Orange County scores and player stats for Thursday, Nov. 14

• November 15, 2024

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Scores and stats from Orange County games on Thursday, Nov. 14

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THURSDAY’S SCORES

FOOTBALL

CIF-SS PLAYOFFS

Quarterfinals

DIVISION 11

El Rancho 40, Los Amigos 20

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL

CIF STATE PLAYOFFS

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA REGIONAL

Round II

DIVISION I

Huntington Beach def. San Luis Obispo, 25-13, 25-18, 25-12

Santa Margarita def. Temecula Valley, 15-25, 25-19, 25-23, 25-23

DIVISION III

El Dorado def. Corona, 25-16, 25-13, 25-19

DIVISION IV

Walnut def. Laguna Beach, 25-16, 25-21, 25-18

​ Orange County Register 

Pepi goal helps USMNT edge Jamaica in first leg of Nations League quarterfinal

• November 15, 2024

Ricardo Pepi put the United States in good position to advance to the CONCACAF Nations League semifinals, scoring an early goal for a 1-0, first-leg win against Jamaica on Thursday night at Kingston in Coach Mauricio Pochettino’s first competitive match.

“We were here to fight. We knew it was going to be difficult,” Pepi said. “At the end of the day we got the result and now it’s time to go and take care of it at home.”

The second leg of the total-goals quarterfinal is Monday in St. Louis, and the winner advances to a March 20 semifinal at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. The United States won the first three editions of the tournament.

Pepi scored off a Christian Pulisic pass in the fifth minute, Matt Turner saved a penalty kick and the U.S. won with a shutout on the road for the first time since a 2016 exhibition in Cuba. The Americans had 60% possession but were outshot 12-6.

Jamaica finished a man short after Mason Holgate was given his second yellow card for pushing Brandon Vázquez in the 86th, 10 minutes after his first for kicking Gianluca Busio.

Pulisic sparked the goal when he received a pass from Johnny Cardoso and dribbled up the center of the field. Pepi burst past Amari’i Bell, ran onto the ball and took a touch, then mis-hit his shot but put the ball in off goalkeeper Andre Blake’s far post for his 12th goal in 32 international appearances.

“I just saw Christian between the lines and I thought I had space in behind, so made a run,” Pepi said after his third goal against Jamaica.

Pulisic became the 33rd player to make 75 U.S. appearances. Pepi is the fourth American to score 12 international goals before age 22 after Landon Donovan, Jozy Altidore and Pulisic.

Joe Scally’s giveaway led to Jamaica being awarded a penalty kick by Costa Rican referee Juan Gabriel Calderon. Kasey Palmer passed to Shamar Nicholson, who spun around Mark McKenzie and was pulled down by Turner. The goalkeeper dived to his right to bat away Demarai Gray’s 14th-minute spot kick, Turner’s third save in eight penalty kicks while in the U.S. goal.

Malik Tillman replaced an injured Cardoso in the 20th minute.

Pochettino took over the U.S. after Gregg Berhalter was fired for a first-round Copa America exit and started with a pair of exhibition games last month.

Pochettino made six changes to the starting lineup from last month’s 2-0 road loss against Mexico, inserting McKenzie and midfielders Weston McKennie, Tanner Tessmann and Cardoso along with Pulsiic and Pepi.

McKennie got a yellow card in the 50th minute for pulling down Leon Bailey from behind by the jersey. Antonee Robinson and Bailey received yellow cards in the 69th after teams got into a shoving confrontation. American defender Tim Ream was not called for a possible hand ball in the second half.

Tim Weah served the second match of his two-game suspension for a red card in the Copa America for punching Panama’s Roderick Miller.

Aidan Morris will miss both matches after spraining his right knee in training. Brenden Aaronson had flu-like symptoms and skipped the trip, instead traveling to Missouri ahead of the second leg.

Jamaica forward Michail Antonio was suspended for yellow card accumulation. The Reggae Boyz are led by former England manager Steve McClaren, hired after they went 0-3 in the Copa America.

​ Orange County Register 

Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani wins multiple honors at All-MLB awards

• November 15, 2024

Shohei Ohtani’s historic season continues to earn the first-year Dodgers star awards.

Ohtani was named the National League winner of the Hank Aaron Award as the top offensive player in the league. He also was named the outstanding DH for a fourth consecutive season and joined Mookie Betts on the All-MLB first team as part of MLB’s awards show Thursday night.

New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge won the Hank Aaron Award in the American League.

“It’s an honor to win an award named after the legendary Hank Aaron,” Ohtani said in a video shown on the awards show. “My deep appreciation and gratitude goes out to all the fans and Hall of Famers who voted for me. Your support means everything to me.”

Ohtani received the Edgar Martinez Award as the Outstanding DH in MLB for his historic 50/50 season. It was Ohtani’s fourth consecutive season winning the award. He is the first player to win the award in each league.

Ohtani was also named the DH on the All-MLB team for the fifth time since the awards were created in 2019.

Betts was named to the All-MLB first team as an outfielder despite playing right field in just 43 games last season. Betts also played 65 games at shortstop and 18 at second base.

Betts missed five weeks at midseason after suffering a fractured bone in his left hand. He hit .289 with an .863 OPS, 19 home runs, 75 RBIs and 16 stolen bases in 116 games.

Outfielder Teoscar Hernandez was selected to the All-MLB second team after a 2024 season during which he hit a career-high 33 home runs and drove in 99 runs for the Dodgers.

​ Orange County Register 

Construction accident at Villa Park High School leaves 1 dead

• November 15, 2024

One person was killed and another severely injured in an accident in a construction zone at Villa Park High School on Thursday morning, Nov. 14, authorities said.

At around 10:20 a.m., the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and the Orange County Fire Authority were dispatched to one of the construction zones at the school, fire Capt. Sean Doran said.

“While no students were involved or injured, we are deeply saddened to share that we have been notified by authorities that one individual was transported to a local trauma center and the one was pronounced deceased,” officials with the Orange Unified School District said in a statement.

OUSD spokeswoman Hana Brake said the victim was either a construction worker or subcontractor who was working on the gymnasium. His or her identity has not been released.

Details regarding the cause or nature of the accident were not available.

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​ Orange County Register 

Anaheim will drop appeal and end efforts to prevent group home for homeless women

• November 15, 2024

Anaheim will end its efforts to prevent a transitional housing home for women with mental health issues from operating in the Anaheim Colony historic district and drop its appeal in a lawsuit against the city, officials said.

Grandma’s House of Hope, a nonprofit operating in Anaheim that provides supportive housing, had sued after the City Council denied a permit to open a group home in the Colony neighborhood in 2021.

The group home had been met with fervent community opposition and the City Council for more than three years backed their concerns and agreed that the neighborhood had already been overconcentrated with group homes.

A trial court judge ruled against Anaheim earlier this year, saying the city violated state housing laws and couldn’t require transitional or supportive housing operators to get permission from the city to open.

The City Council, at a Wednesday, Nov. 13, meeting voted 4-3 in closed session to drop the appeal, with councilmembers Natalie Rubalcava, Natalie Meeks and Carlos Leon against the decision.

It was a reversal from May when the City Council unanimously approved an appeal to the judgment against the city.

Mike Lyster, a spokesperson for the city, characterized it as a reluctant vote from the council based on pragmatism due to the uncertainty of succeeding in the appeal and the dispute creating issues with the city’s state-required housing element.

“Since 2021, we have fought to uphold reasonable oversight of our neighborhoods while also welcoming group homes in Anaheim,” Lyster said in an email. “Now we have made the hard decision to no longer pursue this in court. Instead, we’ll continue to advocate with our state partners to advance reasonable local oversight of neighborhoods that benefits everyone.”

Lyster said by the city’s count Anaheim has more than 150 group homes and city officials disagree with notions that this is a NIMBY, or not in my back yard, issue. City officials plan to work with state legislators to push more local oversight over the homes, he said.

Anaheim still does not have an approved housing element from the state, which lays out where new homes can be built throughout the city.

A representative from Grandma’s House of Hope did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Grandma’s House of Hope in 2021 sought to open a home to house 16 homeless women over 40 with mental health issues in the Anaheim Colony neighborhood.

Both the City Council and the Planning Commission denied issuing the permit needed at the time to open in the eight-bedroom home on the 600 block of North West Street.

Grandma’s House of Hope responded to the council’s decision by filing the lawsuit in 2022. The state later joined the lawsuit.

A judge ruled in February that Anaheim had violated several housing laws in denying the group home. The judge later ruled that Anaheim can’t require transitional or supportive housing operators to get permission from the city to open a group home. The city had required transitional or supportive housing with seven or more people to get a permit to open in neighborhoods.

Lyster said the court order will take effect after the case appeal is formally withdrawn.

​ Orange County Register 

UCLA football at Washington: Who has the edge?

• November 15, 2024

UCLA (4-5 overall, 3-4 Big Ten) at Washington (5-5, 3-4)

When: Friday, 6 p.m.

Where: Husky Stadium, Seattle

TV/radio: Fox (Ch. 11)/570 AM

Line: Washington by 4

What’s at stake? These are two teams trending in opposite directions with UCLA winning three in a row and Washington dropping three out of its past four games. A victory would bring the Bruins to a .500 record after a 1-5 start, erasing the negative energy that clouded the team during the first half of the season. The Huskies need a win to become bowl eligible.

Who’s better? Both teams have an identical conference record, but Washington lost to Rutgers and Iowa, two teams UCLA defeated. In addition, Washington’s offense started the season hot but has cooled off of late. The Huskies average 398.8 yards of offense per game, but that has dropped to 295.3 total yards in their last three games. It’s been the inverse for the Bruins, whose offense is on an upward trajectory. UCLA has averaged 417.7 total yards during its three-game winning streak, compared to its season average of 321.1.

Matchup to watch: UCLA’s defense will face senior quarterback Will Rogers, who hasn’t thrown a touchdown pass in three games and has three interceptions in that span. Rogers has been significantly better at home, throwing nine of his 13 touchdown passes at Husky Stadium, one of the reasons UW is unbeaten at home. UCLA’s defense has five interceptions in its last three games, and the Bruins will need to force Rogers into turnovers to overcome Washington’s home-field advantage.

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UCLA wins if: The Bruins’ running game can set the tone early. UCLA has struggled rushing the ball this season, but the problem finally came to a head last week against Iowa. T.J. Harden had his best statistical game of the season with 125 rushing yards on 20 attempts, with the team rushing for 211 yards. The team’s previous season high was 139 yards against Nebraska. Washington’s defense has played well against the pass this year but has struggled against the run, allowing 163.1 rushing yards per game (84th in the nation).

Prediction: UCLA 31, Washington 23. UCLA is playing its best football of the season and riding a wave of momentum, while Washington is backpedaling. UCLA’s ground game is coming together at last and that plays into Washington’s weakness. Harden, Keegan Jones and Jalen Berger should be able to operate in between the tackles and find the end zone multiple times.

​ Orange County Register 

Election 2024: Michelle Steel still leads Derek Tran, narrowly, in California’s 45th congressional race

• November 15, 2024

More than a week after Election Day, Rep. Michelle Steel is still holding onto her razor-thin lead over Derek Tran in the race for California’s 45th congressional district, as of the latest vote tally posted by the secretary of state Thursday, Nov. 14.

But Tran has further cut into her lead in the nailbiter race. Wednesday’s tally had Steel up by 349 votes. On Thursday, her lead shrunk to just 236.

The Southern California race is currently the closest in the state that has yet to be called.

Of the votes tallied Thursday, Tran, a Democrat, clinched 62% of the results from Los Angeles County, which makes up a small part of the district, while 53% of those results on Thursday from Orange County swung in his favor.

Steel, the Republican incumbent seeking a third term, was leading by more than 11,000 votes the day after Election Day, but a steady stream of blue ballots counted since that earlier tally has allowed Tran to slash away at her lead.

As of Thursday evening, the Orange County registrar of voters said it had counted more than 1.3 million ballots and estimated that there were more than 74,000 ballots left to process countywide. In Los Angeles County, an estimated 99,400 ballots need to be processed still, according to its elections official.

The race has been trending in Tran’s favor, and it’s likely he could flip the district by a narrow margin, said Christian Grose, a pollster and professor of political science at USC.

However, the margin is tight enough that Steel could still pull off a win, he added.

Both campaigns have prepared for the possibility of a recount in the race, soliciting donations to legal funds from their supporters in recent days. Secretary of State Shirley Weber said if there is a recount — and it yields a different outcome — then local elections officials in both Orange and Los Angeles counties would be required to recertify their results.

Tran is in Washington, D.C., this week for new member orientation, despite not clinching a congressional victory as of yet. If elected, he would become the first Vietnamese American to represent Orange County’s Little Saigon in Congress.

Neither Steel’s nor Tran’s campaigns commented on the latest vote tallies Thursday evening.

All of the other five congressional races that touch Orange County have already been called. If Tran does unseat Steel, Rep. Young Kim, R-Anaheim Hills, would be the only Republican House member to represent an Orange County district.

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​ Orange County Register 

Irvine’s new space-themed playground is universal in more ways than one

• November 15, 2024

Irvine introduced its first “universal” playground Thursday, Nov. 14, at Sweet Shade Neighborhood Park.

The wheelchair-accessible play area is designed as an inclusive space for all residents, regardless of ability.

Among its unique features, the outer space-themed playground includes adaptive swings, a sensory garden and Bankshot basketball, which the brand describes as mini golf but with a basketball. The Bankshot court features an array of creatively angled backboards of various shapes and sizes.

State Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris secured $2.8 million in state funding to improve the playground by adding equipment inclusive to people of all abilities and constructing adjacent park features for parents and caregivers, such as a new family restroom with an adult changing area.

The 7.9-acre park is home to the Sweet Shade Ability Center, where Irvine’s City Disability Services program offers activities for individuals with sensory, physical or cognitive disabilities, and their family members.

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​ Orange County Register