March 2010 Archives

The 14th annual County Clash will take place Saturday at Arrowhead Credit Union Park with a baseball tripleheader starting at 1 p.m.

Colton and San Bernardino will start things off with a San Andreas League game at 1 p.m. and will be followed by two Citrus Belt League clashes -- Eisenhower vs. Redlands East Valley at 4 and Carter vs. Yucaipa at 7. Tickets can be purchased at the schools or at the 66ers' box office on Saturday.

This is the first of two County Clashes, with another one set to take place May 8.

Bloomington football coach Tom Conner is young (35 years old) and presumably in good shape. So when he felt sharp chest pains during a pickup basketball game last Thursday at Bloomington High School, he was predictably alarmed.

"I was playing basketball and all of a sudden I got this sharp pain," Conner said. "I told the coaches with me that it probably sounds silly but I need to get to the emergency room right away. It's a 40-50 minute wait for the paramedics to get to Bloomington and back and I needed to get there right away."

Here is the San Bernardino roster for the San Bernardino-Riverside All-Star Game set for 8 p.m. on April 14 at Cajon High School. Admission is $5 for this and the girls' game at 6 p.m.

San Bernardino
Evan Brooks, Colony
Darrius Butts, Miller
Julian Caldwell, Colony
Devonte Chattman, San Bernardino
Chris Collins, Chino Hills
Aaron Crocket, Etiwanda
Keauyon Fields, Apple Valley
Matt Green, Redlands
Tyree Harrison, Cajon
Justin Long, Rancho Cucamonga
Tyler Makieg, Lake Arrowhead Christian
Justin Malan, Victor Valley
Eric Marshall, Arroyo Valley
Kenneth Morgan, Summit
J.J. O'Brien, Alta Loma
Chris Powell, Upland
Jamari Simmons, Cajon
Cameron Upshire, San Gorgonio
Pascual Valadez, Montclair
David Wedge, Kaiser
Kendall Williams, Los Osos
Coach: Steve Hickey, Summit

The rosters for the San Bernardino-Riverside All-Star Basketball game to be held April 14 at 6 p.m. at Cajon High School

San Bernardino
Ashley Watkins, Silverado
Haley White, Colony
Dreanna Underwood, Redlands East Valley
Joirdan Jones, Los Osos
Alyssa Domingo, Summit
April Fultz, Eisenhower
Ariel Marsh, Ayala
Katie Anderson, Los Osos
Kristal Bevely, Upland
Maiya Michel, Summit
Rhema Gardner, Ayala
Angela Weber, Ayala
Jasmine Ray, San Bernardino
Rahdanae Taylor, Eisenhower
Shelby Kaenel, Redlands East Valley
Brittney Neeley, Redlands
Teonna Campbell, Colony
Deandre Ferguson, San Bernardino
Coach: Mel Sims, Ayala

Riverside
Crystal Deedas, La Sierra
Melissa Rivera, Paloma Valley
Ambria White, Moreno Valley
Kelsey Beard, Centennial
Candyce Matthews, King
Janelle Flores, Palm Springs
Desiree Jackson, Vista Del Lago
Jazmine Zamora, Greak Oak
Joanna Hernandez, Beaumont
Heather Wohlk, Arlington
Dynese Adams, Vista Murrieta
Stephanie Bryant, Jurupa Valley
Jasmine Lister, Santiago
Ashley Carter, Arlington
Shawlina Segovia, North
Tacoya Tyler, Vista Del Lago
Cinnamon Lister, Santiago
Kerad Natividad, Citrus Hill
Natalie Chafeh, Notre Dame
Cebrina Johnson, Santiago
Amber Smith, Canyon Springs
Christine Pascua, Notre Dame
Coach: John Perez, Santiago

Here's the female hoopster version. No MVPs or coaches of the year, but plenty of recognized talent in the county.

Division 1-AA
First Team
Teonna Campbell, Colony, Sr.
Jada Blackwell, Etiwanda, Sr.

Second Team
Kori Walker, Cajon, Jr.
Jasmine Bernard, Etiwanda, Sr.
Janae Sharpe, Rialto, Jr.

Division 1-A
First Team
Jillian Alleyne, Ayala, So.
Krishawn Tillett, Ayala, Sr.
Briana Baker, Rancho Cucamonga, Jr.
Ana Brodie, Summit, So.
Adrienne Thomas, Summit, Sr.

Second Team
Ariel Marsh, Ayala, Sr.
Ericka Norman, Chino Hills, Sr.
Casey Zinn, Chino Hills, Jr.
Erica Evans, Rancho Cucamonga, So.
Ashley Weissman, Summit, So.

Division 2-AA
Second Team
Jashae Lee, Sultana, Jr.

Division 2-A
Second Team
Jasmine Ray, San Bernardino, Sr.

Division 3-AA
Second Team
April Fultz, Eisenhower, Sr.

Division 3-A
First Team
Nisha Barrett, Barstow, Sr.

Second Team
Cherrelle Green, Barstow, Sr.

Division 4-A
Second Team
Irie Engesser, Twentynine Palms, Sr.

Division 5-AA
Second Team
Danielle Dirksen, Ontario Christian, Jr.

Division 5-A
Second Team
Stevie Goldstein, Aquinas, Sr.

Division 6-AA
First Team
Breanna McCloud, Hesperia Christian, Sr.

Second Team
Cassie Morris, Victor Valley Christian, So.

Division 6-A
First Team
Lara Richmond, Apple Valley Christian, Sr.
Maya Machler, Lake Arrowhead Christian, Jr.

Second Team
Julia Giacopuzzi, Lake Arrowhead Christian, Jr.

Before I start I want to apologize for not posting in the past week. Had a death in the family, so I was out of town on personal business. So I have some catching up to do.

Here are the local all-CIF boys basketball players. Eisenhower dominated the 2-A superlatives, with Alex Varner, Kirby Gardner and Steve Johnson all being honored.

Division 1-AA
First Team
Byron Wesley, Etiwanda, Jr.
Kendall Williams, Los Osos, Sr.
John Gilliam, Upland, Jr.

Second Team
Jordan Daniels, Etiwanda, Jr.
Khalil Kelly, Los Osos, Sr.
Christopher Powell, Upland, Sr.

Division 1-A
First Team
Tyree Harrison, Cajon, Sr.
Derek Brown, Chino Hills, Sr.
Evan Brooks, Colony, Sr.

Second Team
Julian Caldwell, Colony, Sr.
Justin Long, Rancho Cucamonga, Sr.

Division 2-AA
First Team
J.J. O'Brien, Alta Loma, Sr.
Ken Morgan, Summit, Sr.

Second Team
Zeke DeBlase, Victor Valley, Jr.

Division 2-A
Players of the Year: Alex Varner, Eisenhower, Sr. and Kirby Gardner, Eisenhower, Sr.
Coaches of the Year: Steve Johnson, Eisenhower and Marc Hart, Baldwin Park

Second Team
Bryan Bock, Eisenhower, Sr.
Devonte Chattman, San Bernardino, Sr.

Division 3-AA
Second Team
Keauyon Fields, Apple Valley, Sr.

Division 5-AA
Second Team
Zack Cruz, Loma Linda Academy, Sr.
Sammy Santillano, Western Christian, Sr.

Division 5-A
First Team
Courtland Wharton, Aquinas, Jr.

Second Team
Joey Szczepanski, Bloomington Christian, Sr.

Division 6-AA
First Team
Chris Maeerzluft, Hesperia Christian, Sr.
Eric O'Brien, Hesperia Christian, So.

Second Team
Josh Ford, Hesperia Christian, Sr.

Division 6-A
Second Team
Kyle Franklin, Public Safety Academy, Jr.

Sultana made the clean sweep in Division 4, grabbing the Offensive Player of the Year (Brianna Gonzalez), Defensive Player of the Year (Mayra Diaz) and Coach of the Year (Danny Polmounter) honors. It's good to be the two-time defending division champs.

Plenty of county boys soccer players were recognized by the CIF-SS offices when the all-CIF soccer teams were unveiled earlier today. But Oak Hills junior forward Juan Nuno went the extra mile, earning Offensive MVP honors for the Bulldogs, who advanced to the Division 6 finals in their inaugural year. Oak Hills coach Darren Goodman was also named coach of the year.

These were e-mailed to me last Thursday by Arroyo Valley athletic director Matt Howell, but I was in Las Vegas and out of e-mail access. Plus, my typing could have been ugly after spending afternoons at various sportsbooks watching my brackets spontaneously combust.

So I apologize for the delay and here they are.

Yucaipa won its semifinal game of the Sal Pointe Classic in Tucson, Arizona on Thursday night, beating Burbank 6-4 in a game that was reported after our deadline.
Yucaipa overcame six errors as Kevin Davidson (3-0) allowed only one earned run in six innings and went 2-for-4 with three RBIs at the plate.
Yucaipa plays in Friday's championship game against Tucson Canyon del Oro at 7 p.m. Canyon del Oro is 12-0 on the season and is currently ranked eighth in Arizona and second in its division by maxpreps.com. Sounds like it will be a second straight good test for the Thunderbirds, who crushed opponents in the early part of the tournament en route to the semifinals.

There are new CIF divisions in all sports, as has been posted here by TJ Berka, but I thought I'd mention wrestling. By the way, there is still an appeals process that takes place in April, so it's not all a done deal.

In Dual meet wrestling, Bloomington won the D6 title this year and I don't know if that weighed into it, but it's probably only appropriate that the Sunkist League moves up to D5.
The San Andreas League moves up from D4 to D3, and I don't know if that's entirely warranted, while the Citrus Belt remains in D4? Most of the other county leagues stay in the same dual meet divisions: Mojave River (D1), Baseline (D2), Mt. Baldy (D3), CBL and Desert Sky (D4). The Sierra is an exception, moving up from D3 to D1, which will not be easy. Of course many of the leagues have new alignments, too.

According to the CIF, the individual divisions (I'm assuming it's only the individual divisions and not the dual divisions) are comprised based on how many masters meet qualifiers a league gets over a 4-year period.
The four San Bernardino County leagues that had been in the Northern Division the last couple of years, having to go to Oxnard Pacifica (of the Pacific View) to wrestle, are being sent in different directions.
Only the Desert Sky among county leagues remains with the Pacific View. The Mojave River goes into a division in which Sultana should be a favorite. The Sunkist joins the San Andreas in another division, while the fourth league, the Mt. Baldy joins the Baseline in yet another division. The Citrus Belt League is once again alone among Inland Valley leagues in another division. It's too bad more of the local leagues can't be in the same division and wrestle locally.

The last region is the South, which could go a million ways. Lots of name teams in this region.

Overall theme:
Is Duke back to being Duke? The Blue Devils' name has taken a hit in recent years, as Duke hasn't been to the Final Four since 2004 and has been knocked out as a higher seed in every year since. The Blue Devils haven't had the athletic, NBA-bound 6-8 wing player in recent years like they did in their power years with Grant Hill, Corey Maggette and Luol Deng and seem to be lacking that player this year. However, Duke does have capable veteran guards and more size than its had in the recent past. Will be interesting to see if that helps.

Watch out for: No. 3 Baylor
Baylor is everyone's sleeper final four pick and for good reason, as the Bears have NBA talent and can flat out put the ball in the hoop. LaceDarius Dunn is a big guard that goes for about 20 points per game while Tweety Carter is a lightning-quick point guard. But the biggest key to Baylor's success may be 6-10 forward Ekpe Udoh, a transfer from Michigan that has added an elite defensive presence along with 13 points per game. Don't be surprised if the Bears are in Indianapolis in a couple weeks.

Stay away from: No. 4 Purdue
The Boilermakers have been dead team walking since star forward Robbie Hummel blew out his knee in late February. Prior to that, Purdue looked like a No. 1 seed and the class of the Big Ten, but since then the Boilers have lost at home to Michigan State and were bombed in the Big Ten tourney by Minnesota. They play a No. 13 seed in Siena that has pulled upsets the last two years, so there's a good chance the Boilers go down there. If not, the Texas A&M-Utah State winner should finish the job.

High risk, high reward: No. 5 Texas A&M
The Aggies have one of the better guards in the region in senior Donald Sloan and several interchangeable, physical post players that can rebound and defend. They are also tournament savvy, as A&M has won its first-round game four years in a row. Texas A&M has all the tools necessary to make a long run to the Elite 8 or even the Final Four. So why are the Aggies in this category? Because they are facing one of the more proficient 3-point shooting teams in the country in Utah State. If the USU Aggies are hot, the A&M Aggies will go home early.

Upset special: No. 9 Louisville over No. 1 Duke, second round
Obviously I'm skeptical about Duke being back to being Duke. Louisville seems woefully underseeded as a No. 9, as they defeated West Regional No. 1 Syracuse twice and won 11 games in a tough Big East. While the Cardinals are ugly at times, they have two elements that have given Duke fits in the past - height on the perimeter and athleticism everywhere. Duke is a skilled team, but not a team of greyhounds. If Louisville can dictate pace and fluster Duke with its size, its bye-bye Blue Devils.

Lead-pipe lock: The guard play will be outstanding
It's been said that the NCAA Tournament is a guard's tournament. If that's true, then the South Regional is ground zero. All the key players, Duke (Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith), Villanova (Scottie Reynolds, Corey Fisher, Corey Stokes), Baylor (Dunn and Carter), A&M (Sloan) have elite-level guards, while teams like Notre Dame (Tory Jackson) and California (Jerome Randle) have little guys that can play huge. Should be fun to watch.

Now to the East, where the youngest team in the tournament is the region's No. 1 seed.

Overall theme: Well-renowned coaches looking to get over "the hump"
The coaches of the top two seeds, Kentucky's John Calipari and West Virginia's Bob Huggins, are two of the more respected coaches in the game. They've combined to win 1,090 games and have combined for three Final Four appearances. However, neither coach has won a national title and only one (Calipari) has even been in the championship game. This year could either boost their legacies or cement them as guys who couldn't quite win the big one. Wisconsin's Bo Ryan, who has never been to a Final Four, is in a similar boat as well.

Watch out for: No. 2 West Virginia
While Huggins' teams have underachieved in the tournament in the past - last year's first-round flameout being the latest - the stars seem aligned for a long Mountaineer run this year. They are the No. 2 seed in a region where the No. 1 seed (Kentucky) has star players barely able to vote and a No. 3 seed (New Mexico) that plays in a mid-major conference. The Mountaineers have length, size, and athleticism in the forward and wing guard spots and can play a variety of styles. There's no reason for WVU not to at least make the Elite 8.

Stay away from: No. 12 Cornell
This seems kind of a copout, but the chic "12-over-5" upset pick has involved the Big Red beating No. 5 Temple. I get a bit wary when everyone jumps on an upset pick - makes me think twice about its validity. Cornell is getting its props for almost beating Kansas in December but it couldn't make it through the Ivy League unscathed, losing to conference doormat Penn at one point. Temple has 29 wins in an underrated Atlantic 10 and has plenty of athleticism on the perimeter. Don't see the Ivy League kids winning this one.

High risk, high reward: The Washington-Marquette winner
Another kind of goofy pick, but the winner of the 11-6 matchup between the Huskies and the Golden Eagles are set up for a run into the second weekend. Marquette is guard heavy with an elite scorer in forward Lazar Hayward - two things that tend to work in the favor of teams in the tourney. Washington also has an elite scoring forward in Quincy Pondexter and a point guard that pushes tempo well in Isaiah Thomas. Whoever wins this game can beat New Mexico in round two and give West Virginia a run, but picking the winner is a crapshoot to say the least.

Upset special: No. 10 Missouri over No. 7 Clemson
Another weak 10-7 call, but there aren't any other upsets that I think are compelling. Not into Wofford over Wisconsin in the 13-4, already have discussed the 12-5 and 11-6 games, etc. Mizzou coach Mike Anderson's up-tempo, "40 Minutes of Hell" approach has yielded dividends in the past, getting UAB to the Sweet 16 as a nine-seed in 2004 and getting the Tigers to the Elite 8 a year ago. Oliver Purnell, on the other hand, as seen Clemson lose in the first round as a higher seed two years in a row, as a 5 to Villanova in '08 and as a 7 to Michigan last year. I'm feeling a hat trick.

Lead-pipe lock: There will be some fun basketball played in games not involving Wisconsin.
Between the up-tempo teams that I've mentioned early in this thread to the spectacle that Kentucky freshmen John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins create with their soon-to-be-NBA-lottery-picks skill, this will be fun. Kentucky has the most talent in the region, but their youth could hold them back from getting to the Final 4. As for the Badgers, watch at your own risk.

The division shifts in football got most of the attention by the CIF-Southern Section on Monday, but several other powerful local teams in other sports were impacted by the changes.

One of the teams most impacted was the Redlands East Valley girls volleyball team. The three-time defending CIF-SS champions are being bumped up a class from Division 2-AA to 1-A. The Baseline and Citrus Belt leagues were bumped up in softball from Division 2 to Division 1 and the Citrus Belt was bumped up from Division 2 to Division 1 in girls soccer.

The High Desert also saw its soccer prowess recognized as two-time defending Division 4 girls champion Sultana moves into Division 3, along with CIF-State Southern California Division II regional champion Granite Hills. The boys soccer teams got a bump too, with the Mojave River League moving up to Division 4 and the Desert Sky League going to Division 5.

Harold Strauss might not be done as football coach at Colton High School after all.

Strauss, who retired this past season to take on full-time duties as athletic director, is thinking seriously about throwing his hat back in the ring as football coach after issues arose in the hiring of his successor.

"We had 21 applicants, but we just laid off 141 teachers as a school district," Strauss said. "It's hard to hire a coach to a teaching position and justify it with that going on. It just might not be the right time to leave this position."

The Colton Unified School District is redrafting the ad for the position. Depending on the verbiage of the position, Strauss said he's "70-30" in favor of reapplying.

"I think I would have to reapply because the job has already been flown, but I don't know for sure," Strauss said. "Depending on what the school district releases, I'm interested in coming back. The new school opens in the fall of 2011 and when that happens, teaching jobs will come back and hopefully that will make things easier. But it might be a situation where an extra year or two is necessary."

A quick cheat sheet of what it will look like the next two years.

Football playoff divisions for 2010 and 2011

CENTRAL DIVISION (one at-large)
Mt. Baldy (4 teams)
San Andreas (4 teams)
Desert Valley (3 teams)
Inland Valley (4 teams)

EASTERN DIVISION (one at-large)
Desert Sky (3 teams)
Mojave River (3 teams)
Sunkist (3 teams)
Mountain Pass (3 teams)
Sunbelt (3 teams)

EAST VALLEY DIVISION (four at-large)
Ambassador (2 teams)
De Anza (2 teams)
Mountain Valley (2 teams)
Academy (2 teams)
Alpha (2 teams)
Frontier (2 teams)

INLAND DIVISION (zero at-large)
Baseline (3 teams)
Citrus Belt (3 teams)
Sierra (3 teams)
Big 8 (4 teams)
Southwestern (3 teams)

An expansion of what I blogged about last night in reference to the new football realignments. Got a hold of some coaches on the topic. This will also run in the Sun and Bulletin tomorrow.

The playoff alignments for various sports, including football, for the 2010-2012 seasons were released by the CIF-SS offices Monday, with some interesting changes in football.

The Baseline and Sierra Leagues, which were in the Central Division the last two years, will swap back into the Inland Division to play against the Citrus Belt League, the Big 8 and the Southwestern Leagues. The Inland Valley League will swap out, moving back to the Central Division with the expanded San Andreas and Mt. Baldy Leagues and the Desert Valley League, which moves up from the Eastern Division. The Sunbelt League switches places with the Desert Valley, moving into the Eastern Division.

These changes will make life tough on the Baseline League, which ripped up the Central Division in both seasons in it. Three of the four semifinalists during the last two years were Baseline teams, with the Central Division title game being an all-Baseline affair (Rancho Cucamonga over Upland in 2008 and Upland over Los Osos in 2009) both seasons.

Another change that will impact the Baseline is the zero at-large entries in the Inland Division. Considering that the Central champion this past year, Upland, was an at-large entry from the Baseline, a brutal league will become even more cutthroat.

Now we are off to the West. While the Midwest is filled with giants and the prohibitive championship favorite, the West could be, as the cliche' goes, wild.

Overall theme:
This region is pretty much a free-for-all, as the higher-seeded teams come in slumping. No. 1 Syracuse has lost its last two games, at Louisville and against Georgetown in the Big East tourney, and might be without center Arinze Onuaku. No. 2 Kansas State struggled a bit down the stretch, losing to Kansas twice and at home to Iowa State. No. 3 Pittsburgh lost its Big East tourney opener to Notre Dame while Vanderbilt was eliminated early in the SEC tourney. You get the picture.

Watch out for: No. 7 BYU
The Cougars have suffered their share of heartbreak in the tourney over the years, as Danny Ainge's miracle shot against Notre Dame in 1981 is the last time they went to the Sweet 16 - until this year perhaps. BYU has perhaps the best pure scorer in the field in Jimmer Fredette and a first-round game against a questionable Florida team. With shaky Kansas State in the second round, BYU has a good chance to make it to the Sweet 16 in its backyard of Salt Lake City. Should the Cougars make it there, they could be a Cinderella Final Four squad.

Stay away from: No. 4 Vanderbilt
The last time the Commodores were a No. 4 seed was just two years ago, when they were embarrassed by Siena in the first round. Vanderbilt comes into this tournament limping a bit, and a 30-4 Murray State team is hardly the pushover that it was hoping for in a No. 13 seed. Vandy could lose right away and if it doesn't, it will have its hands full with the Butler-UTEP winner. I wouldn't put too many sawbucks on the 'Dores right now.

High risk, high reward: No. 9 Florida State
The Seminoles haven't won a tournament game since 1998 and their first-round game is no picnic, as they draw tournament veteran Gonzaga. However, the Seminoles have a lot of size, especially in the interior, and play defense more like a Big Ten team than an ACC one. With a Syracuse team of questionable health looming if it beats Gonzaga, don't be shocked if FSU is still standing in the Round of 16.

Upset special: No. 12 UTEP over No. 5 Butler, first round
I could have gone a million ways with this one. I've hinted at a couple of the other possibilites (Murray State over Vanderbilt, FSU over Syracuse, BYU over Kansas State), leaving this upset as the winner. UTEP boatraced Conference USA this year, going 15-1 in the conference behind guard Randy Culpepper, who averaged nearly 20 points per game. Butler did the same in the lesser Horizon League, but mid-majors with major seeds tend to have uneven results (see Drake, 2008). Add that to the 12-5 upset phenomenon that tends to happen and there ya go.

Lead-pipe lock: Pittsburgh will make it to the Sweet 16
The No. 3-seeded Panthers are a steady force in this wildly unpredictable bracket, as they have made it to the tournament's second week five times since 2002. Pitt is physical down low, has athletically erratic guard play and a wing player that can jump out of the gym. It's pretty much the same every year. They don't make it past the Sweet 16 often, as last year was the first in their current run, but they are good until then. You can pick Pitt a couple rounds and feel pretty secure about it.

As some of you know, every March I go absolutely crazy when it comes to the NCAA Tournament. Kind of a weird field this year without defending champion North Carolina, UCLA, Arizona (first miss since 1984) and UConn. However, it's literally my favorite time of the year and I'll do my annual region-by-region breakdown. These are for recreational use only, but if you are tempted, I make a profit on my tourney pools a year ago.
Now to the Midwest Region:

Overall theme:
Coaching heavyweights everywhere. In this region alone, there are four coaches - Bill Self (No. 1 Kansas), Gary Williams (No. 4 Maryland), Tom Izzo (No. 5 Michigan State) and Steve Fisher (No. 11 San Diego State) that have won national titles while four others - Thad Matta (No. 2 Ohio State), John Thompson III (No. 3 Georgetown), Lon Kruger (No. 8 UNLV) and Paul Hewitt (No. 10 Georgia Tech) - have led their teams to the Final Four. Half of these coaches have coached on the sport's biggest stage, so don't expect much in the way of jitters.

Just got the e-mail on this from Redlands athletic director Ken Morse. The player of the year wasn't really a surprise, as Eisenhower senior guard Alex Varner - the "closer" in many of Ike's victories this year - won MVP honors.

As for other leagues in the area, please send all-league basketball and soccer teams to tj.berka@inlandnewspapers.com or sports@inlandnewspapers.com.

Most Valuable Player: Alex Varner, Eisenhower, G, Sr.

FIRST TEAM
Bryan Bock, Eisenhower, Sr.
Kirby Gardner, Eisenhower, Sr.
Bernard Ireland, Eisenhower, Jr.
Darius Batts, Miller, Sr.
Marcus Davis, Redlands, Sr.
Matt Green, Redlands, Sr.
Paulin Mpawe, Redlands East Valley, Jr.
Terrell Todd, Redlands East Valley, Jr.
Jonathan Redman, Rialto, Sr.
Cole Hauso, Yucaipa, Sr.
Taijuan Walker, Yucaipa, Sr.

Bloomington swept the superlatives here, as senior goalkeeper Chelsea Lesniak was named Most Valuable Player while head coach Rosa Quiroz won coach of the year.

SUPERLATIVES
Most Valuable Player: Chelsea Lesniak, Bloomington, GK, Sr.
Coach of the Year: Rosa Quiroz, Bloomington

FIRST TEAM
Katherine Bathgate, Bloomington, F, Sr.
Jennifer Espinoso, Bloomington, F, Sr.
Jasmine Medina, Bloomington, D, Jr.
Tanya Velasquez, Bloomington, MF, Jr.
Clarissa Contreras, Jurupa Valley, MF, Jr.
Becky Finn, Jurupa Valley, D, Sr.
Silvia Sanchez, Jurupa Valley, MF, Sr.
Francesca Escobedo, Kaiser, D, Jr.
Emma Martinez, Kaiser, MF, Sr.
Priscilla Martinez, Kaiser, D, Sr.
Lilla Torres, Norte Vista, D, So.
Audrey Correra, Patriot, MF, Sr.
Melissa Johnson, Patriot, MF, Sr.
Briana McCarthy, Patriot, D, Sr.
Jennifer Summerville, Patriot, F, Sr.
Elizabeth Amado, Summit, F, Sr.
Brittney Bravo, Summit, F, So.
Carina Perez, Summit, D, Sr.
Emily Perez, Summit, D, Sr.

Pretty heavy action in Division 2, where defending champion Etiwanda is ranked No. 1, with Redlands, Los Osos and Yucaipa closely behind.

Division 2
1. Etiwanda
2. Vista Murrieta
3. Redlands
4. Los Osos
5. Beckman
6. Yucaipa
7. Lakewood
8. Canyon Springs
9. Laguna Hills
10. La Mirada

Anyone who has an all-area team for basketball or soccer, feel free to e-mail it to tj.berka@inlandnewspapers.com or sports@inlandnewspapers.com. We want to start running them on the blog ASAP.

What a difference a week makes. After losing to Sultana in the CIF-SS Division 4 title game, Granite Hills captured the Division II Southern California Regional championship with a 2-1 victory over Irvine Beckman.

Correspondent Brian Baiotto was on the scene at Warren High School and reported that Kristine Pasek scored two early goals to pave the way for the Cougars, who finally broke through in a title game after several near-misses in CIF and regional championship games in recent years.

Granite Hills defeated both the CIF-SS Division 2 champion (Harvard-Westlake) and runner-up (Beckman), along with the CIF-Central Section Division III champion (Clovis North) to grab the title.

Now we are down to 3 - Eisenhower boys basketball, Summit girls basketball and Granite Hills girls soccer. The latter two pulled off upsets, with Summit winning at Corona Santiago and Granite Hills upsetting CIF-SS Division 2 champion Harvard-Westlake.

BOYS BASKETBALL
Division I
Quarterfinals
Mater Dei 88, Rancho Verde 48
Taft 66, Leuzinger 63
Long Beach Poly 67, Etiwanda 64
Westchester 73, Santa Monica 64

Division II
Quarterfinals
Eisenhower 76, Liberty 57
Compton 69, Hoover 53
Pasadena 49, Murrieta Valley 43
Lincoln 72, Summit 67

Semifinals
Compton at No. 1 Eisenhower
Pasadena at No. 2 Lincoln

GIRLS BASKETBALL
Division I
Quarterfinals
Long Beach Poly 81, Stockdale 50
Summit 63, Santiago 58
Santa Monica 59, Canyon Springs 56
Clovis West 65, San Diego 59

Semifinals
Summit at No. 1 Long Beach Poly
No. 3 Santa Monica at No. 2 Clovis West

Division III
Quarterfinals
Santa Margarita 42, Buena 39
Bishop Amat 70, Agoura 61
Inglewood 46, Muir 41
Mt. Miguel 64, Barstow 40

GIRLS SOCCER
Division II
Semifinals
Beckman 3, Coronado 2 (OT)
Granite Hills 2, Harvard-Westlake 1

Championship
Beckman vs. Granite Hills, 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Downey Warren HS

One of the more notable basketball coaches in the county is stepping down, as Redlands boys basketball coach Brad Scott announced his retirement Wednesday night at the Terriers' postseason banquet. Scott took over the Terriers in 2001 and has won at least 20 games a season for the past seven seasons, including a 20-7 mark this past season.

Kevin Trudgeon's article in the Daily Facts can be accessed here. In working with Scott the last three seasons, I always found him to be extremely accessible and friendly, win or lose. The next coach at Redlands will definitely have some sizable shoes to fit into.

The search for new football coaches at Colton and Yucaipa High Schools are in a bit of a holding pattern as the schools approach their upcoming spring breaks.

Colton, which is replacing Harold Strauss -- who was bumped up to athletic director over the summer -- hoped to have Strauss' successor picked by now, but logistical concerns within the school district has pushed the timetable back a bit.

"We are waiting for the district to give us approval to go ahead with the interviews," Strauss said. "We have 7-10 guys that we will probably choose from, but we just are waiting for the school district to give the go-ahead before we proceed further.
"I just hope we get it done soon. We aren't that far away from spring practice and if we bring in a coach from the outside, we'll need that time to learn the new system."

Yucaipa's search to replace John Hallenbeck, who was let go last month after two years on the job, isn't quite as far along, as athletic director Mark Anderson is still accepting applications for the position.

"Right now, we are considering the position as 'open until filled,'" Anderson said. "We don't want to put a time limit on applications because with this economy, you don't want to shut anyone out. We have a good job here and we want to make sure we get the best candidates possible."

Anderson added that he expected to have a better idea of what direction Yucaipa would go in toward the end of the month.

This is what we have from the games last night. Summit High School is chugging along nicely in both boys and girls basketball, while Granite Hills stayed alive in girls soccer. Both sports resume their playoffs Thursday.

BOYS BASKETBALL
Division I
First Round
Mater Dei 90, Buchanan 65
Rancho Verde 56, Rancho Bernardo 40
Leuzinger 91, Washington Prep 72
Taft 66, Loyola 65
Etiwanda 67, El Camino 58
Long Beach Poly 87, Crenshaw 62
Santa Monica 67, Clovis East 65
Westchester 77, Colony 42

Quarterfinals
Rancho Verde at Mater Dei, 7:30 p.m.
Leuzinger at Taft
Long Beach Poly at Etiwanda
Santa Monica at Westchester

Division II
First Round
Liberty 69, Mark Keppel 49
Compton 67, San Joaquin Memorial 63
Hoover 53, Damien 48
Murrieta Valley 61, Burbank 36
Pasadena 64, University 44
Summit 67, San Pedro 64

Quarterfinals
Liberty at Eisenhower
Compton at Hoover
Pasadena at Murrieta Valley
Summit at Lincoln

GIRLS BASKETBALL
Division I
First Round
Long Beach Poly 71, Washington Prep 27
Stockdale 78, Carson 72
Summit 62, Ayala 52
Santiago 68, Poway 55
Santa Monica 54, Narbonne 39
Canyon Springs 72, Etiwanda 62
San Diego 43, Troy 42
Clovis West 84, Taft 53

Quarterfinals
Stockdale at Long Beach Poly
Summit at Santiago
Canyon Springs at Santa Monica
San Diego at Clovis West

Division III
First Round
Santa Margarita 71, Monroe 46
Buena 67, Birmingham 46
Bishop Amat 72, Academy OLP 57
Agoura 83, Clovis North 40
Inglewood 70, Tulare 19
Muir 52, Frontier 38
Barstow 73, Ridgeview 62
Mt. Miguel 47, Orange Lutheran 46

Quarterfinals
Buena at Santa Margarita, 6 p.m.
Bishop Amat at Agoura
Muir at Inglewood
Barstow at Mt. Miguel, 6 p.m.

GIRLS SOCCER
Division I
Quarterfinals
Buchanan 2, Sultana 0
San Clemente 1, El Camino Real 0
La Costa Canyon 2, Riverside King 1
Esperanza 2, Rancho Buena Vista 1 (OT)

Division II
Quarterfinals
Coronado 5, Sierra Vista 0
Beckman 2, West Hills 2 (Beckman wins PKs 3-2)
Granite Hills 2, Clovis North 0
Harvard-Westlake 11, Belmont 0

Semifinals
Beckman at Coronado
Granite Hills at Harvard-Westlake

While the county boys soccer teams were shut out of the SoCal regional brackets, the combatants in the Division 4 girls championship made the cut. D4 champion Sultana made the Division 1 bracket, where it'll play Buchanan at 4 p.m. Tuesday at Tice Park or Lamonica Stadium in Clovis. Granite Hills qualified in D2, where it'll also head to Clovis to play Clovis North Tuesday. The game will be at Tice Park or Clovis West HS.

Semifinals will be played Thursday with the championship being played Saturday at Downey Warren High School.

Division 1
Sultana at Buchanan
San Clemente at El Camino Real
Riverside King at La Costa Canyon
Rancho Buena Vista at Esperanza

Division 2
Sierra Vista at Coronado
Beckman at West Hills
Granite Hills at Clovis North
Belmont at Harvard-Westlake

The girls basketball state playoffs locally will be centered on Division 1, with Ayala, Summit and Etiwanda all qualifying. The Bulldogs and SkyHawks will be playing Tuesday at Summit High School while Etiwanda plays at D1-A No. 1 seed Canyon Springs.

Barstow also qualified in Division 3, where it will play at Bakersfield Ridgeview.

Division 1
Washington Prep at No. 1 Long Beach Poly
Stockdale at Carson
Ayala at Summit
Poway at No. 4 Corona Santiago
Narbonne at No. 3 Santa Monica
Etiwanda at Canyon Springs
Troy at San Diego
Taft at No. 2 Clovis West

Division 3
Monroe at No. 1 Santa Margarita
Buena at Birmingham
Academy OLP at Bishop Amat
Clovis North at No. 4 Agoura
Tulare at No. 3 Inglewood
Frontier at Muir
Barstow at Ridgeview
Orange Lutheran at No. 2 Mt. Miguel

Four county teams - Eisenhower, Etiwanda, Colony and Summit - qualified for the state playoffs, with defending state champion Eisenhower grabbing the No. 1 seed in Division 2. The Eagles get a bye from Tuesday's Round 1, hosting the Mark Keppel-Liberty winner in the quarterfinals Thursday.

Etiwanda is also seeded, as the CIF-SS Division 1-AA runner-up Eagles are the No. 3 seed in Division 1 and host El Camino Tuesday. Summit plays at San Pedro in D2 Tuesday while Colony plays at No. 2-seeded Westchester in D1 Tuesday.

Things are a bit different this year. Instead of playing out the SoCal regional this week - culminating in the SoCal championship on Saturday - the first, second and semifinals will be played this week, with a week off before the SoCal finals March 20 and the state finals March 27. Why they did this, I have no idea.

Division 1
Buchanan at No. 1 Mater Dei
Rancho Verde at Rancho Bernardo
Washington Prep at Leuzinger
Loyola at No. 4 Taft
El Camino at No. 3 Etiwanda
Long Beach Poly at Crenshaw
Santa Monica at Clovis East
Colony at No. 2 Westchester

Division 2
No. 1 Eisenhower, bye
Mark Keppel at Liberty
San Joaquin Memorial at Compton
Damien at No. 4 Hoover
Burbank at No. 3 Murrieta Valley
University at Pasadena
Summit at San Pedro
No. 2 Lincoln, bye

Still no state champions in wrestling from San Bernardino County since Rim's Ricky Turk in 2002, but the county produced five state placers on Saturday in Bakersfield: Sultana's Matt Welch (fourth, 112), Barstow's Sean Silva (fourth, 119, 2nd time placing in state), REV's Chris Mecate (fifth, 125), Oak Hills' Robert Marchese (eighth, 160, school's first-ever state placer) and Sultana's Manuel Mazariegos (7th, heavyweight).
It's the first time Sultana's had 2 state placers in the same meet. Not a bad showing. And Welch was impressive a year after he was ineligible due to grades.
I do think, however, Rialto's Giordan Porter got a raw deal in his last match. He should've been awarded a takedown with 12 seconds left, when the referee ruled him out of bounds and he ended up losing by one point.
Sometimes you need to avoid back luck and you need to get a good draw to place. Porter and Colony's Cody Dixon, 2 CIF-SS Masters champions, were both victims of that.

Oak Hills wasn't really able to make a last-minute charge, as a header attempt off a throw in the 76th minute that went wide was their best chance to tie the game. Mountain View holds on 2-1 and repeats as D6 champs while Oak Hills falls just short in an otherwise outstanding season.

The Bulldogs still have life in the D6 championship game, as Miguel Rivera's goal in the 69th minute has Oak Hills within 2-1. Rivera's goal was a rebound off a header by Sergio Romero which Mountain View keeper Oswaldo Martinez deflected. Rivera got the rebound and delivered a bullet that Martinez had no shot at.

2-1 Mountain View, 71st minute currently.

The Vikings took advantage of a corner kick in the 57th minute to take a commanding 2-0 lead over Oak Hills. Fabian Villasenor passed to Manuel Garcia off the corner, who shot the ball toward the net. Oak Hills keeper Broderic Capps saved that, and the rebound shot by Carlos Zarate, but the rebound off Zarate's shot was put in by Pablo Tellez.

2-0 Vikings, now in the 61st minute.

An own goal by Oak Hills gives Mountain View the first goal of the D6 title game in the 46th minute. A throw-in from Fabian Villasenor into the penalty box in the 46th minute was headed by Jesus Mariscal off the shoulder of Oak Hills midfielder Brett Croft into the goal, giving the Vikings the 1-0 lead.

Now in the 48th minute.

Apologize for the lateness of this post, but logistical problems delayed the game blog a bit. The first half of the Division 6 title game here at Warren High School was pretty even, with each team having one good chance in the first half. But now things are tied up 0-0 going into the second half.

The drought of no state champions from San Bernardino County will extend to eight years.
The three semifinalists from the county, all lost Saturday morning here in Bakersfield.
third-ranked Matt Welch (Sultana, 112) lost to No. 1 Alex Cisneros of Selma 4-2 in the semifinals when he was unable to get a reversal in the final seconds.
Third-ranked Sean Silva (Barstow, 119) lost to second-ranked Bryan Grubbs of La Costa Canyon 5-2 in his match.
Fourth-ranked Chris Mecate (REV, 125) lost the toughest one of all, dropping a 3-1 decision in overtime to second-ranked Chris Martinez of Fresno Clovis West.
All three are in consolation, but can now finish no higher than third.
Welch's teammate, heavyweight Manuel Mazariegos won his first match to clinch a spot among the top eight.
Oak Hills' Robert Marchese (160) became the first state placer in the first year of the school's existence, and is currently wrestling in consolation. Teammate Ray Delgado did not place.
Rialto's Giordan Porter and Colony's Cody Dixon, both hoping to become their schools' first state placers, lost their first matches Saturday and were eliminated.

Three County wrestlers made it through the first day unscathed at the CIF State Championships in Bakersfield, and will be wrestling in the semifinals Saturday morning.

Sultana senior 112-pounder Matt Welch, ranked third, will wrestle No. 1-ranked Alex Cisneros of Selma in the semifinals. Cisneros, a sophomore won 103 pounds last year.
Barstow senior 119-pounder Sean Silva won 10-0, 8-3, and 5-4. Silva, ranked third, will face second-ranked Bryan Grubbs of La Costa Canyon in the semifinals.
Redlands East Valley junior 125-pounder Chris Mecate won twice via technical fall, then 3-0 and 5-1 to advance to the semifinals. Mecate, ranked fourth, will face second-ranked Chris Martinez of Fresno Clovis West in the semifinals. On the other side of the bracket, No. 1-ranked Jesse Delgado of Gilroy has already lost.
Those are the 3 standouts from the county, but others are still alive in consolation.
Both of Oak Hills' wrestlers, Ray Delgado (112) and Robert Marchese (160) are still in consolation, needing to win their first match Saturday to make the top eight.
Sultana's five wrestlers started the day 8-0, but faltered after that. Other than Welch, however, only heavyweight Manuel Mazariegos is still alive among the five Sultans. Mazariegos won twice, lost 2-1, then won twice in consolation.
Rialto heavyweight Giordan Porter is still alive in consolation. He lost a 5-4, double-overtime match in the third round, but won via pin and 1-0 to remain alive.
Colony 160-pounder Cody Dixon is also alive, losing his first match by a 15-1 score, but maneuvering through consolation.
Others who didn't make Day 2:
San Gorgonio's Richie Cascante (didn't make weight at 112), Los Osos' Tim Maldonado (119), Sultana's Alec Smith (125), Michael Gonzalez (135) and Ryan McWatters (152), REV's Pedro Vazquez (130), Bloomington's Juan Alvarado (152), Hesperia's Chris Sloat (160), REV's Andrew Hudson (215, after finishing eighth last year).

Sultana left no doubt tonight, as Brianna Gonzalez scored twice and Britney Roberts had a goal and an assist for the victorious Sultans, who felt like this year's victory redeemed the close, penalty-kick nature of last year's triumph against Granite Hills.

"This was a lot less nerve-wracking," Sultana coach Daniel Polmounter said. "We proved a point tonight. All we've been hearing is how Granite is going to run the score up on us. We just played hard the entire time."

Granite Hills had its chances at times and was only outshot 11-9, but the Cougars fell in the title game for the third straight year. In four title-game appearances since 2006, all Granite Hills has to show for it is a split title in 2006 back when the CIF awarded two titles in the event of regulation ties.

Cougars coach Mike Bradbury didn't want to talk, instead asking Daily Press reporter Matthew Peters and I to direct the story toward Sultana. That story will be available in a couple hours online and in the paper tomorrow.

It doesn't look like Sultana will need to go to penalty kicks to win the CIF title this year, as Brianna Gonzalez scored her second goal of the game to give the Sultana a commanding 3-0 lead with 15 minutes left. The goal was the result of some pretty heavy Sultana pressure over the course of 3-4 minutes, with Gonzalez ending it off a pass from Britney Roberts.

Looks like they'll be partying in Hesperia tonight. Barring another goal, this will be my last post until the post-game wrapup.

Sultana scored in the 52nd minute to up its lead to 2-0, as Britney Roberts took a throw-in from Megan Morgenstern and powered a shot past Katy Nearhoff.

Up to that point, Granite Hills had kept the ball in the Sultana end during the second half and came up with a golden scoring opportunity in the 53rd minute immediately after the goal, as Rayna Speight had a shot at an open goal with Sultan keeper Vaitea Tahauri out of position. But Brianna Gonzalez came over and cleared the ball out of danger.

2-0 Sultana with just over 24 minutes left.

About to get going again here at Warren High with Sultana holding a 1-0 lead on Granite Hills. Granite Hills actually had a 5-4 lead on shots, with Sultana goalkeeper Vaitea Tahauri making a diving save on a BK Smith shot in the 33rd minute shortly before the Sultans scored.

After biding its time for much of the first half, Sultana struck for a goal in the 38th minute, as junior midfielder Brianna Gonzalez ended a flurry of shots on the Granite Hills goal by punching one past Cougars' keeper Katy Nearhoff.

Gonzalez's goal was the last of three rapid-fire shots at Nearhoff, which started with a shot by Brianna Johanson that was saved by Nearhoff. The rebound went to Gonzalez, who had a shot deflected by Nearhoff before scoring on the rebound. The rally was started by a cross by Kelly Keyes.

Halftime horn just sounded with the Sultans up 1-0.

Got some breaking news, so I had to break up the live game blog for a sec. But we are back.

Granite Hills has had its share of chances thus far in its scoreless Division 4 title-game matchup with Sultana, coming up with three corner kicks in the last 12 minutes. The first one, off the foot of Ashley Ibarra in the 15th minute, almost resulted in a goal, as it just flew past the head of Bree Bodiford at the left post. Kristine Pasek also an an opportunity to score again in the 14th minute for the Cougars, as she ripped a shot off the crossbar.

Sultana has not registered an official shot, but has had a couple opportunities in the Granite zone.

Now in the 29th minute.

In the latest development of the Tyler Shreve situation, sources are reporting that Shreve will be charged with misdemeanor battery for an attack on Redlands East Valley baseball coach James Cordes last Wednesday after getting kicked off from the team.

Shreve, who has signed a letter of intent to play football and baseball at the University of Utah, allegedly attacked Cordes after being removed from the Wildcat baseball team for undisclosed reasons. Shreve was arrested by sheriff's deputies after the incident and has since been expelled from REV.

Shreve's arraignment will take place on May 16. Utah is currently evaluating this situation to see whether it wants to keep Shreve on scholarship.

Granite Hills got the first real good scoring chance in the 4th minute, as Kristine Pasek had a point-blank shot on goal that Sultana goalkeeper Vaitea Tahauri stopped. Sultana had one good run at the net in the 5th minute, but didn't get a shot on goal.

12th minute now, still scoreless.

The CIF-SS Division 4 girls soccer championship match between Sultana and Granite Hills is about to kick off here in a minute at Warren High School here in Downey. This is a rematch of their epic title match a year ago which the Sultans won on penalty kicks. Definitely a spirited crowd here from the High Desert here for the rematch.

I'll be keeping up as this goes. Never live blogged a soccer match, so bear with me a bit.

Here's how the San Bernardino County wrestlers fared so far through two championship rounds at the CIF State championships in Bakersfield on Friday. Two losses on the first day and you're eliminated. Some wrestlers didn't have to wrestle until the second round.
Sultana's 5 wrestlers have not lost yet (8-0)

Matt Welch, Sultana (112)
won by pin 1:14, won by pin :28
Ray Delgado, Oak Hills (112)
won 10-2
Richie Cascante, San Gorgonio (112)
did not make weight, was eliminated
Sean Silva, Barstow (119)
won 10-0
Tim Maldonado, Los Osos (119)
won 11-6, lost 12-4
Alec Smith, Sultana (125)
won 13-4
Chris Mecate, Redlands East Valley (125)
won via tech. fall 18-3, won via tech. fall 15-0
Pedro Vazquez, REV (130)
won 6-5, lost 12-5
Michael Gonzalez, Sultana (135)
won via default, won via pin, 3:29
Juan Alvarado, Bloomington (152)
lost via pin, 2:45
Ryan McWatters, Sultana (152)
won 11-1, won 8-5
Cody Dixon, Colony (160)
lost to No. 3-ranked Bryce Hammond, 15-1
Chris Sloat, Hesperia (160)
won via pin 1:03, won 7-0
Robert Marchese, Oak Hills (160)
won 5-3
Andrew Hudson, Redlands East Valley (215)
lost to No. 6 Paul Buchanan, 3-1
Giordan Porter, Rialto (heavyweight)
won via pin in 1:46
Manuel Mazariegos, Sultana (heavyweight)
won 5-3

Not sure if this edition will run in the actual paper, so here it is.

SANTA ANA - Summit was able to overcome Santa Monica's first second-half charge in their CIF-SS Division 1-A championship game matchup Thursday at Mater Dei High School. The second was a different story.

Just finished writing on deadline - not too fun. But I probably am having more fun than Summit is right now, as the SkyHawks lost their second CIF championship game in the last three years. Free throws were the story, as Summit only made 10 of 20 while the Vikings drained 19 of 24.

Leaders
Summit
Points: Ashley Weissman 23, Adrienne Thomas 12, Alyssa Domingo 8, Brooklynn Jackson 8
Rebounds: Jackson 11, Maiya Michel 10
Assists: Thomas 4
Steals: Thomas 3
Blocked shots: Ana Brodie 2, Jackson 2.

Santa Monica
Points: Moriah Faulk 19, Thea Lemberger 16, Kristina Johnson 14, Bianka Baltizar 7
Rebounds: Baltizar 11, Faulk 9
Assists: Lemberger 3, Johnson 3
Steals: Johnson 2
Blocks: Three with 1 each.

After a tough start to the third quarter, Summit battled back with a 12-4 run to end it, moving within 3 going into the fourth. Ashley Weissman hit a key 3-pointer in the quarter, giving her 11 points. Moriah Faulk has 15 to lead Santa Monica, 10 coming in the third.

The Vikings have extended out to an 11-point lead at 48-37 with 6:18 left in the third quarter. Moriah Faulk scored six points in a row for Santa Monica.

Adrienne Thomas hit a runner as time expired in the first half, putting Summit within 3 points at halftime. The senior point guard leads the SkyHawks with 12 points while Alyssa Domingo has eight. Maiya Michel has four points and six rebounds while Brooklynn Jackson has four points and five rebounds off the bench.

Thea Lemberger scored 12 points for Santa Monica before getting in foul trouble, while Kristina Johnson added 10. The Vikings hit all four of their 3-pointers in the second quarter.

Summit just called a timeout after Moriah Faulk hit a 3-pointer in the corner to put Santa Monica up 30-24. Thea Lemberger has 14 points and three assists to lead the Vikings, while Alyssa Domingo has eight points for Summit.

Bianka Baltizar made two free throws as the first quarter completed, giving the Vikings a narrow lead. Adrienne Thomas leads Summit with four points while Ana Brodie and Brooklynn Jackson each have three rebounds. Thea Lemberger has eight points to lead Santa Monica.

Second quarter about to start.

Yep, its late and yep, deadline is going to stink because of it. But I'll try my best to keep up with the Division 1-A girls basketball championship game between Summit and Santa Monica. And the wireless signal is kind of sketchy as well. But we'll see. Tip in a few seconds.

Here's a brief look at San Bernardino County wrestlers at the State Meet, which begins Friday in Bakersfield. Check back in this space for live updates from Bakersfield as the tournament progresses:

17 total wrestlers:
5 ranked in the top eight:
Matt Welch, Sultana (No. 3, 112)
Ray Delgado, Oak Hills (No. 6, 112)
Sean Silva, Barstow (No. 3, 119)
Chris Mecate, Redlands East Valley (No. 4, 125)
Giordan Porter, Rialto (No. 6, heavyweight)

School with most wrestlers, Sultana (5): Welch, Alec Smith (125), Michael Gonzalez (135), Ryan McWatters (152), Manuel Mazariegos (heavyweight).

Facing a ranked wrestler in their first match: Colony's 160 Cody Dixon (facing No. 3), REV 215 Andrew Hudson (facing No. 6) and Mazariegos (facing No. 8).

Sophomores who qualified: Los Osos' Timmy Maldonado (119), Oak Hills' Robert Marchese (160).

Breakthrough wrestlers for their schools: Oak Hills' Delgado and Marchese (first in school history), Dixon (first in school history), Bloomington's Juan Alvarado (152), making it for the the first time in over 20 years from the school.

Toughest draw: Dixon, the CIF-SS Masters champion, faces the Central Section No. 7 wrestler, Bryce Hammond of Bakersfield, who happens to be ranked third in the state in his first match.
Also, REV's Pedro Vazquez, who would possibly have to defeat the No. 4, No. 1 and No. 3-ranked wrestlers at 130 just to make the finals.

Returning to state for second time (7):
San Gorgonio's Richie Cascante (112), Silva, Mecate (went two years ago), Hesperia's Chris Sloat (160), Hudson, Mazariegos.

Returning state placers (3): Silva, Mecate, Hudson.

Unranked wrestlers who are dark horses to place: Mazariegos (who defaulted his last 2 matches at Masters), Hudson, who would "only" likely need to defeat No. 6 and No. 5 in the state to make the semis and guarantee a place.

Best bets: Mecate and Silva. Both are returning state placers and have the ability to maneuver through difficult brackets to the finals.

Defending CIF-SS Division 2-A and CIF-State Division 2 champion Eisenhower is selling tickets on campus for Saturday's Division 2-A championship game with Pasadena, set for 12:30 p.m. at Honda Center. Interested fans can buy tickets between 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on campus. The cost is $8 for students and $13 for adults.

Six county players were honored as top 100 high school prospects in the latest issue of Baseball America. Barstow pitcher Aaron Sanchez tops the list at No. 25. Sanchez, a 6-foot-3 righthander who has verbally committed to Oregon, was also listed on the magazine's third-team Preseason High School All-America Team.

Other county players in the top 100 include Yucaipa pitcher Taijuan Walker (No. 37), former REV pitcher Tyler Shreve (No. 60), REV lefthanded pitcher Griffin Murphy (No. 61), Los Osos catcher Jake Hernandez (No. 77) and Upland pitcher Scott Frazier (No. 98).

The High Desert remains alive and well in soccer going into this weekend's CIF-SS title games, as all three remaining teams in the boys and girls playoffs are located north of the Cajon Pass.

On the girls side, Sultana and Granite Hills will get a chance to replay their classic Division 4 championship game from a year ago, which the Sultans won on penalty kicks, 7 p.m. Friday at Downey Warren High School. The Sultans advanced to the finals with a 1-0 victory over No. 1-seeded La Puente Bishop Amat Tuesday while No. 2 Granite Hills defeated Hacienda Heights Los Altos 1-0 in the semifinals.

On the boys side, No. 1-seeded Oak Hills advanced to the Division 6 championship in its inaugural season by ousting Brentwood Tuesday. After a scoreless tie in regulation, the Bulldogs won the penalty-kick round 4-1 on goals by Abel Arriola, Brett Croft, Juan Nuno and Sergio Romero. The Bulldogs will face El Monte Mountain View at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Warren HS.

In the other semifinals Tuesday, Redlands East Valley fell to Harvard-Westlake 4-0 in Division 2 girls while Malibu defeated Ontario Christian on penalty kicks 3-2 in D6 girls after the teams played to a 1-1 tie.

Here's the schedule for the basketball title games for this weekend as released by the CIF.

Thursday
Division 1-A girls: Santa Monica vs. Summit, 8:30 p.m., Mater Dei HS

Friday
Division 6-A girls: North County Christian vs. Calvary Baptist/Lake Arrowhead Christian winner, 4:15 p.m., Colony HS

Saturday
Division 2-A boys: Eisenhower vs. Pasadena, 12:30 p.m., Honda Center
Division 1-AA boys: Mater Dei vs. Etiwanda, 6:30 p.m., Honda Center