Downey’s Alejandra Villa named water polo MVP

DOWNEY – Former Downey High School standout water polo player Alejandra Villa was selected as the South Coast Conference M.V.P. for the 2018 season.

The 2018 D.H.S. graduate and Long Beach City College freshman center is being recognized “for her ability to perform on both offense and defense.

Villa totaled 70 goals throughout the season and ranked fourth overall in conference goals. Villa also had a total of 24 steals.”

Long Beach City College has won the South Coast Conference championship four years in a row. Head coach Chris Oeding has been selected as the SCC Coach of the Year three times in a row and eight times overall.

Teammates Sydney Brightenburg (attacker), Cam Rosas (goalkeeper), Samantha Martinez (driver) and Madison Hinojosa (attacker) were all selected to the first team. Harlie Wheelan (attacker) and Karissa Qualley (driver) were selected to the second team.

WARREN BOYS BASKETBALL: The Warren High School boys’ basketball team currently has an overall record of 11-5 and are 1-1 in San Gabriel Valley League play.

The Bears recently competed in the Torrey Pines Holiday Classic Tournament over Christmas Break where they finished with a record of 2-2.

The Bears were defeated by Sonora 52-42 in their first game on December 26th, defeated Gig Harbor of Washington 52-47 in their second game on December 27th, defeated Crean Lutheran 65-53 in their third game on December 28th and were defeated by Gahr 61-51 in their fourth and final tournament game on December 29th.

Warren defeated Lynwood at Lynwood last Friday night 72-65 and were narrowly defeated by Paramount at Paramount 50-49 on Monday night. The Bears hosted Gahr at Warren on Wednesday night (score unavailable at press time) and will travel to cross-town rival Downey later today for the first of their two anticipated league games.

Warren will host Dominguez at Warren next Wednesday night to complete the first round of league play. Coach Leflore, his staff and players are all looking forward to competing for a S.G.V.L. title and qualifying for postseason play.

WARREN GIRLS SOCCER: The Warren High School girls’ soccer team currently has an overall record of 10-5-3 and a San Gabriel Valley League record of 2-0. The Lady Bears recently competed in the North Orange County Tournament over the Christmas Break and finished with a record of 3-1.

Warren defeated La Serna 1-0 in their first game, defeated Valencia 4-1 in their second game, were defeated by Upland 6-0 in their third game and defeated cross-town rival Downey 2-1 in their fourth and final game.

The Lady Bears defeated Lynwood at Warren 2-1 on January 2nd and defeated Paramount at Warren 7-0 on January 4th. Warren traveled to Gahr on Tuesday night and defeated the Lady Gladiators 2-1 and also hosted cross-town rival Downey at Warren last night (score unavailable at press time). The Lady Bears will travel to Dominguez to play the Lady Dons next Tuesday to complete their first round of league play.

Coach Lily Dussan, her staff and players are all looking forward to league play and competing for another league title. The Lady Bears are also looking forward to qualifying for postseason play and making a deeper run in the C.I.F. Division 2 playoffs.

DOWNEY BOYS BASKETBALL: The Downey High School boys’ basketball team currently has an overall record of 14-5 and are 1-1 in San Gabriel Valley League play. The Vikings competed in the Rancho Mirage Holiday Classic over the Christmas Break and finished the tournament with a record of 2-2.

The Vikings were defeated by Thousand Oaks 55-52 on December 26th in their first game, defeated Whitney of Rocklin 66-58 on December 27th in their second game, defeated Del Sol of Las Vegas 51-49 on December 28th in their third game and were defeated by Dana Hills 37-36 on December 29th in their fourth and final game.

Downey was defeated by Paramount at Paramount 59-57 on January 4th and defeated Dominguez at Downey on Monday night. The Vikings traveled to Lynwood on Wednesday night to face the Knights (score unavailable at press time) and will host cross-town rival Warren tonight at Downey in the first of two highly anticipated league games.

Coach Shelton, his staff and players are all looking forward to league play and competing for a league title and a line on a C.I.F. postseason bracket.

DOWNEY BOYS WRESTLING: The Downey High School wrestling team defeated cross-town rival Warren at Downey on Tuesday night 33-33, via criteria decision.

It appeared as though Warren had won the match 34-33, however, a team point was deducted from the Bears due to a sportsmanship issue.

The first criteria to settle a tie in C.I.F. competition is sportsmanship. As a result, Downey won via a criteria decision based on sportsmanship. The full results of the match were not available at press time but will be available next week.

DOWNEY GIRLS WRESTLING: The Downey High School girls’ wrestling team defeated cross-town rival Warren at Downey on Tuesday night 41-33. Match results were not available at press time but will be available next week.

Coach Rios and his staff are very pleased with the effort of his team. The Lady Vikings hosted Gahr at Downey on Thursday night (score unavailable at press time).