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Sports

Champs!

Celotto scores six goals, Denney adds four as Redondo Union takes down Downey to claim its second consecutive Bay League title in girls lacrosse.

Tom Borgia, coach of Redondo Union High's girls lacrosse team, was in such good spirits Friday night that he jokingly promised all of his players Bentleys with their names on them.

He certainly had reason to celebrate after his team defeated Downey 17-8 to capture the Sea Hawks' second consecutive Bay League championship, the first time a lacrosse team has won back-to-back titles in school history.

"It feels awesome," said junior midfielder Julia Denney, who scored four goals in the victory. "We worked so hard for it. It feels great to finally get the title after putting so much time into practice."

Having outscored their past 12 opponents 212-47, Redondo didn't meet much resistance en route to the Bay League crown.

Downey, however, has played Bay League teams tough all year. They took Palos Verdes, Mira Costa, and Peninsula to overtime and jumped out to a 4-0 lead the last time they were matched against Redondo. And they made things interesting early on Friday, tying the game at 3 and then getting as close as 12-8 late in the game.

"We were pretty sloppy today," Borgia said. "We had spring break and then had a non-competitive game earlier in the week. We threw a lot of balls away. Against a really athletic team like Downey, we have to play smart. We have to spread the field and make them chase the ball. We can actually catch and throw, so if they're scrambling, chasing, chasing, chasing, they're going to get tired and then we can work some plays."

Borgia's game plan eventually paid off. With less than 10 minutes to go, a visibly weary Vikings squad allowed Redondo to rattle off five unanswered goals to end the game.

Chantel Celotto scored six goals for the Sea Hawks to add to her league-leading 42, and also had three assists. Meesha Robinson notched three goals and an assist, while Tully Tampakes had two goals and an assist and Bailey Czech added a goal and two assists.

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While the win was nice, the game revealed a few issues that will need to be addressed if this high-powered offensive squad hopes to advance in the postseason where the competition will be a lot tougher than what the Bay League had to offer this season.

"We really need to pick it up to be honest," Erin Gansey, offensive coordinator, said. "Some of the Orange County teams are really, really tough. So, we can be really good in our league here, but in order to be really impressive, we need to pick it up a little bit so we can play against those tougher teams like Los Alamitos.

"Our girls tend to capitalize on situations when the team is really good, and tend to have a harder time when the team is a little bit less skilled. So we need to work on that. We need to play well in all situations."

Redondo's last league game is Wednesday against Palos Verdes, a team they beat 14-4 in their first match up. If the Sea Hawks win that game, they will become the first undefeated Bay League lacrosse champion.

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