After getting routed by host Sierra Canyon 75-54 on Feb. 18 in Chatsworth, Serra High’s girls’ basketball team kept its hopes for an automatic California state playoff spot alive with a pair of home wins over St. Anthony and J.W. North last week.
In the consolation quarterfinal against the Saints from Long Beach on Feb. 24, Serra pulled away for a 52-40 victory. The Lady Cavaliers downed the Huskies from Riverside 68-57 last Friday.
After getting routed by host Sierra Canyon 75-54 on Feb. 18 in Chatsworth, Serra High’s girls’ basketball team kept its hopes for an automatic California state playoff spot alive with a pair of home wins over St. Anthony and J.W. North last week.
In the consolation quarterfinal against the Saints from Long Beach on Feb. 24, Serra pulled away for a 52-40 victory. The Lady Cavaliers downed the Huskies from Riverside 68-57 last Friday.
Against North, Nautica Morrow led Serra (19-9) with 27 points, 10 rebounds and six steals. Brijaye Brackett added 10 points and seven rebounds. Brooke Bayman chipped in eight points.
Against Del Rey League rival St. Anthony, the Cavaliers led the Saints 6-4 in a low scoring first quarter, then dominated the second period to take a 24-11 halftime lead.
Serra continued to maintain leads between eight and 15 points throughout the second half.
“The girls made great strides,” Serra head coach McKenzie Hadley said. “We punched back and played against teams with comparable height.”
Morrow led the Cavaliers with 17 points and 15 rebounds. Briana Johnson contributed 14 points and three steals. Brijaye Brackett had 11 points and 15 rebounds.
St. Anthony, head coached by former successful Narbonne head mentor James Anderson, was led by Tiara Scott with 15 points.
The Cavaliers and Saints split their two Del Rey League games, each winning at home. Serra won the first game 52-37 but St. Anthony won the next 61-55.
Serra visits Oaks Christian in Westlake Village for the consolation championship Friday at 7 p.m. The two teams met in the Sierra Canyon Showcase Classic on Jan. 10 with Oaks Christian winning 54-46.
____________
Lady Warriors advance after outlasting Pasadena
By Joe Snyder
Sports Editor
El Camino College’s women’s basketball team moved to the third round of the Southern California Community College championships after outlasting Pasadena City College 71-64 in overtime last Friday at ECC.
The Warriors led most of the game but a pair of spurts by the Lancers tied the game, including on a steal and layup by Regerina Baker with six seconds left in the game that knotted the game at 62 and sent it into overtime.
El Camino proceeded to outscore PCC 9-2 in the overtime period to pull it off.
The Warriors started fast in taking an early 14-point lead before Pasadena went on a 23-9 run to tie the game. ECC was ahead by three points at halftime.
El Camino built a 13-point second half lead with 13:19 left before the Lancers tied the game.
Nisja Buss led the Warriors with 21 points, followed by former North Torrance High standout Kyla Jolly with 11. Alexis Delich contributed 13 rebounds.
El Camino, which entered the playoffs as the No. 7 seed, visited No. 2 seed East Los Angeles College Wednesday. The quarterfinals are on Friday at 7 p.m.
The Huskies won their second round game at home against Antelope Valley 66-60.
ECC and East L.A. each had first round byes.
_________________
Narbonne ends Gardena in City but Panthers expected to compete in State
By Joe Snyder
Sports Editor
Gardena High’s boys’ basketball team was really challenged in the prestigious Open Division of the CIF-Los Angeles City Section playoffs and it proved too much for the Panthers.
In the first round on Feb. 21 at top seed Fairfax, Gardena stayed with the Lions trailing by just four points at halftime before Fairfax pulled away for an easy 65-41 win. In the consolation semifinal against Marine League foe and No. 4 seed Narbonne last Friday, the Panthers started off well jumping out to an early 9-0 lead and trailed by just two points (42-40) after three quarters before the Gauchos stiffed Gardena in the final period and pulled away for a 62-43 win.
For the Panthers, it was their fourth loss against no wins against Narbonne. Gardena lost in the San Pedro Pirate Shootout championship semifinals to the Gauchos 52-47. Narbonne swept two games over the Panthers by 56-47 and 83-51 scores.
The Gauchos broke the game wide open by outscoring Gardena 20-3 in the final period.
Michael Thompson led the Panthers with 13 points, followed by Clarence Bookman with 11.
“We turned the ball over, they (Narbonne) made the shots and they were better,” Gardena head coach Ernie Carr said.
Despite being eliminated from the City Section, Ernie Carr said that the Panthers will play in the California State Division II playoffs and will represent the Southern California Regionals as the No. 1 seed from the L.A. City Section. The state playoffs begin next Wednesday and Carr and the Panthers will seek to host the opener.
Narbonne, meanwhile, takes on Dorsey in the consolation final Friday at 7 p.m. at Dorsey.
