GIRLS BASKETBALL: CIF-SS-PLAYOFFS-DIVISION 4A-SEMIFINALS: BRENTWOOD 49, ST. PAULS 41

For the third consecutive season the St. Paul girls basketball team couldn’t get over the final hump and get into the championship game.
The host Brentwood Eagles proved to be too much down the stretch and defeated the Swordsmen, 49-41, in a CIF–Southern Section Division 4A semifinals Saturday afternoon.
Brentwood (21-8) will play either Campbell Hall or L.A. Baptist in the division finals next weekend.
St. Paul, a No. 2 seed in the division, finishes at 17-14.
Brentwood, a number-three seed and at-large team, will play in its third CIF title game. The Eagles won in 2004 and ’05, which included a state runnerup.
The Eagles were led by sophomore point guard Drew Cabral with a game-high 18 points and sophomore center Kennedy Martin with 16.
St. Paul suffered a huge loss near the end of the second quarter when team leader Priscilla Hidalgo went down with a game-ending injury.
With St. Paul trailing by six and less than a minute remaining in the first half, Hidalgo went down hard under the basket attempting a layup.

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GIRLS WATER POLO: CIF-SS-PLAYOFFS-DIVISION 6-CHAMPIONSHIP: WARREN 15, PASADENA POLY 10

All Kayla Casas had to do was turn the corner.
The Warren High School water polo player took a pass into the holeset
position, typically a off a lob pass from Ivana Castro. She turned
the corner on her Pasadena Poly defender and found only Pasadena Poly
goalkeeper Mimi Morrish in her way.
“I wasn’t expecting that, but I finished the shot,” the sophomore
said. “I knew what I was doing. Once I got that big of a view, I
wasn’t worried.”
Casas scored a game-high five goals to lead the Bears to a 15-10
victory and their second consecutive CIF-Southern Section Division 6
championship on Saturday morning at Irvine High’s William Woollett
Jr. Aquatic Center.

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GIRLS SOCCER: CIF-SS PLAYOFFS- QUARTERFINALS – DIVISION 6 – HEMET 4, LA CANADA 0

The La Caada High School girls soccer team had to forego a second consecutive CIF-Southern Section playoff game without head coach Louie Bilowitz.
This time, Spartans goalkeeper coach Anya Rosen was not as successful as in Tuesday’s playoff victory.
The Spartans were eliminated in the CIF-SS Division 6 quarterfinals, 4-0, by top seed Hemet on Friday afternoon.
“It’s tough for me and for our assistant coach and our goalkeeper coach,” Bilowitz said. “There was a lot of pressure on her. She did a great job.”
Bilowitz, who was diagnosed with pneumonia on Thursday, missed his first two games as a coach in more than 20 years in the business.
The Spartans played the top-seeded Bulldogs close, trailing, 1-0, at halftime.
But Hemet scored three goals in the first 16 minutes of the second half to advance to Tuesday’s semifinal game. The Bulldogs will play host to fourth-seeded South Pasadena, a 4-0 winner over Sierra Vista.
Hemet, which lost in the semifinals last year, is 22-2-2 and has won 12 consecutive games.
La Caada finished 14-3-4. The loss ended the Spartans’ nine-game unbeaten streak.

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GIRLS SOCCER: CIF-SS PLAYOFFS- QUARTERFINALS – DIVISION 3 – CHINO HILLS 5, BONITA 1

Chino Hills advanced to the semifinals with a come-from- behind win over the Bearcats (15-8-3).
The Huskies (17-4-6) will play at Bishop Amat next Tuesday with the winner moving on to the finals to face either Claremont or St. Lucy’s for the Division 3 championship.
“We have actually made it to the dance several times, but never have made it out of the first round,” said Huskies coach Tom Hummer.
Bonita started well when senior forward Ciara Jackson scored in the 18th minute to give the Bearcats a 1-0 lead.
However, that lead did not last long as Chino Hills sophomore forward Ashley Gonzales tied the game a minute later on an assist from sophomore Dayna Garcia.
“I just wanted to win and get closer to a championship,” said Gonzales.
Gonzales scored again four minutes later for a 2-0 Huskies lead that they would not relinguish.

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Boys Basketball: Pasadena 81, Beverly Hills 67

Pasadena’s Brandon Jolley scored a team-high 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and fellow senior Blake Hamilton added 19 points to lead the Bulldogs in the semifinals of the CIF-Southern Section Division 3AAA playoffs. Pasadena will meet Arroyo Grande, which beat Palm Desert, 51-44, next week in the finals at Honda Center. The date is to be determined. Visit From The Sidelines for complete game coverage with photos and video.

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BOYS SOCCER: CIF-SS-PLAYOFFS-DIVISION 4-QUARTERFINALS: EL RANCHO 2, SOUTH TORRANCE 1

Finally, a playoff victory with a little breathing room.
The score wouldn’t indicate it, but after two nail-biters for the defending CIF–Southern Section Division 4 boys’ soccer team, El Rancho is now one step away from the 2012 title game.
The Dons defeated visiting South Torrance, 2-1, in the division quarterfinals Wednesday to advance to the semifinals.
Top seeded and undefeated El Rancho (25-0) will travel to fourth-seed Cathedral of Los Angeles on Tuesday. Cathedral was a 1-0 overtime winner over Santa Monica Thursday.
For the second consecutive game, senior forward Francisco Lara scored twice for the Dons.

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