Beyond Expectations

2/23/2011: Last night marked the end of the 2010 - 2011 season for the Lady Polar Bears of Port of L.A. High School. It was a great season and it was with great pleasure to have coached these young ladies both on and off the court. I am really proud of every single player who stuck it out and finished the season with me. I have great respect for every single one of them. For this team, we went beyond expectations as a team and as individuals. No one ever thought that this team would win Crosstown League Champions its first year as qualifiers to compete in league. No one ever thought this team would make it to the playoffs, win their first round match up and eventually to be taken out be the #1 team in the section (D5-Small Schools). We fulfilled all of our goals, and went beyond all expectations.

This season, we say goodbye to three of our family members who are looking to start their new journey as college freshman at Cal State Los Angeles. Aside from our goals and that we set out to achieve on the floor, it is with greater pleasure to know that our team members have succeeded in the classroom and will continue with their education at the next level. Daniela Lopez, is one of our family members that has received an academic scholarship to attend Cal State L.A.

I very proud of our accomplishments as a team this year, and I am very grateful that I have been blessed with a team that showed a great deal of heart, passion, and resilience every night we stepped on the floor at practice and especially in the games. I am also very proud of what we have started and built here at Port of Los Angeles High School. I am looking forward to a bright future for this team led by a Junior class that has the potential to repeat as Crosstown League Champions next season.

Thank you to all the parents of the basketball program. We appreciate all the time you have put in to drive your daughters to practice and the games. Without you, we would not have made it this far.

To Ms. Wade and Mrs. Anaya. We are blessed to have team moms like you. We would not have been as successful this season with out your time, commitment, and sacrafices. We appreciate you and thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Finally, last but never the least I would like to thank my wife Sheila for always supporting me in all that I do, and being on my team for life. This win is as much as yours as anyone a part of this progarm. Thank you for being our biggest fan along with our daughter Meilani. I love you both.

Thank you to everyone who followed us this season and who have supported us.

Look for us in the 2011 -2012 season.

New Look For the P.O.L.A.H.S. Girls Basketball Team Website

Click on the link below to check out the new website dedicated to the Crosstown League Champs for the 2010 - 2011 Season.

Port of L.A. Girls Basketball Program

FIRST PLAYOFF WIN IN SCHOOL'S HISTORY

2/18/2011: Last night the Port of L.A. Girls' Basketball Team made school history once again by winning their very first playoff game against Vaughn High School from San Fernando Valley. This would be the 2nd time the two teams would meet and this time the Lady Polar Bears came out victorious with a 51 - 27 convincing win over the Lady White Tigers. The Lady Polar Bears were up most of the game with Vaughn High School scratching and clawing their way back. However with the tremendous game play and effort from Angela Wade with 16 points and Tene Stewart with 14, and extra added help from our bench, Orianna Dominguez and Keila Yorba, we were able to pull out a victory for the school and for the team. Overall the Lady Polar Bears are 12-13, and 7-2 for the season. We are looking forward to extending our overall record to 13-13, and 8-2 this coming Wednesday against the defending All-City Champs, LACES High School. Come out and support @ LACES High School on 2/23/2011 @ 7pm.

POLAHS VS. VAUGHN HIGH SCHOOL 1ST ROUND PLAYOFFS

Tomorrow, the Port of L.A. Girls' Basketball Team will take on Vaughn High School in a first round small schools Division 5 match up against the #7 POLAHS Lady Polar Bears vs. the #10 Vaughn High School's Lady White Tigers. During the winter tournament held at Orangewood Academy, the Lady White Tigers beat us by a score of 33 - 31. Mimi Rodriguez with 2 seconds left had a clear look at the basket from the right corner to hit a 3 pointer which would have won us the game. Shyonna Jones, "We know what we have, we know what we can do. We are a different team from when they saw us the first time. It will be a different game this time." I couldn't agree more.

Tomorrow will be a very exciting game. This is the first time in the school's history that the girls basketball program will play in a playoff game and compete for an All-City Title. Come and support our Lady Polar Bears tomorrow 2/18/2011 at Peck Park, San Pedro Ca. at 3:00pm. Students with ID $5.00. Adults $6.00. Children under 4 are free. Hope to see you there. Go Lady Polar Bears!!!

Click to view
2010-2011 Playoff Commercial vs. Vaughn High School

6 - 2 Crosstown League Champions 2010 - 2011 And Looking Forward To The Playoffs As The #7 Seed

Tene Stewart

Daniela Lopez

Sarai Rodriguez

Last night, we had the honor to recognize the following student athletes for Senior Night at POLAHS.

Tene Stewart: Finishes her POLAHS High School Career as a 3 year Varsity player. Tene is our head captain for the 2010 - 2011 season and has been a pleasure to have on our team this year. She currently holds a 3.1 GPA and will be attending Cal State L.A. to major in Broadcast Journalism. We believe Tene will be successful in what ever she does, and we look forward for her to lead us throughout the playoffs.

Daniela Lopez: This is the first year Daniella played on the POLAHS Girls Basketball Team. She comes from playing the game of soccer last year and us this year for 2010 - 2011. Daniella currently holds a 3.0 GPA and will be attending Cal State Los Angeles next fall to major in Business and Pre-Law. Daniela is also a recipient of an Academic Scholarship to CSULA.

Sarai Rodriguez: Sarai, is our other senior to return to play her 2nd year with the POLAHS Girls Basketball Team. Sarai hopes to attend culinary arts school and would like to own her own restaurant one day.

Tonight's game capped a great regular season run for the Lady Polar Bears for 2010 - 2011. The team ended up taking Crosstown League Champs over Douglas High School due to forfeiting two games in the regular season thus putting POLHAS on top with the better regular season record. Though we did not achieve our goal of becoming league champions in a conventional manner, we have a great opportunity to be successful in the playoffs and compete for an All-City Championship Title on March 3rd. Last night's victory was another great team effort with Angela Wade #43 leading all scorers again with 14 points and Mimi Rodriguez contributing 9 points with a 3 pointer that helped us secure the lead to beat the Lady Wolverines 37 - 25.

As we look forward to the playoffs, there will be 16 teams in the Div 5 - Small Schools Section to compete for the All-City Small Schools Championship Trophy. I feel good about our chances coming into the playoffs and I feel that every team we face are beatable. We just have to compete, sacrifice, be focused, and just go out and play! Thank you for following us this season.

5-2 For League And We Keep Pushing Strong

2/9/2011: Tonight we faced Animo South Learning Center at the Rita Walters Community Center in Los Angeles. The Lady Polar Bears were going into this game with out one of our leaders who was out with the flu (#11 Tene Stewart). The game started out pretty slow with the score 10 - 2 in favor of POLAHS and in the second quarter it was 14 - 5 going into half-time. We started out really flat with out any intensity on defense, however by the second half we turned it up a notch. We took better care of the basketball, rebounded better, and scored on every opportunity that we had. For the game, #43 Angela Wade scored 22 points, to lead all scorers. This would not have been possible without a team effort. The Lady Polar Bears played in a very physical game which resulted in a 43 - 10 win over the Animo South Lady Panthers and a 5 - 2 record for league. Stay tuned for our last regular season game against Foshay Learning Center where we honor our seniors for Senior Night. Hope to see you all there.

P.O.L.A.H.S. GIRLS BASKETBALL 4 -2 FOR SEASON

Finishing strong for the last part of the season is a priority for our girls basketball program here at Port of L.A. After suffering our second loss to Douglas High School, the Lady Polar Bears bounced back with a convincing win over our crosstown rivals, Harbor Teacher Prep High School with a score of 50 - 30. This was the third time we have met each other on the hard wood and we the Lady Polar Bears have swept our regular season meeting with them 3 - 0. The Lady Polar Bears overwhelmed the Lady Monarchs with our "Rope Defense" led by Susana Sanchez and Cynthia Vargas. Susana Sanchez had a breakout game with leading all scorers with 18 points and claiming player of the game. With that being said, this victory was a total team effort, and it was a victory well deserved.

Come out and watch the Lady Polar Bears play their last home game for the regular season on 2/11/11 at Peck Park in San Pedro, Ca. This game will also be our Senior Night where we will recognize our fine senior players on our team. Admission will be $2 for adults with a chance to win prizes through our half-time raffle. Come out and support, and watch a great game.

-Coach Bugarin

P.O.L.A.H.S. GIRLS BASKETBALL 3 -1 FOR SEASON

As we approach the halfway point of the season, the Lady Polar Bears are 3 -1 in the Crosstown league, 2nd place behind the undefeated Douglas Lady Lions. Our goal has always been to become Crosstown League Champions and the Douglas Lady Lions hold the key to the gate. The Port of L.A. High School Athletics is in its first year as participants in the C.I.F. making this the first time for any of its sports teams to compete in league and also compete for a city title. This Wednesday we look to avenge our loss to the Lady Lions at the beginning of the season. Our team has made significant strides and have been getting better each practice and each game. We look forward to this opportunity on Wednesday to compete and play at the highest level we possibly can. Come and support the P.O.L.A.H.S. GIRLS BASKETBALL PROGRAM at the Epic Center in Los Angeles at 2:30pm

-Coach Bugarin