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Youth Scene: Orange Crush perfect champions

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The Orange Crush team from the Region 57 Corona del Mar girls’ under-9 Recreation League capped off an undefeated regular and postseason run with a 3 -0 victory over South Irvine Region 144 in the Area Q championship Sunday evening at Tustin Sports Park.

There are 50 girls’ U9 teams in Area Q, which is comprised of regions from Corona del Mar, Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Tustin, North and South Irvine, as well as Yorba Linda.

The Orange Crush went 9 -0 during the regular fall season play in Region 57, with a 47-goals-for and 10-against ratio. They then went through the entire league playoffs without dropping a single goal, eventually earning the right to represent Region 57 in Area Q competition with a 3-0 victory in the league championship game.

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Presumably due to their regular-season record, the Orange Crush were placed in the top-seeded pool in the Area Q championship playoffs, where they were victorious over three worthy opponents, two from Region 96 Tustin and 1 from Region 213 North Irvine, finishing with a 9-goals-for and 1-goal-against ratio in pool play. The Crush then advanced directly to the Area Q championship, where they met and defeated the worthy South Irvine competitor.

The Crush showed true heart, desire, and discipline on the practice field in its undefeated season run. For Coaches Mark Valentine and John Schmid of the CdM team, this was very nice validation for these young ladies for their hard work since August.

“The consistent focus on teamwork and selfless soccer really paid dividends for these girls,” Valentine said. “Each one of the Orange Crush players: Bianca Bays, Heather Brown, Kiley Gugasian, Rlyee Harrington, Ivy Hollander, Ashley Krantz, Bella Riccio, Kaylie Rozell, Rylen Schmid, Emily Valentine, Isabella Walsh and Olivia Young made significant contributions for this team throughout the campaign, driven by week-in, week-out dedication to make this season come together as it had ... several of these girls hadn’t played soccer before or maybe once in their earlier years. It was a step-by-step progression.”

— Reader submission

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TH Hoops takes first in tourney

The TH Hoops fourth-grade 10U basketball team, from Newport Beach, recently took first place at the Big City Holiday Classic that took place at Cypress College.

The team went undefeated in the four games played against some very competitive teams from Southern California.

TH Hoops played West Coast Academy of Long Beach in the championship game winning by two points, scoring the winning basket with only seconds left. The championship game was back and forth the entire time but it was the stellar defense, and overall team play of TH Hoops that got them the victory.

The boys played solid team basketball throughout the entire tournament with every member of the team contributing during the two-day event. The team was able to execute their game plan and their aggressiveness on the court with loose balls turning out to be the difference maker.

The team members included: Jonathan Tapia, Van Sidebotham, Dylan Abe, Matthew Poska, Matthew DeCrona, Luke Chandler, Buddy Cohen, JJ Barker and Hudson Bond.

— Reader submission

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