Morro Bay girls basketball eclipses 2 program milestones, Templeton boys roll
Morro Bay High’s girls basketball team is on a roll this season with a 12-4 record and 2-0 Sunset League start.
And with the Pirates’ latest 52-36 road win over Atascadero (14-4, 1-1 Sunset), the team reached two important milestones.
The first came as Alex Engel, the team’s varsity coach who’s now in his seventh year, won his 100th game during his tenure with the program.
And Violet Pace, the team’s 5-foot-11 star senior forward, racked up a game-high 27 points in the contest while eclipsing her 1000th career point at Morro Bay.
Pace, a four-year varsity player, came into the game with 990 career points.
Engel, who played varsity basketball himself at Morro Bay (graduating in 2007 and moving on to play collegiately at Cuesta College and Menlo College), has continued the coaching legacy of Cary Nerelli, a longtime successful former Pirates coach who credited Engel’s success while attending Tuesday’s contest.
“Alex has really worked hard to build a new era of the program and really teach and coach his players extremely well,” Nerelli said. “It’s a new type of basketball, a different game than when I was here coaching. Alex has done a great job, and I’m happy for him.”
Engel has strived to build a cohesive culture off the court as well as on it.
“I’m big on two things,” Engel said. “I really like a family atmosphere. We do a lot together and spend a lot of time together; I try and build chemistry. And second is accountability. We make mistakes, including myself, and I own up to it. I say, ‘Hey, I was wrong there.’ And the girls are the same way. We have that because we have that family relationship. We’re OK with saying we have to do this better. We have to step up.”
On Tuesday, step up they did.
Morro Bay senior point guard Zoe Fitzwater, a 5-foot-2 senior, played tenacious defense and dribbled her way around defenders on offense to create openings for herself and teammates while handling the ball effectively. Fitzwater added 11 points and Ella Lobos added six points.
Atascadero was led by Jaycee George who tallied 10 points, and Mia Purchase, who added nine. McKenna Nichols and Audrey Cohen each had six points for the Hounds.
George got into early foul trouble with three in the first half, and the Pirates forced Greyhound turnovers with their full court press.
After the game, Pace, who drained four 3-pointers, was greeted with a locker room celebration of balloons and a congratulatory sign that noted her 1,000 career points, to her surprise.
“I didn’t even know, going into the game, that I had to score 10 points to reach 1,000. ... I’m really thankful to reach it,” Pace said. “My former teammate Fiona (Durham) came in with the big sign, the balloon and the coaches all came in cheering. It was really fun.”
Pace said she has improved her game each year since she was freshman, recalling the fear factor of joining varsity early on.
“Each year, I think I’ve just grown and had more confidence,” Pace said. “It was scary at first going from middle school to varsity level, but I’ve just grown each year.”
Pace said this year’s squad has a lot of players who add to the team’s success.
“We have a lot of players who can contribute through scoring, rebounding and assisting,” Pace said. “We’ve grown a lot from last year. And the team chemistry is definitely really strong. It’s fun to play.”
Templeton boys continue winning ways
Templeton High School (16-6, 1-1 Sunset) defeated Paso Robles (2-17, 0-2 Sunset) 67-44 on Tuesday night as Sunset League play continued. While the Bearcats competed, the loss wasn’t entirely unexpected.
Paso Robles has struggled to find consistency this season, with just two wins overall and none since November.
This year marks a shift for both programs. Paso Robles is competing in the Sunset League after finishing second in the Ocean League last season, while Templeton moved from the Mountain League into Sunset play.
Around this point last season, the Bearcats already had 10 wins. That level of success hasn’t carried over, as losses have become a recurring trend.
Their only two wins this season came in gritty, tightly contested games. One was a three-point battle against Torres back in November, marking their most recent win. The other was decided in overtime against Los Banos earlier this season.
Paso Robles Head Coach Chris Lopez said the team is “inexperienced” and is trying to “stick with the process” after graduating nine seniors last year and entering the season with a much younger roster.
“The biggest thing (on finding consistency) is doing the small details right every single game,” Lopez said. “Rebounding, 50-50 balls, just winning those extra possessions. And then obviously on the defensive end, it’s been a challenge for us this year.”
Templeton jumped out to an early lead, scoring 24 points in the first quarter while Paso Robles managed just seven. Much of the game came down to rebounding and second-chance opportunities, an area where the Bearcats found some success behind Jeremy Borm in the post.
The 6-foot-3 junior used his size to battle for offensive boards to create extra scoring chances, an effort Lopez said reflects what he wants to see from his team.
“We played a little bit tougher on the rebounding side of the ball on defense and on offense,” Lopez said. “We were in there battling, so we saw some good things. If we can keep that up and build some good habits, that’ll help us.”
While Paso Robles continues to focus on growth and fundamentals, Templeton’s offense set the tone early and created a lead that Paso was never able to fully recover from.
Templeton entered the second quarter with a 17-point lead. The Eagles’ perimeter shooting played a key role in building that cushion, as they consistently connected with the basket from beyond the arc.
Junior Carson Sutton was the primary threat from deep, scoring all of his points from three-point range and finishing a perfect 3-for-3 on the night. LJ Ramos led the Eagles with 14 points.
Both teams will return to action Friday night, with Paso Robles traveling to Lompoc and Templeton visiting Santa Ynez.
This story was originally published January 13, 2026 at 10:44 PM.
%20Cropped.jpg)