Warriors top T'wolves, share top spot in PCL

By TIM BURT / Staff Writer

 

Woodbridge High’s girls basketball team led from the start and went on to defeat Northwood, 54-35, in a Pacific Coast League game Friday night at Northwood.

The Warriors (13-5, 2-1) moved into a tie for first place with Northwood, Beckman and Corona del Mar, who are also 4-1 in league.

Woodbridge was led by Anjali Ghadi, who had 25 points, including four 3-pointers. Lauren Baffo added 13 points.

But Woodbridge coach Eric Bangs said it was the Warriors’ defense, led by Lauren Lum and Tessa Shimizu, that was the difference.

“What made us look smart is that they did the things we wanted them to do,” said Bangs. “But anything can happen here. Last year, they just shot the lights out in the second half.

“It was a good effort by our kids. The defense was it. We had to hold them under 40. We reiterated that at the half and they only had 15 in the second half.”

Woodbridge led 30-20 at halftime, then outscored Northwood 13-7 in the third quarter to break the game open.

Kaityn Hsu and Lauren Ta had 11 points each for Northwood (9-8 overall).

“Woodbridge came out and played really well from start to finish,” said Northwood coach Ryan Bettencourt. “We got down early and just could not cut the deficit enough to make a difference.”

Orlando trip is finally here

We are heading to Orlando this Saturday. Here are a few important pieces of information.

• Meet at Woodbridge this Saturday 12/26 at 3:45pm, depart by 4:00pm
• We are flying out of LAX on Frontier Airlines
• Outbound flight #1180 at 8:50PM Dec.26th
• First game will be Monday 12/28 at 9:00am vs West Islip HS (NY)
• All games will be held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex
• 700 South Victory Way, Orlando, FL 34747
• The bracket is now posted in the tournament section of the web site.
• Return flight #1181 arrives at LAX at 7:35PM 1/1/16

Two returning starters lead inexperienced Woodbridge

By TIM BURT / Staff Writer

Woodbridge High’s girls basketball team returns two starters from last year’s team that was 20-8 overall, but the lack of overall experience is a concern for Coach Eric Bangs.

Woodbridge was 8-2, sharing the Pacific Coast League title with Corona del Mar.

The Warriors are led by two players who were second team all-league last year, senior Sierra Vaglica and sophomore Anjali Ghadi. Junior Lauren Lum, who was honorable mention last year, is also expected to make big contributions.

The Warriors started out the season with 10 players. But junior Alyssa Cadavona, who was expected to start, was helped off the court following an injury in Saturday’s third place game of the South Coast Classic and her status for the future was not know.

“Alyssa Cadavona had never played at all and she started to figure it out,” Bangs said after the game. “Hopefully, she’s not hurt too bad.”

The other starter is junior Lauren Baffo.

While the Warriors have experience, they don’t have a lot of depth.

“This year’s varsity team is not as deep as the last few years with only 10 members on the team,” Bangs said. “We actually have 11 players, but two-year letter-winner Alissa Niewiadomski (second team all-league) suffered an ACL injury in July and will not be able to play her senior year.

“The team has a couple of returners with experience, but there are also several girls playing their first year on varsity. If the team can stay healthy this year, it looks like all of the girls will be playing significant minutes, led by returners Sierra Vaglica, Lauren Lum and Anjali Ghadi.”

A number of other players are expected to contribute, including sophomore Tessa Shimizu, junior Abby Montplaisir, sophomore Sanarya Salem and junior Heather Fujii.

Bangs hopes the ingredients are there for another winning season, but acknowledges there are question marks.

“We’re really young and green,” he said. “We just try and get better every day. We are the least experienced team in the league.

“Lum and Vaglica have experience. Ghadi is a second year player. Baffo and Cadavona are first year starters with no experience.”

Bangs believes there will be plenty of challenges in the Pacific Coast League.

“CdM, Beckman, Northwood and Uni are all pretty good,” Bangs said. “I don’t know anything about Irvine.”

Woodbridge hosts Sonora at 7 p.m. Friday before competing in the Segerstrom Tournament next week

LINK TO ARTICLE

Team gear now available for purchase

Purchase your warrior gear by clicking here:

https://team.sportchalet.com/WHS_WBB

Website closes November 29th!

Shoe Drive Fundraiser Ends this Week

All shoes that are collected for the shoe drive are scheduled to be picked up this Wednesday (10/14/15) morning at 9:00am in the parking lot behind the pool. If you have any problems dropping off your shoes on Wednesday morning, be sure to talk with Coach Bangs or Coach Clarkson to plan on how to collect your shoes.

Angel Bins will also take any used clothes as well. Just make sure they are in separate bags from the shoes.

Help send us to Orlando, FL

We are currently raising money to fund our trip to Orlando Florida this December. We are asking for your support. You can go to the website below and make a donation. All donations are tax deductible. Please share this link to all Warrior Alumni.

https://app.snap-raise.com/fundraisers/3646

Summer Basketball

The 2015 summer basketball season is right around the corner. As summer league schedules and tournament schedules are received, they will be posted on the "Summer Schedules" page. The JV Mission Viejo bracket has been received and posted already. We are still waiting for the others to arrive.

Summer camp for all incoming 9th graders will start on Monday June 22nd.

All players that are planning on participating in summer basketball MUST sign up and pay the fee for summer camp by going to this link. This needs to be completed before playing in any summer league games or participating in summer camp.

Any questions, see Coach Bangs or Coach Clarkson.