Sierra Canyon wins Mission League opener

By Jacob H. Pollon

 

The Sierra Canyon football team took the first step toward a second consecutive Mission League championship with a 34-10 victory against Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks.

Wyatt Becker was 22 of 30 for 311 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Trailblazers.

Becker connected with Jae’on Young for a 24-yard touchdown pass and USC-bound Xavier Jordan for a 62-yard scoring strike.

Each receiver caught five passes for 63 and 91 yards, respectively. UCLA-bound Kwazi Gilmer had four receptions for 58 yards.

Terrell “Choppa” Cooks rushed 11 times for 77 yards, caught two passes for 25 yards and was outstanding on special teams.

Ashton Zamani kicked two field goals, including a 41-yard strike right down the middle at the halftime buzzer.

Steele Pizzella led Notre Dame completing 10-18 passes for 136 yards, including a 29-yard touchdown to Luke Weaver.

Brandon Bryant gained 52 yards on seven carries for the Knights (4-2, 0-1).

Jaxsen Stokes had a 33-yard touchdown run for Sierra Canyon, Cameron Mitchell caught a 38-yard pass and Becker was 20 of his first 24 before cooling off.

Stokes gained 45 yards on four carries and caught three passes for 21 yards. Stokes is an impact freshman, for sure.

Sierra Canyon travels to Bishop Amat at 7 p.m. Friday looking to avenge last year’s close setback.

Sierra Canyon girls volleyball wins two more best-of-5 matches

By Jacob H. Pollon

The Sierra Canyon girls volleyball team had no lasting effects or fatigue after its amazing 3rd-place finish in the Durango tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada.

After knocking off Mitty of San Jose and Cornerstone Christian of Texas before succumbing to No. 1 in the nation Mater Dei of Santa Ana, the Trailblazers came home and took care of business in their two important Mission League matches this week to remain unbeaten.

Sierra Canyon (24-4, 6-0) had no issues in a 10, 20, 10 sweep of Marlborough and an easy 10, 19, 10 sweep against Harvard-Westlake.

George Washington-bound Taylor Treahy had six kills against HW. Lola Brown had six kills and seven blocks. Lauren Lynch (junior libero committed to San Diego) had 15 digs. Sade Ilawole had 26 assists. Eva Jeffries, a talented freshman had six kills and five aces.

Sierra Canyon has won 14 consecutive best-of-5 matches and has not lost in California this year. The Trailblazers are 85-1 in their last 86 league matches.

Sierra Canyon hosts Marymount and Alemany next week before its final two regular season matches the week of October 9th and then the Division 1 playoffs in mid- October.

Sierra Canyon girls tennis splits two Sunshine League matches

By Jacob H. Pollon

 

The Sierra Canyon girls tennis team split its two Sunshine League matches last week against Immaculate Heart and Marymount.

The Trailblazers started the week off right with a 12-4 victory against Immaculate Heart but dropped a close 10-8 decision against Marymount.

Lyric Wilson and Betty Chen were outstanding in singles play.

Wilson won 6-1 and 6-1 in her two matches in the victory and won all 18 games and swept three sets against Marymount.

Chen only lost one game in her three-set sweep in the I-Mac match and had another three-set sweep against Marymount.

Danica Quinn won two sets against I-Mac.

Doubles play was the issue in the setback against Marymount.

Sienna Martin and Ally Thau, and Hannah LaChappelle and Emma Nasiri each won two sets in the victory against I-Mac.

The Trailblazers take on de Toledo of West Hills on Wednesday.

loaing Sierra Canyon does well in Las Vegas

By Jacob H. Pollon

 

The Sierra Canyon girls volleyball team is showing no signs of slowing down.

The Trailblazers came into the Durango (Nevada) tournament on a roll and continued their all-season success with a very good third-place finish after losing in three sets to national power Mater Dei.

Sierra Canyon led the Monarchs 25-20 and was up 22-19 in the second set before losing the final six points. The letdown seeped into the third set and Mater Dei advanced to the final with a 25-11 victory.

” We were so close,” Sierra Canyon coach Stefanie Wigfall said. “We may have got ahead of ourselves thinking about how close we were to the finals. It was a great weekend. We learn from this and get ready for the playoffs.”

The Trailblazers (22-4) had won 12 consecutive best-of-5 matches heading to Vegas and then won five consecutive best-of-3 matches before facing Mater Dei.

Sierra Canyon knocked off Faith Lutheran of Nevada 15 and 16, Maple Mountain of Utah 21 and 19 and La Costa Canyon of Carlsbad (Calif.) 17 and 11 in pool-play.

The Gold national bracket saw the Trailblazers take down Archbishop Mitty of San Jose (Calif.) 21 and 27 and nationally ranked No. 2 Cornerstone Christian (Texas) 20 and 23 before Mater Dei in the semifinals.

The win against Cornerstone Christian avenged an earlier three-set setback from Hawaii in the Ann Kang Invitational.

“We did some really good things over the trip,” Wigfall said. “We played well, we beat a team we lost to before. I like where we are at and getting better.”

Long Beach Poly-transfer Halie McGinest had 35 kills, 12 blocks, 19 digs and six aces over the six matches.

Boston College-bound Danica Rach had 31 kills, 26 digs, nine blocks and seven aces.

Hawaii-bound Maddie Way had 18 kills 17 blocks and five aces.

George Washington-bound Taylor Treahy had 16 kills, six blocks and six digs.

San Diego-commit junior libero Lauren Lynch had 60 digs and 10 aces.

Sade Ilawole had 128 assists, 17 digs and six aces.

Sierra Canyon continues its mini road tour with Mission League matches against Marlboroigh and Harvard-Westlake this week.

The Trailblazers are not at home until October 3rd.

 

Sierra Canyon rolls past Saguaro (Arizona)

By Jacob H. Pollon

 

The Sierra Canyon football team is playing like its 2016 and/or 2011.

The Trailblazers rolled past Saguaro (Arizona) 63-6 on Friday night in a dominating display of football.

Wyatt Becker completed 18 of 22 passes for 364 yards and seven touchdowns to lead Sierra Canyon (5-0). Becker also rushed for a 5-yard score having a hand in eight of the nine touchdowns.

“Wyatt was fantastic,” Sierra Canyon coach Jon Ellinghouse said. “He made good decisions and played well.”

Becker found Jae’on Young for an 80-yard scoring strike on the first play from scrimmage setting the tone for the rest of the night.

UCLA-bound Kwazi Gilmer caught five passes for 138 yards, including scoring plays of 54 and 24 yards. USC-bound receiver Xavier Jordan caught touchdown passes of 45 and 25 yards for the Trailblazers, who now set their sights on a second consecutive Mission League championship.

Becker’s seven touchdown passes are a school record and he was 12 of 16 for 304 yards and six touchdowns in the first half. Pretty remarkable.

The 63 points scored is the third most in school history. The record is 69 against El Monte in the first round of the 2014 playoffs.

Becker and Terrell “Choppa” Cooks each had rushing touchdowns, while Cole Crawford and Cameron Mitchell each caught touchdown passes.

USC-bound Marquis Gallegos and Madden Riordan each had interceptions for Sierra Canyon.

Sierra Canyon girls volleyball cannot be stopped

By Jacob H. Pollon

 

The Sierra Canyon girls volleyball program is rolling in the right direction.

The Trailblazers ran their winning streak to 12 consecutive matches Wednesday after a 22-25, 25-15, 25-21, 25-21 Mission League victory against Alemany and former coach Morgan Wijay.

After losing a rare opening set, Sierra Canyon coach Stefanie Wigfall took her team into an adjacent equipment room and told the girls they needed to come to play and respect the team on the other side of the net.

Mission accomplished.

Long Beach Poly-bound Halie McGinest had 15 kills, seven digs, two blocks and two aces.

Boston College-bound Danica Rach had 13 kills, eight digs and four blocks. San Diego-bound junior Lauren Lynch had 27 digs and an ace. Sade Ilawole had 52 assists.

Sierra Canyon knocked off Notre Dame Academy of Los Angeles earlier in the week in a three-set sweep.

Halie McGinest had 13 kills and five digs.

Hanna McGinest had eight kills and six digs, Lynch added 13 digs and two aces, and Ilawole had 34 assists to help the Trailblazers.

The Trailblazers have not lost since mid-August in Hawaii, have not lost in California and have won 83 of their past 84 league matches.

Sierra Canyon now goes to Las Vegas for the prestigious Durango tournament before two Mission League road matches next week.

Sierra Canyon beats Louisville

By Jacob H. Pollon

 

The Sierra Canyon girls golf team got in the win column this week.

After dropping tow matches last week, the Trailblazers knocked off Louisville 231-240.

Katie Anderson was a medalist, shooting 39 to lead Sierra Canyon.

The Trailblazers lost to Chaminade and Notre Dame last week but turned the tables this week.

Sierra Canyon has a 9-hole mid-season tourney next week and a match against Alemany.

Stay tuned here for updates.

Sierra Canyon drops two matches last week

By Jacob h. Pollon

 

The Sierra Canyon girls golf team had two matches last week but came up short in both contests.

The Trailblazers suffered a 191-228 setback against Chaminade at El Cariso in Sylmar.

Katie Anderson shot a 38 and Danica Quinn posted a 43 to lead the Trailblazers.

Thursday’s match against Notre Dame was 185-227 setback at Balboa GC in Encino.

Anderson shot a 43 and Quinn posted a 52.

The Trailblazers are back in action Wednesday against Louisville at El Cariso, 3:30 p.m.

Sierra Canyon leaves no doubt against Orange Lutheran

By Jacob H. Pollon

 

The Sierra Canyon football team is leaving little doubt it belongs in the Div. 1 playoffs this year.

The Trailblazers won their fourth consecutive game to start the year after a 40-6 rout against Orange Lutheran at Orange Coast College.

Wyatt Becker completed 18 of 31 passes for 212 yards and two touchdowns to lead Sierra Canyon (4-0).

Becker connected with Cole Crawford for a 33-yard score and found junior running back Dane Dunn for a short-6-yard screen pass touchdown late in the game.

Dunn rushed for a touchdown and finished with 89 yards on 12 carries.

Terrell “Choppa” Cooks rushed for two touchdowns and had 33 yards on six carries.

Orange Lutheran was hampered by not having starting quarterback T.J. Lateef available. The Lancers (3-2) were down to their third-string QB Jaedyn Medina after the back-up left with an injury in the second quarter.

Sierra Canyon only led 6-0 after one quarter but went ahead 20-6 at halftime and never looked back with Orange Lutheran severely at a disadvantage with no experienced signal caller.

Nevada Miller and freshman De’Markus Barnes each had interceptions. Barnes returned his 20 yards for a touchdown for the final points.

Steven Chavez led Orange Lutheran with 132 yards on 19 carries and the only score. The quarterbacks finished a combined 18 of 33 for 175 yards.

The last time Sierra Canyon started the year 4-0 was 2016 when the Trailblazers finished 16-0 and won a state title. The time before that, that it started 4-0 was 2011 when it went 15-0 and won a state title.

Sierra Canyon hosts Saguaro of Arizona next week in its last nonleague game before Mission League games against Notre Dame, Alemany, Bishop Amat, Chaminade and Serra.

Orange Lutheran has a welcomed week off before starting Trinity League play against JSerra, a team Sierra Canyon beat 9-7 in week zero.

Sierra Canyon girls volleyball is rolling

By Jacob H. Pollon

 

The Sierra Canyon girls volleyball team just keeps winning and winning.

The Trailblazers had another two-win week and ran their winning streak to 10 consecutive matches after Mission League sweeps against Harvard-Westlake and Marymount.

Sierra Canyon went 12, 16, and 8 against Harvard-Westlake and 22, 22, 17 against Marymount.

The defending Div. 1 champions have not lost in California and have not lost since mid-August in Hawaii.

Sierra Canyon got a bog boost from the eligibility of Saugus transfer Taylor Treahy and Long Beach Poly transfer Halie McGinest this week.

McGinest recorded 14 kills with five digs, two aces and a block against Marymount. Treahy contributed nine kills.

Hawaii-bound Maddie Way had six kills and three blocks while Lola Brown had four kills and five blocks.

San Diego commit Lauren Lynch had 15 digs and two aces. Sade Ilawole had an ace and 34 assists.

In the home victory against HW, McGinest had 10 kills, six digs and two blocks. Treahy had 12 kills and three blocks.

Boston College-bound Danica Rach had eight aces and seven kills. Lynch had 12 digs and six aces. Ilawole contributed 32 assists.

Sierra Canyon was buoyed by separate runs of nine and 10 consecutive points to keep the Wolverines at bay.

“Really good week for us,” Sierra Canyon coach Stefanie Wigfall said. “We have a really deep roster now.”

Sierra Canyon hosts Notre Dame Academy Monday before a road match Wednesday against Alemany. The Trailblazers then hit the road for tournaments in Las Vegas and Phoenix to tune up for the Division 1 playoffs and a possible run to another title.