Claremont High School boys basketball and girls water polo were both victorious in the first round of CIF playoffs this week.

On Tuesday the girls fought a tough match against Capistrano Valley in Mission Viejo and eventually topped them, 12-10. Goalkeeper Charlotte Cheng had another great game with 13 saves anchoring the defensive effort. The Pack also had a diverse offense with five girls, Mackenzie Elias, Makenna Moore, Laura Schroerlucke, Lauren Hoyle and Helena Sandhagen scoring during the game, according to coach Gary Cheever.

“It was a great team effort. We went into the game ranked number 10 in CIF and Capistrano Valley was number nine,” said coach Cheever on Wednesday.

Wednesday night the boys basketball team traveled to Ontario High School to take on the Jaguars. The Pack had a pretty easy time of it, outplaying their opponent on both sides of the court on the way to an 89-61 final.

Claremont dominated from the start, grabbing both offensive and defensive rebounds while keeping Ontario off balance. The Jaguars turned the ball over a lot and Claremont was more than happy to take advantage. Ontario did rally toward the end of the first quarter narrowing the lead to just four points. But that was as close as they got as Claremont surged, ending the half with a 29-point advantage.

Claremont struggled a bit with their shooting percentage during the regular season but seemed to have corrected that Wednesday, particularly when it came to the easy layup. The Wolfpack also did a fine job rebounding and passing, which kept the Jaguars off balance.

Kyle Scalmanini was the night’s top scorer with 29 points followed by Tyler Fraser with 21. Special recognition goes to junior Luke McCay, who hit all four of his field goal attempts including two three-point plays for 10 points.

Coach Stan Tolliver kept his team in a constant rotation in part to give court time to as many players as possible and also to save his top players for tougher games ahead.

“The guys were pretty focused, they were moving the ball, we were able to get inside the paint area and kick out. Kyle had an outstanding game,” said coach Tolliver.

From here the boys will take on West Ranch on Friday in Valencia while girls water polo played Warren on Thursday in Downey.

Other first round CIF action happening this week: Girls soccer had a home game against Pacifica on Thursday; girls basketball faced Temescal Canyon on Thursday; boys soccer will take on Pioneer at CHS at 3 p.m. on Friday.

—Steven Felschundneff

steven@claremont-courier.com