Swoosh capture AAU crown

The Surf City Swoosh, an 11-and-Under Amateur Athletic Union basketball team based out of Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley, won its division at the 2010 Swoosh/AAU Las Vegas Nationals held July 16 through 18 at the Tarkanian Center in Las Vegas.

Surf City beat Las Vegas Elite, 63-55, in the championship game.

The Surf City Swoosh also won the 2010 West Coast Basketball Assn. National Tournament July 10 and 11 at the American Sports Center in Anaheim. Surf City beat the National Junior Basketball Stars, 65-33, in the title game.

The team won nine of 10 tournaments it entered during the spring/summer season, accumulating a 40-4 record.

The Surf City Swoosh is: Dave Atencio, Bryson Betti, Noah Franklin, Jake Garrett, Jayson Jones, Hayden Moore, Randall Walker and Kyle McCauley. The team is coached by Stu Betti.

“It was 118 degrees and the kids were dead tired and winning the Vegas tournament was all about heart and hustle,” Stu Betti said. “We were down by 12 in the championship game but then went on the run of all runs to go up by eight, and we never looked back.

“This is a really great group of kids. We worked on fundamentals all season and never talked about winning or losing. But, this team just kept on winning.”

Stu Betti said the team will elevate to the 12-Under division beginning Sept. 1 for the 2010-11 season.

Water Polo

Six teams from Huntington Beach Water Polo Club are competing this week at the S&R Sport USA Water Polo Junior Olympics. The annual event, now in its 41st year, is being held at various pool sites in the Los Angeles area. It’s the first time the tournament has been played in Los Angeles.

The boys’ 12-and-Under, 14U and 16U teams currently are playing at the event. The girls’ 18U, 16U and 14U teams start tournament play today. All division finals are Sunday.

The boys’ 12-and-under team, the No. 7-seed in its division, opened tournament play Saturday with victories over Santa Clara Valley (19-2) and Commerce (11-5). On Sunday, the team outlasted South Bay United (16-14) and beat Foothill (7-2), then split games Monday, losing to Orange County Water Polo Club (14-6) and beating Northwood (8-5).

The boys’ 14U team, the No. 16-seed in their division, defeated Stanford Red (12-11) on Sunday and played South Coast to a 6-6 tie Sunday. The team beat Capistrano Valley Aquatics Club (10-9) and La Jolla (10-7) Monday.

The boys’ 16U team, the division’s No. 3-seed, began tourney play Sunday with wins over Houston Storm (16-5) and Carlsbad (16-3). The squad beat Regency (16-5) and North San Diego Stars (12-10) Sunday and on Monday, was edged by San Diego Shores (10-9) but bounced back to defeat Lamorinda (13-10).