The Coronado High School Boys Varsity Basketball Team compiled a 3-1 record in their Islander Invitational Tournament last week. An ironic element of the week’s play was that Coronado actually played their best game in their lone loss.

Tourney play started Tuesday afternoon as the Islanders took on the Preuss School from UCSD. Paced by 21 points and five assists from Ryan Guard, the Tritons were no match for Coronado. Other Islanders making significant contributions to the victory were Chas Marks with 14 points and six rebounds; Kasey Zapatka with eight points; Bryan Reed with seven points; Geoff Worley with six points, four assists and three steals; and JJ Pontes with a point, four rebounds and a blocked shot.

A similar story occurred in the nightcap Tuesday as Coronado dominated Lutheran 81-21. Marks and Worley lead the way with 13 points each; Benson Lorden added 11, including three three-pointers; Zapatka chipped in 12 points and Blake Spitzer added eight more.

The best game of the tournament was played Wednesday evening, when the Islanders hosted Pacific Hills School from West Hollywood. The game featured nine ties and 15 lead changes, with the Bruins prevailing in overtime 55-50.

Marks scored 15 points and snared 10 rebounds, while the Islanders leading rebounder was Spitzer with 11. Guard scored 13 points, and contributed three assists and four rebounds. Worley added seven points, as did Reed who also corralled six rebounds.

An 18-8 first quarter Coronado advantage turned into a 26-24 halftime lead for Pacific Hills. With 2:35 remaining in the game, the Islanders held a 45-41 lead and looked like they might be pulling away for the victory. The Bruins countered with a three-pointer and a field goal and a Spitzer free throw was needed to send the game into overtime. With just under a minute remaining in overtime, the Islanders held a tenuous one-point lead, but Pacific Hills ran off six straight points to win the game.

"We came out and dominated in the first quarter," said Islander Head Coach Sandy Dillon. "They dominated in the second quarter and it was a dogfight the entire second half. The kids came back and fought hard. Chas Marks played awfully hard and I was pleased with Geoff Worley. Blake Spitzer played awfully well and gave me everything he had. That was a good basketball game.

That’s the way Montgomery, Imperial and Sweetwater will play," said Dillon of Pacific Hills team athleticism and quickness. "And a couple of the (Central) league teams will play that way."

The tournament finale was Thursday evening, when Coronado hosted an outmanned Julian squad. The Islanders eased their way to a 53-25 victory. Marks sustained a cut lip in the Pacific Hills game, being unintentionally kicked in a loose ball scramble. The cut required 10 stitches and the junior sharpshooter was unavailable for the final tourney contest. Guard fell on his hand in the same game and experienced some swelling. Dillon told his senior guard, "Unless we get in trouble, you’re not going to play."

Dillon was true to his word, but frankly neither of the injured starters were needed to defeat the Eagles. Matt Oakley was the big weapon for Coronado, leading the team in scoring with 12 points and in rebounding with 11. Zapatka added nine points, nine rebounds and three assists; while Worley added nine points and Anthony Ott chipped in four points and seven offensive rebounds. Drew Zeller added four points, three rebounds and two steals.

Also thrown into the fray were the sophomore trio of Cole McLean, Matt Fowler and Alex Rowan. In other words, the entire roster minus the two injured players saw floor time in the game.

This week the Islanders, now 8-2 on the season, host Montgomery High School at 7 pm Tuesday evening. The Islanders travel to Imperial for a 6:30 pm game Saturday night.

When last we visited with the CHS Girls Soccer Team, they were on their way to the semi-finals against Christian High School in Division III of the Lady Vaquero Tournament. Interestingly, they had already played Christian this season, losing 5-2 in the semis of the Lady Barons Tournament.

This time the Islanders were ready for the Patriots and won 2-1, courtesy of two goals from Sasha Vido. Head Coach Kiko Medina summarized the senior striker’s scoring by saying, "She’s on fire right now." Reviewing the Natterings archives, over a recent seven game stretch, Vido accounted for 11 Islander goals.

It was on to the finals for the Islanders, where they played El Capitan in the finals. With the score tied 0-0 at the end of regulation, the game then went to penalty kicks, where the Islanders dominated 4-2. The penalty kicks were taken in order by Marissa Nagler, Kindall Caldwell, Katie Ferrar and as you may have guessed, Vido. All four converted.

Defensively, Megan Mushovic was in goal for the Islanders and Coach Medina had a simple request for his senior netminder, to make just one save. "She made the save. I knew that would win it for us. They hit the post once as well. When Sasha made her kick, they (El Capitan) were out of it."

Medina was proud of his squad’s effort in the tournament. "Overall the girls are just working extremely hard and they have a lot of heart. In the finals, we only had 12 girls going into the last day and for them to respond like that in the two games, shows a lot of heart and character. For the girls to step up the way they did was more than I can ask for."

The schedule gets serious this week as the Islanders launch into Western League play with their 8-1-2 record. Wednesday Coronado travels to compete at Cathedral Catholic, formerly USDHS. "That will definitely be a good test for us," Medina said. "Right now, from the results and from speaking with other coaches, Cathedral would be favored to be back in the (CIF Division III) finals again."

Friday the Islanders host Scripps Ranch at 3:15 pm, in another Western League contest, which Medina knows will be tough. "It looks like every game in league is going to be a challenge."

Congratulations to several CHS fall sports athletes for recognition they received from The San Diego Union-Tribune. Boys Water Polo players Jesse Farquhar and Sean Castillo were named to the U-T All-San Diego Section First Team. Castillo also earned All-Academic First Team recognition.

Also earning All-Academic First Team honors were Islander football offensive lineman Ryland Gill and Coronado volleyball player Megan Mushovic.

Jonathan Hopkins (CHS ’01) was named the NCAA Division II Water Polo Player of the Year for the third time for is efforts at UCSD. He had previously captured the honor in 2002 and 2003. Hopkins, a three-time All American, scored 77 goals and dished out 51 assists for the Tritons this season.

A total of 13 members of The CHS Girls Water Polo Team, along with Coaches Dave Throop and Randy Burgess recently spent two weeks in and around Sydney, Australia, lapping up the sun and the culture of the Land Down Under. Since it is summer in Australia, finding the sun wasn’t a challenge.

"The trip was phenomenal," said Throop. "It was a really, really wonderful trip. It was the chance for the kids to have a cultural experience, especially at a younger age. Things were above and beyond what we had hoped."

The first week involved staying with families in Cronulla, the southern-most suburb of Sydney. The second week, the team stayed in a hotel in Home Bush Bay, adjacent to the site of the aquatics portion of the 2004 Olympic Games. "About 200 meters from our hotel were the Olympic venues," said Throop. "Seeing the history was great. Every day at the aquatics center we were able to see the memorabilia from the Olympics. We got to see the Australian Women’s Team train and the Men’s Under 20 Team train. It was a great experience to be in that environment and that setting."

A total of eight varsity members didn’t travel with the team due to family commitments over the holidays, so they trained with CHS Assistant Coach Ian Silverman. Monday afternoon will be the first practice for the combined crew in two weeks.

The schedule is full this week for the Islanders. Wednesday they host Patrick Henry and Friday the host La Jolla. Both games will be played at 3 pm. Saturday Newport Harbor travels to Coronado. The varsity game will be played at 5 pm and the JV game will follow at 6 pm.

The games are a homecoming of sorts for the team. The contests will mark the first home games played in a Coronado facility since 2003. The current junior class has yet to play a home game in Coronado. Throop is aware of the significance of the home games. "This is our first opportunity in a long while to play in front of the community and for the players to play in front of their classmates. It’s nice to be home."

Your Natterer (I love to go ‘third person.’ It makes me feel like an athletic rock star.) will now present a treatise on trading diminutive Charger quarterback Drew Brees at (mostly) 6-feet and going with his understudy 6-foot, 5-inch Philip Rivers next season. I felt this way before Brees separated his shoulder in the final regular season game.

I firmly believe that you can’t win in the NFL with a short quarterback, regardless of how hard he works or how much he has improved. The physics of trying to throw a football over and around a crazed 6-foot, 8-inch opposing defensive lineman intent on doing you severe bodily harm at full speed, just aren’t favorable.

I admire Brees and his work ethic. He gets 100 percent out of his innate ability and has transformed himself into an above average professional quarterback. But as they often say in professional sports, Brees is "just good enough to get you beat."

Twelve NFL teams make the playoffs annually. Here is a listing this year’s playoff teams, the name of their starting quarterback and the height of each: American Conference – New England, Tom Brady 6-4; Cincinnati, Carson Palmer 6-5; Pittsburgh, Ben Roethlisberger 6-5; Indianapolis, Peyton Manning 6-5; Jacksonville, Byron Leftwich 6-5; Denver, Jake Plummer 6-2. National Conference – New York, Eli Manning 6-4; Washington, Mark Brunell 6-1; Chicago, Rex Grossman 6-1; Tampa Bay, Chris Simms 6-4; Carolina, Jake Delhomme 6-2; Seattle, Matt Hasselback 6-4.

The average height of the 12 playoff quarterbacks listed is 6-feet, 3 ½ inches. Probably the two shortest players on the list, Brunell and Grossman, would be considered to be the weakest at their position in the group.

General Manager A.J. Smith has done a magnificent job of assembling talent for the Chargers. Under his direction in the past 2 years the team has drafted seven players who have made a positive impact on the team including Kicker Nate Kaeding, Running Back Michael Turner, Outside Linebacker Shawne Merriman, Center Nick Hardwick, Defensive End Luis Castillo, Defensive Tackle Igor Olshansky, and Running Back/Kick Returner Darren Sproles. Merriman was named to the Pro Bowl as a rookie and in all likelihood Castillo has a Pro Bowl in his immediate future.

Anyone capable of acquiring that much talent in two NFL drafts surely recognizes that short quarterbacks are a throwback to the NFL of the 1950’s. An eighth name that should be added to the drafting successes listed above is Quarterback Philip Rivers.

Winning in the regular season is nice. The Chargers’ turnaround in 2004 on their way to a 12-4 record was truly a feel good story. Rolling up regular season wins can lift an entire community. San Diego, and by extension Coronado, has a little more spring in its collective step when the Chargers are winning.

Now consider the following bottom line question, ‘How many playoff games have the Chargers won in the five seasons that Brees has been with the team?’ The answer – Zero.