Page 6 March 26, 2015 EL SEGUNDO HERALD ●● U12 AYSO Girls Win Soccer State Title By Gregg McMullin Photos by Gregg McMullin For the first time ever, a girls’ U12 AYSO all-star team from El Segundo advanced to the Western States All Star Championships. The boys’ U12 have advanced and won the championship the past two years but this year is was the ladies’ turn. The championship was held at Lake Forest Sports Park in Lake Forest on a picture perfect day. To reach the finals, El Segundo faced a short-handed team from Davis and won easily 9-0. El Segundo raced to 4-0 lead in the first half when Trinity Parascandola scored two goals and assisted on goals from Victoria Mora and Abbi Agnew. In the second half it was all El Segundo again. They put so much offensive pressure on Davis that it took away any anxiety that goalkeeper Madelyn O’Riley may have had in the semi-final game. In the second half Parascandola scored two more times while Mora, Marcela Martinez, Lizzie Kapoor each scored on a porous and deflated Davis defense. El Segundo faced Five Cities (Pismo Beach area) in the championship game. Once again El Segundo used an aggressive offense and a stifling defense and win their first state championship. The match started slowly but El Segundo soon heated things up. Trinity Parascandola powered one in on a direct kick, Leah Abitante scored off an assist by Parascandola and Marcela Martinez scored on a corner kick to give El Segundo a 3-0 lead before halftime. In the third quarter Five Cities cut the lead to 3-1 before El Segundo pulled away. Victoria Mora took a pass and broke away for a score, Parascandola hammered one to the back of the net to make it 5-1 going into the fourth quarter. Lidia Cicchini got in the scoring column when she connected on a rebound off a corner kick. Marcela Martinez capped the scoring late in the game and El Segundo celebrated their state title. See AYSO, page 13 Neither Davis nor Five Cities had an answer for Trinity Parascandola’s fancy foot work. Bruins Looking Sweet as Can Be By Adam Serrao If you have been following college basketball this year, then you know that the Kentucky Wildcats are the team that’s being talked about as quite possibly the best group of players ever put together in the history of the sport. At 36-0, Kentucky has finished the regular season undefeated and looks to remain that way throughout a March full of madness and the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Tournament. Then, there are our very own UCLA Bruins. Far from being on the same level as Kentucky, just two weeks ago UCLA was stuck anxiously waiting to find out if they’d even receive an at-large bid into this year’s tournament. Now, after two straight wins against SMU (Southern Methodist University) and UAB (University of Alabama Birmingham), respectively, the 11th-seeded Bruins (22-13, 11-7) are on their way to the Sweet 16 with hopes that they can stand tall as this year’s Cinderella of the tournament. After being one of the last teams invited to this year’s tournament, the UCLA Bruins were the first team to advance to a regional semifinal. Quite a turnaround for a team that had lost to the aforementioned Wildcats by 39 points earlier in the season. Well, SMU and UAB are not the Wildcats, but a big reason for the Bruins’ success lies in the play of junior forward/center, Tony Parker. No, not the same Tony Parker that plays for the San Antonio Spurs, though their stat lines may have been strikingly similar after UCLA’s game against UAB last Saturday. Parker provided a big body and strong presence in the middle for the Bruins, tallying career numbers en-route to the teams win. “When he uses his size, he’s a big load,” UCLA head coach Steve Alford explained of Parker. “You’re looking at 6-9, 265. Since he’s not in here, 275,” the coach joked. No matter what his size, his production was huge. His 28 points and 12 rebounds were enough to get the Bruins a relatively easy 92-75 victory, sending the team to its second consecutive Sweet 16 appearance. “The selection committee thought we were good enough to play in this tournament and I think we proved it,” Parker said. With two consecutive wins in the tournament and six wins in their last seven games, Parker may be right. Now, however, the star of last week’s game will be tested as the Bruins take on 2nd-seeded Gonzaga this Friday in the round of 16. Gonzaga will certainly have something to prove as the Bulldogs have failed to advance past the first weekend of the brackets for five straight seasons previous to this year’s tournament. Needless to say, Gonzaga will not want to squander the opportunity that they now have for the first time in a halfcentury and will most likely come out hot against UCLA, just as they did against last round’s opponent (Iowa). Kyle Wiltjer will be a name to watch as the 6-10, 240-pound junior from Gonzaga will matchup against UCLA’s postseason star, Parker. In their last game, Wiltjer put up 24 points and seven rebounds in just 25 minutes of play. Gonzaga’s key to success will be getting out to a fast start. Wiltjer himself had 13 of his 24 points in the first half as he made his first six shots without missing. The Bulldogs hit 12 of their first 16 shots of the game as a whole, while passing the ball, scoring and hitting three-pointers with precision as a 16-4 run led to an eventual 17 point halftime lead. Gonzaga outscored their opponents’ 40-32 in the paint, something that should certainly catch the eye of Parker and the Bruins when it comes time for their matchup with the Bulldogs this Friday morning at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. If anyone is unfazed by Gonzaga and their post presence though, it’s Tony Parker. Parker’s 28 points in his last game against UAB were the most points that any UCLA Bruin has scored in a tournament game since Kevin Love put up 29 against Western Kentucky in the Sweet 16 in 2008. “We need him to play like that every game,” senior guard See Bruins, page 15
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