Cajon High school graduate Layshia Clarendon, who led the Cal Golden Bears to the Final Four, was chosen in the first round of the WNBA draft by the Indiana Fever.

Indiana had the No. 9 selection, picking one spot ahead of the Los Angeles Sparks.

Clarendon, a 5-foot-9 wing, was projected to go in the middle to late first round. Her stock rose considerably with Cal’s postseason run. She averaged 16.4 points in the season, but 21.2 points in Cal’s five NCAA Tournament games.

Clarendon propelled Cal to a 32-4 mark which included its first ever Pac 12 regular season title as well as the first Final Four appearance.

She is only the second player from the county to be drafted in the first round of the WNBA and the first since Diana Taurasi was picked first overall by Phoenix in 2004.

University of La Verne baseball coach Scott Winterburn picked up his 300th win when the Leopards (19-12, 13-8) defeated Occidental 6-5 in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader in Eagle Rock.

Winterburn, who took over the program in 2001, is the second-winningest coach in program history behind Ben Hines (1960-80), who posted 591 victories in his 21 seasons.

During his tenure at La Verne, Winterburn has captured four conference titles, those coming in 2004, 2005, 2008 and 2012.
His 200th career win came during the 2009 season.

His mark at the school is 300-212-1. His record, including the 2000 season at Azusa Pacific stands at 329-231-2.

La Verne’s title in 2012 was the 20th in program history.

Cal Poly Pomona’s Connor Birtwhistle has been named the California Collegiate Athletic Association Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Athlete of the Week for Mar. 11-17.

The Lodi native set a personal-best and hit a provisional qualifying mark of 6,738 points in the decathlon at the Cal State Northridge Multi meet this past weekend.

Birtwhistle shined in the high jump and pole vault, taking first in both events.  On Thursday he leaped 6’3.5″ in the high jump to collect a total of 731 points, followed by a 14’3.25″ mark in the pole vault to secure 716 points for that event.

The senior recorded a second-place finish in the Javelin, posting a distance of 183’2″.

The women’s weekly honor went to high jumper Tiana Wills of San Francisco State.

The Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State San Bernardino men’s basketball teams will take the floor against tough foes on Monday in NCAA Division II West Regional semifinal play.

Three of the four teams left boast national rankings as the Coyotes (20-8) will face No. 4 and defending national champion Western Washington (28-2) which will have the benefit of playing on its home floor in front of a raucous crowd. No. 5 Cal Poly Pomona (28-2) will face No. 2 Seattle Pacific (26-3).

The players who score the points traditionally get the recognition. But for both the Broncos and the Coyotes, the players that could loom just as large might be the ones filling another role, that of defensive specialist.

It’s a little ironic that the players that fill that role have the same last night – for the Broncos that player is 6-2 freshman guard Barry Bell, while for the Coyotes, its 6-3 senior Johnny Bell. (No relation)

Both traditionally are given the assignment of defending the top player on the opposing team, although individual assignments are not as common in the Broncos matchup zone defense. Monday it is going to be especially difficult because the locals are tackling foe from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference known for their offense.

Johnny Bell (Moreno Valley-Valley View HS) has started 27 of 28 games, playing an average of 23.5 minutes. He’s averaging 6.6 points and 5.1 rebounds. In several games down the stretch he was the one getting the big rebounds and big buckets.

When I spoke with Coyotes coach Jeff Oliver at the end of the season I told him that one player had really caught my attention and I had learned to really appreciate the subtleties of his game.

Oliver replied, “You better say Johnny Bell.”

So his contributions are not overlooked by those in the program.

Barry Bell (Oakland McClymonds HS) has started 29 of 30 and is averaging 4.7 points and 3.4 rebounds in 28.2 minutes. He is a big part of the reason the Broncos lead the nation in defense.

“We wouldn’t be where we are without him,” Broncos coach Greg Kamansky said.

The Cal State San Bernardino men have lost their room for error. The good news for the Coyotes is they round out the regular season with four straight home games, three against bottom tier teams in the CCAA.

The Coyotes (15-6, 13-5) are second behind Cal Poly Pomona (21-1, 17-1) in the CCAA race. They are coming off back-to-back losses at Chico State and Cal State Stanislaus but didn’t lose ground in the conference because third-place San Francisco State also lost twice.

But they did lose ground in the all-important D2 West Region which unveiled its first top 10 on Wednesday. The Coyotes are sixth. Had they won those two games they could have been as high as third.

The top eight are going to get in to the postseason. So they need to regroup in a hurry. Barely getting in isn’t good because then you’re playing one the top two seeds. Granted every team left is good at that point. But you definitely don’t want to be playing the host team in the quarterfinal. It’s a tall order, especially at Bellingham, Wash. with Western Washington, the defending national champ, pretty much having a lock on the top spot.

The Coyotes had some illness/injury issues last week but should be ready to go full throttle this weekend. They are hosting Cal State Monterey Bay (8-17, 4-14) on Friday and Cal State East Bay (5-17, 4-14) on Saturday. Men tip off at 7:30 p.m. or 20 minutes after the women get done.

The first NCAA Division II West Region men’s poll is out and both locals have made the cut so far. The Regional poll is more pivotal than any national poll because it is that poll that is used to determine the field for the postseason. Eight regions will have eight-team tournaments.

In the West, Cal Poly Pomona (21-1, 17-1) is second and Cal State San Bernardino (15-6, 13-5) sixth.

The No. 1 team typically gets to host the regional tournament and that right for now is in the hands of Western Washington, last year’s D2 national champion.

Seattle Pacific, Dixie State and Grand Canyon are third, fourth and fifth.

Chaminade is seventh, followed by Alaska-Anchorage, San Francisco State and Chico State.

The NCAA will announce two more polls during the regular season (Feb. 27 and March 6) and the tournament field will be announced March 10.

Junior left-hander Matt Whitehouse of UC Irvine won the Big West’s first Pitcher of the Week honor after clinching the series against then-No. 23 Baylor in a combined shutout win Saturday.

Whitehouse, a resident of Diamond Bar and graduate of Damien High School, returned from a red-shirt year in 2012 and struck out six batters in 6.1 innings. He limited the Bears to just two hits before handing the ball off to Kyle Hooper in the seventh. 

With the win, Whitehouse improves to a lifetime 5-0 after posting a 4-0 mark in 2011. He did not register a decision in his freshman campaign.