Serra High’s girls’ basketball team captured the Del Rey League with an 8-0 record after easy wins over host and rival Bishop Montgomery and visiting St. Anthony last week./
At Bishop Montgomery in Torrance on Feb. 9, the Cavaliers routed the Knights 83-51. Coming home last Thursday, Serra completed its league work by downing the Saints 66-47.
Serra High’s girls’ basketball team captured the Del Rey League with an 8-0 record after easy wins over host and rival Bishop Montgomery and visiting St. Anthony last week./
At Bishop Montgomery in Torrance on Feb. 9, the Cavaliers routed the Knights 83-51. Coming home last Thursday, Serra completed its league work by downing the Saints 66-47.
Senior point guard Briana Johnson continued to shine. She sparked Serra (18-8 overall) with a game high 24 points in the Cavaliers’ win over second place St. Anthony from Long Beach. Alexis Tucker added 14 points, 12 rebounds and six steals.
The Knights were only briefly in the game against Serra. The Cavaliers pulled out to a 21-12 first quarter lead before stretching it out to 15 (38-23) by halftime. Serra added 45 more points to 28 for Bishop Montgomery in the second half.
Despite Serra’s easy win over the Knights, who ended up in third place in Del Rey action, head Cavalier coach McKenzie Hadley said that was still some work to do.
“We missed 48 shots and we fouled too many times,” Hadley said. “We have to fix that.”
Hadley, though, was pleased with the depth that led Serra to a balanced scoring attack. The Cavaliers had four players score in double figures, led by Rachel Duru with 17 points. Johnson chipped in 13 points. Daeja Banner contributed 12 points and Delauna Thomas finished with 10.
“We actually have 11 starters,” Hadley said. “It’s nice to have that punch coming off the bench. It’s a good thing that we can rest some people.”
Bishop Montgomery, which ended league at 4-4, was led by Kayla Padilla with 17 points and Jessica Mabrute with 14.
The Cavaliers’ outstanding performance keyed them into the prestigious CIF-Southern Section Open Division playoffs but they begin as the No. 12 seed as they open at fifth seed Windward in Mar Vista on Saturday at 7 p.m. The Cavaliers, however, recorded a 63-61 win over the Wildcats in early December at the Redondo Battle at the Beach Classic. The Open Division is always one of the highest competitive playoffs in the United States, led by top seed Long Beach Poly and No. 2 Brea-Olinda, a team that defeated Serra for the championship of the Brea Tournament just over two months ago.
The Knights will vie in the Division IAA playoffs as they open at home against Lakewood, the third place team from the highly competitive Moore League.
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Serra boys place third in Del Rey; gets fourth seed in IVAA
By Joe Snyder
Sports Editor
Serra High’s young boys’ basketball team ended the Del Rey League in third place with a 4-4 record after splitting its final two games last week.
At Serra on Feb. 8, the Cavaliers lost to one of their top league rivals, St. Bernard, 63-56. Traveling to Cathedral in Los Angeles’ Chinatown District, Serra ran past the Phantoms 83-72.
Despite the 11-14 overall record against mostly very stiff completion in league, non-league and tournaments, the Cavaliers received the No. 4 seed in the CIF-Southern Section Division IVAA playoffs. Serra opened Wednesday at home against Desert Hot Springs.
Coming off a disappointing loss to the Vikings, Serra was down by 16 points (43-27) at halftime before a big third quarter. The Cavaliers outscored Cathedral 31-8 in the third period to turn things around. Serra continued to pull away in the fourth quarter.
Kobe Smith had an outstanding showing leading Serra with 28 points.
Against St. Bernard, which is the top seed in the CIF-Southern Section Division VA after winning it last year, the Cavaliers found themselves down 9-0 in the early going. Serra never led in the game.
Smith sparked the Cavaliers with 14 points, followed by Darrien Guyton with 11. Mikah Dykes added 10 points and Jaylen Slaughter chipped in nine.
The Vikings had strong performances from their guards, Julian Ross with 18 points and three assists, and Rob Fuller with 17 points and three assists.
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Gardena closes Marine with a bang by routing Banning
By Joe Snyder
Sports Editor
Gardena High’s boys’ basketball team finished the Marine League in third place at 8-4 after rolling over host Banning 68-28 last Friday in Wilmington.
The Panthers, who ended their regular season at 18-12, dominated the Pilots, a team that they defeated 57-53 earlier this season, from the start. They took leads of 16-4 after the first quarter, 33-10 at halftime and 57-22 after three periods.
On Feb. 10 at San Pedro, Gardena lost a thrilling double overtime game to the Pirates 53-50. The Panthers got off to a slow start, trailing San Pedro 17-6 after the first quarter but pecked away and finally tied the Pirates at 42 by the end of regulation. After each team scored four points in the first overtime period, San Pedro outscored the Panthers 7-4 in the second overtime period.
Gardena enters the CIF-Los Angeles City Section playoffs but, unlike last season, it will not be that rigorous Open Division. The Panthers will vie in Division I where they open at home against Chatsworth tonight at 7 p.m. Gardena has an earlier win against the Chancellors at 55-46 on Jan. 5 in the Kennedy Invitational in Granada Hills. The Panthers are seeded seventh in Division I, while Chatsworth is 12th. If Gardena wins, it will visit second seed View Park Prep on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Marine League champion Narbonne received the second seed, behind No. 1 Westchester, in the Open Division and will host Birmingham in the first round Saturday at 7 p.m. One of the Gauchos’ wins was against power Fairfax, which is third seed and hosts another Marine team, Washington, on Saturday. Westchester is at home against Woodland Hills El Camino Real.
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Sports Scoop
Bryant’s final appearance was a wild Grand Finale
By Joe Snyder
Sports Editor
Last Sunday, longtime Los Angeles Laker standout Kobe Bryant had his final all-star appearance as he played for the West team at the Air Canada Arena in Toronto.
Bryant played for 26 minutes and scored 10 points as his West all-star team, along with the opposing East, put on a record offensive show. The West ended up downing the East 196-173, meaning that it just missed scoring 200 points.
The West squad had nine players score in double figures to seven for the East. Leading the West was former Leuzinger High and UCLA standout Russell Westbrook with 31 points. Westbrook plays for the Oklahoma City Thunder. The West, in fact, had five players with 23 or more points, including the Golden State Warrior standout Stephen Curry with 26 points and Westbrook’s Thunder teammate Kevin Durant with 23. Devin George led the East with a game-high 41 points. There were 369 total points in the contest.
For years, players had fun in all-star games usually having high scoring contests. Last year, the West defeated the East 163-155.
In the future, we could see teams scoring in the 200’s in all-star games but it, at least, will be quite awhile in regular season or playoff games that are more serious.
Super Defense—Super Bowl 50 in Santa Clara on Feb. 7 was a very good defensive battle between two very good teams that play great defense.
The Broncos held one of the National Football League’s top offensive teams, the Carolina Panthers, to just 10 points in their 24-10 victory. They had a fumble recovery for a touchdown and needed just a 5-yard drive for another, due to a fumble recovery.
It appears that legendary quarterback Peyton Manning, who turns 40 soon, goes out a champion. Several years later, he should be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Other basketball, soccer playoffs: Torrance High’s boys’ basketball team won its first Pioneer League championship since 2003 and began the CIF-Southern Section Division II playoffs at home against Lawndale, the third place squad from the Ocean League on Wednesday.
The Tartars are led by Giovanni Jackson.
North Torrance placed second in Pioneer play and begins the Division IIIAA playoffs at San Marcos High in Santa Barbara. West Torrance, the league’s fourth place finisher, plays in the IIIAA at Pasadena High.
Bishop Montgomery’s boys is seeded second, behind the nation’s top ranked squad in Chino Hills, in the Open Division as it starts Friday at 7 p.m. against Orange Lutheran from the always highly competitive Trinity League, led by fourth seed Santa Ana Mater Dei. Redondo received the sixth seed and hosts Eastvale Roosevelt, which took second in the Big VIII behind champion Corona Centennial, the fifth seed in the Open. Inglewood is seeded ninth and begins at No. 8 Alemany in Mission Hills. The Sentinels might meet up with Chino Hills in the quarterfinals next Tuesday.
Surprise left outs include Chino Ayala, which was ranked fifth in the Los Angeles Times poll last week. Long Beach Poly, again, was left out as it began the Division IAA playoffs as the top seed on Wednesday. Ocean League champion Santa Monica looked like a sure team but ended up top seed in Division IA. The Vikings are led by University of Southern California-bound Jonah Matthews. A surprise team is Cantwell-Sacred Heart, which placed just fourth in the Del Rey League, behind champion Bishop Montgomery and co-runner-ups Serra and St. Bernard. The Cardinals are seeded 13th and begin at Mater Dei.
Serra is the only South Bay team in the girls’ Open Division as it opens at Windward High in the Mar Vista District of West Los Angeles, but the Division IAA is loaded with South Bay squads that include three of last season’s CIF-Southern Section champions that got moved up. West Torrance, which won the IA title over Troy last season, placed second, behind North Torrance, in the Pioneer League and begins today at 7 p.m.at home against Long Beach Jordan, an at-large team from the Moore League. Division IVAA champion Bishop Montgomery starts today at home against Lakewood, which finished third in Moore play. Division IIAA champion Redondo, the Bay League champion, hosts a 0-25 Fountain Valley team from the Sunset League. No South Bay teams are seeded as Ventura is No. 1, Valencia is second, Long Beach Millikan is third and Corona Centennial fourth.
North Torrance is in Division IIAA and begins today at 7 p.m. at home against Kaiser from Fontana.
Manhattan Beach Mira Costa is top seed in Division IA and begins against Schurr High from Montebello. Torrance is at Rio Mesa in Oxnard.
South Torrance visits Hillcrest High in Riverside in Division IIIAA. In IVA, California Math and Science Academy, which is held on the Cal State Dominguez Hills Campus in Carson, began Wednesday at home against Notre Dame Academy from West L.A.’s Cheviot Hills District.
In the L.A. City Section girls’ basketball, Carson was sixth seed in the Open Division as it begins on Saturday at third ranked Palisades, last year’s champion. Top seed is Granada Hills, while Legacy of South Gate is second.
Narbonne, which is rebuilding after numerous championship years, is seeded fourth in Division I and begins Saturday at home against either View Park Prep or University. Time is 7 p.m.
In Southern Section boys’ soccer, Pioneer League champion South Torrance hosts La Mirada on Friday at 3 p.m.
In girls’ soccer, Pioneer champion West Torrance is seeded No. 2 in the Division II and begin against the winner of last Tuesday’s wildcard game between Ventura Buena and Atascadero today at 3 p.m. Last year, the Warriors won the Division IV title. South Hills of Covina is top seed. Second place North Torrance hosts Knight from Palmdale and third place South is at Cypress.
