By Joe Snyder
Gardena High’s boys’ basketball team split its two Marine League games with a 51-41 home win over Wilmington Banning on Feb. 5 and a 65-58 loss to host Rancho Dominguez Prep last Friday in Long Beach.
Against the Lobos on Friday, the Panthers started slow trailing 19-14 after the first quarter but outscored Rancho Dominguez 22-14 in the second period for a 36-33 halftime lead.
The second half saw Gardena with poor ball handling leading to a rash of turnovers as the Lobos outscored the Panthers 32-22 for their home win.
“We had very poor ball handling,” Gardena head coach Ernie Carr said. “The strong defensive rebounding proved to be the difference for Rancho Dominguez.”
Senior guard Willie Denham led the Panthers (14-11 overall and 5-4 in the Marine League) with 21 points, all on seven three-point baskets, but no other player scored more than six points.
The Lobos were led by Zion Leonard with a game-high 28 points.
At Banning, Denham led the Panthers with 18 points, followed by Alyjah Perkins with 14.
Gardena is currently in third place behind first place Carson (7-1) and second place Narbonne (6-3). The Panthers close regular season play at Carson in a make-up game, one of several postponed due to the Los Angeles area wildfires from last month. A couple of weeks ago, Gardena topped the host Colts 50-45 for their only league loss.
Gardena is expected to make the CIF-Los Angeles City Section playoffs but the division is uncertain. Last season, the Panthers won the Marine League but lost in the quarterfinals of the L.A. City Section Division I playoffs to host Fairfax 58-46. Playoffs begin next week with a heavy schedule due to a week regular season extension caused by postponements from the wildfires, particularly the Palisades Fire from Jan. 7-13. Palisades is in the City of Los Angeles.
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After winning Pioneer title, North tops Torrance
North Torrance High’s boys’ basketball team clinched the Pioneer League championship with a 68-66 double overtime home win over El Segundo on Jan. 31 but finished off league with a 7-1 record after rallying to top Torrance 52-48 on Feb. 4 at North.
The Saxons led 27-22 at halftime but saw the Tartars, who finished in fourth place with a 3-5 record but an 18-8 mark leads them into the CIF-Southern Section Division III playoffs as an at-large team, outscore North 21-14 in the third quarter and went on to lead by as many as seven points after scoring the first five points of the fourth period. The Saxons, then, scored the game’s final 11 points to pull off the win.
North moved on to the CIF-Southern Section Division II playoffs where it visited Yeshiva, a private Jewish school in West Los Angeles, on Wednesday. Yeshiva is 16-11 overall.
Torrance began the Division IIIA playoffs at home against Brea-Olinda Wednesday.
Serra closed out its season with an 88-41 home loss to St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy from Downey on Feb. 4.
Pius dashed out quickly on the Cavaliers, who were 0-12 in the Del Rey League and 11-17 overall, with 36 first quarter points to 13 for Serra. In that period, Pius made eight three-point baskets and finished the game with 15 from beyond the arc. Pius led by as many as 50 points in the fourth period.
Pius, which tied for second place with Santa Fe Springs St. Paul in the rigorous Del Rey at 8-4, had five players score in double figures, led by Dominic Gallardo with 15 points, all in the second half that included four three-pointers. Kaleb Kearse, who transferred to Pius from Serra after last season, added 12 points and shared the team’s second highest scoring honors with Douglas Langford. Omari Fuffe and Jaden Erami chipped in 11 and 10 points, in order.
Jeremiah Graham led Serra with a game-high 18 points. Chinemerem Anyima contributed 12 points.
The Cavaliers, under first-year head coach De John Frazier, will not make the playoffs. Serra was hampered by two coaching changes over the off-season after Bernard McCrumby stepped down and is now head mentor at his alma mater, Playa del Rey St. Bernard. Derrick Taylor was named Serra’s head coach in June but decided not to take the job, shortly after.
Winning the Del Rey was St. Anthony from Long Beach, last year’s CIF-Southern Section Division IIAA champion which is in No. 4 seed in Division I and began at home against Santa Barbara High on Wednesday.
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GHS girls shutout R. Dominguez
There are not many shutouts in basketball but Gardena High’s girls performed that feat by blanking Long Beach Rancho Dominguez Prep 65-0 in a Marine League game last Friday at Gardena.
The Lady Panthers (11-14 overall and 5-4 in the Marine League) surged out to a 38-0 halftime lead at halftime and 59-0 after three quarters and finished off the Lobos as most of the second half was running time.
The Lady Lobos (1-14 overall and 0-9 in league) scored a total of only 35 points in its eight Marine games they played, an average of 4.375 per contest. Rancho Dominguez had a forfeit loss to Banning due to lack of players last month. A few weeks ago, Gardena routed host Rancho Dominguez 60-11.
The Panthers were led by Natalie Torres-Rivas with 14 points. Shamia Overton had 10 points and five rebounds. Sanahya Hubbard chipped in nine points and Saniya Keyes grabbed nine rebounds.
On Feb. 5 at Banning High in Wilmington, Gardena lost to the Pilots 42-35.
Overton led the Panthers with 12 points.
On Feb. 3 at Gardena, the Panthers rallied to outlast Narbonne 36-33 in overtime.
Gardena came from a 21-5 halftime deficit by outscoring the Lady Gauchos 23-7 in the second half to tie the contest at 28 and send it into overtime. The Panthers, then, outscored Narbonne 8-5 in the overtime period for its fourth league victory and 10th overall.
Keyes led Gardena with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Hubbard finished with eight points and Lyniya Watson had seven. Overton also pulled down 10 rebounds.
The Lady Panthers closed league at home against Marine leader Carson (8-1) on Wednesday. Gardena is currently in third place behind Carson and second place Narbonne.
North Torrance finished in a tie for the Bay League championship with Manhattan Beach Mira Costa by rolling over Rolling Hills Estates Peninsula 81-41 on Feb. 4 at North.
The Lady Saxons were led by Keimi Santiago with 23 points. Sage Misumi tallied 12 points.
North, which is 17-8 overall after finishing the Bay at 6-2, got help from third-place Redondo (5-3 in league and 16-12 overall) which rallied from an 11-0 first quarter deficit to upset Mira Costa 45-34 on Feb. 4 at Redondo. The Saxons are second seed in the CIF-Southern Section Division IIAA playoffs as they open at home against Paramount today at 7 p.m. Top seed is Burbank, which opens against Camino Real League champion Lakewood St. Joseph tonight.
Serra finished in third place in the Camino Real League after avenging an earlier 45-44 loss to host Montebello Cantwell-Sacred Heart earlier in league with a 53-46 victory on Feb. 4 at Serra.
After a 9-9 tie in the first quarter, the Lady Cavaliers outscored the Cardinals 14-7 in the second quarter for a 23-16 halftime and never trailed from there.
Kaicia Snelson led Serra, which finished regular season play at 14-12 overall after going 8-4 in CRL play, with 15 points. Jadan Foster added 11 points, three assists and three steals. Mariyah Lewis contributed 10 points and seven rebounds.
A day earlier in Lakewood, the Cavaliers found host and league champion St. Joseph too much in a 71-26 loss.
Already leading 45-21 after three periods, the Jesters poured it on Serra outscoring the Cavaliers 21-5.
Snelson led Serra with six points and five rebounds.
The Cavaliers open the CIF-Southern Section Division IVAA playoffs at Northview High in Covina today at 7 p.m.
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North boys’ soccer wins league crown
North Torrance High’s boys’ soccer team is enjoying a stellar season with a 12-1-1 overall record, including 7-1 in the Pioneer League, for the league title after shutting out Torrance 3-0 in the finale on Feb. 4 at North.
On Jan. 31 at North, the Saxons shut out Wiseburn-Da Vinci from El Segundo 5-0.
The Saxons suffered their only loss to host West Torrance 3-1 on Jan. 28.
North begins the CIF-Southern Section Division I playoffs at home against San Gorgonio today at 3:30 p.m. San Gorgonio from San Bernardino County displays a 17-4-4 record.
Torrance, which placed third in league behind North and second place West, will play in Division III as it opens at Arroyo High in El Monte.
Environmental Charter, which has campuses in Gardena, Lawndale and Inglewood, is in Division VIII and hots Public Safety Academy from Victorville.
