Xavier Prep girls, La Quinta boys nab important soccer victories
The Xavier Prep girls' soccer team picked up a rare win Tuesday night beating La Quinta for the first time in 10 years.
The Saints beat the Blackhawks 2-0 on Tuesday (Jan. 4) almost exactly 10 years to the day when they last beat La Quinta on Jan. 5, 2012.
Star junior Easton Seip scored both goals and sophomore Kamila Elliott, playing her first game with the Saints, didn't let anything by her.
The win moved the young Saints team to 2-4 in league play, but a positive momentum is building according to senior Delanie Burch.
"We have a team half of freshman, but it's a new year, and new mindset, and we are set on starting a winning streak and make it to CIF," Burch said.
The Saints look to keep it rolling Thursday at Palm Desert.
La Quinta dips to 3-3 in league play and will host Shadow Hills on Thursday.
Boys' soccer
La Quinta 2, Xavier Prep 0: La Quinta took an early second-half lead when Hector Baltierra sent a corner kick to Kevin Francic who scored to give the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead five minutes into the second half. Baltierra would add a goal from 23 yards out in the 65th minute to provide the final 2-0 result. Goalkeeper Tommy Knox had three saves in the shutout. La Quinta improved to 7-2-3 (4-0-2 DEL) and plays at Shadow Hills on Thursday.
Xavier Prep (3-3 DEL) hosts Palm Desert on Thursday.
Palm Desert 2, Palm Springs 0: The Aztecs handed the Indians their first league loss with a shutout victory. Vincent Granados and Santiago Noriega netted the goals for the Aztecs. Freshman Jake Presser had 10 saves in net for the Aztecs (3-3).
Palm Springs falls to 4-1-1 in league play and will host Rancho Mirage on Thursday.
Boys' basketball
Palm Desert 56, Palm Springs 47: The Aztecs turned the tables on the Indians pulling out a nine-point win after losing to Palm Springs earlier in the season. Demario Wilson had 20 points, five rebounds and five assists, while Brady Clemmer had 11 points and four assists. Owen Hayden added 11 points and 14 rebounds.
The win lifts the Aztecs (4-2 DEL) into a tie for second. They will play at Xavier Prep on Thursday.
The Indians (4-2 DEL) will play at Rancho Mirage on Thursday.
La Quinta 64, Xavier Prep 42: The Blackhawks, who lost to the Saints in overtime the first time around, flipped the script on Tuesday to pick up their first league win of the year.
La Quinta was led by its defense which held the Saints under 10 points in three of the four quarters. Malachi Murrell stuffed the stat sheet with 25 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and seven steals. Raymond Benjamin added 10 points, Calvin Miller had seven points and 10 rebounds. Hayden McKee and Ryan Henderson each had eight points.
The Blackhawks (4-8, 1-4) started the year 1-7 but have now won three of their last four.
The Saints (5-11, 1-5) were led by 11 points from Chris Dodge.
Shadow Hills 83, Rancho Mirage 72: Chris Carter had his biggest game of the year, racking up 33 points as the Knights moved to 6-0 in league play. The Rattlers tested the unbeaten Shadow Hills, trailing just 33-32 at the half, but a 21-10 third quarter enabled the Knights to pull away.
Shadow Hills looks to stay unbeaten with a home game Thursday against La Quinta.
Rancho Mirage (11-5, 1-4) will host Palm Springs on Thursday.
Girls' basketball
Xavier Prep 49, La Quinta 47: A thriller between two of the top three teams in the DEL saw the Saints rally to edge the Blackhawks.
The Saints trailed 37-30 entering the final quarter, but a 19-10 edge gave them the win.
Amoree Ferrel sparked the Saints with 18 points, while Genna Wienecke added 15 points, seven rebounds and six assists to move the Saints to 5-1 in league play.
In the loss for the Blackhawks (3-3 DEL), Jaida Riley led the way with 14 and AnnMarie Patterson added 11.
Palm Desert 27, Palm Springs 24: In a low-scoring matchup it was the Aztecs moving to 3-3 in league play and beating Palm Springs for a second time this year. The Aztecs were led by Catie King with six points and six rebounds, while Sami Simonds also had six points. Kailey Ott, Erika Espinoza and Ava Philson all had six rebounds for the Aztecs (8-6, 3-3) who host Xavier Prep on Thursday.
Shadow Hills 73, Rancho Mirage 7: The Knights moved to 6-0 in league play with a convincing win. They will travel to La Quinta on Thursday.
Yucca Valley 72, Hemet 7: The Trojans returned from the winter break with a lopsided non-league win over Hemet on Monday to move to 10-3 overall.
A balanced scoring night was led by sophomores Cadance Tarrant’s 17 points and junior Malia Ulery’s 16 points. Seniors Maliah Rodriguez and Heather Hiday added 14 and 12 points respectively while junior Jaylie Schreiber came off the bench to score nine points.
The Trojans had a game scheduled for Wednesday against fellow league unbeaten Banning, but the game was canceled due to COVID issues with the Banning team. Next up for the Trojans is a road game at Indio on Friday.
Girls' water polo
Xavier Prep 19, La Quinta 13: The Saints moved to 2-0 in DEL play with a win over the Blackhawks on Tuesday.
Maggie Benson led the way with eight goals, while Abby Kim and Olivia Kim each added three. Niamh Cooper and McKenna Dobson both scored twice and Abby Eldridge also chipped in with a goal. Goalkeeper Arden Marrs played well in net for the Saints.
Girls' soccer
Shadow Hills 7, Rancho Mirage 0: Taylor Christensen racked up four goals in a lopsided win to lead the Knights. Julianna Martinez, Allison Morden and Roth Barragan also netted goals. Alyssa Duenaz had two assists, while Peyton Quezada, Barragan and Coralie Cameron had one each. Goalkeeper Georgina Rojas had the shutout in net.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Xavier Prep girls, La Quinta boys nab important soccer victories
