Tennis Anyone? Viewpoint Wins Another Title

What a boys tennis dynasty at

The Patriots have won two Southern Section Division IV titles in a row after defeating Laguna Beach 11-7 on Wednesday in Claremont, Viewpoint’s sixth section title over the past eight years.

Viewpoint finished 17-2 under coach Travis Kikugawa, who won his fourth title at the school.

Bryce Beisswanger, Darius MacKenzie and Kobi Joffe won singles matches.

Laguna Beach was hoping for some revenge after losing to Viewpoint last year in the semifinals, but the Patriots eliminated them again. Overall, Viewpoint is 6-0 in section championships, including four consecutive titles from 2004 to 2007.

Meanwhile, Calabasas’ boys team, which handed Viewpoint one of its two losses in the regular season, won 20 in a row before suffering a 15-3 defeat to Harvard-Westlake in the second round of the Division I playoffs May 13 at L.A. Valley College.

The Coyotes won the Marmonte League championship, and they have a good nucleus returning for next season, as all but three of the players are underclassmen.

“This season was not too shabby, and we’re looking pretty good for next year, too,” Calabasas coach Kim Kinberg said. “I think there is a good group of freshmen coming in, too, so we should be competitive again.”

Among the top players expected to return are juniors Brett Buford, Hunter Morris and Daniel Barrington, sophomore Max Swedlick, freshmen Jake Klein and Adam Rapoport.

Overall, Kimber is pleased.

“It was a fantastic year, and the kids played amazing,” she said. “We pretty much dominated all of our competition until we lost to Harvard-Westlake.”

KEEPING UP WITH JONES

Calabasas’ football team expects a big season from Tyson Jones, a running back/linebacker who was one of the top sophomores in the Marmonte League this past season. Jones is switching to the defensive line this season under first-year coach Christian Pierce, who says he’s impressed with the 5-foot-9, 200-pound up-and-comer.

Another to watch out for is Jordan Pierce, the coach’s son. The sophomore is expected to make a big impact at linebacker, and he looked good in Calabasas’ annual Black & Gold spring scrimmage last month.

Another key player could be running back Ryan Duong, a 5-11, 200-pounder who is coming off a knee injury.

“He had a torn ACL, and he’s about 75 percent recovered,” Pierce said.

BOYS OF SUMMER

The summer baseball season starts soon, and Calabasas opens Valley Invitational Baseball League competition next Friday at 5 p.m. at Taft.

The VIBL has been in existence for 11 years, starting with just a handful of teams in 2000 and now including more than 30 teams from both the Southern Section and City Section.