Results tagged “basketball” from Pure Preps | High School Sports in the South Bay

It seems the Mira Costa girls basketball team discovered a windfall Wednesday on its first day of school.

The Mustangs celebrated the transfer of Mikaela Lockwood, the stepdaughter of Lisa Leslie, and welcomed a freshman in Ashley Reece who ESPN has called a "Candace Parker Jr."

Not a bad day for the two-time defending Bay League champions.

"This is big. Really big for us," Mira Costa assistant coach Craig Takahashi said.

Lockwood is a 6-foot-1 junior from Midlothian High near Dallas who gives Mira Costa an inside presence to replace Whitney Daniels (University of San Francisco). Reece, a 5-foot-7 forward, is ranked No. 8 nationally in her class.

They allow returning star Jasmine Rutledge to play on the wing, making her more of an offensive threat to help offset the graduation of Amanda Johnson (University of Washington). And they complement point guard Kylie Nakamine.

"These two girls definitely help our rebounding, which was something we lacked last season," Takahashi said.

With Palos Verdes amassing a hoard of young talent, this tandem will provide a major boost for Mira Costa.

"PV was probably the favorite before school started, but now I think we're the favorites again," Takahashi said.

Mike Murphy, a longtime Bishop Montgomery boys basketball coach, died last Friday from a heart attack.

Murphy, 59, served as a junior varsity boys basketball coach at Bishop Montgomery and was the school's plant manager for the past 12 years.

Steve Miller, Bishop Montgomery's assistant principal in charge of athletics, said Murphy will be missed.

"He was fantastic," Miller said. "Probably the best thing was his loyalty. He was loyal to the school and to the kids, to his family and to his friends. He just had a giant heart.

"If everyone could have a friend like him, life would be good."

Before joining Bishop Montgomery, Murphy and Principal Rosemary Libbon worked together at Cantwell Sacred Heart and at Daniel Muphy before that. Murphy and Libbon had a 30-year friendship.

Miller said Murphy was key in helping build Bishop Montgomery's new Student Athletic Facility.

Murphy was also instrumental in helping maintain Bishop Montgomery's high standards in basketball.

"He was a little old-school, but that was his charm," Miller said.  "He did all the advance scouting for (Coach) Doug (Mitchell), especially in the playoffs. He was very good with that and went all over the place for the team."

Murphy leaves behind two sons and two brothers.

Murphy's viewing will be at Rice Mortuary in Torrance on Thursday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Funeral services will be held for Murphy at the Lady of the Rosary Catholic Church in Paramount near where he lived on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and Friday at 10 a.m.

A reception will be held at Bishop Montgomery on Friday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the new Student Activities Center.

Westchester capped off a tremendous season in boys basketball by finishing as the No. 3-ranked team nationally in the final Maxpreps.com Xcellent Top 25 poll.

Findlay Prep of Henderson, Nev., won the overall top spot after beating No. 2 Oak Hill Academy during a tournament. Other California teams in the final 25 included No. 8 Mater Dei and No. 20 Fairfax.

Westchester posted a 35-2 record and won its fifth state title, though no one saw this one coming because of such a young team. The young Comets rose up to win a share of the Western League, then continue to win the L.A. City Section title and then the Division I state title.

"They weren't a team that anyone was talking about in the preseason, Most thought they were a year away," said Dave Krider, Maxprep's senior writer. "But Ed Azzam is one of the best coaches in the country, and he proved it to win the best state title in the country."

Westchester also has three juniors who figure to put the Comets in position to make a run at City, state and national titles next season - Jordin Mayes, Dwayne Polee and Kareem Jamar.

When Ryan Silver took over the Rolling Hills Prep boys basketball program this season, the stack was already stacked against the Huskies.

Kenny Greene had transferred to Mira Costa. Ronnie Stevens, who played in Rolling Hills Prep's summer program, enrolled at Orange Lutheran before eventually transferring to Serra. And the Huskies were reeling from the graduations of Kanoa Defries and Bobby Phillips.

Silver stepped in. He convinced football standouts Andrew Frisina and Jacob Sereno to come out for the basketball team. He had to talk Race Munger into joining the team.

Slowly but surely, Rolling Hills Prep built momentum.

Finally, with its 39-27 Harbor League victory over Animo, the Huskies clinched at least third place and a playoff berth, the program's second straight after a four-year drought.

And it was particularly satisfying for Silver, who is in his first head coaching position.

"It's exciting. This is my first year as a varsity head coach, and it's been an absolute dream of mine," Silver said.

Silver has had coaching stints at Malibu, Newport Harbor, El Segundo (under Coach Rick Sabosky who Silver calls a "great human being and mentor") Lawndale (under Coach Alex Acosta, who Silver calls "a great basketball coach" and now at Rolling Hills Prep.

Silver said he receives "unbelievable support" from Athletic Director Brian Knigin, the school's former basketball coach.

"We've had a good run so far," Silver said. "We turned it around, and the kids haev worked their rear ends off."

Redondo's 55-52 boys basketball victory over West Torrance Tueday at Redondo was important for the Sea Hawks on many levels.   Redondo's win snapped a 13-game winning streak for West (16-5, 4-1) and pushed the Sea Hawks (10-10, 4-1) into a three-way tie for first place at the halfway point of Bay League play with West and Leuzinger.   But the win had a little added significance for Redondo coach Tom Maier; it was the 600th victory of his 35-year coaching career.   "600 wins? It's a nice mark, but I'll tell you that I've lost almost half as many," Maier said. "It means I've been around for a long time, but it's something that I'm very proud of."   Maier is in his eighth season at Redondo after spending 27 years coaching at Chadwick.   Junior guard Jamar Cannon led Redondo Tueday with 19 points and 13 rebounds and said he was proud to help Maier secure the coaching milestone.   "This is how we wanted to do it, in our gym and on our home floor," Cannon said. "It's a great achievement for coach."

It took 15 years, but Carson finally brought down Narbonne in girls basketball.

The Colts held on for a 44-43 Marine League victory over Narbonne for the Colts' first victory over Narbonne in over 15 years, Coach Marcel Sanders said.

"We finally got that monkey off our backs," Sanders said. "Narbonne has been a thorn in our side for a long time and we finally got over the hump and beat them."

 

One of Morningside's most famous graduates will be returning to the school.

Billionaire John Arrillaga, the MVP of Morningside's first CIF championship team in 1955, will return to his alma mater on Friday for a full day of activities.

Not only will there be a 2 p.m. school assembly in his honor, Arrillaga will have his uniform number retired at halftime of Morningside's Ocean League game against Beverly Hills. He will be presented with a glass-encased uniform as well.

Principal James Lofton also said that eight of Arrillaga's teammates are scheduled to celebrate Arrillaga's return to Morningside.

"This is a big-time event," Lofton said.

After graduating from Morningside, Arrillaga played basketball for Stanford and eventually became one of America's wealthiest men -- No. 281 on Forbes' 2008 list -- as the largest property owner in the Silicon Valley.

It serves as the perfect backdrop for a Morningside team that is unbeaten in Ocean League play and is enjoying a sort of basketball renaissance.

Morningside has had some high-powered basketball graduates -- Byron Scott, Elton Campbell, Lisa Leslie and Tina Thompson -- to name a few.

Yet Arrillaga has been one of Stanford's main benefactors. Who knows, maybe Morningside is next.

Either way, Friday will be a triumphant day for Morningside.

Samantha Heyman might be known more for her softball abilities at El Segundo, but she reached an impressive milestone in girls basketball on Wednesday night.

Heyman scored 11 points to surpass the 1,000-point plateau in her career in El Segundo's 54-34 loss to two-time defending Pioneer League champion South Torrance.

Heyman, a four-year starter for the El Segundo basketball team, entered the game with 995 career points. Now she has 1,006 and can set her sights on the all-time scoring mark held by Kelly Geis.

"It's a big deal," El Segundo basketball coach Mark Doering said. "She's a phenomenal softball player, but she's a four-year starter for us and is a tremendous shooter and a great competitor.

"She's crossed over between the two sports and has done a great job for both teams."

Heyman helped El Segundo's softball team reach  the CIF Division V final in 2007 and the Division V semifinals last season.

No, it's not a misprint.

Pacific Lutheran blanked Summit Valley View, 40-0, in a Mulholland League girls basketball game at Northridge Park.

Coach Phil Avalos explained that it was indeed not a forfeit and sounded almost apologetic.

"We played the whole game. They just couldn't make a basket," Avalos said. "We did everything we could to let them shoot. We pulled back, we passed the ball around a lot.

"We only have seven girls; it wasn't like I tried to keep the starters in."

It was the second time that Summit Valley View, a team that had 12 girls on the roster, had been shut out this season.

Tayler Pattillo had 15 points and 13 steals to lead Pacific Lutheran (6-6, 4-2). Tiana Wightman added 10 points and 16 rebounds for Pacific Lutheran.

Summit Valley View fell to 0-5 in league.

Today's boys and girls Bay League basketball games between Palos Verdes and Peninsula have been moved to Redondo High to accomodate the large expected crowd. 

Palos Verdes athletic director Mike Boyd said the girls game will be played at 6:30 p.m. and the boys will tip off at 8 p.m. when Peninsula sophomore star Reese Morgan (pictured) faces off against his rivals.

Both games should have a festive atmosphere with the Peninsula Zoo and the Palos Verdes Red Tide facing off in a battle of student sections.

But the boys basketball game to watch tonight will be between Bay League favorite Leuzinger host West Torrance, which is riding an 11-game winning streak.

It's time to start talking about McDonald's All-Americans.

The South Bay has seven nominees for the McDonald's All-American awards, including three boys players and four girls players.

Westchester's Dominique O'Connor, Leuzinger's Jerry Evans and Lawndale's Marquel Jones are among the boys nominees.

On the girls side, Inglewood's Tayler Champion, Mira Costa's Amanda Johnson, Narbonne's Tiffany Moorer and Marlborough's Stefanie Corgel (a Manhattan Beach resident).

The McDonald's All-American games will take place on April 1 at the University of Miami. The girls game begins at 5:30 p.m., and the boys game is at 8 p.m.

In addition to Westchester's impressive victory at Fairfax, the big winners from Friday night's boys basketball games were Pioneer League rivals North Torrance and Lawndale.

Both teams posted double-overtime victories to remain unbeaten in league play.

Daren Hechanova, pictured from a file photo, scored 30 points and went 4-for-4 from the free-throw line in the second overtime in a wild 107-103 victory at Centennial, the Saxons' first win at Centennial in Coach Gary Duperron's eight-year tenure. Danish Mansoor hit a 3-pointer to force the second overtime period, and football star B.J. Denker sank two free throws in the closing seconds of regulation to force OT.

Lawndale enjoyed a dramatic 52-49 win over South Torrance as Markeith Cungious hit a 3-pointer with one minute left in the second overtime. Cungious had 13 points and 14 rebounds, and Marquel Jones had a team-leading 26 points.

When North and Lawndale meet, it should be a battle. Don't be surprised if it even goes to overtime.

The Carson girls basketball clamped down on defense in the fourth quarter and defeated Banning, 60-47, in a Marine League showdown on Wednesday at Banning High.

Carson (10-3, 2-0) outscored Banning, 19-6, in the fourth quarter, after the teams were tied through three quarters.

"Banning is right there, they are a good team, but I think we wore them down," Carson coach Marcel Sanders said.

Carson held Banning star Stephanie Lopez scoreless in the second half. Lopez finished with 14 points. Carla Barrera had 15 points for Banning (7-7, 0-3).

"We started playing defense (in the fourth quarter)," Sanders said.

Alisha Belt had 15 points and 10 rebounds, Chante Miles had 14 points, six rebounds and six assists and Daphne Rabot had 13 points for Carson. Janitah Iamaleava added 10 points and 11 rebounds for Carson, which hosts Washington in a key league game on Friday.

It was brutal. It was painful. It was the worst loss in Victoria Sanders' 20-year coaching career.

The new Narbonne era in girls basketball did not begin well with a 69-25 loss to Pacific Hills in the opening round of the Brea Olinda Tournament on Monday.

Narbonne had 29 turnovers. The Gauchos made just 8-for-25 free throws and were just 6-for-33 from the field. And no Gaucho recoded double digits in points.

"They were nervous. They couldn't buy a free throw, and the balls were rolling off their feet. It was utterly ridiculous," Sanders said. "The numbers speak for themselves. It was like they weren't taught anything."

The encore is today against Riverside Poly at 4:30 p.m. at Brea.

The Hangar Basketball Association will host some of the best boys and girls boys basketball teams in Southern California at its facility in Hawthorne.

And North Torrance is among the teams participating.

Every weekend for the next eight weeks, teams will convene at the Hangar Athletic Xchange (3203 Jack Northrop Ave.) in Hawthorne in what is being described as an NCAA-style tournament. The league will hand out weekly MVP prizes and host all-star games at the end of the tournament.

The list of teams includes a veritable Who's Who from Southern California, including Compton, Windward, Taft, San Diego, Dorsey, Pasadena, West Valley, Compton/Centennial, Villa Park, LB Jordan, San Bernardino, Dominguez, Pasadena Muir, La Verne Lutheran, Riverside/King, Corona/Centennial, Hamilton, and Foothill among others.

Schedules of all the games will be posted at www.HAXLA.com. Maybe this will give North the push it needs for another run at another Pioneer League title.

Rolling Hills Prep has hired Ryan Silver as its new basketball coach, Athletic Director Brian Knigin said Monday.

Silver, a Malibu High graduate, served as an assistant coach at Newport Harbor, El Segundo and Lawndale and is taking on his first head coaching position.

Knigin, the school's former basketball coach, said he loves Silver's energy and enthusiasm.

"He's ready to rock and roll," Knigin said. "We know it's a rebuilding year, and it's kind of like (Rick) Neuheisel at UCLA -- not a lot left in the cupboard for this year. But I think Ryan will help build us back up pretty quickly."

Congratulations to former Narbonne High standout Ebony Hoffman, who was honored as the WNBA's Most Improved Player on Friday, earning 31 of the 44 votes from a national media panel.

Hoffman, a 6-foot-2 forward who starred at USC before being drafted by the Indiana Fever, received the trophy from league president Donna Orender on Friday before the Eastern Conference semifinal against Detroit.

Chicago's Jia Perkins finished second with five votes and New York's Shameka Christon
was third with two votes.

"This is a big moment for me," said Hoffman, who averaged career highs this season in
points (10.4), rebounds (7.8), assists (1.8), steals (1.4), field goal percentage
(46.5) and 3-point percentage (45.6).

Hoffman is the fifth player in league history, and first in four seasons, to finish among the top
five players in rebounds per game and 3-point percentage in the same season.

"My husband (Ronald Cass) told me if I just dug a little deeper and a little harder this year,
every dream I have will come true," said Hoffman, who was drafted ninth overall by Indiana
in 2004.

During the news conference, Hoffman became emotional and started to cry.

"This is the Ebony you won't see on the court tonight," she joked.

Hoffman wasn't the only former South Bay hoops standout to earn an award on Friday.

L.A. Sparks center Lisa Leslie, a former Morningside High standout, was named the Defensive Player of the Year. Leslie picked up her fourth Olympic gold medal last month in Beijing.