Davis goalie Nic Leacox racked up 60 saves as the local club junior varsity-level squad lost just once in three games at the Sierra Inline Hockey Tournament on Sunday.

After falling behind early in the first contest, Davis came back to defeat Woodland, 5-2, behind a hat trick from Danny Kumata and two goals from Joe Blakewell. Ryan Kowta and Victor Valdez played strong defense in front of Leacox in the win.

Game 2, a matchup against Sonora was a back-and-forth affair that ended in the a 2-2 tie. Dylan Lee and Blakewell each scored for the locals, but offensive pressure by Jack Skoog, Willie Sachier and Max Landy couldn’t produce the game-winner.

The lead changed hands a few times in Davis’ third game, with Antioch eventually getting a win on a last-second goal. Kumata scored twice in the contest and Ricky Pacciorini had the other local goal.

Strikers soccer

The Davis Legacy Strikers, a U9 girls team, captured the NorCal State Cup crown in the Premiere 2 Division, capping its run to the title with a comeback win over the Empire SC Blue Lightning in penalty kicks.

The Strikers earned their way into the championship game with a 1-0 quarterfinal victory over the Pleasanton Rage in a match played in Davis on Nov. 5, followed by 3-0 trouncing of the Manteca Benfica in the semifinals on Nov. 19. The quarterfinal was a scoreless battle until the final minutes of extra time when Davis’ Dolores Arias delivered a bending corner kick that bounced across the face of the goal, where Kate Speakman was perfectly positioned outside the far post to rifle a bullet just below the cross bar.

Earlier in the match, goalkeeper Ali Nickum preserved the draw with a key diving save to give the Strikers a chance for the victory.

In the semifinal matchup, the locals dominated Manteca as Lindsay Soloaga, Franchesca Bolivar and Peja Balanon found their form on the offensive end. Solaga put the Strikers on the board midway in the first half when she muscled past the the central defender and buried a low drive past the keeper. She then made it 2-0 before halftime when she collected a centering ball from Arias and beat the keeper at the far post.

Davis kept up the pressure on the Manteca goal in the second half and Arias eventually completed the scoring with a low blast off a pass from Bolivar.

The Strikers were on their heels for much of the first half of the title match and fell behind 1-0 after the break. That goal served as a wake-up call for the locals and, with regulation time winding down, Arias delivered a corner kick that deflected off a defender to Soloaga, who finished with a shot past a scrambling keeper.

With the game tied, the Davis backline of Emily Wells, Antonia Zaragosa-Smith, Jillian Geist and Jocelyn Rodriguez held off the Empire attack through two extra periods to force a shootout. In PKs, Nickum came up huge, saving three consecutive tries as Speakman, Soloaga and Arias all converted their kicks for the Strikers. Nickum easily smothered the final try by the Lightning, sealing the championship for the Strikers.

Midfielders Megan Looney and Shea Sorrentino also contributed for Davis with strong play throughout the tournament.

Wildcats basketball

The Davis Wildcats’ 14U Black boys basketball team went 2-1 on Saturday at a Hardwood Palace tournament in Lincoln.

Opening against the YBA Xtreme Blue, Davis came from 13 points down to force overtime, but lost 48-44. Ryan Kreidler paved the way with 12 points and five rebounds for the locals, while Stephan Gelpi hit for seven points and Glen Welch drained six. In addition, Kevin Austin dished seven assists to go along with his four points.

The Wildcats dominated in their second game, defeating the Reno Ballers White, 62-12, behind Halim Whiteside’s 18 points, Matt Cheung’s 16 and six from Ben Prussel.

The locals closed out the weekend with a romp over North Bay, eventually winning 50-17. Davis’ Justin Allen led all scorers with 10 points, Kreidler supplied eight points and four rebounds, Welch scored seven and Tommy McTygue and Cheung netted four each.

Diamonds gymnastics

A team-record 14 Davis Diamonds gymnasts qualified for the 2011 Junior Olympic Level 4 State Championships and 13 of them made the trip to Dublin last weekend. All of the locals performed well against very tough competition. More than 300 gymnasts representing 46 teams qualified for the event by scoring over 34.0 during the fall.

Pacing Davis was Sonia Sutton, who won the silver medal on uneven bars and the bronze all-around; Mariske Pretorius, who captured bronze medals for vault, beam and floor; and Alissa Casillas, who earned bronze medals on bars and all-around.

Aubrey Watts, 7, in just her first year in gymnastics, competed at level 1 on Saturday, vaulting to a personal best and taking 18th all-around.

In session 2, Kaelyn Perkins swung a strong uneven bars set to 9.175, good for fourth place, and was fifth on beam to total an excellent 35.675 for eighth all-around. Reyna Shauman vaulted to 10th (9.05), helping her to 14th-place all-around in her first state meet. Another rookie, Gabriela Caceres-Fernandez, earned high-8 scores on vault, bars, and floor to finish 17th all-around.

Davis’ Katie Borowsky was remarkably consistent in session three of her first state championships, counting no falls while earning scores over 8.55 on every event to total 35.05 and take 12th. Pretorius started with a solid 9.1 for her beam performance to win a bronze medal there, then danced and tumbled to 9.275 and another bronze for her floor routine. Pretorius’ vault earned 9.25 and yet another bronze, but a deduction on bars cost her the all-around gold. The talented 9-year-old still finished a strong eighth (35.775).

Battling an ankle injury, Brenna Peterson was extremely focused in the fourth session. The Diamonds gymnast vaulted to 9.125 (sixth) and amassed a 35.7 total score to place ninth all-around. Debutante Isabel Lavallee earned good scores — including ninth place for her thrilling floor performance — to finish 18th all-around.

Sutton started her state meet with a strong uneven-bars performance that earned 9.4 from the judges. She score a 9.1 on beam, a 9.05 on floor and vaulted to 9.0 to total a personal-best 36.55 all-around and captured a bronze medal. Rookie Annie Oberholtzer earned consistent high-eight scores on all four events, including a personal-record 8.85 on vault to take 15th all-around.

Session five saw Ianthe Pretorius, competing in her first state championships, awarded 9.1 for her beam and 9.075 for vault. Her excellent all-around score of 35.375 was good enough for 14th. In her four events, Hannah Huang’s lowest score was an 8.7, and this consistency earned her 35.525 all-around.

Casillas began her first state meet with an exceptional 9.45 on bars, then was rock steady on the balance beam (9.425). Casillas’ beautiful floor exercise was rewarded with a 9.25 and she followed that up with a 9.275 for a powerful vault. This consistent excellence by the rookie gymnast gave her a team-best 37.4 all-around score, which was good for third place in her division.

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Davis Diamonds gymnast Sonia Sutton competes on the floor during last weekend’s Level 4 Junior Olympic state meet. Sutton scored a 9.05 on that event to help her take third-place all-around in her division. Steve Whalen/Courtesy photo

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Davis’ Joe Blakewell, middle, sends a pass forward to teammate Max Landy during the local club’s game at a recent junior varsity-level tournament. Courtesy photo

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