By Joe Snyder
After some good success the past few seasons, Gardena High’s boys’ basketball team is faced with a mostly rebuilding season with just one returning starter.
That returning starter is senior first-team all-Marine League forward Joshua Edzema.
Gardena, though, is enjoying a good spring-summer play, which included winning both games in Saturday’s Downey High Summer Classic. The Panthers began with a 65-63 overtime win over Pioneer High from Whittier, then rolled over Maywood Center of Enriched Studies 91-37.
“We’re a young team and I have no idea how we’ll do next season,” Gardena head coach Ernie Carr said.
Carr is pointing at three other promising young players in junior Colin Ravahal, junior Ellery Johnson, and sophomore Kealyn McClean, who had strong performances in the two Downey Classic games.
He feels that the Panthers can contend for the league title and the playoffs but that the two teams to beat include Long Beach Rancho Dominguez Prep and last season’s Marine champion San Pedro.
Gardena is also playing on Mondays in the Artesia League in Lakewood, which will last for the next two weeks, and will compete in the Tustin Tournament from July 8-10.
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Kwan named South Bay volleyball COY
North Torrance High head boys’ volleyball coach Chris Kwan was named as the South Bay Coach of the Year, selected last week by the Daily Breeze.
Kwan guided the Saxons to their best season since 2007, advancing to the CIF-Southern Section Division III semifinals before falling in three sets to top-seed and eventual champion Tesoro High in Rancho Santa Margarita. Tesoro lost in the quarterfinals of the CIF-Southern Regional Division II playoffs to CIF-San Diego Section Division II runner-up Canyon Crest Academy in five sets.
North won the Pioneer League title with a perfect 8-0 record and finished 27-10 overall.
The Saxons had two players make all-area in junior defender Cole Arationi on second-team and senior outside hitter Charles Nakamura on third-team.
Two other local players made third-team in middle blockers, freshman Elijah Tualaulelei of Marine League champion Carson and senior Travis Donahue from Torrance, which placed second in the Pioneer.
Player of the Year went to Manhattan Beach Mira Costa 6-foot-11 senior middle blocker Kraymen Bradford, a UCLA-bound player who led the Mustangs to the CIF-Southern Section, Southern California Regional and State championship. Mira Costa, in fact, was the top-ranked team in the United States by most prep sports publications. The Mustangs finished 37-2 overall, with nearly all their wins in three-game sweeps including over Huntington Beach (second in the Southern Section and fourth in the nation by MaxPreps) in the regional finals and against San Jose Archbishop Mitty in the state finals on May 31 at Fresno City College. It is the Mustangs’ fifth mythical national title, also winning in 1984, 1990, 1996, and 2001. Bradford is a transfer from Encino Crespi.
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Serra has four All-South Bay baseballers
Serra High’s baseball team did not have its best season, at least, in the Del Rey League and the CIF-Southern Section Division III playoffs, but had four players make the all-South Bay team, selected last week by the Daily Breeze.
Two of those players landed on first-team in senior utilities, C.J. Hughes and Amari Hackett. Both could go in the Major League Baseball draft in two weeks.
The Cavaliers, who placed fourth in the rigid Del Rey at 4-8 but went 19-9 overall, winning all 15 non-league games, had one each on second and third teams. On second-team was senior utility Marc Emmerman and third-team was senior pitcher Charles Bronson.
Serra lost in the first round of the CIF-Southern Section Division III playoffs to No. 2 seed Yucaipa 6-3. Yucaipa, however, lost in the next round.
North Torrance, which finished last in the Pioneer League at 3-9, had senior catcher Eric Mirabal make third-team.
CIF-Los Angeles City Section Division I champion Carson had four players make all-area including first-teamer in junior designated hitter Xavier Allen. Three other Colts made third-team in senior pitcher Anthony Dorado, freshman outfielder Nate Ruan, and senior utility Joziah Aredano. The Colts defeated Marine League rival Wilmington Banning, which won the league while Carson was second, 3-1, for the L.A. City championship on May 24 at Dodger Stadium. It was the Colts’ first ever City baseball championship since the school opened in 1963.
Torrance, which finished second behind Manhattan Beach Mira Costa in the Bay League at 7-5, had senior first baseman Mateo Rickman make first-team, and junior pitchers Aiden Anaya and Hector Chavez land on third-team. The Tartars were eliminated by Fountain Valley in the CIF-Southern Section Division II quarterfinals.
Local players who made first-team included senior pitcher Pierson Howe (Torrance Bishop Montgomery) and senior pitcher Peter Broughton (South Torrance). Making second-team were pitcher Mason Tymiek (South Torrance), junior catcher Ethan Peterson (Bishop Montgomery), senior infielder Logan Hudson (Bishop Montgomery), and junior outfielder Ami Rodriguez (Harbor City Narbonne).
Mira Costa, which finished 29-3 overall that included a 26-game winning streak that was snapped in the CIF-Southern Section Division I quarterfinals by Encino Crespi 3-2 in nine innings, swept the Player and Coach of the Year.
Top player was senior utility Lucas Scherner. The UC Irvine-bound player hit .409 with six home runs and 37 runs batted in. Scherner, though, is a strong candidate for a high round draft pick for Major League Baseball.
Diver guided Mira Costa to a 12-0 Bay League record and the quarterfinals in the prestigious Division I, led by champion Bellflower St. John Bosco, Corona, Huntington Beach, and Crespi, all ranked in the United States top 20. St. John Bosco went on to win the Southern California Regional Division I title.
