Cate’s Pliso, San Marcos’ Prentice, DP’s Hill, Garcia honored

Cate basketball’s Marko Pliso and Brittany Prentice of the San Marcos girls water polo team were honored Monday as the Athletes of the Week at the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table press luncheon at Harry’s Plaza Café.

Brittany Prentice, San Marcos water polo
Brittany Prentice, San Marcos water polo
Marko Pliso, Cate basketball
Marko Pliso, Cate basketball

Also recognized were the recipients of the Athlete of the Week awards from two weeks ago. (There was no press luncheon last Monday due to Martin Luther King holiday). The honorees are Abbi Hill of the Dos Pueblos girls water polo team and Dos Pueblos wrestler Joel Garcia.

Garcia came up huge in a crucial Channel League dual meet at Buena. The Chargers, trailing by five points going into the final bout of the night, needed Garcia to pin his opponents for six points and the team victory. He delivered and DP won 29-28. The Chargers defeated Ventura last week to clinch their second straight league title.

Abbi Hill, Dos Pueblos water polo
Abbi Hill, Dos Pueblos water polo
Joel Garcia, Dos Pueblos wrestling.
Joel Garcia, Dos Pueblos wrestling.

Hill stepped up for the DP water polo team in two big wins over Santa Barbara and Laguna Beach. The freshman score four goals in a 9-5 Channel League victory over the Dons and followed with a five-goal performance in an 11-7 win over top-ranked Laguna Beach that ended the Breakers’ 63-match winning streak. DP holds the longest win streak at 69 games. Hill also earned all-tournament team honors at the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions

Pliso was a scoring machine for Cate in Frontier League wins over Foothill Tech and Fillmore. He scored 31 points in both games, helping the Rams even their league record to 3-3. The team went 1-11 in league last year.

Prentice was a major contributor in San Marcos’ nail-biting 4-3 win over Dos Pueblos in a Channel League showdown between CIF Division 1 top-10 teams. She scored the eventual game-winning goal on a long-range shot just before the third-period horn and played tough defense against Dos Pueblos standout Ryann Neushul.

The honorable mention choices for this week’s awards include Nick Busch (Santa Barbara basketball), Ricky Beebe (Providence basketball), Kele Mkpado (San Marcos basketball), Evan Tillman (SBCC basketball), Chloe Hamer (San Marcos soccer), Jasmine Ware (UCSB basketball), Destinee King (SBCC basketball) and Lauren McCoy (Westmont basketball).