SLO, Mission Prep girls basketball on fire to start season | Sports notes

The Mission Prep and SLO High girls basketball teams have been on a tear to start the season. Neither team has dropped a game in the first two weeks, with SLO High winning seven in a row and Mission Prep winning its first six.

SLO High went 4-0 in the SLO Holiday Tournament last week, capped by a 49-40 win over Templeton on Saturday in which the Tigers rallied from a 22-9 halftime deficit. Riley O’Connor and Daphne Hummell each had 10 points in the comeback victory.

After a one-point win over Santa Ynez to start the season, Mission Prep has been blowing teams out with lights-out shooting. The Royals hit 12 3-point shots in a 86-11 victory over Anzar and junior Julia Carney had 21 points in a 73-34 win on Friday over Stevenson.

Unfortunately, fans will have to wait until the New Year (Jan. 12) for these two teams to meet in one of the best rivalry games around. Both teams are expected to compete for a PAC 8 title with defending champions Righetti (1-1) and Arroyo Grande (2-2) once league play begins Jan. 3.

Colvin rolling

Mission Prep senior Kyle Colvin is picking up right were he left off last season. The Royals sharpshooter had games of 27, 23 and 24 points to start the season with three straight victories for Mission Prep at the Coach Wilson Memorial Tournament in Monterey.

Colvin will need to work hard to keep up that kind of production on Friday when Mission Prep hosts Bishop Montgomery, the defending state champion and one of the top-25 teams in the nation, in the opening game of the Mission Prep Christmas Classic.

▪  Arroyo Grande sophomore Gage Gomez has been crazy-good from 3-point range to start the season. In a victory over Frontier on Thursday, Gomez hit nine 3-pointers and finished with 38 points and a win. After two losses, the lefty came back against Centennial (Bakersfield) and scored 25 points on six made 3-point shots in another victory. Arroyo Grande (4-3) went 2-2 in the 43rd Annual Taro Kobara Optimist Tournament.

▪  SLO High (6-2) has the best record in the PAC 8 so far. Atascadero is 2-2, and Pioneer Valley is 4-2.

Atascadero girls water polo off to hot start

The Atascadero girls water polo team is off to its best start in three years thanks to some solid defense. Atascadero (7-2, 1-0 PAC 8) has won its past six games in a row by giving up an average of just under three goals per game. Last week, the Division 5 team took out Division 4 Cabrillo 8-6 behind two goals each from Evy Cooper and Brooke Story and 12 saves from goalie Tina Bell. The Greyhounds showed they could win with offense too with a 22-1 win over SLO High and a 16-2 victory over Nipomo.

But the real tests are ahead. Atascadero plays Righetti (4-2, 0-1 PAC 8), one of the top teams in the PAC 8, on Tuesday and Paso Robles (4-3, 0-0 PAC 8) next week. And to really prove itself, Atascadero will need to challenge Arroyo Grande (4-1, 1-0 PAC 8) in the final game of the regular season, a team that has won 137 straight league games.

SoCal fires affect local sports

The devastating fires that started last week and continue to burn in Southern California are having a widespread ripple effect on sports in SLO County.

Arroyo Grande High had to cancel its soccer games Thursday due to poor air quality, and basketball games scheduled for the Santa Barbara Holiday Classic at Santa Barbara High this week have been canceled.

On Monday, Nipomo High canceled all inside and outside league games for the week and outside practice for Monday and Tuesday. SLO High had to cancel a soccer game at Cabrillo High in Santa Barbara County last week, and boys basketball, girls water polo and girls soccer games scheduled for this week were all canceled. Atascadero High hasn’t had to cancel any events yet but is monitoring conditions carefully.

As the fires continue to grow, the number of games and practices affected by the fires is expected to grow as well.

Olivia Ortiz commits to Cal Poly

SLO High junior Olivia Ortiz has verbally committed to play soccer at Cal Poly. Ortiz, who was a part of the last two historically successful seasons for the Tigers, has already scored seven goals this season to lead the team to a 5-0 start.

Ortiz will follow in the footsteps of former teammate Grace Park who joined Cal Poly this season after playing at SLO High last season. As an added connection, SLO High head coach Brittney Viboch played for Cal Poly as a senior goalkeeper last season.

Cal water polo comes to Morro Bay

The Cal women’s water polo schedule released last week includes a stop on the Central Coast. The Bears will play San Diego State on March 28 at the recently opened aquatics center at Morro Bay High.

It will be a homecoming for two members of the San Diego State team. Aztecs freshmen Isabella Solis and Taylor York played for the dominant Arroyo Grande High girls water polo team last season.

Laird gets postseason awards

Cal junior running back and Mission Prep graduate Patrick Laird had quite the haul at a team awards ceremony Sunday. Laird won a team-high three awards including offensive MVP, the Berkeley Breakfast Club Award as Cal’s Outstanding Player in the Big Game and the Stub Allison Award given for his work in strength and conditioning.

The Arroyo Grande native and former walk-on had a breakout season for the Bears in 2017, leading Cal with 191 carries for 1,127 yards rushing and eight touchdowns on the ground with an average of 102.5 yards per game, becoming the first Cal player to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a season since 2014. Laird also had more receptions than any Cal running back since 1988 with 45 catches, 322 yards receiving and one touchdown. For good measure, the man who’s known for reading books was named first-team Pac-12 All-Academic and honorable mention All-Pac 12.

Nwaba comes alive with Bulls

After missing 12 games with an ankle injury, Cal Poly graduate and Chicago Bulls guard David Nwaba is healthy and playing well for his new team.

Nwaba scored 15 points for the Bulls in a win over the New York Knicks on Saturday and has scored in double figures his last three games.

After going undrafted, Nwaba played with the D-Fenders of the NBA’s D League and was eventually called up to join the Los Angeles Lakers last season. He was cut by the Lakers in the offseason and signed with the Bulls.

This season he is averaging 7.9 points, 1.6 assists and 5.2 rebounds per game with the Bulls (5-20) and has been an occasional starter. Known for his defense, he also has five blocks in his last two games.

“Guys feed off his energy,” Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg told the Chicago Tribune. “His skill is he goes out and plays harder than everybody else on the floor. That’s a great skill to have and a skill that we need.”

Dzubnar is top special teams tackler in NFL

Former Cal Poly linebacker and current Los Angeles Charger Nick Dzubnar is leading the NFL in special teams total tackles through 13 games.

After making the Chargers roster, Dzubnar was cut before the start of the season and then resigned in September when cornerback Jason Verrett was placed on injured reserve.

Dzubnar hasn’t managed a tackle as a linebacker for the Bolts yet, but he has found a home on kick coverage. Dzubnar, 26, has 19 total tackles in 10 games this season (12 solo, 7 assisted). He had four total tackles in a 54-24 win over Buffalo and three solo tackles in the Chargers’ 30-13 win over the Washington Redskins on Sunday.

Dzubnar’s recent play has caused some fans to start a campaign to get the Rancho Santa Margarita native to the Pro Bowl as a special teams player.

The Chargers (7-6) have now won four games in a row and are in a close race for the AFC West title.

This story was originally published December 11, 2017 at 6:52 PM with the headline "SLO, Mission Prep girls basketball on fire to start season | Sports notes."