Sports

After leading from the opening tip, the Sobrato High girls basketball team saw Gunderson High roar back to make it 36-36 entering the fourth quarter. With first place in the Blossom Valley League’s Mount Hamilton Division on the line, Bulldogs junior Kianna Maldia knew this was a make or break moment for the team.

There used to be a time when Emmy Goble never said a word on the soccer field. Times have changed for Goble, a Live Oak High senior midfielder who plays a key role for an Acorns team that entered the week at overall and in the Blossom Valley League’s Division.

For the longest time, the Oakwood High boys basketball team could walk into a gym against a league foe and know it was going to win, even if it had an off game. That is no longer the case, as the Hawks are in their first season playing in the competitive Mission Trail League.

Kayla Morales will never be mistaken for a rah-rah type of player. Rather, the Sobrato High senior lets her actions do all the talking. Quiet, unassuming and humble, Morales has been an integral part of a Bulldogs team that is seeking its first Central Coast Section playoff championship in program history.

The Live Oak High and Sobrato High boys soccer teams are both confident they’ll be stronger in the second half of the Blossom Valley League West Valley Division season. The Acorns were 1-1-5 and the Bulldogs 1-4-2 in league after the two squads played to a 1-1 draw on Jan. 22.

In just the second game of the season, the Sobrato High girls basketball team faced one of the best teams in the nation in St. Mary’s of Stockton. The result was rather predictable, as the Bulldogs fell, 80-22. It was an experience unlike any other, as a stacked St. Mary’s squad filled with Division I prospects lit up the scoreboard with remarkable ease.

Live Oak High boys basketball coach Jeff Yeung purposely made a tough non-league schedule to prepare his team to win the Blossom Valley League West Valley Division championship. The third-year Acorns coach knew the team was going to take its bruises, yet hopeful the players would grow stronger from the experience.

Despite entering the season without two projected starters, the Sobrato High boys basketball team hasn’t let that deter it from having its best start in coach Sean Tate’s fourth year at the helm. The Bulldogs won eight of their first 12 games before entering the tough Blossom Valley League’s Mount Hamilton Division.

As a quarterback, Erik Ornduff is used to making quick decisions on the field. Apparently, the 2016 Live Oak High graduate is equally quick when it comes to making next level decisions. On Jan. 5 in Durango, Ornduff signed his letter of intent to play at Fort Lewis College in Colorado.

Javier Torres is his own worst critic. In a 25-minute phone interview with the Times, Torres on three occasions used the work “choke” in describing some of his past performances, including a recent second-place showing in the Webber Lawson Memorial Tournament at Fremont High in Sunnyvale.