By Joe Snyder
Cal State Dominguez Hills basketball is enjoying probably its best season ever.
The Toro men and women swept the California Collegiate Athletic Association championships, both in regular season and the conference tournament and were already headed to the NCAA Division II Western Regional championship games, which were both last Monday.
CSDH’s women are 33-1 overall after winning its NCAA Regional Division II semifinal over University of Alaska at Anchorage 63-61 Saturday at the CSDH Toro Dome in Carson.
The Lady Toros took a 42-32 halftime lead but went into a dry spell in the third quarter that saw Alaska-Anchorage outscore them 17-5 to take a 49-47 lead. Cal State Dominguez bounced back to outscore UAA 16-12 in the fourth period to pull off the victory.
Asia Jordan led CSDH with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Christina Jones added 15 points and seven rebounds.
In the quarterfinals last Friday, the Toros defeated Azusa Pacific University 77-58, behind 25 points by Jones.
On March 10 at Cal State San Marcos in North San Diego County, the Toros captured the CCAA Tournament by rolling over Cal Poly Pomona 77-59. Nila Williams led Cal State Dominguez with 16 points, five rebounds and four assists. Jones had a double-double with 15 points and 11 assists. Jordan contributed 14 points and seven rebounds.
CSDH, the tournament’s top seed, hosted No. 6 Central Washington for the championship and a spot in the Division II Elite Eight last Monday.
Cal State Dominguez’s men are second seed in their Western Regional at Point Loma University in San Diego.
The Toros advanced to their final by downing Central Washington 77-65 last Saturday, avenging last season’s Division II playoff defeat at 110-90 at Cal State Los Angeles.
Leading by one point (36-35) at halftime, CSDH outscored Central Washington 41-30 pulling away for the victory.
The conference’s Most Valuable Player, David Cheatam, led the Toros with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Former Serra High standout Jeremy Dent-Smith, now a junior, chipped in 17 points and Alex Garcia contributed 15 points.
In the quarterfinals on Friday, CSDH defeated Northwest Nazarene 66-59.
Cheatam led the Toros with 23 points, followed by Adam Afifi with 18 and Dent-Smith with 13.
Cal State Dominguez won the CCAA Tournament with a 74-68 win over Cal State Chico on March 10 at Cal State San Marcos.
CSDH played Point Loma last Monday seeking a spot in the elite eight.
__________________________
Serra baseball team loses two in Del Rey League
Serra High’s baseball team has been in tough luck in the always rigorous Del Rey League falling to 1-3 with losses to Bishop Amat and St. Paul last week.
At Bishop Amat in La Puente on March 11, the Cavaliers had fine pitching but could not produce any offense in a 1-0 loss. At Serra last Friday, the Cavaliers fell to the Swordsmen 5-2.
Against St. Paul at Serra, Serra took a 2-1 lead on a two-run home run by Amari Hackett in the bottom of the fourth inning but that was all it could get as the Swordsmen. St. Paul scored three runs in the top of the fifth to take the lead for good. Highlighting the inning was a solo home run by Troy Sibolboro that tied the game and St. Paul scored two more runs after that in that inning. The Swordsmen added another run in the top of the seventh.
Winning pitcher Fernando Soto went the distance with eight strikeouts.
Joshua Bronson pitched four innings allowing one earned run but was replaced by Marc Emerson in the fifth.
Serra attempted a sixth-inning rally with runners on first and third base but Terrence Sullivan grounded out to end the threat.
The Cavaliers were hoping to end their three-game league losing streak with a game at Paraclete in Lancaster last Tuesday and against the Spirits at home Friday at 3:15 p.m. The Cavaliers host Lawndale in a non-league game Saturday at 11 a.m. and Legacy from South Gate next Wednesday at 3:15 p.m. The Cavaliers return to Del Rey action against Pasadena La Salle at Arcadia Regional Park on April 1.
North Torrance lost its Pioneer League game to host El Segundo 6-1 last Friday.
The Eagles jumped quickly by scoring all six of their runs in the bottom of the first inning.
The Saxons scored their only run in the top of the second when David Iniguez drove in Daniel Park on a sacrifice fly ball.
North had just one hit, a single by Park in the second.
El Segundo, the top-ranked team in the South Bay by the Daily Breeze, was led by Austin Hohman who went 2-for-4 with two runs batted in and one run scored.
The Saxons, who are 4-7 overall and 0-1 in league, visited Mary Star in a non-league game last Monday in San Pedro and were at Peninsula High in Rolling Hills Estates for a Pioneer game on Wednesday. North hosts cross town rival in another Pioneer game Friday at 3:15 p.m. and Wiseburn-Da Vinci from El Segundo next Wednesday at the same time.
Gardena had its Dorsey Tournament game against West Los Angeles University from Saturday postponed due to wet grounds from last week’s rains, then visited Harbor Teachers Prep at L.A. Harbor College on Wednesday in Wilmington. The Panthers begin the Marine League at home against Wilmington Banning next Wednesday at 3 p.m. The Pilots are currently ranked seventh in the CIF-L.A. City Section by MaxPreps.
The 30th Annual South Bay All-Star Boys’ and Girls’ South Bay All-Star Classic will be played at Bishop Montgomery High in Torrance on Saturday. The girls’ game begins at 5:30 p.m. with the boys starting at 7:30 p.m.
In the boys’ game, North Torrance head coach Will Sett will co-coach with Kumisi De Nesma of Narbonne.
Local players on that team include Josiah Nunez (North Torrance), Jairden Amadile (Narbonne), Landon Kim (South Torrance), Dylan Chandler (West Torrance) and Charlie Jeis (South Torrance).
The Nationals are co-coached by Jeff Amaral (Wiseburn-Da Vinci) and Jason Crowe, Sr. (Inglewood).
Local players on that squad are Willie Denham (Gardena), Kole Tanaka (North Torrance), Kayen Washington (Torrance), Denis Woods (Bishop Montgomery) and Justin Cricri (South Torrance).
In the girls’ game, the Nationals are co-coached by West Torrance’s Keith Prendeigasth and Monique Alexander from San Pedro Rolling Hills Prep, which won the CIF-Southern Section Division IIA title.
Local stars on that squad include Jadah Foster (Serra), Keimi Santiago (North Torrance), Monica Villanueva (Torrance), Faith Woodson (Carson), Joni Lee (South Torrance), all-American Jordin Blackmon (Bishop Montgomery), Ave Lee (West Torrance) and Madi Chung (South Torrance)
On the American team, co-coached by Dani Rho (Palos Verdes) and Bob Varnell (Torrance), are Saniaya Johnson (Serra), Alyssa Funtanilla (Torrance), Jae An Duldalaa (West Torrance), Kendra Sing (South Torrance), Alexis Lee (West Torrance), Aliya Wastoon (Bishop Montgomery) and Zoey Taylor (Carson).
Serra and North Torrance High’s girls’ basketball teams enjoyed a successful season. The Lady Cavaliers advanced to the CIF-Southern Section Division IVAA championship game where they lost to Rancho Santa Margarita Tesoro 59-46 on March 1 at Edison High in Huntington Beach. Serra lost in the first round of the Southern California Regional Division IV playoffs to host Santa Ynez 44-40. The Saxons made the Southern Section Division IIAA finals falling to Oak Park 68-57 on Feb. 28 at the Toyota Arena in Ontario. North played in the Southern California Regional Division I playoffs but fell to host Windward 62-49 on March 4 in the Mar Vista District of Los Angeles.
The furthest in the playoffs for South Bay teams went to Redondo High’s boys’ basketball team which advanced to the Southern California Regional Division I Championship game but lost to a premiere Sierra Canyon team 74-68 on March 11 in Chatsworth. The Trailblazers ended up winning the state title with a 58-53 win over Lincoln High from Stockton last Friday at the Golden One Arena in Sacramento, where all CIF-State championship games were. The Open Division boys champion went to Eleanor Roosevelt from Eastvale which rolled over San Francisco Riordan 80-60 behind 44 points from all-American Brayden Burris on Saturday. Winning the girls title was Etiwanda over San Jose Archbishop Mitty, also last Saturday.
Redondo boys’ senior standouts Hudson Mayes and Braden Miner, son of former National Basketball Association standout Harold Miner, also a former Inglewood High standout in the late 1980’s and at University of Southern California, are expected to play in Friday’s All-Star Classic. Mayes is bound for Central Michigan University.
______________
Divided Serra tracksters excel at Covina, Calif. Relays
Last week, Serra High’s boys’ and girls’ track and field teams were divided with half participating in the Covina Relays and the other half in the California Relays on Friday and Saturday Covina District Stadium and Long Beach Wilson High.
According to head coach Princeston Williams, most of the top athletes competed at Covina and some at Long Beach Wilson on Friday.
At Covina, the Cavalier boys were sparked by their 800-meter sprint medley relay team that won at one minute and 33.62 seconds. Runners included Otis “Tre” Harrison and Lawson Griggs in the 100 meters, Landon Thomas in the 400 and Dion Edwards in the 200. The same four also led Serra to a win in the 4×200 relay clocking 1:30.18.
Edwards also set a Serra High frosh-soph record in the 400-meter dash in 50.4, breaking the record of 50.74 set in 2007 by the renowned Robert Woods, now with the National Football League Houston Texans several years after sparking the Cavalier football team to the CIF-State Division III championship in 2009 and leading Serra’s boys’ track and field to a close runner-up finish in the California State Championship. Woods recorded a personal best of 46.3 in the 400 and sparked Serra to one of the United States’ top prep times of 3:08.42 in the 4×400 relay in the 2010 season.
Raelyn Pleasant, younger cousin of former Serra High standout sprinter Roderick Pleasant who is now competing in football and track and field at University of Oregon, had a fine showing in Covina that included a second-place finish in the triple jump (36 feet, six inches), third in the 100 (12.15), fourth in the 200 (26.11) and fifth in the long jump (17 feet). Mecca Muhammed was fourth in the 400 timing 58.58.
In the California Relays, Jimmy Butler, the quarterback on Serra’s football team, had marks of 40-7 in the triple jump and 19-3 in the long jump.
Kenzi Nzenwa had her personal best triple jump mark at 34-6.5.
Jordan Stevens won his heat in the boys’ 400 in 54.27.
Serra’s frosh-soph team was led by its boys’ 4×200 which won clocking 1:41.2. Runners were James Robinson, Tyler Woods, Laimer Robertson and Aaron Datele.
“We’re starting to peak,” Williams said. “I like where we are. We haven’t peaked but we’re hoping by the end of the season.”
Serra’s next meet is the Pasadena Games at Pasadena City College on Saturday. The Cavaliers will have a home dual meet against Bishop Amat from La Puente next Wednesday at 2 p.m.
