Gardena High’s boys’ soccer team entered the CIF-Los Angeles City Section Division III playoffs as the 10th seed and traveled to face seventh seed Dorsey last Thursday.
The Panthers were pitted against one of the top players in the L.A. City Section in junior forward Mauricio Lucha and he proved hard for Gardena’s defense to stop. Lucha scored three goals, including the game winner with about 15 seconds left in the second five-minute sudden death overtime period as the Dons eliminated Gardena 4-3.
Gardena High’s boys’ soccer team entered the CIF-Los Angeles City Section Division III playoffs as the 10th seed and traveled to face seventh seed Dorsey last Thursday.
The Panthers were pitted against one of the top players in the L.A. City Section in junior forward Mauricio Lucha and he proved hard for Gardena’s defense to stop. Lucha scored three goals, including the game winner with about 15 seconds left in the second five-minute sudden death overtime period as the Dons eliminated Gardena 4-3.
Lucha was able to slip the ball past Panther goalkeeper Miguel Gonzalez as Dorsey players celebrated and Gardena’s season came to an end with a 10-7-3 record.
His goal came quickly after the Panthers had a chance to win but the attempt by Gerardo Morales, Jr. failed.
“We had a chance to end the game,” Gardena head coach Martin Mira said. “It was a back and forth game.”
The Dons scored first on Lucha’s first goal but two goals from Cristian Guevara gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead with about 25 minutes remaining in regulation.
With just under 20 minutes to go in regulation, Dorsey scored two goals less than a minute apart by Lucha and Josue Garcia for a 3-2 lead.
Shortly before the end of regulation and after several missed opportunities, Gardena tied the match at three on Morales’ goal on an assist by Edwin Lopez.
The Panthers finished third in the Marine League, behind co-champions Banning and San Pedro. The Pilots and Pirates also both lost in the first round of the Division I playoffs.
__________
Sierra Canyon proves too much for Lady Cavs
By Joe Snyder
Sports Editor
It was last season that Sierra Canyon from Chatsworth eliminated Serra High’s banged up girls’ basketball team from the Southern California Regional Division IV championship game at Colony High in Ontario.
This year, both were promoted from the CIF-Southern Section Division IVAA to the prestigious Open Division and they squared off against each other at Sierra Canyon. The Cavaliers, who won the Del Rey League title at 7-1 but lost all five starters from the 2013-14 squad, were seeded 12th and the Trailblazers were fifth.
Sierra Canyon showed Serra why it was seed that high as it dominated the Cavaliers 75-54 in the first round on Feb. 18.
The very physical Trailblazers got a big jump on Serra in the first half. They started the game leading 14-4 and finished the first half with an 18-4 run as Sierra Canyon took a 43-21 halftime bulge.
The Trailblazers upped their lead to 28 points at 57-29 by halftime before clearing the bench enabling the Cavaliers to outscore Sierra Canyon 25-18 in the fourth quarter.
The talented Trailblazers have several NCAA Division I college prospects including two that already signed who led the team. Kennedy Burke, who signed at UCLA, sparked Sierra Canyon with a game-high 24 points, followed by Loyola-Marymount University-bound Cheyanne Wallace with 19 blocks. Both also had several blocks.
Leading Serra, which fell to 19-9, was Camille Hailey with 13 points. Nautica Morrow added 12 points, 15 rebounds and five steals. Briana Johnson chipped in 11 points.
The Cavaliers moved into the consolation bracket where they hosted Del Rey foe St. Anthony from Long Beach last Tuesday. Both split their league games as each won at home. Serra won its first game 52-37 but the host Saints stunned the Cavaliers 61-55 on Feb. 11.
If Serra gets by No. 13 St. Anthony, it will face either No. 9 Brea-Olinda or No. 16 Riverside J.W. North at a site to be determined in the consolation semifinals Friday at 7 p.m. The final is on March 6.
ECC women capture South Coast Conference South title
By Joe Snyder
Sports Editor
El Camino College’s women’s basketball team closed out the South Coast Conference Southern Division with an unbeaten 8-0 record after rolling over rival Los Angeles Harbor College 82-52 last Friday at ECC.
The Lady Warriors are 20-8 overall and begin the Southern California playoffs as the No. 7 seed. They host Pasadena City College Friday at 7 p.m. The Lancers are seeded 10th after placing third, behind champion and top seed Mt. San Antonio College and No. 2 East L.A. College, in the South Coast Conference Northern Division.
ECC split two games with Pasadena, both at PCC. In the Pasadena Tournament on Nov. 15, the Warriors won, 66-59, but lost to the host Lancers, 70-66 in overtime, on Jan. 28.
ECC entered last Friday’s regular season finale against the Seahawks already clinching the division with a 65-60 victory at Cerritos College on Feb. 13.
“It feels great to win the title,” El Camino head coach Steve Shaw said. “Our ladies did a fabulous job and took care of business.”
Harbor kept the game close in about the first 10 minutes of the contest before the Warriors broke it open for a 15-point lead at 39-24 by halftime.
ECC continued to dominate Harbor in the second half as it outscored the Seahawks 43-28.
El Camino was led by Sydney Chase, a sophomore from West Torrance High, with 14 points. The Warriors had three other players score in double figures. Helena Jones-Caldwel chipped in 13 points. Shontalene Trudeau, also a sophomore from West, added 12 points and 11 rebounds. Nisja Bass contributed 11 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals. Alexis Delich had 10 rebounds and five points.
Harbor’s Kiana Angel led all scorers with 28 points. Jasmin Barnett put in 13 points.
In the men’s game, three technical fouls plagued ECC in a 57-53 loss to Harbor.
The Warriors led throughout the entire first half with a 26-24 lead at intermission, then stretched it to seven points (33-26) with about five minutes into the second half.
A pair of technicals, however, enabled the Seahawks to pull ahead to stay.
El Camino, which ended its season at 8-16 overall and 4-4 in the South Coast Conference Southern Division, had 15 points from Kane Wildermuth. Derrick Twiggs tallied 11 points and Christopher Munoz scored 10.
Leading the Seahawks (15-10, 4-4) was Aubrey Myers with 15 points and Elliot Morris with 11.
____________________
GHS Panthers can’t keep up with Fairfax
By Joe Snyder
Sports Editor
After ending the Marine League in second place with a 9-3 record and with an overall mark of 21-7, Gardena High’s boys’ basketball team achieved a spot in the CIF-Los Angeles City Section Open Division at top seed Fairfax last Saturday.
The Panthers did everything they could in an attempt to pull off a major upset. They trailed just 24-20 at halftime, but a rash of turnovers plagued them and the Lions pulled away for a 65-41 win.
In the third quarter, Fairfax, which improved to 25-2 overall, took advantage of six consecutive turnovers by Gardena (21-8) as it outscored the Panthers 23-10 in that period. The Lions turned the game into a rout by outscoring Gardena 18-11 in the fourth period to complete the second half with a 41-21 run.
“That was the game when we turned over the ball six straight times,” Gardena head coach Ernie Carr said.
Dominic Datu led the Panthers with 14 points, all in the first half. Issac Green added eight points.
The loss put Gardena into the consolation bracket where it visits Narbonne today at 7 p.m. The Gauchos started the classic as the fourth seed but also had numerous turnovers, missed layups and free throws in a 60-52 home loss to last year’s L.A. City Division I champion Woodland Hills El Camino Real last Saturday. The Conquistadors were No. 5 seed.
Shane Carney, who transferred to Narbonne from Gardena after his sophomore season when the Panther coach Anthony Hilliard from the 2012-13 City Division II champion Panthers moved over there, and Psalm Maduakor led the Gauchos with 13 points apiece.
