On March 5, things began to look good for the Gardena High softball team which held an 8-2 lead before the game was called off in the bottom of the third inning due to a shooting nearby.
From there, the Lady Panthers were all shot up over the past five games, all with mercy rule losses.
In two Lincoln Tournament games last Saturday at Gardena High, the Panthers were routed by South Gate Legacy, 13-0, and Oxnard Santa Clara, 15-3.
Against Santa Clara, Gardena started off well with a 3-1 lead through two innings.
On March 5, things began to look good for the Gardena High softball team which held an 8-2 lead before the game was called off in the bottom of the third inning due to a shooting nearby.
From there, the Lady Panthers were all shot up over the past five games, all with mercy rule losses.
In two Lincoln Tournament games last Saturday at Gardena High, the Panthers were routed by South Gate Legacy, 13-0, and Oxnard Santa Clara, 15-3.
Against Santa Clara, Gardena started off well with a 3-1 lead through two innings.
After the Saints scored first in the top of the first, the Panthers tied the game at one when Psykyssyanna Hart scored on an error.
Gardena added two runs in the bottom of the second that included a run-scoring double by Mia Rios, who scored on a sacrifice grounder from Destiny Dixon.
Pitcher April Cortez looked good through the first innings, but, after pitching the first game against Legacy, she tired out as Santa Clara scored six runs in the top of the third and eight more in the fourth before the game was stopped due to a 90-minute time limit.
“Cortez pitched the first game and she just tired out,” Gardena head coach Melinda Guerrero said.
In a non-league game on March 25, the Panthers were blanked by Hawthorne Math and Science Academy, 19-0.
Gardena also had an earlier loss to Rancho Dominguez Prep, 16-0.
“We are rebuilding,” Guerrero said. “We can only get better. We can’t get worse. We’re young but we want to be able to hold our own. We’re trying to stay focused.”
For the Panthers, though, things will not get any easier in the rigorous Marine League, led by defending CIF-Los Angeles City Section Division I champion Carson. Gardena began league at home against Banning on Wednesday and will visit Washington Friday at 3:15 p.m. The Panthers visit the powerful Colts next Tuesday at the same time.
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Cavaliers suffer lop-sided losses to Gahr, Mater Dei
By Joe Snyder
GVN Correspondent
Serra High’s baseball team has been faced with a rigorous preseason schedule and last week was no exception.
On March 25, the Cavaliers traveled to Gahr High in Cerritos, which is the top ranked team in the CIF-Southern Section Division III and got a glimpse at what it could be like in this year’s playoffs since Serra is also in that division. The Gladiators dominated the Cavaliers, 11-3, in their Redondo Tournament opener.
Last Saturday night, Serra went to Mater Dei High in Santa Ana and the powerful Monarchs, one of the top ranked teams in the prestigious Southern Section Division I, took it to the Cavaliers, 16-2, in a Bora Classic game.
Against the Monarchs, Serra mustered just five hits. Freshman Adrian Morales drove in senior Denz’l Chapman on a sacrifice fly in the top of the fifth inning. Chapman had doubled before that score.
For Mater Dei, Josh Stephen, ranked one of the top sophomore prospects in the United States, went 4-for-4 with four runs batted in, three runs and two home runs.
Against Gahr, Marcus Wilson sparked the Cavaliers by going 2-for-3 with a double, stolen base and a run scored, and Morales was 2-for-3 with one RBI.
Last Monday, Serra played its second game of the prestigious Bora Classic against Great Oak from Temecula.
The Cavaliers begin the Del Rey League at home against L.A. Cathedral next Tuesday at 3:15 p.m.
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Knights have record-breaking state championship
By Joe Snyder
GVN Correspondent
It was five years ago that Bishop Montgomery High’s boys’ basketball team suffered a heartbreaking 65-64 loss to Salesian High from Richmond that won the game on a buzzer beating layup.
Among those who remembered that loss was senior guard Justin Bibbins, who had an older brother on that squad and it was a hard 500-mile trip home.
This year’s edition of the Knights took their 2009 frustrations out on Moreau Catholic High from Hayward in a record setting 41-point blowout margin of 85-44 for the California State Division IV title last Saturday at the Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento.
The win broke the previous records of 36 set in 1997 by the Baron Davis (National Basketball Association player including formerly with the Los Angeles Clippers)-led Santa Monica Crossroads over Sacramento Encina, 93-57, and in 2007 by current NBA and ex-UCLA and Nevada-Las Vegas standout Jrue Holiday-led North Hollywood Campbell Hall against Santa Rosa Cardinal Newman, 70-34.
The only time the Mariners (27-7) were in the game was through about the first six minutes when they trailed Bishop Montgomery, which ended its season at 28-6 by winning its third state crown and first since the back-to-back state titles in 2000 and 2001 (Those teams led by twin brothers Erik and Derrick Cravens who went on to play at University of Southern California), 13-9, then the Knights scored the periods last four points that ignited the rout.
The Knights went on to extend the lead to 17 (36-19) by halftime, 30 (62-32) after three periods and continued to pour it on Moreau Catholic from there.
“After the first quarter, we did a lot better rebounding and we were much better at stopping turnovers,” Bishop Montgomery head coach Doug Mitchell said.
The Knights, who have just one senior on the team in the Long Beach State-bound Bibbins, dominated the paint and the boards, despite their small size with no player over 6-feet-5. Bishop Montgomery out rebounded the Mariners, 50-35, for the game.
Bibbins, himself, is only 5-feet-9.
“We’re smaller but we got to go out and battle,” Bibbins said after Bishop Montgomery’s easy victory. “This is a great group. I’ve never played with a group of guys that are so cool.”
