By Joe Snyder
Serra High’s boys’ and girls’ track and field teams vied in Friday and Saturday’s prestigious Arcadia Invitational and came out with strong showings.
The big highlight for the Cavaliers was Otis “Tre” Harrison who won his heat and finished second overall in the boys’ 300-meter intermediate hurdles at 38.04 seconds on Saturday. He was just .03 seconds slower than the top overall finisher in Samel Eminovic from Mountain Ridge, Ariz. (38.01).
Harrison was busy with the Cavalier boys’ relays. On Friday, he led off the 800-meter sprint medley relay which placed sixth in the invitational division clocking one minute and 34.47 seconds. Other runners included sophomore Lawson Griggs-Andrews, along with junior Landon Thomas and freshman Dion Edwards.
In the seeded boys’ 4×200 relay, Harrison ran the third leg for Serra, which finished sixth in 1:28.87. Other runners were Griggs-Andrews, Edwards and Thomas.
On Saturday morning, Harrison led off the Cavaliers’ 4×100 relay, that also included Griggs-Andrews, senior Landon Thomas and Edwards, who took fourth in the open division in their heat timing 42.83.
Torrance sprinter Nicholas Obingo was fourth in the boys’ open 200 clocking 21.57.
For Serra’s girls, senior Raelyn Pleasant took third in her section and fifth overall in the Rising Stars triple jump at 36 feet, 4.5 inches. She also led off the Lady Cavaliers’ 4×100 relay team to a fourth-place finish in their heat in 49.5. Other runners included freshman Savannah Coleman, junior Mecca Muhammed, and freshman Karian Smith.
Serra had just two days between the Arcadia Invitational and the Del Rey League Championships, held last Tuesday at St. Paul High in Santa Fe Springs.
Carson’s 4×100-meter relay won the seeded division clocking 46.58. Runners included Tiffany Williams, Kaitlyn Williams, Kelis Hicks, and Christina Gray. Gray also was seventh in the invitational 100 in 11.7.
West Torrance’s Bernice Nikehaje placed second in her section and fourth overall in the girls’ rising stars triple jump at 36-6.75.
The meet included numerous top athletes in the United States but the big focus was in the sprints, particularly between a young Anaheim Servite team and always powerful Long Beach Poly. In probably the fastest 4×100-meter invitational relay ever in this invitational, the all-freshman and sophomore Friar team topped the second-place Jackrabbits in 40.0, but in “thousandths of a second”, 39.997. Poly was timed at 40.32. They are reportedly the top two times in the nation this season. Servite has premiere sophomore Benjamin Harris and freshman Jordan Wells, while the Jackrabbits are led by sophomore Julius Johnson. The Friars’ time broke the previous meet record of 40.28 set twice, by Pasadena John Muir in 1997 and Granada Hills in 2023. Both Servite and Poly will be seeking the national record of 39.76 set in Texas in 1998. In the girls’ 100, Redondo High’s Courtney Cole recorded the meet’s fourth ever best time of 11.36 in the girls’ 100 for a second-place overall finish. Lisa Raia of West Warwick, Arizona won in 11.3, the meet’s second-best all time behind Mia Brahe-Pederson of Lake Oswega, Ore. (11.17) in 2023. Cole also helped the Lady Sea Hawks to a third-place finish in the girls’ seeded 4×100 relay, behind champion Carson and runner-up Carlsbad (46.8) with a school record time of 46.88.
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Bishop Amat routs Serra; Cavs blank VAAS
Serra High’s baseball team was looking to move up in the Del Rey League standings but had to take on league power La Puente Bishop Amat and the Lancers swept the two games from the Cavaliers last week.
At Serra on April 8, Bishop Amat rolled over the Cavaliers 15-4. At Bishop Amat last Friday, the Lancers finished off Serra with a 5-1 victory, virtually ending the Cavaliers hopes of winning the Del Rey. In the first game, the Lancers scored nine runs in the top of the first inning and never looked back. Serra mustered just three hits last Friday.
Serra, which is 13-6 overall and 3-6 in league, settled for a San Fernando Tournament 12-0 shutout of Valley Academy of Arts and Science from Granada Hills on Saturday at Serra.
Isiah Molina sparked the Cavaliers by going 2-for-3 with a double and two runs batted in. Sophomore Kody Gaines went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI’s. Senior Marc Emmerman drove in two runs with a triple.
Winning pitcher Gavin Casillas allowed just one hit over five innings in a game that ended in the mercy rule.
Serra has two home non-league games this week. After playing Lawndale Leuzinger on Wednesday, the Cavaliers host St. Bernard from Playa del Rey today at 3 p.m. It is the second game between Serra and the Vikings as the Cavaliers won the season opener 2-1 in late February. The Cavaliers return to Del Rey action at home against St. Paul from Santa Fe Springs next Thursday at 3 p.m.
Gardena is 0-6 in the Marine League and 6-12 overall after lopsided shutout losses to Narbonne 24-0 (on Feb. 9 at Narbonne in Harbor City) and 11-0 (at Gardena last Friday). The Panthers lost their San Fernando Tournament game to Cesar Chavez High from East Los Angeles 7-4 last Saturday.
Derek Norris highlighted Gardena by going 2-for-2 with two RBI’s and one run. Francisco Pavon was 2-for-3 and drove in one run. Jesse Aguayo also had a run-scoring hit.
The Panthers are currently playing in the Dennis Gilbert RBI (Revival of Baseball in the Inner Cities) Tournament at the Urban Youth Baseball Academy on the campus of Compton College. They began last Monday against South L.A. Fremont, a team it beat earlier this season, last Monday and against Sotomayer on Wednesday. Gardena faces Mendez High today at 10 a.m.
North Torrance High fell to 8-11 with a 5-3 home non-league loss to Venice last Monday.
The Saxons were led by Kai Nagashima who went 2-for-3 and scored a run. Nikko Archuleta, Sei Nagashima and Shane Yamamoto each had a hit and drove in a run.
The Gondoliers are 17-1 overall after the win over North and are the top-ranked team in the CIF-L.A. City Section by MaxPreps.
A week earlier at North, the Saxons routed Hawthorne 20-2 in a five-inning mercy rule game.
Nagashima was 2-for-3 with six RBI’s, including a grand slam home run and a two-run double. Archuleta went 2-for-3 and scored two runs and Hai Sakamoto and Eric Marabal each drove in two runs.
Winning pitcher Ethan Cannon pitched four innings allowing two runs on four hits. He struck out seven batters and walked two.
North returned to the Pioneer League by visiting El Segundo on Wednesday and hosts the Eagles Friday at 3:30 p.m. El Segundo leads the league and is currently ranked No. 2 in the South Bay by the Daily Breeze. The Saxons host Rolling Hills Estates Peninsula next Wednesday at 3:15 p.m.
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Local hoopsters make All-SB CIF
Gardena, North Torrance, Torrance, Serra, Bishop Montgomery, and South Torrance High Schools each had players represented in the Daily Breeze all-South Bay boys’ basketball team, announced last Monday.
No local stars made first team but the Panthers had senior guard-forward Willie Denham land on second-team, along with North Torrance senior guard Kole Tanaka-Lee. Denham averaged 16 points per game in keying Gardena to a third-place finish in the Marine League. The Panthers made it to the CIF-Division I quarterfinals where they were eliminated by eventual champion Granada Hills 57-39. Denham also made the all-CIF Los Angeles City Section Division I team. Tanaka-Lee helped the Saxons win their third consecutive Pioneer League championship and the second round of the CIF-Southern Section Division IIA playoffs where they fell to Hacienda Heights Los Altos 83-51. Bishop Montgomery had sophomore guard Terron Williams make second-team.
On third team included Serra High senior forward Chinemerem Anyikwa, North sophomore forward Geovanni Gilpen, Torrance sophomore guards Elias Emerson and Shane Stanfield, and South Torrance senior forward Justin Criera. Anyikwa was the only returning starter for the Cavaliers, who are under first-year head coach DeJohn Foster. Serra finished last at 0-12 in the Del Rey League due to a very young squad replacing three other players who transferred out due to a pair of coaching changes from departed Bernard McCrumby, now at Playa del Rey St. Bernard. One of those top players from the 2023-24 squad that was CIF-Southern Section Division IIIAA semifinalist was Maximo Adams, who keyed Chatsworth Sierra Canyon to the CIF-State Division I crown with a 58-53 win over Stockton Lincoln on March 15 at the Golden One Arena in Sacramento. Gilpen transferred to North from Clovis North and was also named to the all-CIF Southern Section Division IIA team. Emerson and Stanfield aided Tartars to the Southern Section Division IIIA quarterfinals. Emerson was also all-Southern Section Division IIIA. Justin Criera sparked the Spartans to the second round of the Southern Section Division IVA playoffs.
Player of the Year was Redondo forward-guard Hudson Mayes. Mayes, bound for UC San Diego next season, led the Sea Hawks to a 2-2 record in the prestigious CIF-Southern Section Open Division playoffs and the finals of the Southern California Regional Division I playoffs where it lost to eventual state Division I champion Sierra Canyon 74-68 on March 11 in Chatsworth. Mayes averaged 16.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game.
Coach of the Year was Redondo’s Reggie Morris, Jr., who guided the Sea Hawks to a 28-6 overall record including 7-1 in the Bay League, tying rival Manhattan Beach Mira Costa for the title. Redondo went on to top the Mustangs 72-66 in the regional Division I semifinals on March 7 at Redondo. The two teams split their regular season games, each winning on the road.
