After the death of successful head coach Dwan Hurt, Serra High’s boys’ basketball team was seeking a win dedicated to the late mentor but got off to a disappointing 2-9 start.
The Cavaliers, though, came back with three consecutive wins and are 2-0 for the year 2017 on the Dwan Hurt Memorial Gymnasium floor.
After the death of successful head coach Dwan Hurt, Serra High’s boys’ basketball team was seeking a win dedicated to the late mentor but got off to a disappointing 2-9 start.
The Cavaliers, though, came back with three consecutive wins and are 2-0 for the year 2017 on the Dwan Hurt Memorial Gymnasium floor.
On Jan. 4 in Serra’s first home game, the Cavaliers (5-9) outlasted North Torrance 85-84 in overtime. Last Saturday, Serra, under interim mentor Bernard McCrumby, hosted its Dwan Hurt Memorial Serra Cavalier Classic against cross town rival Gardena. The Cavaliers breezed to a 65-47 victory over the Panthers for their third straight win entering Wednesday’s Del Rey League opener at home against Cathedral High from Downtown Los Angeles.
The Cavaliers played a very stingy defense against Gardena. After the Panthers, who fell to 10-8, scored first on a basket by Armani Rushing, Serra proceeded to dominate the rest of the first half. The Cavaliers held Gardena to just one more field goal and the Panthers failed to score a field goal in the second quarter that enabled Serra to build a 36-14 halftime lead.
Serra was able to build its lead to as many as 29 points and coasted to the easy win.
“Our defense was our main goal,” Serra guard Ray Knight said. “We’ve been emphasizing defense lately.”
The Cavaliers were led by Jaylen Jackson who came off the bench to score 18 points. Knight added 16 points.
“We need to play disciplined and as hard as we can play,” McCrumby said. “We’re in a always very highly competitive league. If we don’t play under control, we won’t do well in league. There are no days off in our league.”
The Panthers were led by Dominique Alexander with 14 points, 10 of those on free throws. Gardena, in fact, scored nine second period points, all on Alexander’s shots from the charity line.
“We’re not doing what we are supposed to,” Gardena head coach Ernie Carr said. “We got to play better. We’re very inconsistent.”
Serra’s home league opener against Cathedral featured the dedication of the gym and floor named after Hurt, who passed away in his sleep on Nov. 25, the day after Thanksgiving and a week before the Cavaliers’ season opener at Inglewood, won by the Sentinels 55-47 on Dec. 2.
Serra, then, will visit nationally ranked Bishop Montgomery in Torrance Friday at 5:30 p.m. The Knights are 14-1 and rated 21st in the United States by Maxpreps. They came off easy wins of 73-53 over Santa Monica in the Redondo Take Flight Challenge on Friday and 71-43 over host Westchester in its Challenge Classic on Saturday. Bishop Montgomery won all three of its preseason tournaments at Westchester, Mission Prep in San Luis Obispo and the D1 Bound Classic at Dorsey High.
After the Knights, Serra faces Maranatha High from Pasadena in the Cal Elite Showcase Saturday at 8 p.m. before returning to Del Rey action at Cantwell-Sacred Heart in Montebello next Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Earlier last week, Gardena won two of three games at the Granada Hills Kennedy High Classic. The Panthers began on Jan. 2 with a 49-38 loss to Grant High from Van Nuys. A day later, Gardena came back and edged the host Cougars 47-43. Last Thursday, Gardena routed North Hollywood 65-29. The Panthers, then, took on Verdugo Hills last Friday but the game was stopped mid way in the third quarter due to a power outage. Verdugo Hills was leading Gardena 34-33. Carr says that the game could be completed at a later date at Kennedy.
The Panthers, who are 1-1 in the Marine League after losing at Carson on Dec. 12 and defeating King-Drew Medical Magnet on Dec. 15, resume league at powerful Narbonne Friday at 7 p.m. Gardena will take on Animo-South L.A. in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Shootout on Monday at 3 p.m. at Centennial High in Compton before resuming Marine action at home against San Pedro Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.
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Local players make all-South Bay team
By Joe Snyder
Sports Editor
Serra High’s Mission League champion football team was well represented in the Daily Breeze all-South Bay team, announced last week.
On first-team offense was lineman Tamrick Ross. Ross, a senior, played on both sides that especially helped quarterback Jalani Eason. Eason had more than 2,000 yards passing and over 1,000 yards rushing that helped the Cavaliers win their third consecutive Mission League crown with an unbeaten 6-0 record. After an 0-3 start that saw a young Serra squad that faced squads that were defending champions of their state and nationally ranked, the Cavaliers came back and won their next seven contests enroute to the league crown. Serra, though, lost in the first round of the prestigious CIF-Southern Section Division I playoffs to Santa Margarita of the very highly regarded Trinity League that included California State Open Division champion St. John Bosco from Bellflower. Ross also made first team all-Mission as an offensive lineman.
On first team defense for Serra, that finished its season at 7-4, were junior linebacker Merlin Robertson and sophomore defensive back Max Williams. Robertson was the league’s Defensive Player of the year. He had 88 tackles, including 15 for loss of yardage. Williams was a cornerback who had several key interceptions and is being recruited by numerous Major NCAA Division I colleges, including several PAC 12 schools. In the 2015 season, Williams started as a freshman.
The Cavaliers had two players make second team offense in Eason, a senior, and junior Kobe Smith. They were a key passing combination that produced much of Serra’s scoring.
Making second team defense for Serra was junior defensive back Bryan Addison.
Narbonne, which won its fifth CIF-Los Angeles City Section Division title in the past six seasons, dominated the all-area squad, led by Player of the Year, senior defensive lineman Dominic Peterson. Peterson sparked the Gauchos to a 14-1 record that including predominantly lopsided victories. He had 109 tackles, including 28 for losses. He had 17 quarterback sacks and three forced fumbles.
Narbonne also had the South Bay’s Offensive Player of the Year in junior quarterback Jalen Chatman. Chatman passed for an astounding 3,926 yards, 52 touchdowns with nine interceptions. In just the last eight games, Chatman threw for 32 TD’s and was intercepted only once. One of his best games came in the L.A. City Division I championship game on Dec. 3 at El Camino College when he completed 20 of 24 passes for 305 yards and five touchdowns in Narbonne’s 42-34 win over Dorsey.
The Gauchos also had the area’s Coach of the Year in Manuel Douglas. He helped Narbonne to the City title but the Gauchos lost a 35-28 contest in the Southern California Regional Division IAA Bowl Championship Game on Dec. 10 to host Cathedral Catholic in San Diego. Cathedral went on win the state title with a 38-35 victory over St. Mary’s High of Sacramento on Dec. 17 at Sacramento State University.
Known for being loaded with talent, Narbonne had plenty of others on all-South Bay. Senior running back Kameron Denmark and senior lineman Shammah Tupua made first team offense. Tupua was the Marine League’s Lineman of the Year. Denmark rushed for 1,478 yards and 15 TD’s on 194 carries.
The Gauchos had four players on first team defense in lineman Booe Tufele, defensive back Justin Prince, and linebackers Anthony Pandy and Darien Butler. Pandy was the L.A. City Section Defensive Player of the Year and the league’s co-Defensive Lineman of the Year. He had 125 tackles, including 22 for losses.
Narbonne had two second team all-area players in senior wide receiver Stephon Robinson (offense) and senior defensive back Mario Williams.
Other local stars on second team offense included junior lineman Isaiah Niko (Carson) and all-purpose senior Malik Welch (North Torrance).
Second team defensive players included senior lineman Bryce Matthews from South Catholic League champion Bishop Montgomery, senior lineman Lawrence Maisonet (South Torrance) and senior linebacker Ryan Shoda (West Torrance).
The South Bay Defensive Player of the Year was senior end Shane Irwin from Palos Verdes. Irwin had 44 tackles for losses, including 18.5 sacks and 14 quarterback hurries. Irwin committed to San Diego State University. He keyed the Sea Kings to the tri Bay League championship with Manhattan Beach Mira Costa and Redondo. It was the Sea Kings’ sixth straight Bay title, despite seeing their 30-game league winning streak end in a 21-20 loss to Mira Costa on Oct. 28. Palos Verdes was able to pull out a tie for the league crown with a 35-0 shutout of hill rival Rolling Hills Estates Peninsula while the Mustangs fell to rival Redondo 13-6 on Nov. 4.
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Bishop Montgomery Boys’ Basketball
Knights roll on with blowout wins over Samo, Westchester
By Joe Snyder
Sports Editor
After losing its 2016-17 season opener to Northern California power Oakland Bishop O’ Dowd in late November, Bishop Montgomery High’s boys’ basketball team rolled on with 14 consecutive victories.
The latest of those came in two challenge classics against Santa Monica in the Redondo Take Flight last Friday and host Westchester in its Challenge on Saturday. Last Friday, the Knights breezed to a 73-53 win over the Vikings, then rolled over the CIF-Los Angeles City Section power Comets 71-43 on Saturday.
For Bishop Montgomery (14-1), it was its second win over Westchester but Saturday was very impressive. Leading by 10 points (45-36) after three quarters, the Knights poured it on the Comets, outscoring them 25-7 in the final period.
Bishop Montgomery, which was ranked 21st in the United States on the most recent Maxpreps poll, was led by Oregon State University-bound Ethan Thompson who had 19 points and four steals. Junior David Singleton added 16 points. Fletcher Tynen chipped in nine points and Jordan Schakel put in eight.
Harold Moore led Westchester with 12 points and seven rebounds.
At Redondo on Friday, the Knights got off to a quick start in taking a 28-6 lead early in the second quarter and led 40-20 at halftime. Bishop Montgomery led 61-32 after three periods before resting its starters in the fourth quarter, preparing for its big game at Westchester on Saturday.
The Knights had four players score in double figures led by Schakel and Singleton with 15 points apiece. Thompson finished with 12 points and Tynen scored 11.
The Vikings were led by Deso Allen-Eikens with 12 points.
“We’re playing better and better,” Bishop Montgomery head coach Doug Mitchell said.
It’s now to the always highly competitive Del Rey League that began on Wednesday at Cantwell-Sacred Heart in Montebello, then at home against rival Serra Friday at 5:30 p.m. The Knights, then, host St. Bernard next Wednesday at 7 p.m.
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Serra splits against tough foes
By Joe Snyder
Staff Writer
Serra High’s girls’ basketball team split a pair of close games against West Hills Chaminade and Mission Hills Alemany last week.\
At Serra last Thursday, the Lady Cavaliers slipped past last year’s California State Division I champion Chaminade 65-62. At Alemany on Saturday, Serra fell on the short end of a 55-52 score.
The Cavaliers, who are 10-5, were behind by as many as 14 points against Alemany but attempted to rally. They fell three points short.
Alexis Tucker sparked Serra with 20 points and 15 rebounds. Michelle Gleisssner added 12 points and Rachel Drew chipped in 11.
In the Cavaliers’ win over the Eagles, Tucker led the way with 25 points.
A week earlier, Serra played in the highly competitive Southern California Invitational in San Diego. The Cavaliers started on Dec. 26 falling short of Mission Hills 44-42. Serra bounced back with wins over Valencia 51-44 on Dec. 27, Mays from Atlanta 53-39 on Dec. 29 and Oakridge of Sacramento 55-48 on Dec. 30.
“We’re trying to feud our identity,” Serra head coach McKenzie Hadley said. “We play well against good teams. We need to finish.”
Serra began the Del Rey League at St. Anthony in Long Beach last Tuesday and come home to take on Santa Fe Springs St. Paul tonight at 7 p.m. The Cavaliers, then, will play in the St. Genevieve Challenge in Panorama City against Canyon Springs from Las Vegas, Nev. Saturday at 2 p.m. and Westchester in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Classic at Serra next Monday. Serra resumes league at home against Cantwell-Sacred Heart next Tuesday at 7 p.m.
