Fallbrook Girls Rugby middle school team wins Fullerton tournament

The annual Fullerton Rugby High School International Invitational Tournament added a middle school division this year, and the Fallbrook Girls Rugby squad won that level of the tournament.

"Good performance," said Fallbrook co-coach Craig Pinnell. "Our young group of girls have a huge amount of potential."

The high school level, whose results included second place for the Fallbrook team, played 15-a-side rugby for the tournament. The middle school games were seven-a-side contests. Fallbrook had 10 girls for the March 17 games but religious issues limited the squad to seven girls March 18 so Fallbrook had no substitutes for the final. "We just had seven," Pinnell said.

Seven-a-side rugby utilizes seven-minute halves or 14-minute games. Fallbrook's first March 17 game was a 40-0 victory over the Mother Lode team which is based in the El Dorado County town of Cameron Park. Jordyn Duncan, who was Fallbrook's center, had three tries and kicked three conversions. Emily Weber scored two tries. Tiahna Padilla, who was Fallbrook's fly half, had one try and two conversions.

A 43-0 victory over Fullerton concluded March 17 competition for Fallbrook. Duncan scored four tries and two conversions, Padilla once again had one try and two conversions, and a try apiece was scored by Julia Tippin and Liberty Benitez.

The March 18 final was between Fallbrook and Mother Lode. "That was an interesting game," Pinnell said. "It could have gone either way."

The halftime score was 7-7, but Fallbrook's final margin of victory was 33-7.

"They figured it out," said Pinnell of his players. "They have a pretty high IQ as a group, and rugby IQ as a group. They understand how to play rugby."

Some of the middle school players began at the under-10 level and advanced to under-12 play before their current under-14 if not under-16 activity. "Most of them have come through age group rugby," Pinnell said.

Other players are in their first year with the sport. "It's like a combination on that team," Pinnell said.

"That group of players are really able to come together and play," Pinnell said. "They really pulled it together in the last half of the game, came together and finished off the weekend well."

Padilla had three tries and a conversion in the final. "She's really good at reading the game," Pinnell said.

Duncan only scored one try along with three conversions but contributed to Padilla's tries. "They finish a lot of tries together playing off each other," Pinnell said.

Tippin scored the other try in the final.

The under-18 team had three March 17 games lasting 24 minutes apiece. Fallbrook, South Bay of Carson, and St. John's based in Canada were in one pool while Fullerton, Mother Lode, and the Coastal Dragons of Encinitas were in the other pool. Fallbrook began play with a 24-5 loss to South Bay, although the halftime score was 5-5.

"We were in it," said Pinnell. "We could have beat them in that game. We need to be at a higher level if we're going to beat teams like that."

Bella Devore scored Fallbrook's try. Devore played with the Atlantis all-star team in the March 1-3 Las Vegas Invitational Tournament. Atlantis won the Girls High School Elite Sevens championship, although Devore injured her knee in that tournament. The Fullerton tournament game against South Bay was Devore's first competition since the Las Vegas Invitational Tournament, but she re-injured her knee in the first half and did not play for the remainder of the Fullerton tournament.

Fallbrook's second March 17 game was against St. John's. The Warriors had a 12-0 halftime lead and ended the game on the winning end of the 27-12 score.

The conversion kick attempt is taken from behind the point on the try line where the try was scored, so Fallbrook only had one conversion after the Warriors' five tries. "We scored our tries pretty much out wide," Pinnell said.

Morgan Bitner had the first try, and the other first-half try was scored by Sophia Rizzotto with Abby Savin adding two points with the conversion kick. Nathalie Celis, Monica Saltz, and Bitner scored Fallbrook's second-half tries.

Mother Lode's under-18 team was Fallbrook's final March 17 opponent. Fallbrook prevailed by a 33-0 margin and held a 19-0 halftime lead. The Warriors were successful on four of five conversions with Savin and Olivia Sonia each kicking two conversions. Celis had two tries while Sonia, Savin, and Saltz scored a try apiece.

The 2-1 pool and cross-pool record gave Fallbrook second place in the Warriors' pool behind South Bay. The March 18 semifinal against Coastal Dragons, who won their pool, was a 30-minute contest. Fallbrook's 19-0 victory included a 12-0 halftime lead. Celis had two of the tries while Sam Oksnee scored the other try. Savin and Savannah Simmons each kicked a conversion.

"They played pretty well," Pinnell said.

"There were some really good individual players on that team, so they challenged us," Pinnell said of the Coastal Dragons. "It was probably the most clinical game with the best defense."

The win over Coastal Dragons placed Fallbrook in the final against South Bay, which was also a 30-minute game. South Bay built up a 26-0 halftime lead and each team scored one try in the second half for a 31-5 final score. "It was even against a bigger team," Pinnell said of the second-half scoring.

Bitner scored Fallbrook's try in the final.

The under-18 Warriors had 25 players March 17 and 22 March 18 with one illness and one religious absence augmenting Devore's loss to injury.

"All in all definitely a learning curve for them," Pinnell said.