for us because they’re a good team.

“They were really aggressive coming out.”
University (8-10, 0-1) tied the game, 32-32, with 30 seconds left on a 3-pointer by Dana Bossenmeyer.

The Trojans had another chance late in the game to win it, but a shot fell off the rim. Woodbridge rebounded the ball and worked it to Annika Walker who missed a jumper. But Sarchet was there to follow the shot.

Walker led the Warriors with 14 points. Sarchet, who had been sick most of the week, stepped up big for the Warriors, who are shooting for their fifth straight PCL title.

“She’s been our most consistent player, without a doubt, at both ends of the court, defense and offense and rebounding,” said Woodbridge Coach Eric Bangs. “She’s been getting about eight points a game.

“It’s nice to see her step into a key role. She’s settled down and made some baskets after a rocky start.”

Woodbridge (10-6, 1-0) led 19-16 at halftime but University outscored the Warriors, 7-3 in the third quarter to take a 23-22 lead.

The Warriors eventually moved out to a 31-28 lead on a pair of free throws by Walker late in the fourth quarter before University battled back.

“I told Nicole (Uni coach Quinn) it’s a long league season and no one is going undefeated and they played great defensively, they switched up several things, and we don’t really have a leader with the ball to recognize that,” Bangs said.

Bossenmeyer led University with 14 points and three, 3-pointers. Her final 3-pointer broke the Uni career record. It was her 121^st 3-pointer, breaking the previous record of 120 by Casey Gomez.
“We played tough and prepared well for Woodbridge,” said University Coach Nicole Bradshaw. “I think each team did a great job shutting down the opponent’s key player. I am proud of every one of my players and the heart that they gave me.”

Kiara Warren added eight points for the Trojans.

 

Warriors in a different role

By TIM BURT / Orange County Register

Published: Jan. 8, 2014 Updated: 5:15 p.m.

Woodbridge’s girls basketball team is out to win its fifth consecutive Pacific Coast League title when league play begins Friday night.

But the Warriors, plagued by injuries in the nonleague portion of their schedule, won’t be favored when they take the court to face University at 5:30 p.m.

At least that’s what their head coach, Eric Bangs, says.

“We’ve had to change our team 180 degrees,” Bangs said last week. “We have three starters (Sierra Vaglica, Sophie Sarchet and Lauren Lum) gone.

But other players have picked up the slack, including Annika Walker, Jillian Cizynski and Bonnie Sarchet, Bangs said.

Woodbridge, which is 9-6 going into Friday’s game at University, still looks like the team to beat, although Beckman (7-5) could be a contender too.

Corona del Mar (10-4) looks improved while Irvine (8-8) and University (8-9) could pick up some wins too.

“We’re not favored any more, I doubt, because of all the injuries,” Bangs said. “We’ve got a chance to play like the underdog. Beckman is clearly the favorite, but everybody can beat everybody.

“Corona del Mar has a lot of talent and size, Uni is very good and Irvine is scrappier than heck. The bottom line is that it’s just a balanced and competitive league – 8-2 (record) will probably win it this year. We were the favorite the last couple years, this year we’re not so we’re going to have to go in and win games on the road.”

Warrior girls hold on for 44-42 win over Marina

By TIM BURT / Orange County Register

Published: Jan. 5, 2014 Updated: 8:14 p.m.

Woodbridge’s girls basketball team held off a late rally by Marina to capture a 44-42 victory over the Vikings in a nonleague game Friday night at Marina.

The Warriors (8-6) led, 35-32, after three quarters and held a 37-32 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Woodbridge moved out to a 44-29 lead on a layup by Annika Walker with 2:33 left.

But Marina had a chance to tie or win the game on its final possession, however a 3-point field goal went off the rim as time expired.

“It’s never going to be pretty,” said Woodbridge Coach Eric Bangs. “I thought we actually played pretty good defense down the stretch. Our problem has been lately is that we haven’t had so many people being able to play (three starters out because of injuries).

“We don’t have the depth. So we haven’t had four or five games where we’ve played really good teams but lost by six and we just die in the fourth quarter. I’m going to give our girls credit for continuing to play defense. We wanted to hold them to 40 and they got 42 and offensively, we have a ways to go. We could have put that game away pretty easily.

“But this is a tuneup for league, that’s what all these games are.”

Jiillian Cizynski led Woodbridge with 10 points.

Kelli Robinson, Bonnie Sarchet and Annika Walker added nine points each for the Warriors.

Garden Grove Varsity Tournament Bracket UPDATED

Parents and players please check out the updated tournament bracket for the Garden Grove Tournament. The updated bracket is posted under the "Tournament Bracket" link on the left.

Our first game will be December 26th at 4:30 vs Katella.

Robinson, Woodbridge too much for Fairmont Prep

           

December 12, 2013 11:30 PM

 

By CARLOS ARIAS

OCVARSITY

 

 

IRVINE - Woodbridge lost five of its top six players to graduation from last year's team, which went 26-4 and reached the CIF-SS Division 2AA girls basketball playoffs last season, so there were a lot of new faces on the court for Thursday's nonleague game against Fairmont Prep at Woodbridge High.
Senior shooting guard Kelli Robinson, the lone returning starter, scored 26 points, including seven 3-pointers, freshman point guard Lauren Lum came off the bench with 12 points and five rebounds, junior forward Bonnie Sarchet had 12 points and six rebounds, junior forward Annika Walker had 10 points and 10 rebounds and senior forward Patrica Zhao had nine points, six rebounds and five assists in the Warriors' to a 72-62 victory over the Huskies.

"We really all enjoy playing together," Robinson said. "When one of us gets going, we all just gang up and we're like, 'We can do this.' It's really great when we all play together and have the same intensity, so that was a good win."
Lum and Robinson sparked a 17-1 run in the second quarter to give Woodbridge (3-2) a 16-point lead.

Fairmont Prep, the reigning San Joaquin League champion, upgraded its schedule by adding nonleague games against Woodbridge and San Clemente on Saturday. Junior guard Samantha Clement scored 25 points, including five 3-pointers, and freshman point guard Tristen Rollon scored 17 points for the Huskies (4-1), who closed the gap to six points in the third quarter before the Warriors sealed the victory in the fourth quarter.

"It took a while for us to get chemistry because there was only five of us returning," Robinson said. "But once we figure it out ... I think we're getting close and it's just going to be a lot of fun."

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Warriors win second in a row at South Coast Classic

By TOM CONNOLLY / For the Register

The Woodbridge High girls basketball team erased a double-digit, first-half deficit and came back to win handily over Canyon, 61-40, Wednesday evening in a South Coast Classic tournament game at Woodbridge.

Patricia Zhao scored 16 points and Kelli Robinson added 15 at the Warriors improved to 2-0 on the season.

Tori Buss and Annika Rae drilled back-to-back 3-pointers at the start of the second quarter to give the Comanches (4-2) a, 17-6, lead.

However, Woodbridge’s defense stiffened and the offense perked up to close out the half and changed the complexion of the game.

The Warriors, sparked by 3-pointers by Zhao and Robinson ignited a 13-0 run to end the second quarter. Zhao’s 3-pointer gave Woodbridge a 19-17 halftime lead.

“We focused on defense and made adjustments,” said Zhao. “We stuck to the fundamentals and executed out plays better.”

In the third quarter junior forward Annika Walker provided some extra inside aggressiveness that shifted the momentum in the Warriors favor.

Walker scored five of her 10 points in the quarter to up Woodbridge’s advantage to 37-29 after three quarters.

“We picked up the intensity in the second half,” Walker said. “We didn’t do anything special, but we just settled in and ran the offense better in the second half.”

Canyon trimmed the lead to 39-33 following two free throws from Julia Tims with 5:37 to play but then the Warriors went on a 22-7 run, including a 13-0 run over the final 2:36 of the game to finish strongly and win going away.

The Warriors converted a blistering 11-of-14 free throws in the final three minutes of the game as they scored on their final nine possessions. The Warriors forced 20 turnovers.

“Defense is going to win games for us,” Woodbridge coach Eric Bangs said.“Patricia (Zhao) hit her range and Annika (Walker) made some nice buckets and gave us an extra punch.”

Bonnie Sarchet and Lauren Lum each added 7 points apiece for Woodbridge.

Shaye Uyematsu led the Comanches with 8 points.

Woodbridge started the game off sluggish and didn’t notch its first basket until Robinson’s jumper at the 3:20 mark. Canyon led, 11-6, after the first quarter.

Robinson, who scored 31 points in the Warriors opener against Capistrano Valley, has scored 47 points in Woodbridge’s first two games.

The tournament wraps up tonight and finishes Saturday at University with the championship at 6 p.m.

 

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Bangs returns and Warriors roll

By TIM BURT / ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Eric Bangs was back on the bench Monday night in a familiar role as head coach of the Woodbridge girls basketball team.

His players responded with a 72-19 victory over Capistrano Valley in the opening round of the South Coast Classic at Woodbridge.

Bangs has been an assistant under Pete Belanto the past couple years.

“I haven’t missed much, it keeps Pete (Belanto) quieter when I’m the head coach,” Bangs joked after the game.
Bangs, who took a break as the head coach for the past two seasons, had little reason to worry as his squad jumped out to a 43-2 lead at halftime against Capo Valley, which was missing some key players who were still playing for the Cougars volleyball team that was in the state playoffs.

“We got a lot of people chance a play, it wasn’t real realistic, but we got a chance to work on stuff,” Bangs said.

Kelli Robinson led the way for the Warriors with 31 points and nine, 3-pointers
“She can shoot the ball,” Bangs said. “That was a nice game for her.”
Annika Walker had eight points and five rebounds and Bonnie Sarchet scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Warriors, who forced 14 turnovers in the first half.
“I really thought Annika and Bonnie showed some improvement in their game,” Bangs said. “That’s what we’re looking for. We’re looking for four or five players who can contribute and score.

“Our inside play was a little better. Everybody got to play. It’s an opening game; we’ve got a little ways to go.”
The game was played with a running clock in the fourth quarter after Woodbridge moved out to a 40-point lead.

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