Canyon girls volleyball tops Dana Hills in thrilling five-set match to grab spot in CIF-SS semifinals

• October 26, 2023

ANAHEIM — The Canyon and Dana Hills girls volleyball teams were both looking to take one step closer to making program history on Wednesday night.

In the end, Canyon prevailed in yet another five-set match, defeating Dana Hills, 25-11, 18-25, 21-25, 25-23, 15-13, in the CIF-SS Division 3 quarterfinals at Canyon High.

The Comanches (21-4) will face No. 1 seed Beckman on the road in the semifinals Saturday, and are now one win away from their first CIF-SS finals appearance in program history.

FINAL

Canyon wins a thriller over Dana Hills, 25-11, 18-25, 21-25, 25-23, 15-13. The Comanches will be at Beckman on Saturday for the semis.@ocvarsity @ComancheSports pic.twitter.com/Koxi3LpHHS

— David Delgado (@DavidDelgado_OC) October 26, 2023

Canyon coach Matt Silva, who is also in charge of the boys team at the school, is in his second year at the helm of the girls team.

Silva was unsure how his team would respond in the fourth set after taking the opening set and dropping the next two, falling behind 2-1 in the match.

“After set three I didn’t know if we were going to pull it off, but we got (set) four and built a little momentum late in (set) five and now, we are all happy,” Silva said gleefully.

Rowan Dillard had a team-high 11 kills for Canyon, Sydney Valentine added 10 kills and Annie Singelyn finished with nine kills.

It’s going to 5!
Canyon takes set 4 from Dana Hills 25-23.@ocvarsity pic.twitter.com/t0KhTFuVql

— David Delgado (@DavidDelgado_OC) October 26, 2023

The attack for Dana Hills (22-5) was led by Kaity Hoelker, Ava Hoff and Reese Weinert.

Silva was thankful his team made enough adjustments in the final two sets to slow down Weinert’s impact up the middle.

“Their middle, Reese, was just absolutely fantastic, and then she switched from hitting to tipping and then she went back to hitting, and we couldn’t get a beat on her at all,” Silva said, “but I felt the girls did a good job. My opposite, Annie Singelyn, blocking late in set four on the outside helped us get touch blocks, which was key for us.”

Middle blocker Nikki Monfared had nine blocks and six kills for Canyon. The junior middle blocker was a fixture at the net.

Giselle Haugen contributed with four blocks and three kills.

“Nikki was huge and Giselle Haugen, absolutely, had some huge blocks late in sets four and five, but I think the big thing with this team is it’s a collective group,” Silva said. “We play teams that have one or two girls that can bring it, but I feel I have seven, eight, nine girls even on the sidelines that are contributing and helping us out. That’s been the difference so far.”

Both teams won five-set matches in the second round of the playoffs with Canyon beating Roosevelt and the Dolphins defeating Redlands.

The Comanches will face Beckman on Saturday with a trip to the finals on the line.

“They’re a great team, so we gotta get back into the film room and try to prepare as much as possible,” Silva said.

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​ Orange County Register 

CIF-SS girls volleyball playoffs: Wednesday’s quarterfinals scores, schedule for Saturday

• October 26, 2023

CIF-SS GIRLS VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS

DIVISION 1 

Saturday, third and final round of pool play

POOL A

#4 Sierra Canyon (1-1) at #1 Mater Dei (2-0), 6 p.m.

POOL B

#3 Huntington Beach (2-0) at #2 Mira Costa (2-0), 6 p.m.

#7 Los Alamitos (0-2) at #6 Alemany (0-2), 5 p.m.

DIVISION 2

QUARTERFINALS, WEDNESDAY

Orange Lutheran def. Edison, 3-1

Long Beach Wilson def. Newport Harbor 25-22, 25-19, 21-25, 24-26, 15-9

JSerra def. La Canada 18-25, 25-15, 25-20, 21-25, 15-13

SEMIFINALS, SATURDAY

Orange Lutheran at Redondo, 6 p.m.

Long Beach Wilson at JSerra, 6 p.m.

DIVISION 3

QUARTERFINALS, WEDNESDAY

Beckman def. Village Christian 25-17, 25-21, 25-16

Canyon def. Dana Hills 3-2

SEMIFINALS, SATURDAY

Canyon at Beckman, 6 p.m.

DIVISION 4

QUARTERFINALS, WEDNESDAY

El Dorado def. St. Lucy’s 25-19, 25-14, 25-14

Sunny Hills def. Windward 25-23, 25-19, 25-19

Capistrano Valley Christian def. Valley Christian 3-0

SEMIFINALS, SATURDAY

West Ranch at El Dorado, 6 p.m.

Capistrano Valley Christian at Sunny Hills, 6 p.m.

DIVISION 5

QUARTERFINALS, WEDNESDAY

Corona Centennial def. Northwood 3-0

Culver City def. Irvine 25-21, 25-10, 25-22

DIVISION 6

QUARTERFINALS, WEDNESDAY

Linfield Christian def. Tarbut V’Torah 3-0

DIVISION 8

QUARTERFINALS, WEDNESDAY

Villanova Prep def. Orangewood Academy 3-0

DIVISION 9

QUARTERFINALS, WEDNESDAY

Rosemead def. Century 3-0

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​ Orange County Register 

Freshman Westley Matavao helps lift Orange Lutheran girls volleyball past Edison in CIF-SS quarterfinals

• October 26, 2023

ORANGE — The plan of attack for Orange Lutheran’s girls volleyball team in its CIF-SS Division 2 quarterfinal match against Edison on Wednesday was to give its freshman outside hitter, Westley Matavao, as many swings as possible.

The 6-foot Matavao made the most of her opportunities, finishing with 26 kills to lead the Lancers to a 25-10, 21-25, 25-17, 25-16 victory at Orange Lutheran High School.

Orange Lutheran (25-13), which is the No. 4 seed in the division, will take on No. 1 seed Redondo in the semifinals Saturday at Redondo High School. Redondo defeated Oaks Christian in four sets in the quarterfinals Wednesday.

Players on the Orange Lutheran volleyball team begin to celebrate after a four-set victory over Edison in the CIF-SS Division 2 quarterfinals on Wednesday, Oct. 25. (Photo by Lou Ponsi)

The Lancers are back in the semifinals for the first time since 2017, when they won the Division 2 title in four sets over Santiago of Corona.

Orange Lutheran served 16 aces and was the more dominant team at the net, with seven blocks.

“Edison’s always a powerhouse in volleyball,” Orange Lutheran coach Henry Valiente said. “So we knew we had to take it to them, to serve tough to keep them at bay. But that’s a great program that we played and I’m so happy that it was a good match for both of us.”

Matavao had seven kills in the first and third sets and eight kills in the fourth set, with nearly every kill coming from the left side of the net.

Lancers setter Marley Robinson, who is also a freshman, had 31 assists as she fulfilled her role in the game plan by getting the ball to Matavao.

“There are so many people always stacked on me, but with my team behind me, I know I can get through,” said Matavao. “I know I can do it. This team is so supportive and energetic. We were a unit tonight. We played amazing together and I wouldn’t want to do it with any other team.”

Orange Lutheran players, from left, Marley Robinson, Westley Matavao, Jaedyn Houston and Maylynn Mitchell, each made big contributions in the win over Edison in the CIF-SS Division 2 quarterfinals Wednesday, Oct. 25. (Photo by Lou Ponsi)

In the first set, Maylynn Mitchell served three consecutive aces and Jaedyn Houston and Kenzie Houston each served an ace to help the Lancers build an 11-3 lead.

Matavao had back-to-back aces and scored three of the Lancers’ final four points on kills.

The score was tied eight times in the second set and the lead changed hands three times until the Chargers (17-13) pulled away on three kills and a block from Molly McCluskey, who led the team with 15 kills and four blocks.

The Chargers led through the first half of the third set and had an 11-10 lead until consecutive kills from Mitchell gave the Lancers their first lead, which they never relinquished.

Orange Lutheran led through most of the fourth set and took an 18-9 lead on three consecutive kills from Matavao.

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​ Orange County Register 

Santa Margarita boys water polo edges Mater Dei, eyes Open Division playoffs

• October 26, 2023

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SANTA ANA — Santa Margarita’s boys water polo team splashed and sang in the pool at Mater Dei after a dramatic victory in the final minute of regulation Wednesday night. But that wasn’t the only reason for the celebration.

The Eagles rejoiced in what they hope was the defining moment of a quest to reach the CIF-SS Open Division playoffs.

Center Max Ellis capped a dominant performance with a goal from center with 26 seconds left to lift Eagles past Mater Dei 14-13 in a duel for second place in the Trinity League.

Santa Margarita (19-6, 4-1) entered the match ranked sixth in Orange County and tied with Huntington Beach for eighth in Division 1.

The top eight squads in Division 1 are expected to be grouped in the Open Division, and Eagles first-year coach Brian Weathersby believes his team might have moved past Huntington Beach.

“I think we’ll end up jumping them and be in the Open,” Weathersby said of the Oilers, who split two matches against Santa Margarita and went 0-1 against Mater Dei. “And they’ll be in Division 1. That’s what I think.”

Ellis, an uncommitted senior, netted a match-high six goals and drew a penalty shot. He said he wants to play in the Open Division despite the presence of powerhouses JSerra (undefeated), Newport Harbor (two-time defending champion) and Harvard-Westlake.

“I want to compete for first (against the best), and if I lose trying to get first, then that’s all right because at least I tried to get the best I can with my teammates,” Ellis said.

Ellis praised his teammates for their entry passes against Mater Dei (15-10, 3-2), ranked fourth in the county and seventh in Division 1.

He scored the winning strike off a pass into set by Christian Brossa.

The Eagles then sealed the victory on a steal on the ensuing possession by goalie Jack Farnell, a JSerra transfer who had 11 saves and three steals.

Santa Margarita also received four goals apiece from Keegan McGann and Evan Wu.

Mater Dei, under first-year coach Wyatt Benson, recovered from a 13-10 deficit with less than five minutes left, to knot the score at 13-13. Santino Rossi capped the surge with a counterattack strike with 2:28 left.

Left-hander Nathan Banos, a Princeton commit, and Brian Barnuevo each finished with three goals.

Cal commit Alex Oprea, another left-hander, Rossi and Nico Sandoval each added two goals.

“(If) we bring that effort, we touch up on a couple mistakes here and there, I’m pretty confident we can take down anyone we play (in CIF),” Benson said.

Santa Margarita plays host to Palos Verdes on Thursday in another match critical to its Open Division aspirations.

The playoff pairings will be announced Saturday at 9 a.m.

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​ Orange County Register 

Clippers crank up the energy, blow past Blazers in season opener

• October 26, 2023

LOS ANGELES — Kawhi Leonard and Paul George took the court together in a season opener for the first time in three years on Wednesday night. The last time the superstar duo was fully healthy at the start of the season was 2020, a long time and many injuries ago.

It was a sight Coach Tyronn Lue had been waiting to see. And he liked what he saw.

Leonard and George – in the lineup together for just 38 games last season, when both were derailed by injuries – took charge of the game from the start and with help from Russell Westbrook, Bones Hyland and Ivica Zubac, they ran over the Portland Trail Blazers, 123-111, at Crypto.com Arena.

“I know it’s a long season but having Kawhi and PG both in the starting lineup, being able to play tonight with no restrictions, it’s good to see,” Lue said before tipoff.

The Blazers were starting their own revised era – their first season without perennial All-Star Damian Lillard, who demanded a trade and eventually landed with the Milwaukee Bucks. The young players, including highly touted rookie Scoot Henderson, were no match for George, Leonard and Westbrook once they got moving.

“(I liked that we were) just playing hard, competing, like I said, having a defensive mindset, being physical, getting into the ball, getting the bodies and Zu protecting the rim,” Lue said after the wire-to-wire win. “That’s what we got to be every night.”

Lue said he thought their offense would take time to gel as they get to know each other. That might have accounted for the 17 turnovers against Portland, which struggled to control its own mistakes (17 turnovers) against the Clippers’ focused defense.

Scoring, however, wasn’t a problem for the Clippers. George led all scorers with 27 points on 11-of-17 shooting, while Leonard added 23 points – hitting all five of his 3-point attempts – and Zubac finished with 20 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots.

Westbrook also had a double-double with 11 points and 13 assists, the most by a Clippers player in a season opener since Andre Miller in 2002, as the Clippers finished with 36 assists on their 47 field goals.

Hyland finished with 17 points.

“I was very happy about our offense because we haven’t been shooting the ball well, so to make 16 threes, go 16 for 34 for 47%, that’s unusual after the way we’ve been shooting the ball this preseason,” Lue said.

The trio of Leonard, George and Westbrook played just 10 games together after Westbrook joined the team in February as injuries cut short their time. Leonard said Wednesday’s game was a good example of what the Clippers could accomplish.

“I think we just have to step out on the floor and like he said, just show an example that we’re engaged and locked in from the beginning,” Leonard said.

“It could just translate over to everybody else and they could carry over.”

Malcolm Brogdon, who was tentatively headed to the Clippers in a three-team trade in June before it fell apart, led the Blazers with 20 points. Anfernee Simons added 18 points and Deandre Ayton added four points and 12 rebounds. Henderson finished with 11 points, four assists and four turnovers in 36 minutes in his debut.

The biggest blemish on the high-energy night was the absence of Terance Mann. Mann, sporting a knee-high walking boot on his sprained left ankle, was forced to watch the season opener sitting down, missing his initial start at power forward.

Robert Covington filled in for Mann and capped the first half by blocking a shot by Jabari Walker. Covington had five points in his first start in two years.

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The start of the game might not have been what Lue had planned on with Mann out and the Clippers getting off to a bit of a slow start, but the middle and certainly the finish made him happy.

The Clippers ramped up their intensity, evident by Westbrook’s trademark hustle. After beating Portland’s Henderson for a layup in the first quarter, he stood in the corner of the court, waving his arms and yelling to the crowd to get pumped up.

The crowd responded enthusiastically with nearly every fast-break, deflected pass and rebound as the Clippers took a 20-point lead by halftime and led 99-73 after three quarters.

The Clippers allowed Portland to make some headway in the fourth as Toumani Camara and Brogdon buried back-to-back 3-pointers to trim the lead to 102-79 with 9:40 left. With their lead shaved to 20 points, Lue put the starters back in and the Clippers closed out a 12-point victory.

“It feels good,” Leonard said of his healthy start. “I’m happy that I had a good offseason, able to get back healthy. Like I said, I felt good in training camp going into this season and came out (of) the game feeling good as well. So just going to keep it going from here.”

PG-13 sounds off on the W! @LAClippers | #ClipperNation | @Kristina_Pink pic.twitter.com/RJQkNEoQNi

— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) October 26, 2023

PG PUNCH

He’s up to 27 points on the night.

POR/LAC – Live on the NBA App: https://t.co/wjSd7HW3Ja pic.twitter.com/BHJzUrceKa

— NBA (@NBA) October 26, 2023

Klaw Russ @LAClippers | #ClipperNation pic.twitter.com/ozlPWCgxl6

— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) October 26, 2023

@LAClippers | #ClipperNation pic.twitter.com/1FB7rQKzn4

— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) October 26, 2023

BONES TO BRODIE @LAClippers | #ClipperNation pic.twitter.com/RHOtJscvI8

— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) October 26, 2023

COUNT IT @LAClippers | #ClipperNation pic.twitter.com/fyju9MzcNg

— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) October 26, 2023

Coach Lue addressed the media following the W in the season opener @LAClippers | #ClipperNation pic.twitter.com/4WaSrXlPQE

— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) October 26, 2023

THE KLAWWW@LAClippers | #ClipperNation pic.twitter.com/tS2eKMeE21

— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) October 26, 2023

Red Hot @LAClippers | #ClipperNation pic.twitter.com/RH1BNX2dxT

— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) October 26, 2023

​ Orange County Register 

1 person critically injured, 2 men arrested after shooting at hotel in Crestline

• October 26, 2023

An employee of a Crestline hotel was in critical condition after being shot early Wednesday, Oct. 25, and two suspects were arrested — including a man who also was injured, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said.

The shooting was reported at 2:30 a.m. at the Sleepy Hollow Hotel at 24033 Lake Drive in the community in the San Bernardino Mountains.

A news release sent Wednesday night said Brian Serrano and Jaime Rojas were stopped as they were leaving the area in a car. Serrano, 43, of Sun City, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. Rojas, 46, of Santa Ana, was treated at a hospital and was awaiting being booked on suspicion of conspiracy to commit attempted murder.

The release did not say how Rojas was injured.

A person who answered the phone at the hotel declined to comment to a reporter.

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Guardians or gangsters?: The dark side of civil asset forfeiture

• October 26, 2023

There are fundamental laws, deeply entrenched not just in culture and society but also in religious tenets, that are universally repudiated. Crimes such as murder, adultery and theft top this list. Yet, as countless unsuspecting citizens have discovered, there’s a sinister form of theft lurking in the shadows, sanctified by the very government that’s supposed to protect us: civil asset forfeiture.

Strip this term of art and the grim reality stands exposed: Law enforcement, when corrupted, becomes a band of robbers in uniform. If you naively believe, “This won’t happen to me. After all, I’ve done no wrong,” brace yourself. More often than not, it’s the innocents who find themselves trapped, with no trial or conviction — just barefaced, brazen theft.

To give a semblance of fairness to this discussion, yes, there might be scenarios where confiscating assets without trial is warranted, say to prevent criminals from using their ill-gotten gains. Such actions would be somewhat palatable if the assets were returned once innocence was proven, or the prosecutors didn’t indict. But alas, that’s rarely the case.

Between 2000 and 2019, a staggering $68.8 billion was taken away through civil forfeiture. Civil forfeiture might be tolerable with stringent checks and balances. However, in its current grotesque form, it indiscriminately swallows the assets of both the innocent and the guilty. A horrifying 80% of these forfeitures are executed against individuals never even charged with crimes. The Washington Post’s 2014 investigation laid bare nearly 62,000 forfeitures executed without indictments. State law enforcement brazenly set up veritable cash-grab traps disguised as legitimate checkpoints, to raid and pillage people’s assets within their vehicles with impunity. The rationale is to discover criminal activity by looking for various “indicators,” which, as The Washington Post article reports, may be as trivial as trash found on the floor of a car, or a nervous driver.

Take the recent case of an FBI raid on a safety deposit box facility. Under the pretense of investigating the laundering of drug money, they ransacked boxes, one of which belonged to a 79-year-old retiree who had thousands of dollars of cash saved and hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of gold coins. Despite being neither charged with nor accused of a crime, this man became yet another victim of the FBI’s legal piracy. He got his cash, but he had to sue the FBI to get it back, ultimately spending $40,000 on attorneys fees to do so. And his gold coins? Vanished into thin air. The FBI had no idea where they went.

Consider the heart-wrenching saga of a Colorado couple whose only crime was owning a home that happened to be broken into by an armed shoplifting suspect. Their home became collateral damage after the police destroyed the interior with armored vehicles, explosives and bullets, and then they were slapped in the face by a judicial system that denied them compensation.

These aren’t rare aberrations but recurring nightmares. A cursory online search paints a harrowing picture of law-abiding citizens robbed of their homes, businesses, cash, assets and vehicles by those sworn to protect them.

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Thieves are thieves no matter whether they wear a badge or uniform. The job of law enforcement is to protect the public, not rob them blind nor use them as piggy banks to fill the coffers of their departments and agencies. How can you legitimately say that you are protecting the public when you take their assets, refuse to charge them with a crime and then make them go through a painful, expensive process to get their assets back? I urge any government official who takes a person’s money with no intent of charging them with a crime to rip their badge off their chest and seek employment elsewhere; you are not needed, you are worthless and should be ashamed to wear your badge.

I am a staunch defender of law enforcement, but I will never defend any officer who abuses the privilege of their badge and shields themselves behind unjust civil forfeiture laws. Theft is theft, regardless of the legal jargon or post-9/11 policy contortions used to justify the laws that make it legal.

People’s very livelihoods, their life’s work, are being ransacked and stolen. The fundamental principle of “innocent until proven guilty” is trampled by unjust laws. In the twisted world of these law enforcement officers, your assets are free game even if you’re never formally accused. We need accountability and oversight, and more certainty that innocent civilians who are never accused of crimes can get their assets back without having to ask. Innocent people shouldn’t be dragged through hell to reclaim what’s rightfully theirs.

Armstrong Williams is a syndicated columnist

​ Orange County Register 

Imprisoned Mexico-based megachurch leader indicted in L.A. on child porn charges

• October 26, 2023

LOS ANGELES — The imprisoned leader of a Mexico-based evangelical megachurch was indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday on child pornography charges involving a 16-year-old victim.

Naasón Joaquín García — the leader of La Luz del Mundo (Light of the World) — was indicted on one count each of production of child pornography and possession of child pornography, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. It was unclear when García, 54, would appear in court for arraignment on the charges.

García pleaded guilty last year in state court to two counts of forcible oral copulation involving minors and one count of a lewd act upon a child who was 15 years old. Each of the counts involved a separate female minor, according to the California Attorney General’s Office, which handled the prosecution. He was sentenced to 16 years and eight months in prison and ordered to register as a sex offender for life.

Federal prosecutors said he is currently imprisoned at the California Institution for Men in Chino.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, García in May 2019 allegedly coerced a 16-year-old victim to engage in sexually explicit conduct “for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct.” In June 2019, he allegedly possessed an iPad that had five videos of the victim engaged in sexual activity.

Prosecutors said García was in possession of the iPad when he was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport in June 2019.

According to prosecutors, García could face up to 30 years in federal prison for the charge of production of child pornography, and up to 10 years in federal prison for the charge of possession of child pornography.

The Guadalajara-based Pentecostal sect La Luz del Mundo has branches in 50 nations and claims more than a million members worldwide.

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