San Bernardino County wrestling highlights from Saturday

Here are some highlights for San Bernardino County schools at wrestling tournaments on Saturday.
Sultana: The Sultans took only eight wrestlers to the Megatron Tournament in L.A., and seven of them placed. Chris Mesa (106), Corey Griego (170) and Matt Williams (182) all won,  and other placers included second: Dylan Bollinger (195), third: Evaristo Sena (113) Trent Smith (126), fourth: Ryan Gonzalez (132). No team scores were available.Thanks for Sultana coach Rocky Humphrey for sending that in. I know Bloomington was there too, but I had a hard time figuring out the tpurnament web site.

Montclair: The Cavaliers took second behind Rowland at the Bishop Amat Tournament. Montclair had one champion (K. Silva, 120)  and nine placers.

Los Osos: The Grizzlies won the Damien Invitational, although it was small, only 12 varsity teams. Los Osos had seven champs, Mike Pajaro (120, lower MVP), Dustin McNicholl (126), Justus Cervantes (138), Alex Miller (145), Sebastion Salsgiver (160), Travis MacChessney (170, upper MVP), Jon Solano (182). Other county champs in the tournament were: John Odenbaugh of Grand Terrace (106), Sam Ring of Cajon (132), E. Mendez of Etiwanda (152), and Frankie Valenzuela of Fontana (220).

Victor Valley: According to the Daily Press, the Jackrabbits were second in the Las Vegas Holiday Classic, behind only San Clemente. Blake Fifer (170) was a champion for VVHS. Michael Lopez (third, 152), Efrain Velasquez (fourth, 140), Jonathan Oliveira (fifth, 160) and Hector Ruvalcaba (seventh, 120) also placed.

Oak Hills: Also according to the Daily Press, the Bulldogs were 30th out of 78 teams at the Zinken Classic in Fresno, as heavyweight Justin Gillham (fifth) and 182-pounder Anthony Hernandez (seventh) placed.

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Could you have said no to tournament offer?

In hindsight, it’s pretty easy to say you would’ve said no  to the tournament offer that fell apart for the Etiwanda boys basketball team, leaving the Eagles a tournament short this season.

Here is what happened. A guy approached Etiwanda boys basketball coach Dave Kleckner months ago, with this offer:

Continue reading “Could you have said no to tournament offer?” »

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Etiwanda beats Rancho Cucamonga for Inland Empire title: what does it mean?

Baseline League boys basketball rivals Etiwanda and Rancho Cucamonga played in the championship game of the Inland Empire Invitational on Saturday night. Etiwanda rallied in the second half to post a 67-59 victory at Miller High School.

What is the significance of this game?

In the end, it gives Etiwanda bragging rights, but the Eagles have already had that. Etiwanda has gone 47-3 in league the last five years, winning five straight outright league titles.

The teams meet for the first time Jan. 18 at Etiwanda and again Feb. 5 at Rancho Cucamonga.

Both teams will look a little different.

Continue reading “Etiwanda beats Rancho Cucamonga for Inland Empire title: what does it mean?” »

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Inland Empire Invitational box scores

Here are box scores for the third place game and championship games of the Inland Empire Invitational boys basketball tournament on Saturday. Both games were played at Miller High School.

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
RANCHO CUCAMONGA (59)
Malcolm Drumwright 24, Victor Joseph 20, Mateu Vilakazi 7, Nick Culver 3, A.J. Latu 2, Jordan McNellys 2, Jordan Naughtan 1.
ETIWANDA (67)
Kenny  Barnes 20, Dominick Alexander 17, Sheldon Blackwell 16, Tim Myles 6, Elijah Johnson 3, Delewis Johnson 3, Darryl Adigwu 2.
Rancho Cucamonga    13 25   4 17 — 59
Etiwanda                       12 21 16 18 — 67
3-pointers: Drumwright (RC) 3, Joseph (RC), Vilakazi (RC), Alexander (E), Blackwell (E), E. Johnson (E).

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Arizona boys hoops team that beat 2 county teams is sent home

Westwind Prep, a team from Phoenix, Arizona, which beat both Etiwanda and Upland in boys basketball this season, has been sent home from the Charter Oak Tournament.

Upland boys coach John McNally said he had heard CIF told Westwind to leave the Charter Oak Tournament a day after beating Upland, and CIF-SS spokesman Thom Simmons confirmed that Westwind was in  violation.

“The team sent from Westwind was not comprised of students attending full time at Westwind High School making them ineligible for competition versus CIF member schools.” Simmons wrote in an email.

There is no word yet whether Etiwanda and Upland will receive forfeit wins. Etiwanda lost to Westwind 58-56 in the Corona Centennial Tournament and Upland lost to Westwind 81-64 in the Charter Oak Tournament on Thursday.

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Boys basketball semifinal sites announced

The neutral sites for Friday’s CIF-SS boys basketball semifinal matchups were chosen Wednesday. Summit, the No. 6 seeded team in Division 2AA, will “host” No. 2 seeded Mission Viejo at 7 p.m. at Miller High School. Redlands East Valley, the No. 5 seed in the Division 1A playoffs, will play top-seeded Los Angeles Loyola at 7 p.m. at Cal State Los Angeles while Redlands Adventist Academy, the No. 3 seed in Division 6A, will play at Boron at 2:45 p.m.

The other county boys team still alive is Etiwanda, the No. 4 seed in Division 1AA. The Eagles will play No. 1 seeded Long Beach Poly Tuesday at the Anaheim Convention Center as part of doubleheader that also involves No. 3 Corona Centennial and No. 2 Santa Ana Mater Dei.

The girls basketball neutral sites for semifinal games that will be played Saturday will be decided today.

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CIF-SS boys basketball polls

Just released about an hour ago. Etiwanda stays undefeated and No. 2 in Division 1-AA.

Division 1-AA
1. Long Beach Poly
2. Etiwanda
3. Mater Dei
4. Corona Centennial
5. Montebello
6. Murrieta Valley
7. Thousand Oaks
8. Rancho Verde
9. Upland
10. Chino Hills
11. Pasadena
12. Los Osos
13. Valencia
14. Roosevelt
15. Eisenhower
16. Los Alamitos

Division 1-A
1. Aliso Niguel
2. Loyola
3. Capistrano Valley
4. Downey
5. Redlands East Valley
6. Silverado
7T. Tesoro
7T. Montclair
9. Crescenta Valley
10. Vista Murrieta
11. El Toro
12T. Fountain Valley
12T. San Clemente
14. Cajon
15. Warren
16. Rialto
Continue reading “CIF-SS boys basketball polls” »

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Cajon stuns Etiwanda in girls basketball

It was not a huge surprise that Cajon defeated Etiwanda on Friday in the championship game of the Ayala Best of the West Tournament.
After all, Cajon (16-0) is undefeated for a reason. How they did it was another matter.
Trailing 18-4 in the first quarter and 34-17 in the second, the Cowgirls figured out Etiwanda’s press and rallied, eventually taking a 63-60 victory at Ayala High School.
“We wanted to finish this year undefeated,” Cajon coach Mark Lehman said on New Year’s Eve. “Now we want to go undefeated next year.”
After Etiwanda (11-2) closed to within 63-60 on a Jada Blackwell (15 points) 3-pointer with about 20 seconds to play, Etiwanda had two more possessions. One resulted in a turnover, the other in a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer that missed everything.
Shannon Moore was impressive in the rally for Cajon, scoring 10 of her team-high 14 points in the second half. Kori Walker had 10 of her 12 in the second half, Angelica Guardado scored 12 and Sophia Bhasin scored all 10 of her points in the second half.
Etiwanda led 52-49 on a basket by Met Onogomuho (game-high 16 points) with 4:54 to play, but a 14-5 run by the Cowgirls gave them the upper hand.
Etiwanda’s efforts were hurt at the point guard position. Rachel Williams got in early foul trouble and was not as effective as usual. The other point guard, senior Angelique Bailey, suffered a partially torn meniscus in the first game of the tournament and is expected to miss another week.

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Week 8 predictions

I regressed to nonleague form this past week, missing five of the 10 feature games and nine games overall. I’m not proud of what I’ve done and how I’ve acted. Let’s move on amicably.

Upland at Rancho Cucamonga
This game is kind of a big deal. People know these teams, as they are the last two Central Division champions and are undefeated in league coming in. This matchup has gone Rancho’s way in recent history, as the Cougars have won three in a row over Upland, including that CIF championship victory in 2008. I think the Cougars are a bit more complete of a unit right now. In a month, Upland might be better, but I’ll take Rancho now and feel decent about it.
Rancho Cucamonga 31, Upland 27

Serrano at Oak Hills
This is the game in the Mojave River League, with Serrano being the big kid on the block and Oak Hills being the unafraid new kid. The Bulldogs threw it in my face last week, not only proving me wrong for picking Victor Valley, but ripping the Jackrabbits a new one. I’ll be at this game tomorrow – my inaugural Oak Hills football game – and I’m looking forward to seeing what the Bulldogs have, though I don’t think it’ll be enough.
Serrano 28, Oak Hills 17

Kaiser at Norte Vista
Another week, another Kaiser shut out, its fifth of the season. The Cats pretty much suck all the anticipation out of games by just beating the living heck out of every team they play. Norte Vista, with its 2-0 league record and physical running game featuring junior running back Ryan Ruiz, won’t be intimidated by the Cats. But intimidated or not, Kaiser is on a roll right now and doesn’t look to be stopped this week.
Kaiser 38, Norte Vista 6

Yucaipa at Miller
This is expected to decide the third playoff spot out of the Citrus Belt League eventually, though Miller is tied with REV with a 2-0 league mark. Both of these teams have extremely dangerous dual-threat quarterbacks, with Yucaipa’s Dylan Malone and Miller’s Eric Shufford making this a potentially entertaining game. The Rebels are a bit more battle-tested and a year further along in their system, factors which will come to play in what should be a good battle.
Miller 31, Yucaipa 20

Cajon at Arroyo Valley
The Cowboys come into this matchup with their swag on 10, as they went into Colton and won a huge game to take control of the San Andreas League race. But Cajon would be advised not to take this game lightly. Arroyo Valley’s offense has scuffled against most defenses with a pulse but their defense will keep this game relatively uncomfortable. I see the Cowboys winning, but not without an early scare.
Cajon 20, Arroyo Valley 14

Linfield Christian at Aquinas
The newbies from Linfield Christian have made a name for themselves in the Ambassador League, knocking off Ontario Christian last week to set up this showdown with Aquinas. Since losing to Desert Hot Springs in the opener, the Falcons have rolled off six wins in a row, ascending to No. 3 in the East Valley polls. Linfield is a quality opponent, but Aquinas has things on lock this year.
Aquinas 28, Linfield Christian 12

Granite Hills at Ridgecrest Burroughs
The Cougars threw a monkey wrench into the Desert Sky League race last week, pulling off the 8-6 upset over Silverado to move to 2-0 in league. For a school that hasn’t had much success to speak of, this is pretty heady position going into the matchup with the league favorites. So can Granite pull this off two weeks in a row? It’s defense has been awesome, but defending the Burros and third-year starting QB Derrick Dison might be a bit more difficult.
Burroughs 21, Granite Hills 12

Silverado at Apple Valley
The High Desert gets a high amount of love this week, as the aforementioned Hawks come into this nonleague matchup pretty ticked off. Not only because of the loss to Granite Hills, but the matchup with the Sun Devils, who whipped them in the playoffs last year. Both these teams should ultimately be in the playoffs, making this a possible preview. I think Silverado is going to be a little more annoyed and pull this out.
Silverado 24, Apple Valley 21

Chino at Montclair
I’m officially on the Chino bandwagon. I’ve wondered all year if the Cowboys were a mirage caused by a weak schedule, but Chino’s whipping of Colony definitely convinced me otherwise. Plus I like the prospect of a player named Promise Amadi being in headlines in our paper. Opens up a ton of possiblities. Montclair has been surprising in going 4-3, but the Cavaliers don’t have the horses to stay in this game.
Chino 45, Montclair 10

Los Osos at Etiwanda
Start with the Baseline, end with the Baseline. The loser of this game finds themselves in a pretty untenable position in a brutal league, as they’d be 1-2 and have to play one of the top two before the season ends. So yeah, this game is kind of big. Etiwanda might have the most potent offense in the county, but its defense gives up points almost as fast as its offense scores them. Los Osos will make enough stops to win this donnybrook.
Los Osos 36, Etiwanda 34

Other games of note:
Summit 56, Jurupa Valley 0
Ontario Christian 27, Western Christian 16
Glendora 38, Alta Loma 7
Redlands 45, Eisenhower 0
Redlands East Valley 49, Fontana 6
Big Bear 43, Shadow Hills 7
Twentynine Palms 38, Desert Mirage 0
Desert Hot Springs 30, Yucca Valley 15
Victor Valley 28, Barstow 6
Hesperia 17, Sultana 13
Citrus Valley 28, Jurupa Hills 9
Rim of the World 27, Banning 20
Don Lugo 23, Chaffey 18
Ontario 30, Garey 21
Colton 60, Pacific 0
Carter 35, San Bernardino 10
San Gorgonio 20, Rialto 9
Claremont 42, Ayala 14
Chino Hills 31, South Hills 6
Bloomington 20, Patriot 10
Arrowhead Christian 18, Calvary Murrieta 7
Bloomington Christian 26, Saddleback Valley Christian 14

Last week: 21-9
Overall: 175-66-3

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