DHS roundup: Injuries slow down Blue Devil boys lacrosse

Facing one of the top teams in the Bay Area on the road was already going to be tough enough for the Davis High boys lacrosse team. Doing it with a roster that was depleted by injury proved too much for the Blue Devils to overcome in an 11-1 loss to Marin Catholic on Friday.

With standout Mikie Schlosser, Yuto Okamoto and Kevin Willefert out — and defender Kelby Spore getting hurt during the game — the DHS players who were able to go were impressive in their effort.

Ryan Amesbury battled through the flu to score the Devils’ only goal, Kian Reno shrugged off a troublesome ankle to make contributions throughout the game and senior Willie Hawkins set the tone with his relentless play.

Still, with those key players out, Davis was out of synch until about midway through the third period and by the time it began to execute better, the game was out of reach. Amesbury’s tally came in that third quarter.

Most of the other Blue Devil bright spots came from the defense as Rudy Buhlman, Sam Gellen and Connal Hart provided a solid DHS wall. Hart also won 7-of-14 face-offs, with first-year player Patrick Zhu adding a victory is his first-ever draw.

Another highlight came when local goalie Will McPherson ranged far out of the goal to make a play and send a nice pass forward, then sprinted back just in time to deny an easy score. McPherson finished with seven saves.

Next up for Davis is a road game on Tuesday at St. Mary’s (Stockton) before coming home to host Jesuit for Break the Record Night on Friday at Ron & Mary Brown Stadium.

That night, fans are encouraged to help the Devils set a new attendance mark as admission is free and food will be available from Tommy J’s, Jamba Juice and Peet’s Coffee. The junior varsity match begins at 5:30 p.m. and the big boys take the field at 7:30 p.m.

DHS boys golf

Blue Devil coach Karl Ronning knows his young team is going to need to gain experience for a possible section playoff run later this spring, and that’s exactly what DHS got on Friday and Saturday at the Father Barry Open.

Facing a talented tournament field that featured several top Southern California squads on a tough Ancil Hoffman Golf Course, the Devils ended up in 15th out of 20 teams.

“It was good for them to see that,” Ronning said. “They can see where they need to end up. We just have to gain experience, that’s the difference between us and those top teams right now.”

Chase Dossa led the Davis contingent shooting a 79 on Friday and coming back with a 74 on Saturday. He was supported by Cyrrus Espino (83-81), Preston Walchi (87-84), Sam Yamauchi (86-86) and Patrick Cajandig (89-89) as local scorers with freshman Andrew Arnheiter (91-95) earning a spot in the top six for the first time this season and ending up as a nonscoring competitor.

Ronning said he was pleased that most of his players improved from the first day to the second day of the tournament.

Shakya shines for UCSD

In an event she has dominated all season long, DHS graduate Anji Shakya — now a junior a UC San Diego — speed to a NCAA Division II title in the 200 freestyle race on Thursday at the championship meet in Birmingham, Ala.

Shakya broke her own school record by touching in 1:47.95 at the Birmingham CrossPlex.

After posting a pair of runner-up finishes — in the 200 and 500 free races — at last year’s NCAA meet, Shakya followed up her 200 win on Thursday with a second-place finish in the 500 on Saturday.

The 200 win marked Shakya’s second time breaking the school record in that event this season and third Triton benchmark for her overall this year.