St. Joseph/s boys basketball team has been balanced all season, and that was reflected in the All-Los Padres League picks.

The Knights sailed through the LPL unbeaten, and St. Joseph played in the Southern California Regional semifinal round of the CIF State Playoffs Thursday night. St. Joseph senior guard Stewart Kussler is the LPL/s MVP.

Before the regional started, Kussler was fifth in the area in scoring at 18.4 points a game. Cabrillo senior Issac Simmons was the defensive MVP.

St. Joseph Guard-forward Joe Tilley and point guard Ryan Adlesh both average in double figures, and both made the All-LPL first team. Adlesh is a junior. Tilley is a senior.

Senior center Fred Smith of Santa Maria, senior forward Danny Anderson of Morro Bay, junior guard Boo Jackson of Lompoc and junior guard Lydell Sargeant of Cabrillo rounded out the first team.

Knight sophomore shooting guard Andrew Schmalbach made the second team. Junior forward Brandon Merlo made honorable mention, so all of St. Joseph/s starting five were honored in some way.

Lindsay Demery of Santa Ynez was the Girls MVP of the Los Padres League. She is a junior center. Demery helped the Pirates win the LPL title with an 11-1 league record.

Brittoni DeWitt of Santa Maria finished the season as the 10th-leading girls rebounder in the state, and she landed a spot on the first team. DeWitt was a forward. She is a 5-9 junior.

Demery/s teammates, sisters Ariana and Briana Gnekow, made the first team. Briana is a senior. Ariana is a sophomore.

Kelly Blair and Amanda Mobley of Morro Bay, Jessica Perez of St. Joseph and Brittany Garcia of Lompoc rounded out the first team. Mobley is a senior. Perez and Garcia are juniors, and Blair is a sophomore.

Sophomore Christie Lynn and junior Dee Dee Oani of Santa Maria made the second team. So did junior Lisa Wise of St. Joseph.

Santa Ynez shared the CIF Division IV girls soccer title, in its first title game appearance, with Serrano of Phelan. The teams played to a 2-2 draw. The Pirates went undefeated in the LPL. Santa Ynez teammates Jennifer Love and Christina Pauley shared the Offensive Player of the Year award.

Love is a junior. Pauley is a senior. Cabrillo senior Bonnie Calhoun was the Defensive Player of the Year.

The All-LPL First Team included Marissa McCandlish and Leann Sgobba of Santa Ynez; Jennifer Frasca and Katie McIntosh of Cabrillo; Sara Inlow and Emi Miller of Morro Bay; Alyssa Agin and Ashley Blessing of St. Joseph; Jackie McKinley of Santa Maria; Sherry Payne of Lompoc; and Jenna Webb and Katie Greig of Nipomo.

Katie Dering and Maressa Martinez of St. Joseph and Norma Castro of Santa Maria made the second team.

Santa Ynez and Santa Maria shared the LPL boys soccer title, with the Pirates getting the top seed for the playoffs because they beat Santa Maria twice. The Saints made it to the Division IV semifinals for the second straight year. Santa Ynez lost in the second round.

Junior Edgar Miranda of Santa Maria was the league/s Offensive Player of the Year. Junior Sean Duncan of Santa Ynez was the Defensive Player of the Year.

The first team consisted of Armando Guerrero, Jake Joyner and Zac Wasserman of Santa Ynez; Efrain Baez and Victor Velasco of Santa Maria; Rafael Yelo-Baeza and Alan Hernandez of Lompoc; Jesus Gomez and Julian Rosas of Cabrillo; Paul Algert of Morro Bay; Nathan Agin of St. Joseph; and Miguel Molina of Nipomo.

Eduwiges Aguila, Ricardo Aparicio and Carlos Gil of Santa Maria all made the second team. So did Robbie Cota of St. Joseph.

Becca Ur of league champion Cabrillo was the LPL water polo MVP. The Conquistadores made it to the Division IV semifinals.

The first team consisted of goal keeper Heather Fenske and Cali Munoz of Lompoc; Julie Hain, Mallory Meeder, Davia Montoya and Oonagh Hardy of Cabrillo; and Chelsea Curtis and Beth Wickholm of Santa Ynez.

Bianca McNeil of Santa Maria made the second team.

March 18, 2004