Girls Basketball: February 2008 Archives

Crossroads is dominating the glass and Sierra Canyon has not shot well from the field as Crossroads leads 35-18 in the Div. V-A championship game at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach.

Freshman Kelly Schneider has scored six ponts to lead the Trailblazers (22-4). Sophomore Shannon McQueen has 11 points to lead the Roadrunners (19-7).

Both teams return their entire starting lineups next season.

BOYS BASKETBALL

* DIVISION I: Dominguez, King, Etiwanda, Rancho Verde, Knight, Perris and West Valley are in. Also, one of these seven semifinalists: Long Beach Wilson, Chino Hills, Glendora, Arroyo Valley, Corona Santiago, Cathedral City, Kaiser.
* DIVISION II: Mater Dei, Colony, Jurupa Valley and Patriot are in.

* DIVISION III: Bishop Montgomery is in. Also, three of these five semifinalists: Santa Margarita, La Canada, Oak Park, South El Monte, Pasadena Marshall.
* DIVISION IV: Six teams are vying for four berths. The Cerritos Valley Christian/Twentynine Palms and Rosamond/St. Bonaventure winners will claim two berths. If Campbell Hall and Pacific Hills both win, they claim the other two berths; if either loses, the remaining berths will be filled from among the losing finalists.
* DIVISION V: Price, Renaissance Academy and La Verne Lutheran are in. Also, one of these four quarterfinalists: Capistrano Valley Christian, Joel John, Tarbut V’Torah, Marywood-Palm Valley.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

* DIVISION I: Long Beach Poly, Millikan, Miller, Los Osos, Cajon and Chaffey are in. Also, two of these eight semifinalists: Lynwood, Ventura, San Clemente, Etiwanda, Perris, Knight, Silverado, Walnut.
* DIVISION II: Five teams vying for four berths. The Redondo/Mira Costa winner is in. Ayala, Colony and Irvine University can all earn berths with finals wins; if any of those three loses, any remaining berths will be chosen from among all of the finals losers.
* DIVISION III: Summit and Laguna Hills are in. Also, two of these three semifinalists: Muir, Magnolia, Beaumont.
* DIVISION IV: Six teams vying for four berths. The Bell-Jeff/St. Mary’s Academy and Whittier Christian/Maranatha winners are in. Marlborough and Crossroads can earn berths with finals wins; if either loses; any remaining berths will be chosen from among all of the finals losers.
* DIVISION V: Sierra Canyon and Mesa Grande Academy are in. Also, two of these seven second-round losers: Liberty Christian, South Bay Lutheran, Lone Pine, Packinghouse Christian, Calvary Baptist, Noli Indian, Southwestern Academy.

The Southern Section Championship games for basketball are this weekend. Here is a rundown of area teams in the big dance.

Boys:
Eagle Rock vs. University, City Invitational, 9 a.m. at the Sports Arena, Saturday
No. 1 Taft vs. No. 3 Fairfax, City Championship, 8 p.m. at the Sports Arena, Saturday

No. 1 Campbell Hall vs. No. 2 Price, Div. III-AA, time T.B.A., Honda Center in Anaheim, Saturday
No. 6 Knight vs. No. 1 Rancho Verde, Div. II-A, time T.B.A., Honda Center, Saturday

Girls:
El Camino Real vs. Bell, City Invitational, 11 a.m. at the Sports Arena, Saturday
No. 1 Chatsworth vs. No. 3 Narbonne, City Championship, 6 p.m. at the Sports Arena, Saturday

No. 1 St. Mary's Academy vs. No. 2 Bell-Jeff, time T.B.A., Friday or Saturday, Long Beach Pyramid
No. 1 Crossroads vs. No. 3 Sierra Canyon, time T.B.A., Friday or Saturday, Long Beach Pyramid

Tiny Sierra Canyon of Chatsworth, in just its third season of basketball has qualified for the schools first ever section final, in Div. V-A. The senior-less team escaped Saturday night, holding on against Bishop Conaty-Loretto of Los Angeles, 45-44 in a semifinal game played at Salesian High.

“It has been an absolute Cinderella run for the team”, coach Jim Gortikov said. “There is a big buzz about the program now in the community”.

The Trail Blazers (22-4) held a 12 point lead in the fourth quarter but saw it dwindle down to the final margin and escaped when Bishop Conaty-Loretto’s Mariana Palma missed a short jumper in the paint with under six seconds remaining.

Junior Brenda Kramer was especially impressive with 19 points, 15 rebounds and four steals. Kramer was out on the floor without key players Kelly Schneider and Jasmine Sneed, who both fouled out.

“I have coached Brenda a long time, for almost seven years now”, Gortikov said. “She is court mature, has a quick step, can box out and has great shooting range. She was huge for us Saturday night”.

Even more impressive is the fact Sierra Canyon has weathered the loss of two starters in mid-season.

Lauren Alas left the team for personal reasons and freshman Victoria Wells, who was averaging 12 points and was the teams best defender according to Gortikov, moved to Hemet.

“The girls are so young they just roll with the punches. They are not nervous about anything. We have some outstanding freshman, great chemistry, great work ethic, a killer instinct and for some reason are always incredibly loose. I don’t know how to explain it myself”.

The Trail Blazers face league rival Crossroads of Santa Monica for a third time either Friday or Saturday in the championship game. Sierra Canyon lost both games to the Roadrunners this season hoping to reverse the trend this weekend.

“We made some mistakes the first two games”, Gortikov said. “We definitely have given up too many points to Crossroads. We are making some real big adjustments this week and will be taking a different approach. We will give it the old college try”.

Chatsworth has advanced to the City championship game Saturday at the Sports Arena against No. 3 Narbonne of Harbor City.

The game is especially meaningful for head coach Michelle Chevalier. Chevalier lost to Narbonne in the title game in 2004 when she coached at Sylmar.

“I can’t wait for the game,” Chevalier said by phone Monday. “I have wanted them since back in November when we started practice. It would be very satisfying to knock Narbonne off. I owe them from 2004. Four years off frustration would be lifted off of me. We have the team to do it. It is going to be a great day”.

Seven southern section championship games are set for this weekend. The three remaining divisions will be decided tonight. Of the seven divisions already set, five pit teams from the same league playing each other a third time.

It might be time to revamp the playoff structure to create a little more parity throughout the divisions.

Div. III-A: No. 1 Colony (Mt. Baldy #1) vs. No. 3 Chaffey (Mt. Baldy #3)
Div. IV-AA: No. 1 St. Mary’s Acad. (Santa Cruz #1) vs. No. 2 Bell-Jeff (Santa Cruz #2)
Div. IV-A: No. 1 Laguna Hills (Pacific Coast #1) vs. No. 3 University (Pacific Coast #2)
Div. V-AA: No. 1 Whittier Christian (Alpha #1) vs. No. 2 Maranatha (Alpha #2)
Div. V-A: No. 1 Crossroads (Delphic #1) vs. No. 3 Sierra Canyon (Delphic #2)

What do Oaks Christian of Westlake Village, Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks and Newbury Park all have in common going into Wednesdays playoff games?

Each is the only team from its league to advance out of the first round.

Oaks Christian is at home against No. 4 Etiwanda Wednesday night, Notre Dame plays host to No. 6 Los Osos and its star center Cierre Warren and Newbury Park travels to No. 2 Long Beach Millikan.

How about Bell-Jeff. Coach Bryan Camacho is getting it done wit the Lady Guards. Bell-Jeff has won its two playoff games by a combined 73 points heading into Wednesdays quarterfinal against visiting St. Margartet's.

Bell-Jeff has been fortunate this postseason not having to travel yet. Bell-Jeff has won two coin flips.

Despite losing graduated forward Andreanna Marshall, L.A. Baptist of North Hills is back in the final eight in Div. V-A. The Knights beat Faith Baptist of Canoga Park Saturday and will face Milken Community of Los Angeles with the winner advancing to the semifinals.

Make way for the Chatsworth team. They are the #1 seed in the their City Section bracket and won 11 of their last 12 games - including an almost-40 point win over Taft to end the season. The Brandon sisters are lookin tough.....

Saugus (21-6, 8-2) dominated the Indians on their own court Friday to tie Hart (17-8, 8-2) for first place in the Foothill League, though the Indians won a post-game coin flip to earn the higher seed in the Southern Section playoffs.

The victory avenged a one-point loss Jan. 22.

“We’re just a better team right now. We expected this,” said Saugus’ Lauren Lafat. “I’m really excited because I went to Hart as a freshman. I know all these girls.”

Lafat scored 24 points, and teammate Daniel Mofsowitz added 12 – on four 3-pointers.

Hart’s Megan Ford scored 20 points, but Hart fell behind by 18 points in the first half and could get no closer than 10.

FRONTIER
Malibu 50, Carpinteria 43

HERITAGE
Hillcrest Christian (GH) 56, L.A. Lutheran 42

MISSION
Alemany 65, Louisville 36
Chaminade 62, Flintridge Sacred Heart 22
Notre Dame 44, Harvard-Westlake 35

OLYMPIC
Montclair Prep 57, Pacific Hills 44

PACIFIC
Burroughs 59, Burbank 48

PREP
Flintridge Prep 63, Pasadena Poly 45

SANTA CRUZ
Bell-Jeff 69, St. Anthony's 13

DELPHIC
Sierra Canyon 63, CAMS 32
SC: Brenda Kramer 19 points, Jasmine Sneed 15, Dani Carney 13, Kelly Schneider 11.

FOOTHILL
Valencia 77, Golden Valley 63
Val: Chelsey Hartigan 24 pts., Starla Wright 24 pts., 8 rebs.
GV: Merideth Mathis 15 pts., Sara Destosito 12 pts., Kiki Smith 11 pts., Jasmine Jefferson 10 pts.

FRONTIER
La Reina 42, Grace Brethren 28
LR: Jenna Burge 13 pts. & Kate Jankowski 11 pts.

HERITAGE
Milken 69, L.A. Lutheran 27
Milken: Kim Hakim 17 pts., Jessica Sabbah & Whitney Ghodsian 14 pts.
L.A. Lutheran: Natalia Toledo 17 pts.
Milken completes first undefeated league season in school history.

LIBERTY
Viewpoint 40, Buckley 38
VP: Crystal Allaf 13 pts. & Lexi Sharma 11 pts.
Buck: Lindsey Schapiro game-high 21 points.

MISSION
Louisville 41, Flintridge Sacred Heart 24
Lville: Amanda Arnold - Triple-double (18 pts., 12 rebs., & 10 steals)

Notre Dame 50, Alemany 31
Notre Dame: Mel Madriaga 12 pts. & Kodi Burke 12 pts., 12 rebs.
Alemany: Jackie Sanchez 12 pts.
Notre Dame clinches at least a share of league title.

OLYMPIC
Montclair Prep 31, Cerritos Valley Christian 26

PACIFIC
Burbank 47, Crescenta Valley 40
Bur: Kristin Craword 14 pts., 7 assists;, Anasik Zohrabi & Tiffany Deramus 11, Kendra Carter 5 pts, 17 reb.,
CV: Cassie Pappas 17 pts.

PREP
Flintridge Prep 48, Chadwick 40
Flintridge Prep: Megan Musashi game-high 21 points.
Rebels wins 7th straight league title and extends league winning streak to 42 games.

TRI-VALLEY
Oaks Christian 71, Santa Clara 44
Oaks Chr.: Chelsea Carlisle 21 pts., 7 assists, Katie Brooks 16 pts., 10 rebs., Christine Escoto 13 pts., 5 assts.

St. Bonaventure 44, Oak Park 32
OP: Erin Somers 10 pts.

NONLEAGUE
Hillcrest Christian (GH) 54, Pacifica Christian 35
HCGH: Britanny Espinoza 22 pts., Aundrea Dava 16 pts., & Justina Veloz 12 pts., 5 stls.

DELPHIC
Sierra Canyon 63, CAMS 32
SC: Brenda Kramer 19 points, Jasmine Sneed 15, Dani Carney 13, Kelly Schneider 11.

FOOTHILL
Valencia 77, Golden Valley 63
Val: Chelsey Hartigan 24 pts., Starla Wright 24 pts., 8 rebs.
GV: Merideth Mathis 15 pts., Sara Destosito 12 pts., Kiki Smith 11 pts., Jasmine Jefferson 10 pts.

FRONTIER
La Reina 42, Grace Brethren 28
LR: Jenna Burge 13 pts. & Kate Jankowski 11 pts.

HERITAGE
Milken 69, L.A. Lutheran 27
Milken: Kim Hakim 17 pts., Jessica Sabbah & Whitney Ghodsian 14 pts.
L.A. Lutheran: Natalia Toledo 17 pts.
Milken completes first undefeated league season in school history.

LIBERTY
Viewpoint 40, Buckley 38
VP: Crystal Allaf 13 pts. & Lexi Sharma 11 pts.
Buck: Lindsey Schapiro game-high 21 points.

MISSION
Louisville 41, Flintridge Sacred Heart 24
Lville: Amanda Arnold - Triple-double (18 pts., 12 rebs., & 10 steals)

Notre Dame 50, Alemany 31
Notre Dame: Mel Madriaga 12 pts. & Kodi Burke 12 pts., 12 rebs.
Alemany: Jackie Sanchez 12 pts.
Notre Dame clinches at least a share of league title.

OLYMPIC
Montclair Prep 31, Cerritos Valley Christian 26

PACIFIC
Burbank 47, Crescenta Valley 40
Bur: Kristin Craword 14 pts., 7 assists;, Anasik Zohrabi & Tiffany Deramus 11, Kendra Carter 5 pts, 17 reb.,
CV: Cassie Pappas 17 pts.

PREP
Flintridge Prep 48, Chadwick 40
Flintridge Prep: Megan Musashi game-high 21 points.
Rebels wins 7th straight league title and extends league winning streak to 42 games.

TRI-VALLEY
Oaks Christian 71, Santa Clara 44
Oaks Chr.: Chelsea Carlisle 21 pts., 7 assists, Katie Brooks 16 pts., 10 rebs., Christine Escoto 13 pts., 5 assts.

St. Bonaventure 44, Oak Park 32
OP: Erin Somers 10 pts.

NONLEAGUE
Hillcrest Christian (GH) 54, Pacifica Christian 35
HCGH: Britanny Espinoza 22 pts., Aundrea Dava 16 pts., & Justina Veloz 12 pts., 5 stls.

Second-half rally keeps streak alive for Rebels
The Flintridge Prep of La Canada Flintridge girls’ basketball team continued its Prep League dominance Tuesday, clinching its seventh straight title with a 48-40 victory at Chadwick of Rancho Palos Verdes.
The Rebels (19-5, 11-0) also extended their league game winning streak to 42 games and will look to complete a perfect league campaign for the third straight season Thursday against Pasadena Poly.
Flintridge Prep rallied from a five-point halftime deficit, limiting the Dolphins to just 13 points in the second half.
The Rebels took a 12-4 lead early in the first quarter when Courtney Robinson, the only senior on the team, picked up her second foul. Robinson sat out the rest of the first half and Chadwick (15-6, 9-3) took advantage, building a 27-22 halftime lead and extending the lead to seven early in the third quarter.
Megan Musashi scored a game-high 21 points and Robinson added eight for the Rebels.

Moorpark's Molly Carson set a Ventura County record with 10 3-pointers in host Moorpark's 67-42 Marmonte League victory over Calabasas. The senior connected on 10 of 15 shots from behind on the arch, scoring a game-high 32 points. Lauren Carter added 27 points for the Raiders who improved to 14-10 overall and 7-5 in league.
Danielle Ploufsand scored 10 points for Calabasas (9-16, 0-12).

With one week remaining in the regular season it looks like many area teams will qualify for the playoffs.

Here is a breakdown.

Agape league

Antelope Valley Christian of Lancaster. In 4th place right now.

Alpha league

Village Christian of Sun Valley in third place. Also ranked No. 3 in Division IV-A.

Delphic league

Sierra Canyon of Chatsworth and L.A. Baptist. Sierra Canyon is ranked No. 2 in Division V-A.

Desert Mountain league

Desert Christian of Lancaster in second place.

Foothill league

Hart of Newhall, Saugus, Valencia and Canyon.

Frontier league

La Reina of Thousand Oaks and possibly Malibu.

Golden league

Knight of Palmdale, Quartz Hill and Palmdale.

Heritage league

Hillcrest Christian of Granada Hills and Los Angeles Lutheran

High Desert league

Rosamond, Desert and possibly Mojave.

Liberty league

Buckley of Sherman Oaks, Viewpoint of Calabasas, Oakwood of North Hollywood. Holy Martyrs of Encino should also get in at-large.

Marmonte league

Royal of Simi Valley, Newbury Park, Thousand Oaks and Moorpark.

Mission league

Harvard Westlake of North Hollywood, Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks. Chaminade of West Hills and Alemany of Mission Hills battling for third place.

Olympic league

Montclair Prep of Panorama City in third place.

Omega league

Newbury Park Adventist, Trinity Lutheran of Reseda and San Fernando Valley Academy of Northridge.

Pacific league

Burroughs of Burbank, Burbank and Crescenta Valley all sit behind league leader Muir of Pasadena.

Pacific View league

Rio Mesa of Oxanrd could take third place.

Prep league

Flintridge Prep of La Canada.

Rio Hondo league

La Canada battling for third place.

Santa Cruz league

Bell Jeff of Burbank can win title.

Tri-Valley league

Oaks Christian of Westlake Village and Oak Park.

Westside league

A.G.B.U. of Canoga Park, Highland Hall of Northridge, Glendale Adventist and West Valley Christian of West Hills all can make the playoffs.

Just got a call from Erik Boal at Oak Park.

Oaks Christian is handling neighborhood rival Oak Park.

Halftime score is 30-6. Yes, only six points.

Oak Park is a paltry 3 of 21 shooting so far. Oak Park missed its first 11 shots from the field.

LIBERTY
Buckley 34, Holy Martyrs 31
Jackie Sparagna and Lindsey Schapiro scored 13 points each for visiting Buckley (14-7, 6-1).
Patil Ingean scored 13 points for Holy Martyrs (15-9, 4-4).

OLYMPIC
Montclarie Prep 51, Brentwood 44
Jazzmin Lewis scored a game-high 20 points and Baily Huff added 19 to lead the visiting Mounties (19-5, 5-3).

PACIFIC
Crescenta Valley 47, Burroughs 41
Cassie Pappas scored a game-high 23 points and had 11 rebounds for the Falcons (17-8, 7-5).
Samantha Cross led Burroughs (16-9, 9-3) with 13 points.

Burbank 43, Pasadena 21
Kendra Carter had 14 points and Chanel Chun added 10 for the the host Bulldogs (18-7, 8-3).

PREP
Flintridge Prep 60, Rio Hondo Prep 39
Megan Susashi scored a game-high 25 points for the host Rebels who remain undefeated in league witha 10-0 record (18-5 overall).

SUNSET SIX
Poly 70, North Hollywood 47
Shaina Smith scored 38 points in the loss for the Huskies (6-12, 4-4).
Sara Villanueva had 23 points, Christine Hernandez had 14 points and 11 rebounds and Alex Gallardo added 12 for Poly (13-6, 7-1).

Verdugo Hills 39, Canoga Park 30
Kianee Bailey scored 11 points for the host Dons (3-9, 2-6).

WEST VALLEY
Birmingham 43, El Camino Real 38
Coral Laolagi had 16 points, 13 rebounds and six steals and Crystal Briones added 11 points for host Birmingham (8-10, 2-6).
Brooke Amenta led El Camino Real (12-10, 3-5) with 10 points.

Chatsworth 65, Granada Hills 28
Kimberly Brandon had 18 points and 16 rebounds and Monica Jackson added 15 points for host Chatsworth (19-5, 8-0).
Reyneisha Mays scored eight points to lead Granada Hills (11-7, 4-4).

Taft 78, Cleveland 61
Host Taft (14-6, 6-2) had three players score in double figures lead by Rmanii Hanyes had 21 points, seven assists and five steals. Joy Hubbard scored 15 points and had eight rebounds and Amber Dixon added 10 points and seven steals.
Nichelae Henderson scored a game-high 24 points, Alexa Davison had 19 points for Cleveland (15-11, 1-7).