By Joe Snyder
Serra and North Torrance High’s boys’ basketball teams each landed three players on the Daily Breeze All-South Bay team, announced last week.
The Cavaliers, who captured the CIF-Southern Section Division V championship with a 57-51 overtime win over Los Angeles Pilibos on Feb. 28 at Azusa-Pacific University, had Chinamerom Anyikwa make first team. Anyikwa was a dominating player for Serra averaging 21 points, 10 rebounds and four assists per game in keying Serra to its first CIF-Southern Section title in 10 years. The previous time the Cavaliers won the Southern Section title was in 2016, in legendary head coach Dwan Hurt’s final season before he passed away a few hours after Thanksgiving in the same year.
Junior guards Darryl Watson and Drew Carter made second-team all-area.
For North Torrance, which captured its fourth consecutive Pioneer League crown, senior forward-center Jordan Staub made second team. Third teamers from the Saxons included senior guard Malachi Harris and junior forward Geovanni Gilpen.
Bishop Montgomery junior twin brothers Terren Williams made first team, and Tarron Williams was second team. Another Knight, sophomore guard Aiskten Kirksey, also made second team.
Three other local players made third team all-area in senior guard Brandon Keys (Narbonne), senior forward Cash Correa (Torrance) and junior guard Joshua Dixon (Carson).
Player of the Year went to Inglewood High’s dominating senior forward-guard Jason Crowe, Jr., the leading scorer in California and one of the top scorers in the United States. He had 4,718 career points and averaged around 44 points per game in leading the Sentinels to a 28-6 record including an undefeated Ocean League championship. Inglewood made the CIF-Southern Section Division I semifinals before losing 103-91 to Junipero Serra from San Juan Capistrano, which won the division. Crowe, Jr. was already named the Naismith All-American and was co-Most Valuable Player in the prestigious McDonald’s All-Star Game played earlier this month. The Sentinels advanced to the Southern California Regional Division I playoffs but lost to host Damien High 84-65 in San Dimas. Crowe, Jr. transferred to Inglewood from Lynwood before his junior season when his father Jason Crowe, Sr. was named the head Sentinel coach.
Inglewood swept Player and Coach of the Year with the father-son team. Crowe, Sr. was area Coach of the Year. He has 54 total coaching wins in his two seasons.
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Local tracksters on move at Arcadia
There were several strong showings by local prep track and field athletes at the prestigious Arcadia Invitational last Friday and Saturday.
Serra High’s boys started off well, but they ended up in trouble as they failed to finish the 4×100-meter relay. Also premiere junior sprinter Wesley Ace did not run the 100- or 200-meter dashes.
The Lady Cavaliers had some good showings. Their 4×400-meter relay team of Avante Davis, Najah Keller, Mecca Muhammed and Sarah Mahownoa finished third in their Open Division heat at three minutes and 58.59 seconds. Serra also competed in the Invitational Division of the 800-meter sprint medley where it finished eighth clocking 1:48.59.
Torrance High sprinter Nicolas Obimga placed third in the very tight boys’ 100-meter dash in 10.41, but lost by .02 of a second to runner-up Deshawn Seymore, Jr. from Will C. Wood High in Colorado, who was timed at 10.406. Winning the race was Anaheim Servite junior Benjamin Harris in 10.32. On top of that, tough, he anchored the Friars’ boys’ 4×100 relay who set a United States national record clocking 39.70. A week earlier, Servite’s 400 relay squad became the first California team to break 40 seconds clocking 39.82 in the Trabuco Hills Invitational in Arcadia.
Carson’s Jayden Rendon continued to shine in the boys’ hurdles. He finished fourth in the 110-meter-high hurdles at 13.72 and fifth in the 300 intermediates clocking 37.79.
North Torrance’s Faiz Ogun had a pair of third place heat finishes in the 100 (10.82) and 200 (21.76).
On Friday and Saturday, Serra and other top South Bay athletes will compete in the Mt. San Antonio College Relays in Walnut with numerous others in the South Bay Track and Field Championships at West Torrance High.
