El Camino College’s women’s basketball team is definitely in strong California State playoff contention with a 15-4 overall record and 3-0 in the South Coast Conference after home wins over Cerritos and Compton College last week.
Against Cerritos on January 15, the Lady Warriors jumped out to a big lead and went on to defeat the Falcons 67-57. Against Compton last Friday, the Lady Warriors rolled over the winless Tartars (0-13 overall and 0-3 in conference) 69-36.
El Camino College’s women’s basketball team is definitely in strong California State playoff contention with a 15-4 overall record and 3-0 in the South Coast Conference after home wins over Cerritos and Compton College last week.
Against Cerritos on January 15, the Lady Warriors jumped out to a big lead and went on to defeat the Falcons 67-57. Against Compton last Friday, the Lady Warriors rolled over the winless Tartars (0-13 overall and 0-3 in conference) 69-36.
On Friday, ECC started fast in taking a 33-11 halftime lead. The Warriors led by as many as 38 points and had little trouble with Compton, whose real name is El Camino College Compton Center.
Shontalene Trudeau, a sophomore from West Torrance High, led the Warriors with a game-high 19 points and eight rebounds. Sydney Chase added 13 points and six rebounds, and Alexis Delich contributed eight points and nine rebounds. Jill Thedeau had eight points and five rebounds. Nisja Bass dished out seven assists.
Tenise Harper led the Tartars with 15 points.
Against Cerritos, El Camino also had a balanced attack behind Chase with 17 points. Bass put in 14 points.
In that game, the Warriors took a 42-26 halftime lead and stayed a good enough distance away from the Falcons.
ECC’s men fell to 1-2 after falling to Cerritos 66-54 on January 15 and Compton 72-66 on Friday.
Against the Tartars, who are 3-0 in SCC play and 12-6 overall, the Warriors started off well leading 23-14 about 10 minutes into the game but Compton turned things around with a 20-3 run to take a 34-26 halftime lead.
El Camino managed to cut the Tartars’ lead to one point but could not get over the hump as Compton went on for the six-point victory.
The Tartars had dominating rebounding from James Boyd as he hauled down 21 to go with his team-high 17 points. Fourteen of Boyd’s rebounds were on defense.
The Warriors, who fell to 5-11 overall and 1-2 in conference after starting the season at 2-0, were led by Malik Wildermuth with 17 points and nine rebounds. Christopher Munoz tallied 13 points and Patrick Rittmon totaled 10.
Rittmon and Emmanuel Pope shared El Camino’s high scoring honors with 13 points apiece in its loss to Cerritos. Derrick Twiggs put in 12 points.
ECC started well with a 24-21 halftime lead before the Falcons let loose to outscore the Warriors 45-30 in the second half.
El Camino visited rival Los Angeles Harbor College on Wednesday and will host L.A. Trade Tech Friday at 7 p.m. The Warriors travel to Pasadena City College for a 5 p.m. game next Wednesday.
For the women, ECC visited Harbor and will host Trade Tech Friday at 5 p.m. The Warriors travel to Pasadena next Wednesday at 7 p.m.
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Serra tops Oak Park after league loss to CSH
Serra High’s boys’ basketball team lost its first Del Rey League game to host Cantwell-Sacred Heart 74-56 on January 15 but hopes it can get better in league after defeating Oak Park 60-48 in a Public vs. Private School Showcase Classic last Saturday at Cerritos College.
The Cavaliers jumped out to a 20-6 first quarter lead and Serra used a strong defense and had a fine performance by returning all-CIF Southern Section player Jason Richardson, who had 23 points and six assists. Four of those assists were in the first period.
Oak Park cut Serra’s lead to five but a pair of runs enabled the Cavaliers, who improved to 8-9 overall and are 0-1 in Del Rey play, to put the game away.
Leonard Murray added 12 points and Ian Carter chipped in 10 for Serra. Caleb Wilson contributed nine points and had a strong defensive contest.
The Cavaliers had trouble with the height of Cantwell-Sacred Heart in the loss.
Richardson had a fine game with 22 points. Ian Carter put in 13 points.
Serra hosted St. Bernard from Playa del Rey Wednesday and remains at home for another league rivalry against Torrance Bishop Montgomery next Wednesday at 7 p.m. Last week, the Knights rolled over the Vikings 67-24 on January 15 but had a tough time with Cathedral before coming away with an 80-73 victory last Friday.
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Lady Cavs begin Del Rey by routing Bishop Amat
By Joe Snyder
Sports Editor
Serra High’s girls’ basketball team began the Del Rey League anew by rolling over Bishop Amat from La Puente 75-46 last Thursday at Serra.
The Lady Cavaliers had a balanced attack led by Nautica Morrow with 16 points, including three three-point baskets, and five rebounds.
Briana Johnson added 14 points, six assists and three steals. Camille Hunter chipped in 12 points, including three three-pointers. Brijaye Brackett contributed eight points and nine rebounds. Rachel Carson-Duru pulled down six rebounds.
In a War on the Floor Showcase last Saturday at St. Genevieve High in Panorama City, Serra romped over Coronado High from Henderson, Nev. 65-36.
In that game, the Cavaliers raced out to leads of 24-6 after the first quarter and 38-14 at halftime.
Johnson and Hailey led Serra with 13 points apiece. Morrow hauled down 14 rebounds. London Dirks tallied nine rebounds and five points and Carson-Duru totaled seven rebounds.
The Cavaliers hosted their own Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Showcase as they played Alemany from Mission Hills last Monday.
Serra resumes league at home against St. Anthony from Long Beach today at 7 p.m. before taking on Long Beach Millikan in the Narbonne Showcase on Saturday. Time of the game is yet to be determined.
Serra continues Del Rey action at St. Paul in Santa Fe Springs next Tuesday at 7 p.m.
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Gardena boys are unbeaten in Marine; girls struggle
By Joe Snyder
Sports Editor
Gardena High’s boys’ basketball team improved to 3-0 in the Marine League after wins over Carson and King-Drew Medical Magnet last week.
At Carson on January 14, the Panthers stifled the Colts 52-38. At Gardena last Friday, the Panthers outlasted the Golden Eagles 52-49 in overtime.
In the Rancho Cucamonga Los Osos Martin Luther King, Jr. Showcase Classic on Monday, Gardena fell to Claremont 60-45.
Gardena head coach Ernie Carr puts a lot of stress on defense and both games were just that. After a 34-34 tie at halftime between the Panthers and King-Drew, each team scored only 13 second half points. In fact, each team had just six points in the third quarter and seven in the fourth forcing a 47-47 tie at regulation.
The overtime period finally saw Gardena outscore the Eagles 5-2 with the difference being a three-point basket by Christian Carating, who led the Panthers with 22 points.
Clarence Bookman added 11 points and Michael Thompson chipped in nine.
“King-Drew was tall and athletic,” Carr said. “They outrebounded us in the second half. It was a very close game.”
At Carson, Gardena’s defense was stingy in holding the Colts to just 24 points after three quarters.
The Panthers took a 28-15 halftime lead and kept a comfortable lead throughout the contest.
Thompson led Gardena (15-4 overall) with 17 points.
Against Claremont, the Panthers took a four-point (32-28) halftime lead but went cold in the second half as Claremont outscored them 32-13, including 16-3 in the fourth period.
Gardena visited Banning last Tuesday and has what could be a league showdown at Narbonne Friday at 7 p.m. The Panthers already met both of those teams in tournament play. Gardena overwhelmed the Pilots 61-18 on Dec. 2 in the Mira Costa Pacific Shores Tournament and lost to the Gauchos 52-47 in the championship semifinals at the San Pedro Pirate Shootout on Dec. 29. Narbonne went on to win the tournament championship over Rancho Dominguez Prep while Gardena finished third by defeating San Pedro 59-40 in the San Pedro Tournament on Dec. 30.
The Panthers host the Pirates next Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
Gardena’s girls were not as fortunate as they were humiliated in both games against Carson and King-Drew last week. At Gardena on January 15, the Colts embarrassed the Panthers 81-10. At King-Drew last Friday, the Golden Eagles downed Gardena 67-40.
Against Carson, Mykayla Pascho had half of the Panthers’ points with five.
Rachel Avila led five players in double figures with 18 points for the Colts. Five Carson players scored, at least, 11 points, which was more than Gardena’s total.
“We’re a real young team that needs discipline,” Gardena first-year head coach Paul Anderson said. “We’re not fundamentally sound. We’ll keep working on it.”
The Lady Panthers are 2-6 overall and 1-2 in the Marine League and things won’t get any better. Gardena hosts powerful Narbonne, which already rolled over Carson 72-42 in a Marine contest on Dec. 18 and had another easy win over King-Drew last week, Friday at 7 p.m. The Panthers hosted Banning on Tuesday and visit San Pedro next Wednesday at 4 p.m.
