Youth Basketball: Mariners reigns supreme

Mariners Elementary defeated Habor View, 37-34, in the championship game of the inaugural Coast Classic youth boys’ basketball tournament for players ages 9-10, completed Sunday at UC Irvine’s Crawford Court.

Harbor View led most of the way, but Mariners tied the game, 34-34, with 1:30 left. Mariners’ Brandon Kincaid then sank two free throws to put Mariners ahead.

Dylan Li added a free throw for Mariners with 10 seconds left to finalize the scoring and give the Marlins the title in the eight-team event that began on Saturday.

Also contributing for Mariners, which topped Lincoln, 37-19, in the semifinals, were Michael Gurka, Kevin Forbath, Cody Leithem, James Allemann, Luke O’Neil, Cody Hess, Sean McCarthy and Cole McKibben. Mariners was coached by Rob Hess.

Harbor View was led by Keenan Boyle (12 steals) and Ayden Ziegler scored 11 points each in their team’s 30-22 semifinal win over Andersen. Additional contributors for the Vikings were Gavin Scott, Nico Hult, Aden Stein, Julian Debule, Conor Kelly and Scott Trunninger. The Vikings were coached by Drew Olsen.

Andersen’s roster included Jordan Cortens, Jack Pluma, Ryan Schafer, Calder Overfelt, Jack Bolt, Brendan Jennings, Ryan McManigal, Carter Healy and Chase Habermehl. The Dolphins were coached by Joe Jennings.

Coach Ron Touchard’s Lincoln Leopards were comprised of Dylan Sudeck, Dylan Godfrey, Jack Johnson, Ronan Carter, Tanner Touchard, Chandler Touchard, Nic Peloso and Tanner Villelli.

The tournament, patterned after the Daily Pilot Cup youth soccer tournament, was the brainchild of Forrest Ogletree, a Costa Mesa resident who coached the Kaiser team that included his son.

The tournament field, which Ogletree said is likely to increase for future events (perhaps one in the winter and one in the summer), also included Newport Heights, Saint Joachim and Our Lady Queen of Angels.

Ogletree, who said he would eventually like to include boys’ and girls’ divisions for third- and fourth-graders, as well as fifth- and sixth-graders, was assisted with most of the administrative chores for the tournament by Byron Ziegler, who helped coach the Harbor View squad.

Ogletree said players and parents gave him positive feedback about the event, for which UCI donated the use of Crawford Court.

— Barry Faulkner