February 2012 Archives

Lynwood High's girls basketball team will make its first CIF Southern Section divisional final since 2006 on Friday, playing J.W. North of Riverside in the II-AA final at 3:30 p.m. at Anaheim Arena.
The fifth-seeded Knights improved to 24-4 overall with Tuesday's 62-60 victory over No. 1 Mark Keppel. Lynwood's 2006 finals appearance - a victory over Poly in Division I-AA - was the last of its run of seven consecutive that began in 2000. During that span, the Knights won five I-AA crowns, including four in a row from 2001-2004, as well as two state Division I championships (2002, 2003) and a national title in 2002.
North brings a 29-4 record into the game and is seeded third in the division.

Boys Soccer
Saturday
Division 1
Millikan vs. Ventura at Warren HS, 7:30 p.m.
Division 3
Paramount vs. Channel Islands at Warren HS, 5 p.m.

Girls Soccer
Saturday
Division 5
Downey vs. La Serna at Mission Viejo HS, 9:30 a.m.

Boys BasketballSaturday
Division 1AA
Poly vs. Mater Dei at Anaheim Arena, 6:30 p.m.

Division 2A
Mayfair vs. Righetti, 2:45 p.m.

Girls BasketballFriday
Division 2AA
Lynwood vs. JW North at Anaheim Arena, 3:30 p.m.

Saturday
Division 5A
Avalon vs. Rolling Hills Prep at Mater Dei HS, 1:30 p.m.

For the second consecutive season, Poly High's girls basketball team has been kept short of the CIF Southern Section Division I-AA title game, this time after a 49-43 loss to Brea Olinda on Tuesday at Anaheim Arena.
The top-seeded Jackrabbits pulled within two points twice in the fourth quarter and had a chance to tie with under a minute to play. But Destiny King's shot missed and the Wildcats closed out the game with four late points.
King scored 18 points to lead Poly (28-3), and had seven of the Jackrabbits' 11 fourth-quarter points as they tried to rally from a nine-point deficit. Keyla Morgan added 10 points and scored twice in the fourth to pull Poly within two points. No other Jackrabbit scored more than five.
Poly allowed 19 points in the second quarter for the second game in a row. Against Etiwanda in the quarterfinals, the Jackrabbits trailed 27-19 at halftime and needed a fourth-quarter rally to pull out a 53-48 triumph.
Despite the loss, Poly's season is not over, By reaching the divisional semifinals, the Jackrabbits will advance to the CIF Southern California Regionals, and they still have a chance to compete for the state Division I title. But they'll almost certainly open on the road against a high seed.[ep
Poly was not so lucky last year, when a I-AA quarterfinal loss at home to Santa Monica brought its season to an abrupt end.
Taylor Spears led Brea (24-5) with 14 points, and scored a crucial bucket late in the fourth quarter after rebounding her own miss. Keitra Wallace added 13 points.
Brea will face Orange County rival Mater Dei in Friday's final. The same teams met in last year's I-AA final, with Mater Dei earning a 63-54 victory.

Only Poly, Downey, Lynwood and Avalon are among the area girls basketball teams still alive in the CIF Southern Section playoffs after Wednesday night. Millikan, Wilson, Gahr, St. Joseph and Whitney all saw their seasons come to an end.
Top-seeded Poly (27-2) will visit No. 8 Eitwanda on Saturday for a Division I-AA quarterfinal game. With second-round losses from Wilson (17-11) and Millikan (17-10), Poly is the only Moore League team left playing and is the only local squad remaining in I-AA.
Downey (19-9) made its free throws down the stretch vs. Katella in Division I-A on Wednesday and will host No. 1 Summit in the quarters Saturday.
Lynwood (22-4) reached Saturday's II-AA quarterfinal round, where it will visit Anaheim Canyon.
In Division V-A, Avalon (18-4) has reached the semifinals and will host Desert Christian on Saturday.
Gahr (III-AAA) and Whitney (IV-A) both suffered tough two-point losses to keep them out of the semifinals. Gahr finished the season at 20-9 while Whitney was 24-4. St. Joseph's season ended at 19-10 with its III-A quarterfinal loss to visiting Bishop Amat.

The girls basketball teams from St. Anthony, Norwalk, Gahr, Artesia and Whitney all survived Thursday's first round of the CIF-SS playoffs and will return to action Saturday.
With its road victory in Division IV-AA, St. Anthony (15-11) will host Muir in the second round. Artesia will hit the road for the second round of the III-A playoffs, but it won't have to go very far. The Pioneers (11-16) visit St. Joseph (18-9), which drew a first-round bye.
In Division III-AAA, Norwalk and Gahr will play road games Saturday. The Lancers (20-7) travel to Esperanza while the Gladiators (19-8) visit South Torrance. In Division IV-A, Whitney (23-3) travels to Immaculate Heart.
Cerritos (III-AAA), La Mirada (III-AA), Firebaugh (III-A), Centennial (IV-AA) and St. Matthias (V-AA) all saw their seasons come to an end Thursday.
First-round play in I-AA, I-A, II-AA, II-A and V-A begins Saturday. Poly, Wilson and Warren (all I-AA), Lynwood (II-AA), Mayfair (II-A) and Avalon (V-A) all have home games.

P-T TOP 10
Boys Soccer
1. Millikan
2. Artesia
3. Warren
4. Paramount
5. Poly
6. Cabrillo
7. Los Alamitos
8. Mayfair
9. St. John Bosco
10. Dominguez

Girls Soccer
1. St. Joseph
2. Poly
3. Wilson
4. Millikan
5. Los Alamitos
6. La Mirada
7. Valley Christian
8. Downey
9. Mayfair
10. Firebaugh

P-T TOP 10
Boys Basketball
1. Poly
2. Mayfair
3. St. John Bosco
4. Compton
5. Downey
6. Jordan
7. Los Alamitos
8. Gahr
9. Dominguez
10. Bellflower

Girls Basketball
1. Poly
2. Lynwood
3. Gahr
4. Warren
5. Wilson
6. Millikan
7. St. Anthony
8. Los Alamitos
9. Downey
10. Mayfair

Athletes of the Week
Boys
Jimmy Matias, Sr., Warren
The 182-pound wrestler went 3-0 to help the Bears claim the CIF-SS Division VI dual meet championship. Of his three wins, Matias' victory over Paramount's Jaycob Martinez in the semifinals was particularly crucial and unexpected. He had lost twice to Martinez during the season but beat him in a match that came down to criteria.

Girls
Nisja Bass, Sr., Mayfair
Bass was solid in the last week of the regular season, leading Mayfair to its third consecutive Suburban League title. She posted 20 points, nine rebounds and five assists in a narrow 64-63 win over Cerritos and came back later in the week with six points, seven assists and seven steals in a 47-34 win over Bellflower.

Athletes of the Week
Boys
Luis Cervantes, Sr., Millikan
The slick forward was a big reason why the Rams were able to basically clinch their fifth consecutive Moore League soccer title. He had a goal, an assist and drew a PK in a 3-1 win over Cabrillo, and the also scored in a 2-1 win over Lakewood.

Girls
Michaela Reed, Jr., Wilson
Reed scored 14 points to lead the Bruins to a 66-64 upset win over then-CIF-SS Division 1AA No. 8-ranked Millikan, and she added a 15-point, eight-rebound effort two days later in a loss to No. 2 Poly.

Cerritos High has hired a new football coach, Darin Owens, whom the school hopes can rejuvenate its struggling program.

Owens comes to the Dons from Hillcrest High in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Before that he coached in at Northgate in Northern California and ML King in Riverside. He is expected to arrive in the next couple of weeks.

Owens has a track record for successful reclamation projects, one reason the Dons hired him among the 55 applicants for the job.

He turned around the programs at Northgate and King before heading to Idaho. In 2008, Owens took over at Hillcrest, which had lost 23 games in a row, scored just three TDs in 2007, hadn't been to the playoffs in a decade, and transformed the team into a state champion in his first year. A movie is in the works about that championship season.

Cerritos will prove to be a similar challenge for Owens. The Dons have won just five games over the past five seasons and are on an 11-game losing streak.

Athletes of the Week
Boys
Garrett Neilan, Sr., Downey
The Vikings' hot-shooting guard was on target last week in a pair of wins. He scored 20 points in a 47-32 win over Lynwood and dropped another 20 points in a 52-42 victory over Warren as Downey remained in control of the SGVL.

Girls
Jewelyn Sawyer, Jr., Gahr
Sawyer posted two monster games last week. She started the week with a triple double - 17 points, 15 rebounds, 13 assists, six blocks and six steals - in a 47-45 win over Warren, then had 14 points, 14 rebounds, eight assists and eight steals in a 61-24 win over Paramount.

Mater Dei will host a daylong boys basketball spectacle on Saturday. Some locals,including Poly and Los Alamitos, and lots of great games.

More on Frank Burlison's hoops blog

Well, Signing Day is drawing to and end, with SJ Bosco's Bryce Treggs heading to Cal, and the Dominguez duo of Brandon Beaver and Alphonso March going to Washington and Utah, respectively.

Here is the list of today's signings:

Football
Lacy Westbrook (Dominguez) UCLA
Alphonso Marsh (Dominguez) Utah
Brandon Beaver (Dominguez) Washington
Damian Turpin (Dominguez) Washington
Dejon Allen (Dominguez) Hawaii
Lavell Sanders (Dominguez) Northern Colorado
Jabari Ruffin (Downey) USC
Delshawn McClellon (Gahr) Utah
Dwayne Washington (Gahr) Washington
Darius Powe (Lakewood) California
Malik Gilmore (Lakewood) Oregon State
Derek Sabo (Lakewood) Cal Poly
Terrance Brown (Los Alamitos) Northwestern
Kyle Roberts (Los Alamitos) Sacramento State
Dylan Lagarde (Los Alamitos) Bryant University
Cody Paul (Los Alamitos) Chadron State
Diamonte Wiggins (Lynwood) Eastern Washington
Jerry Smith (Mayfair) Fresno State
Josiah Blandin(Poly) Arizona State
Salamo Fiso(Poly) Arizona State
Randall Goforth (Poly) UCLA
Jeremy Lutali (Poly) Malone University
Tomas Rivera (Poly) Colorado State
Matthew Rowe (Poly) Arizona State
Richard Smith (Poly) Arizona State
Nemo Stefanovic (Poly) Malone University
Alonzo Williams(Poly) Texas A&M
Bryce Treggs (St. John Bosco) California
Charles Redd (St. John Bosco) Eastern Washington
Dalis Bruce (St. John Bosco) Eastern Washington
Beau Boyster St. John Bosco) Arizona
Justin Johnson (St. John Bosco) Fresno State
Shane Baumann (St. John Bosco) Western New Mexico
Jaylen Raye (Valley Christian) Minnesota-Moorhead

Girls Volleyball
Chelsee Sauni (Lakewood) Coppin State
Zana Bowens (Poly) Fresno State

Girls Basketball
Breeyon Alexander (Poly) CS Northridge

Boys Soccer
Aaron Thompson (Mayfair) San Diego State

Girls Soccer
Amanda Bolanos (Lakewood) CS Dominguez Hills
Noemy Polanco (Lakewood) Metropolitan State College of Denver
Alyssa Gomez (Lakewood) Concordia
Kendahl Fisher (Lakewood) Southwest Minnesota State
Elliott Gentile (Poly) California
Megan Kilroy (St. Joseph) Southwest Minnesota State

Baseball
Kevin Maxey (Poly) CS Los Angeles
Jeff Turley (Poly) UCLA

Softball
Sara Fobbs (Lakewood) Eastern Kentucky
SaraMagill (Lakewood) Young Harris
Ariel Carrillo (Lakewood) Saddleback College
Justine Robles (Lakewood) Trine
Cayla Unverzagt (Lakewood) Louisiana-Monroe
Priscilla Pino (Poly) Williams College

Diving
Deon Reid (Poly) Duke

Boys Volleyball
Pele Ili (Poly) Kingman College

St. John Bosco receiver Bryce Treggs stuck with his initial commitment and announced Wednesday on live TV he'd sign with Cal.
Treggs committed to Cal over the summer, but UCLA - and later USC - made a strong late push. Treggs said on Prime Ticket he stuck with Cal because he was taught by his mother to be "a man of my word."

Long Beach City offensive tackle Justin Aysse signed with San Diego State on Wednesday, the first day most high school and community college football players can sign a national letter of intent.
Aysse is a 6-6, 280-pound former Marine who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Offensive lineman Brock Ane signed with NAIA school McPherson College in Kansas and receiver Sean Morris signed with West Texas A&M, where LBCC teammate Travon Payne is already enrolled.
Cerritos cornerback Tommy Elliott signed with Southeast Louisiana on Wednesday and ECC Compton offensive lineman Rodney Donaldson signed with Benedict College in South Carolina.

We will have one last signing update in a few hours. For now, off to cover a soccer game.

Nine Jackrabbit football players are ready to sign on the dotted line as I type.

They are:

WR Josiah Blandin- Arizona State
LB Salamo Fiso- Arizona State
DB Randall Goforth - UCLA
OL Jeremy Lutali - Malone University
OL Tomas Rivera - Colorado State
LB Matthew Rowe - Arizona State
WR Richard Smith - Arizona State
OL Nemo Stefanovic - Malone University
DL Alonzo Williams -Texas A&M

Four Dominguez football standouts signed at a lunchtime ceremony, and two will make their announcment on TV later today.

Alphonso Marsh will make his announcment on KCAL at 5:30 pm and as noted in a different blog post, Brandon Beaver will makes his on Prime Ticket at 3 pm

Those who signed already are:
OL Lacy Westbrook - UCLA
DL Damian Turpin - Washington
OL Dejon Allen -Hawaii
LB Lavell Sanders - Northern Colorado

Mayfair football star Jerry Smith signed his letter this morning with Fresno State, and soccer standout Aaron Thompson signed with San Diego State.

We knew that three Los Alamitos football players would be signing today, but a fourth one popped up.

The three were WR Kyle Roberts with Sacramento State, QB Dylan Lagarde wtih Bryant University and DB Terrance Brown with Northwestern.

But speed-mite-sized RB Cody Paul got some much-deserved love, too, signing with Chadron State in Nebraska.Chadron's claim to fame so far is the New England Patriots quick and tiny RB Danny Woodhead.

Here is a comment from Bryce Treggs on his delayed signing from a SJ Bosco press release:

Bryce Treggs has been a Cal commit since July of last year. With UCLA making a late push over the past two weeks and USC throwing their name in the hat late last night, Treggs has decided to take some additional time to make his college decision.

"All are great academic institutions with outstanding athletic programs," said Treggs. "I just need more time to ensure that I make an intelligent decision regarding my academic and athletic future."

Treggs will make his final decision on Fox Sports West at 4:45 this afternoon.

Early today we had that Lakewood WRs Darius Powe and Malik Gilmore signed.

The rest of the Lancers' standouts, over all sports, signed in a noontime ceremony. Here's that list...

Girls Volleyball
Chelsee Sauni - Coppin State

Girls Soccer
Amanda Bolanos - CS Dominguez Hills
Noemy Polanco - Metropolitan State College of Denver
Alyssa Gomez - Concordia
Kendahl Fisher - Southwest Minnesota State

Softball
Sara Fobbs - Eastern Kentucky
SaraMagill - Young Harris
Ariel Carrillo - Saddleback College
Justine Robles - Trine
Cayla Unverzagt - Louisiana-Monroe

Football
Derek Sabo - Cal Poly

Downey's Jabari Ruffin, the top OLB prospect in the nation, inked his deal with USC, and the Lakewood WR duo of Darius Powe and Malik Gilmore signed with California and Oregon State, respectively.

SJ Bosco WR Bryce Treggs isn't the only local standout expected to announce the college of his choice on Fox Sports later today.

Dominguez CB Brandon Beaver and Poly CB Randall Goforth are also expected to be there to make their choices.

At 2 p.m., Poly will have its signing ceremony. The Jackrabbits have lots of football signees and lots in other sports. Here are the non-football signees:

Girls Volleyball
Zana Bowens - Fresno State

Girls Basketball
Breeyon Alexander - CS Northridge

Girls Soccer
Elliott Gentile - California

Baseball
Kevin Maxey - CS Los Angeles
Jeff Turley - UCLA

Softball
Priscilla Pino - Williams College

Diving
Deon Reid - Duke

Boys Volleyball
Pele Ili - Kingman College

While Bryce Treggs will sign later today, a handful of his teammates signed at school just a litle bit ago:

Charles Redd -Eastern Washington
Dalis Bruce -Eastern Washington
Beau Boyster - Arizona
Justin Johnson -Fresno State
Shane Baumann -Western New Mexico

Gahr WRs Delshawn McClellon and Dwayne Washington, as expected, have signed with Utah and Washington, respectively.

St. John Bosco WR Bryce Treggs had been committed to Cal for quite some time, but rumors have circulated recently that he is reconsidering.

This morning at the SJB signing ceremony, Treggs didn't sign with Cal. In fact, he didn't sign with anybody. He will be doing so at 4:30 p.m. on Fox Sports.

Treggs didn't disclose where he will sign, but did say that "it's in Southern California." USC and UCLA were among his other choices, and apparently Treggs is a big fan of new Bruins coach Jim Mora.

National Signing Day is underway.

More than 50 Long Beach-area student-athletes will be signing today. Stayed tuned for updates all day long.