Gardena High’s boys’ basketball team finds itself in a tie for first place in Marine League play with rival Narbonne as the Gauchos outlasted the Panthers 56-53 in overtime last Friday at Gardena. The win by Narbonne avenges its 53-49 home loss to Gardena on Jan. 19. The Panthers could not solve the dominance of Gaucho standout Ijezie Anopuencee. Anopuencee, who recorded a doubledouble with game highs of 33 points and 20 rebounds. Anopuencee had a very good week. Two days earlier at Narbonne, Anopuencee had 34 points and 17 rebounds as the Gauchos topped San Pedro. The contest was close most of the way. Narbonne surged out to an 18-10 first quarter lead but Gardena bounced back to outscore the Gauchos 17-7 in the second quarter to grab a 27-25 halftime lead. Narbonne, though, grabbed the lead and led most of the second half. The Gauchos, in fact, held a five-point lead (48- 43) with less than one minute remaining in regulation. The Panthers got within two points when junior guard Chase Williams made a three-point basket. Shortly after, Gardena fouled but the Gauchos missed a free throw that was rebounded by Quincy Phillips. Phillips raced down the court and scored the tying basket on a layup sending the game into overtime with both teams deadlocked at 48. Anopuencee scored six of Narbonne’s eight points in the overtime and it proved to be the difference. The Panthers had a pair of three-point attempts toward the buzzer but both fell short. Williams led Gardena, which is 7-1 in league and 20-5 overall, with 18 points, followed by Eric Click with 11. Christian Gill added 18 points for Narbonne. Two days earlier at Gardena, the Panthers rolled over Carson 64-35. Leading by just five points (26-21) at halftime, the Panthers wore down the Colts outscoring them 38-14, including 19-2 in the fourth period, in the second half. Gardena was led by Williams with 14 points and Willie Denham with 12. The Panthers ends league with a home game against Long Beach Rancho Dominguez Prep on Wednesday and at Carson Friday at 4 p.m. Gardena begins the CIF-Los Angeles City Section playoffs next week. The Panthers have a shot at making the prestigious Open Division. Serra played three games last week that included a third place (final automatic CIF-Southern Section playoff spot) tie-breaking contest at home against Long Beach St. Anthony last Saturday. The Cavaliers began the week on Jan. 31 with a 62-61 home win over St. Anthony. On Feb. 2, Serra had a very hard task playing at powerful Bishop Montgomery in Torrance. The Knights proved too much for the Cavaliers with a 68-50 win. St. Anthony won its game over last place L.A. Cathedral (0-8 in league) forcing a third place tie, going along with Serra and the Saints splitting their two league games. On Saturday, the Cavaliers were not as fortunate as they were five days earlier as they fell to St. Anthony 61-50, dropping Serra into fourth place and forcing the Cavaliers to wait to see if they receive a spot in the Southern Section Division IIAA playoffs that was selected last Tuesday. With a winning overall record of 18-11 (4-5 in Del Rey), Serra will, most likely, advance to the playoffs. In fact, the Cavaliers were at one time, top ranked in the division but lost several games in the very highly prestigious Del Rey League, ranked among the toughest for boys’ and girls’ basketball in California. In Serra’s win over the Saints on Jan. 31, Tomi Adesiji and Laqwon Cole shared the Cavaliers’ high scoring honors with 13 points apiece. Jeremy Dent-Smith led Serra with 18 points last Saturday. Adesiji chipped in 12 points. Bishop Montgomery won its league with a pair of showdown wins over St. Bernard on Friday and Sunday. North Torrance High’s boys’ basketball team ended up last in the Pioneer League at 0-10 with two losses to West Torrance last week. At North on Feb. 2, the Saxons played well against the league champion Warriors (9-1 in league) but fell short 50-46. Last Friday at West, the Warriors stifled North 53-27. The Saxons ended up 7-14 overall after closing the season with nine consecutive losses.
