Gardena High’s boys’ basketball team placed second in the Marine League after topping host San Pedro 51-47 in their league finale last Friday.
Gardena High’s boys’ basketball team placed second in the Marine League after topping host San Pedro 51-47 in their league finale last Friday.
The win gave the Panthers a 9-3 Marine record and 21-7 overall mark, one of the best seasons in the past several years. Their reward: a spot in the prestigious Open Division where Gardena will visit top ranked Fairfax in the quarterfinals Saturday at 7 p.m. The Lions tied rival Westchester for the Western League title. Fairfax was ranked as high as third in the United States by several prep sports publications and websites, but fell out due to a non-league loss at Mater Dei (47-34) and a 50-49 league loss to Westchester on Feb. 11 at Westchester, allowing the Comets to tie the Lions for the Western title. Westchester is third seed in the City Open Division as it opens at home against Crenshaw on Saturday. Fairfax is currently ranked third, behind No. 1 Santa Ana Mater Dei and No. 2 Torrance Bishop Montgomery, in Southern California by Maxpreps.
After being blown out by Narbonne 83-51 in a Marine showdown on Feb. 11 at Gardena, the Panthers regrouped to defeat the Pirates for the third time this season last Friday at San Pedro. Gardena defeated host San Pedro 59-40 for third place in the San Pedro Pirate Classic on Dec. 30 and edged the Pirates 40-37 earlier in league at Gardena.
Keying the Panthers was Christian Carating with 20 points.
Robert Ebert led San Pedro with 20 points.
The Gauchos already clinched league with an 82-33 blowout of Banning on Feb. 9 at Narbonne but Gardena was hoping that third time would be a charm after earlier losses of 52-47 in the Pirate Classic and 56-47 earlier in Marine at Narbonne.
Unfortunately things did not go right as Narbonne outmatched the Panthers. Gardena usually plays a very good defense but the Gauchos had hot shooting. The Panthers were a bit in the game down by five (18-13) after the first quarter and nine (38-29) at halftime. Narbonne, which enters the City Open Division as the fourth seed and hosts defending City champion and No. 5 seed El Camino Real from Woodland Hills in the first round Saturday, poured it on the Panthers as its lead grew to 23 points (62-39) after three periods and eventually won by an astounding 32 points.
“Narbonne played very good,” Gardena head coach Ernie Carr said. “They shot the ball very well and outplayed us. We weren’t ready and they kicked the crap out of us.”
The Panthers were led by Dominic Datu with 12 points. Clarence Bookman and Carating each chipped in eight points.
Shane Carney led all scorers with 18 points, followed by Amir Johnson with 14 for the Gauchos, who are head coached by former Gardena High head mentor Anthony Hilliard. Hilliard coached the Panthers to the L.A. City Division II crown two years ago and guided Narbonne to the City Division I semifinals where it narrowly fell to Westchester 62-58 last year.
“We played a solid game,” Hilliard said. “This is a good time to prepare for the playoffs.”
The Gauchos (12-0 in league) had three other players score in double figures in Michael McCowan, Jeremiah Galang and Psalm Maduaker with 12 points apiece.
If Narbonne tops the Conquistadors and the Panthers upset Fairfax, the two teams will meet, again, in the semifinals next Wednesday at Narbonne. However, the Gauchos already faced Fairfax and lost by just eight points.
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Serra ends season with big loss to Knights
By Joe Snyder
Sports Editor
Serra High’s boys’ basketball team was mostly rebuilding this season and the Cavaliers closed the Del Rey League with a 2-6 record, despite battling nationally ranked Bishop Montgomery well in an 85-70 loss on Feb. 11.
The Cavaliers not only had one of their worst seasons under 26th year head coach Dwan Hurt at 11-15 overall but they were in a mostly unusual situation. For the first time since 2011 and the third time in Hurt’s stint with Serra, the Cavaliers missed the playoffs. Being in Division IAA and starting the season ranked 12th in the division, Serra will not be in either the prestigious Open Division or IAA.
Four years ago, Serra did not make the playoffs due to having to forfeit the 2010-11 season due to an ineligible player who was later cleared and the Cavaliers were awarded back the victories. However, it was too late for the playoffs. It came a year after the Cavaliers won the California State Division III championship.
The other time Hurt and Serra did not make the playoffs was his first season of 1988-89.
All the Cavaliers can do is watch three other Del Rey teams, including top seed Bishop Montgomery, No. 9 Cathedral and 11th rated Cantwell-Sacred Heart play in the Open Division. The Knights (26-1 overall and 8-0 in league) host J.W. North of Riverside (24-1), the Phantoms visit eighth seed Redondo and the Cardinals are at No. 6 seed Etiwanda Saturday at 7 p.m. Last place Playa del Rey St. Bernard is also in the playoffs as the VA level as the Vikings visited Laguna Blanca in Santa Barbara in the first round Wednesday.
Serra did everything it could against the Knights as it trailed by only three points (38-35) at halftime. Bishop Montgomery, behind Oregon State University-bound all-American guard Ethan Thompson, Jr., got hotter in the second half, outscoring the Cavaliers 47-35 to pull away.
Thompson led all scorers with 34 points and became Bishop Montgomery’s all time scoring leader.
Jason Richardson, Serra’s only returning starter and one of just two overall players back for the Cavaliers, led the team with 25 points.
Richardson also led the Cavaliers with 25 points in their 72-62 home loss to Cathedral on Feb. 9.
The Knights will face a familiar opponent in the championship or consolation quarterfinals next Wednesday. They will host either Del Rey foe Cathedral or South Bay powerhouse rival Redondo. Bishop Montgomery defeated the Phantoms (19-6, 5-3) in two close games, 60-56 and 56-49, in league and downed the Sea Hawks, who were Bay League champions at 9-1 and are 21-5 overall, 71-58 in the Take Flight Challenge on Jan. 3 at the Jordan Hangar in Playa Vista. Redondo made the Open Division but lost its two big men in 6-foot-9 sophomore center-forward Billy Preston who, right before the start of league, opted to leave the school, moved to Dallas and is playing at Prime Prep, and promising 6-foot-7 senior Jeremiah Headley who is lost for the year with a broken leg. The Sea Hawks have no player over 6-feet-5 and ended up losing their first league game in three years to host Inglewood 57-54 on Jan. 30. Redondo, though, continues to play very tough, behind junior guard Leland Green and junior forward Cameron Williams.
The Southern Section opted the Knights as the top seed over No. 2 Mater Dei, which is still ranked ahead of them in the Maxpreps Southern California and the L.A. Times polls.
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Sports Scoop
Lady Cavs will test their skills in prestigious Open Division
By Joe Snyder
Sports Editor
Serra High’s girls’ basketball team was rolling along but ran into a brick wall after suffering a 61-55 upset loss at St. Anthony High in Long Beach on Feb. 10.
The Lady Cavaliers, though, bounced back and finished the Del Rey League on the right note with a 66-47 home victory over St. Paul High from Santa Fe Springs last Thursday.
Serra started off fast in grabbing leads of 16-8 after the first quarter and 33-18 at halftime. The Cavaliers kept their comfortable lead throughout the remainder of the contest.
Briana Johnson led Serra (17-8 overall and 7-1 in league) with 18 points. Nautica Morrow added 17 points and 10 rebounds as the Cavaliers captured the league championship.
Playing at St. Anthony, which placed second in Del Rey action, the Cavaliers could not get over the hump against the Saints, head coached by former successful head mentor Jim Anderson.
Each team was tied at 16 after the first period but St. Anthony pulled ahead by three (34-31) at halftime and was able to maintain its lead, despite being close during most of the game. Serra defeated the Saints 52-37 earlier in league.
The Del Rey title earned the Cavaliers a spot in the prestigious Open Division for the Cavaliers as they began as the 12th seed in the 16-team tournament at No. 5 Sierra Canyon in Chatsworth on Wednesday.
Serra will play either in the championship or consolation bracket, with a possible third game against St. Anthony (No. 13 seed) or against fourth rated Mission Hills Alemany next Tuesday at 7 p.m. Mater Dei, top ranked in the United States by Maxpreps, is top seed, followed by No. 2 Long Beach Poly and third seed West Hills Chaminade.
Soccer playoffs: Gardena High’s boys and Serra’s girls advanced to the playoffs, which begin this week.
The Panther boys finished in a tie for third with Narbonne in the Marine League. Gardena is seeded 10th in the CIF-Los Angeles City Section Division III and begin today at 3 p.m. at No. 7 Dorsey in southwest L.A.
Serra’s girls will play in the CIF-Southern Section Division VII beginning today at 3 p.m. at St. Anthony in Long Beach. The Cavaliers placed second in the Santa Fe League, while the Saints won the Camino Real League.
