Sierra Canyon girls basketball loses to Etiwanda for third consecutive time

By Jacob H. Pollon

The Sierra Canyon girls basketball team came up just of the Open Division state championship game for a second consecutive year after a close 54-51 setback against Etiwanda last Tuesday night in the So. Cal. state regional final.

A week earlier Etiwanda knocked off Sierra Canyon to win the Southern Section Open Division championship with a 65-44 win at Cal Baptist Univ.

Tuesday’s win was the third consecutive loss for the Trailblazers against Etiwanda, including last year’s state regional final.

Sierra Canyon was a lot closer this last game than it was in the section final.

The Trailblazers tied the game at 42-42 before a Grace Knox 3-pointer untied the game and kick-started a mini 7-0 run. Sierra Canyon got to within 49-48 in the final 90 seconds but couldn’t get over the hump.

Sierra Canyon (31-3) got off to a great start and led 7-0 letting everyone know things would be different. But, Etiwanda countered with an 8-0 run and the game would ebb-and-flow from there.

Jerzy Robinson, who will be the face of the program for the next two years, scored 25 points to lead Sierra Canyon.

Emilia Krstevski scored 14 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. Mackenly Randolph scored 10 points.

Louisville-bound guard Izela Arenas was held to just two points.

Knox had 17 points to lead Etiwanda, which only received seven points (albeit all in the fourth quarter) from McDonald’s All-American Kennedy Smith.

Puff Morris scored 12 points and Arynn Finley added 10 points for Etiwanda.

The future is bright with Robinson and Krstevski for Sierra Canyon.

Sierra Canyon back in Open Division state regional final for second time in three years

By Jacob H. Pollon

The Sierra Canyon girls basketball team is back in familiar territory after a one-year hiatus.

The Trailblazers advanced to the state Open Division regional championship game after a wild 76-69 victory against Ontario Christian on Saturday night.

Sierra Canyon will play arch-nemesis Etiwanda Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Rancho Cucamonga. The winner will play for the state championship at 6 p.m. Saturday.

Jerzy Robinson score 29 points, McDonald’s All-American Mackenly Randolph scored 19 points and Izela Arenas had 17 to lead Sierra Canyon (31-2).

It took a total team effort to come away with the win and hold off fantastic freshman Kaleena “Special K” Smith.

Smith scored 35 points, including eight 3-pointers in a gargantuan effort for the Knights (28-5).

Ontario Christian punched the Trailblazers in their mouth and led 29-17 in the first half before Sierra Canyon responded with a 13-0 run and took a 30-29 lead at halftime.

Ontario Christian splurged ahead again, behind Smith and Amanda Abojiewe.

Sierra Canyon was finally able to create separation in the fourth quarter. Robinson and Randolph were too tough in the paint.

Now, the Trailblazers turn their attention to Etiwanda for a sixth meeting in the last three years.

Crazy ending ends Sierra Canyon season

By Jacob H. Pollon

The Sierra Canyon boys basketball team’s season came to a disappointing end Wednesday after a close 69-68 setback against St. Joseph of Santa Maria in an Open Division regional quarterfinal game.

The Trailblazers miraculously took a 68-67 lead thanks to an Ethan Johnson 3-pointer in the right corner with  under 8.5 seconds remaining.

Tounde Yessoufou had previously missed two free throws allowing Sierra Canyon a chance.

Confusion ensued after Johnson’s 3-pointer, multiple times. St. Joseph coach Tom Mott yelled for timeout right after Johnson’s 3-pointer went in. The game clock never stopped and went all the way to zero. Sierra Canyon players and fans seemingly thought the game could be over. The referees correctly put time on the clock, 5.3 seconds. The ball went through the hoop with about 6.5 seconds remaining.

St. Joseph used an out-of-bounds to out-of-bounds pass to setup their final play. The clock started early. Yessoufou caught the ball off-balance in front of the Sierra Canyon bench, 80 feet away from the basket. The referees correctly stopped the game and basically did a do-over with 5.3 seconds. The clock again hit zero, although the referees already whistled for a stop in action because the clock started on the out-of-bounds pass.

Yessoufou caught the ball, passed to Julious Price and as Price was going to shoot a wild, long 3-pointer, Mott called for timeout. Again, the clock ran to zero causing even more confusion.

The referees correctly put 2.1 seconds on the clock.

Yessoufou caught a pass from the right sideline, came down and popped right back up from 15-feet and made the shot at the buzzer giving the Knights a crazy 69-68 victory.

Sierra Canyon was stunned.

Yessoufou finished with 26 points and Price had 25 to lead St. Joseph.

Justin Pippen scored 18 points, Noah Williams scored 15 and Isaiah Elohim 12 to lead Sierra Canyon.

The Trailblazers led 37-30 at one point in the first half before enduring a crazy 17-2 run from the Knights.

Sierra Canyon trailed 47-39 before going ahead 62-57 but couldn’t close it out.

This is the first time Sierra Canyon will not be in a regional semifinal game since 2017.

Sierra Canyon baseball gets a tie and close loss against Harvard-Westlake

By Jacob H. Pollon

The Sierra Canyon baseball team proved it will be a tough out in the Mission League this year.

The Trailblazers earned a 4-4 tie last Tuesday in the school’s home “Opening Day” and were on the short end of a close 2-1 setback on Wednesday at O’Malley Family Field in Encino.

In the tie game, freshman right-hander Sean Parrow kept the Wolverine bats as silent as possible.

Parrow 5.0 IP 4 H 3 ER 4 K

Solorio 1 IP 1 H 1 R 0 ER 1 SO

Nelson 2-4 1 RBI 1 R

Delgado 1-3 2 R

Areliz 1-2 1 RBI 1 BB

Wrighster 1-3 2 RBI

Jahng 1-1 1 R 2 BB

Ethan Montes went 4 2/3 innings giving up four hits and three walks with four strikeouts. Armando Solorio got four outs.

Mikhal Johnson had a hit and an RBI.

The Trailblazers game against neighbirhood-rival Chatsworth was canceled due to wet field conditions on Saturday.

Sierra Canyon resumes play this week with three games against St. Francis of La Canada.

Sierra Canyon loses a close one 3-2 against Rio Mesa

By Jacob H. Pollon

The Sierra Canyon softball team got off to a great start with easy victories against Los Angeles Unified schools Cleveland and Chatsworth two weeks ago.

The winning ways were put on hold last week after a 3-2 nonleague setback against Rio Mesa.

Sophia Debs and Duke-bound Hailey Shuler each pitched three innings for the Trailblazers (2-1).

Natalia Areliz and Sophia Sarni each had an RBI to lead the offense.

Sierra Canyon is off until March 7th.

The Trailblazers are close to welcoming a couple new players sitting out the first month as part of the transfer process.

Sierra Canyon beats Calabasas, loses to Hart

By Jacob H. Pollon

The Sierra Canyon baseball team had to deal with rain issues last week and play back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday.

The Trailblazers knocked off Calabasas 7-3 and lost to Hart 6-3. Both games were on the road.

In the victory, Ethan Montes went four innings and gave up only three hits with four strikeouts.

Armando Solorio went the final two innings and gave up three hits with three strikeouts.

Freshman Desi Delgado had three hits to lead the offense.

A’jani Wrighster, Mikhal Johnson and Montes each had two hits. Delgado, Wrighster and Montes each doubled.

Jack Shtrum doubled home two runs and Greyson Gullage had an RBI double. Aiden Jahng and San Diego-bound Julian Areliz each had a hit and an RBI.

In Saturday’s setback in the Santa Clarita Valley,  Jahng had two hits and two walks.

Brayden Charness, Johnny Hagopian and Sean Parrow combined to give up just four hits in six innings. The trio combined for four strikeouts.

The Trailblazers fell to 4-2 overall and will start Mission League play Tuesday at home against Harvard-Westlake.

Sierra Canyon is 30-1 overall

By Jacob H. Pollon

The Sierra Canyon girls basketball team advanced to its third consecutive Southern Section Open Division championship game after an impressive 81-61 victory against Mater Dei of Santa Ana Saturday night.

McDonald’s All-American Mackenly Randolph scored 28 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and dished out six assists in a dominating performance to lead the Trailblazers.

Jerzy Robinson, one of the nation’s top sophomores, scored 21 points, grabbed eight rebounds and had three assists.

Louisville-bound guard Izela Arenas scored 14 points with with four rebounds and six assists.

Emilia Krstevski, a 6-foot-4 sophomore center, scored nine points, had five rebounds and three blocks.

Ashley Redd contributed three 3-pointers with six rebounds.

Sierra Canyon trailed early but turned the tables in the second quarter to take control. The lead kept growing throughout.

The Trailblazers will face nemesis Etiwanda at 6 p.m. Friday at Cal Baptist University.

Sierra Canyon lost to Etiwanda in the 2022 championship before winning last year.

Etiwanda features McDonald’s All-American Kennedy Smith, Grace Knox and Aliyahnna Morris.

Earlier in the week, Sierra Canyon knocked off Sage Hill of Newport Coast, 74-52.

Robinson had 28 points and 15 rebounds. Arenas had 21 points and six rebounds, Krstevski had 10 points, eight rebounds and five blocks.

Randolph was held to seven points, nine rebounds and four assists.

Sierra Canyon loses Easton Tournament quarterfinal game, rebounds with a win

By Jacob H. Pollon

The Sierra Canyon baseball team went 2-1 this past week easily beating Agoura 10-0, losing a Easton Tournament quarterfinal game against Westlake 5-1, but rebounded with a 4-3 extra inning win against Camarillo.

Sierra Canyon 10 Agoura 0

•Montes W 6 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 5 K, 0 BB

•Hamilton 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 2 K

•Areliz 2-3 1 RBI, 1 R •Stoller 2-2 2 RBI, 1 R •Montes 1-3 2 RBI, 1 R •George 1-2 1 RBI, 1 R •Jahng 1-3 1 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB

Westlake 5 Sierra Canyon 1

•Charness 3.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 K, 2 BB

•Hagopian 1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 K, 2 BB

•Hamilton 2.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 K, 0 BB

•Gullage 1-3 •Montes 1-1 1 RBI

Sierra Canyon 4 Camarillo 3

•Parrow 3.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K

•Hagopian 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB

•Solorio 3.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 4 K

•Wrighster 3-4 2 R •Nelson 2-4 1 R •Areliz 2-4 •Montes 2-3 3 RBI, 1 2B •Delgado 1-4

Montes walk-off hit by pitch in extra innings with one out and bases loaded

Sierra Canyon travels to Calabasas for a game Tuesday (weather permitting) and will play at Hart on Saturday

Sierra Canyon softball 2-0 to start the year

By Jacob H. Pollon

The Sierra Canyon softball team got its season off on the right foot with two victories this past week against Cleveland and Chatsworth.

The Trailblazers beat Cleveland 10-0 and Chatsworth 11-0, two solid shut outs to begin the year.

Duke-bound Hailey Shuler threw a no-hitter with 16 strikeouts in the win against Cleveland.

Shuler was equally impressive at the plate with two home runs, a double and three RBI’s.

Nina Johnson hit two home runs  with three RBI’s.

Lianna Lara homered, doubled and had an RBI.

Sophia Sarni had a two-RBI double and Peyton Jackaon had an RBI.

In Friday’s game just down the street on DeSoto Ave., Sophia Debs tried to match Shuler’s performance with a one-hitter and 16 strikeouts.

Debs homered and had two RBI’s.

Shuler belted two solo home runs.

Lara had a home run and two RBI’s. Tatum Fisher did the same.

Sarni, Johnson and Peyton Jackson each had an RBI.

Sierra Canyon is off for a few days before a nonleague game at Rio Mesa Thursday.