Dos Pueblos' Britten Vilander

Laguna Blanca's Logan Elder

Defense got rewarded with Athlete of the Week awards at Monday’s Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table press luncheon.

Logan Elder of Laguna Blanca boys basketball and Britten Vilander of the Dos Pueblos girls water polo team were the award winners.

Elder scored 27 points in a 59-45 win over Condor League rival Cate and then shut down one of Providence Hall’s leading scorers, holding him to just four points, in a 79-35 victory.

Vilander, the Chargers’ goalie, made 11 saves, including one with two seconds left in regulation time, in a dramatic 9-8 win over Santa Barbara that gave DP sole possession of first place. She also assisted on the game-winning goal for DP.

UCSB's Kelsey Adrian

Westmont's Preston Branson

Westmont College basketball player Preston Branson and UCSB women’s basketball player Kelsey Adrian have been named Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table Athletes of the Week.

Branson had a monster performance in No. 16 Westmont’s 90-85 victory at sixth-ranked Irvine-Concordia in the GSAC game. Branson, a junior from Texas, scored 35 points, making 12 of 14 shots from the field and 10 of 13 three throws. The win snapped a 10-game losing streak against Concordia and ended the Eagles’ 24-game home-court winning streak.

Adrian tied  her career high with 17 points, grabbed eight rebounds and made a key defensive play late in the second overtime of a 71-67 win at Big West leader Cal State Northridge.

Because of there was no press luncheon on the Martin Luther King holiday, (Jan. 16), the Round Table is recognizing Athletes of Week for that week.

Santa Barbara High's Alfredo Ibarra

Carpinteria High's Monica Garcia

The award winners are Santa Barbara High boys soccer player Alfredo Ibarra and Monica Garcia, a freshman on the Carpinteria High girls soccer team.

In a week of Channel League rivalry games, Ibarra scored the game-winning goal in a 1-0 decision over San Marcos and added a goal in a 2-0 victory over Dos Pueblos.

Garcia scored the game winner in a 1-0 victory over Bishop Diego and followed that up with a hat trick in a 7-1 romp over Villanova Prep.

Dos Pueblos' Jessica Escalante

San Marcos' Sam Strong

Sam Strong took home the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table Male Athlete of the Week award on Monday for scoring in both of San Marcos’ soccer games last week.

Strong’s game-winner on Tuesday lifted the Royals to a 2-1 win over Dos Pueblos. The sophomore scored again on Thursday as the Royals managed to tie unbeaten Ventura 1-1.

Dos Pueblos’ Jessica Escalante won the Female Athlete of the Week award by leading the Chargers to a pair of victories last week. Escalante tallied 14 points, five rebounds and five assists on Tuesday, and added 17 points in Saturday’s 64-60 overtime win at Pacifica. Escalante’s coast-to-coast scoring play in the final seconds of regulation forced overtime and gave DP the opportunity to win.

Cate's Annie Weis

Cate's Ema Boateng

Ema Boateng and Annie Weis make this week’s set of Athletic Round Table Athletes of the Week an all-Cate School affair.

Both soccer players, Weis and Boateng led their respective teams to quality results last week. Weis, a senior, scored seven goals and added an assist for good measure in a three-game stretch in which the Rams won 2-of-3 games at the Grace Brethren Tournament. The loss was at the hands of Sierra Canyon, which is a defending CIF-ss champion.

Boateng is the returning CIF-ss Division 7 Player of the Year and has gotten off to a great start this season. Boateng scored twice in Friday’s 4-3 loss to Pacifica but came back on Saturday to spearhead one of Cate soccer biggest victories in school history. Boateng scored the second goal in a 2-0 decision over JSerra, which was ranked No. 1 in Division 1 and No. 10 in the country according to ESPN.

UCSB's Andrea Ward

Laguna Blanca's Brandon Bickett

Brandon Bickett’s performance on the basketball court and Andrea Ward’s effort in the swimming pool earned them Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table Athlete of the Week honors.

Bickett, a senior at Laguna Blanca, scored 13, 30 and 25 points in wins over Coast Union, Channel Islands and Dunn, respectively.

Ward rewrote the UCSB women’s swimming record book in three events at the Texas Hall of Fame Invitational. She clocked 53.38 seconds in the 100 butterfly, 1:48.55 in the 200 freestyle and 1:59.40 in the 200 butterfly.

Senior Aurora, left, and freshman Summer, right.

Bishop Diego's Christian Pearson

Sophomore Christian Pearson stepped up big against bigger blockers and keyed a solid defensive effort by the Bishop Diego football team in its 21-14 win at Twentynine Palms in last Friday’s CIF East Valley Division quarterfinals.

The 5-8, 180-pound Pearson had nine solo tackles and 11 assists from his middle linebacker position to help the Cardinals bottled up a Twentynine Palms team that averaged 250-pounds on the line and had a 235-pound running back.

His performance earned him the Male Athlete of the Week Award at Monday’s Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table press luncheon.

“Given the size of the opponent, Christian braved the elements, so to speak, in order to accomplish what he did,” Bishop football coach Tom Crawford said.

The Female Athlete of the Week Award went to the sister act of Summer and Aurora Garrison of Santa Barbara High’s CIF championship tennis team.

The Garrison’s each swept their three sets to help the Dons defeat Newport Harbor, 16-2, for the CIF Division 2 title. It was the school’s sixth title and first since 2003.

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SBCC's Jordan Tabor

Carpinteria High's Kelsie Bryant

Kelsie Bryant of the Carpinteria girls tennis team and Santa Barbara City College soccer player Jordan Tabor have been named the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table Athletes of the Week.

Bryant, a freshman, helped Carpinteria reach the CIF team tennis finals for the first time in 34 years. In the quarterfinals against Aquinas, she went 3-0, helping the Warriors prevail on total games, 69-68, after the teams tied 9-9 in sets.

In the semifinals she rebounded from her first loss of the season in a tiebreaker, winning her next two sets 6-0 6-0.

Tabor played a huge role in SBCC’s 2-1 win over L.A. Harbor in the first round of the Southern California Regionals. He scored the first goal on a 50-yard free kick and assisted on the game-winner in the 83rd minute.

Westmont's Tugce Canitez

Gonzalez led the Cardinals football team to a 39-20 rivalry win over Carpinteria on Friday night, rushing for 236 yards with two touchdowns in the pouring rain.

Canitez is a JC transfer from Idaho playing her first year with the Warriors basketball team. Canitez was recognized for a single-game performance against NCAA power USC. Behind Canitez’s 33 points and nine rebounds, Westmont played competitively with the Trojans, who are ranked No. 23 in the country.

Dos Pueblos' Lauren Stratman

Dos Pueblos' Josh Bartley

Running back Josh Bartley and tennis player Lauren Stratman were named the Athletes of the Week. Bartley rushed for 236 yards and a touchdown to lead the Chargers to an important victory over Santa Barbara in football on Friday night. On the tennis court, Lauren Stratman made history by winning her fourth Channel League singles title, the first time the feat has been accomplished since 1988-92.

Carpinteria's Jordan Robinson

Dos Pueblos' Taylor Racich

—Athletes of the Week: Carpinteria High football standout Jordan Robinson did it all in a 33-21 win over Oak Park to earn male Athlete of the Week honors. Robinson made a diving 12-yard touchdown catch, ran for a 30-yard score, had a key pass interception and made two long kickoff returns as the Warriors clinched a tie for the Tri-Valley League title.

Taylor Racich was named the female Athlete of the Week. She dominated at the net, pounding 32 kills to lead Dos Pueblos to a five-set win over Marymount in the final of the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions. It was the first time the Chargers won the  prestigious tournament.