November 2008 Archives

No. 4 seed Mira Costa tops Warren, 28-14, in a CIF Southern Section Western Division quarterfinal and El Segundo tops St. Joseph of Santa Maria, 24-20, in a CIF-SS Northwest Division game. Both advance to semifinal games next week, either Friday or Saturday.

Alemany eliminated Culver City, 31-15, in a Northwest Division game.

Mira Costa leads Warren, 14-7 ... Alemany is blanking Culver City, 24-0. No updates yet on Serra or El Segundo.

Top-seeded Narbonne built a 35-14 lead, then held on for a 45-35 victory over No. 9 seed Birmingham that sends the Gauchos (11-1) to next week's L.A. City Section semifinals. Narbonne is likely to host No. 4 seed Crenshaw.

Second-seeded San Pedro also improved to 11-1 with a 31-0 rout of No. 7 seed Venice at San Pedro High. San Pedro will host No. 3 seed Taft in next week's L.A. City Section semifinals.

Taft (11-1) is led by USC-bound running back D.J. Morgan. The junior put on a show Wednesday despite wet, muddy conditions, rushing for 176 yards and four touchdowns on 23 carries and adding 62 yards receiving in a 40-17 victory over visiting San Fernando.

Taft's only loss is to unbeaten Serra, the No. 2 seed in the CIF Southern Section's Northwest Division.

Top seed Narbonne was leading its L.A. City Section semifinal game with ninth-seeded Birmingham, 35-14, at halftime, at Narbonne High. Josh Moten had passed for 135 yards and rushed for 61, and Melvin Davis had a pair of touchdown runs for the Gauchos.

Both teams fumbled twice in the first half, but Narbonne recovered both of its drops. Birmingham lost both of its fumbles and was held to just 18 yards of offense in a first quarter dominated by Narbonne (10-1).

Word through the grapevine had No. 2 seed San Pedro (10-1) leading No. 7 seed Venice, 14-0, in its City semifinal.

Santa Margarita def. Mira Costa, 23-25, 25-23, 19-25, 25-22, 23-21.

Mira Costa held a 10-5 lead in the fifth game. Heartbreaker for the Mustangs. Falyn Fonoimoana had 33 kills.

Santa Margarita forces a fifth and decisive game with a 25-22 victory in Game 4. Kylie Hargreaves is playing like a player possessed for Santa Margarita with 18 kills.

This game has been pressure packed the entire match. A great final.

And who restored order? Falyn Fonoimoana, of course. She scored Mira Costa's final five points in a 25-19 victory in Game 3 for a 2-1 lead in games. She has 22 kills and is playing like a champion.

Mira Costa never trailed in Game 3 after storming to an 8-2 lead, but it was never comfortable until Fonoimoana's final barrage.

Sheridan Taylor is also playing well in the middle.

Does Mira Costa have that killer instinct champions possess? We'll soon see.

Santa Margarita is proving to be a formidable opponent for Mira Costa, taking a close second game, 25-23, in a game where there were 16 ties and seven lead changes.

Falyn Fonoimoana, of course, is the leader for Mira Costa with 10 kills at this point. But she's being matched by Santa Margarita's Kylie Hargreaves, who also has 10 kills and is certainly holding her own.

Mira Costa wins its first game, 25-23, over Santa Margarita in the CIF Southern Section Division I-AA girls volleyball finals, but not without some drama.

Mira Costa blew a 17-10 lead and faced a 23-20 deficit before rattling off the final five points of the game, capped by a clutch ace from Emma White.

One thing's for sure: Santa Margarita is game to compete with the South Bay's juggernaut.

The first round of the CIF Southern Section playoffs was not particularly kind to the South Bay as only four of the 10 playoff teams survived the first round. Even fourth-seeded North Torrance was dismissed from the playoffs.

Kudos to John White for managing 128 yards against Oaks Christian. Give credit to El Segundo for a nice road win, and Serra and Mira Costa took care of business as seeded teams.

On Friday, here are the quarterfinal matchups:
Warren at Mira Costa, 7:30 p.m.
Verbum Dei at Serra, 7:30 p.m.
St. Joseph/Santa Maria at El Segundo, 7:30 p.m.
Culver City vs. Alemany, 7:30 p.m.

Here are the final scores from Friday:

Western Division

Palmdale 28, Redondo 14
Mira Costa 13, Eastside 12
Lynwood 15, Peninsula 14
Culver City 25, Downey 7

Northwest Division

Oaks Christian 64, South Torrance 14
Harvard-Westlake 45, Bishop Montgomery 7
Morro Bay 48, North Torrance 37
El Segundo 42, Santa Clara 0
Serra 47, Templeton 22

Northeast Division

Boron 72, Animo 7

Here's the first round scores from the L.A. City Championships:

No. 2 seed San Pedro improved to 10-1 with a 34-3 rout of Sylmar in an L.A. City Section Championships opener in San Pedro.

Banning (4-6) knew it would have its hands full with No. 4 seed Crenshaw (7-2) in its opener and that was indeed the case. ... the Pilots lost, 42-6. Crenshaw returned two kickoffs for touchdowns.

No final score reported for Narbonne yet, but safe to assume the top-seeded Gauchos will advance ... No. 10 seed Carson led, 14-12, at halftime at No. 7 seed Venice.

No. 10 seed Carson has a 14-12 lead at No. 7 seed Venice in an L.A. City Section Championships playoff opener. The Colts scored offensive and defensive in the first quarter, getting a 45-yard Justin Alo-to-Morrell Presley touchdown pass and a 10-yard fumble return for a touchdown as well. Presley's touchdown included a brilliant move after the catch to shake a pair of Venice defenders.

The Colts are winning despite a slew of penalties (10 flags, 85 yards). Venice has been flagged three times for 30 yards.

Torrance golfers Jane Rah and Demi Runas enjoyed a memorable week.

First, they helped the Torrance girls golf team win the CIF state title. Now they have officially signed with their respective colleges, capping off what is sure to be a dream week of every high school athlete.

Rah is headed to Oklahoma State, which is perenially a top collegiate power. Runas will be joining UC Davis.

In the picture, Rah is proudly donning her Oklahoma State shirt and Runas her UC Davis sweatshirt at Wednesday's official signing ceremony at Torrance High. They are surrounded by their coaches and teammates, and the CIF state trophy certainly adds to the elegance of the ceremony.

Marshall Jones has stepped down after serving 11 years as Gardena's football coach, Jones confirmed Tuesday.

Jones finished his career with a 59-65-1 record, but was just 2-18 in the last two years and 0-10 in the Marine League during that time.

"I just burned out," Jones said. "I came to the realization that -- as much as I love this job and that this was the only job I've ever wanted -- if I kept going, I'd hate what I was doing. I didn't want to get to that point."

Jones, a Gardena alum, had a pair of second-place finishes in the cutthroat Marine League, including a 2002 semifinal run in the L.A. City Section Championships. He also won a 2000 City Invitational title. He won a Metro League title in his four years at University before Gardena.

Jones said he will remain a P.E. teacher at Gardena because "I still have to pay the bills" and said he will look into whether he wants to continue coaching after a year away.
Jones said he never recovered following his mother's midseason death in 2005.

"It takes a lot of energy and drive to do this job," Jones said. "I thought after that year, I was OK. My life was OK, and I'd dealt with the passing, but recovering that energy has been a problem since then. Ultimatedly I don't feel I was doing the job to the standards I hold for myself."

Jones, 46, said he has been coaching since he was 19 years old and said he felt good about what he was able to accomplish at Gardena.

"I think one way of measuring  a program as a coach is to ask whether it is in better shape than when you first took over," Jones said. "In many ways, it is. We've won our share of games, and I think we got the program back to where it is a (upper-division) playoff team is a success.

"To come back to my alma mater and to coach against some of the great coaches in this league has been a great experience. And this has been by far one of the best leagues in the City year in and year out.

"I'm proud of what I've done, but I wish I had the drive to keep going."

What a day for the Marine League football teams.

Narbonne and San Pedro grabbed the top two seeds in the L.A. City Section Championships, the Marine League was voted the City's toughest and a record five teams made the upper-bracket for the league, including left-for-dead Washington, which got a raw deal against Banning in the regular-season finale.

Below are the first-round matchups that begin Thursday. Watch for the Southern Section seeds tomorrow.

L.A. CITY SECTION CHAMPIONSHIPS
First round
Thursday, 7 p.m.

No. 16 Washington (5-5) at No. 1 Narbonne (9-1); No. 9 Birmingham (5-5) at No. 8 Garfield (6-4); No. 12 Fremont (6-4) at No. 5 Jordan (6-4); No. 13 Banning (4-6) at No. 4 Crenshaw (7-2).

No. 14 Locke (5-4) at No. 3 Taft (9-1); No. 11 Dorsey (7-3) at No. 6 San Fernando (7-3); No. 10 Carson (5-5) at No. 7 Venice (5-5); No. 15 Sylmar (7-3) at No. 2 San Pedro (9-1).

Congratulations to Narbonne, Serra, Mira Costa and Culver City for clinching league titles. Watch for L.A. City Section brackets on Saturday and CIF Southern Section brackets on Sunday.

 

Friday, Nov. 14

L.A. City Section
MARINE LEAGUE
Narbonne 26, Carson 0
San Pedro 35, Gardena 0
Banning 22, Washington 20 (game called w 1:23 left, darkness rule; Washington had third-and-10 at the Banning 11)

WESTERN LEAGUE
Venice 24, Westchester 12

CIF Southern Section
BAY LEAGUE
Mira Costa 23, Redondo 6
Peninsula 7, Palos Verdes 0
Leuzinger 42, West Torrance 7

PIONEER LEAGUE
Torrance 31, North Torrance 21
El Segundo 28, South Torrance 7
Lawndale 28, Centennial 26

OCEAN LEAGUE
Culver City 57, Beverly Hills 27
Inglewood 30, Morningside 14
Santa Monica 49, Hawthorne 7

DEL REY LEAGUE
Serra 23, Cathedral 22, OT

CAMINO REAL LEAGUE
Bishop Montgomery 41, La Salle 35

PREP LEAGUE
Chadwick 31, Viewpoint 0

NONLEAGUE
St. Bernard 43, Mary Star 27

Narbonne blanks Carson, 26-0 ... The Gauchos finish 9-1, 5-0 and will be a very strong favorite to land the top seed in the L.A. City Section Championships tomorrow morning. Carson will go in as the Marine League's third-place team, and will be a VERY unwelcome opponent for someone in a first-round game, regardless of where they're seeded.

Unbeaten Serra (9-0, 4-0) and Cathedral (8-1, 3-1) are tied, 16-16, heading into overtime in a Del Rey League showdown.

Other finals that have come in ...

Torrance 31, previously unbeaten North Torrance 21

Lawndale 28, Centennial 26

Mira Costa 23, Redondo 6

Leuzinger 42, West Torrance 7

Venice 24, Westchester 12

El Segundo 28, South Torrance 7 ... both teams were already guaranteed playoff berths, and both lost to North Torrance, which is trying to put the finishing touches on a 10-0 regular season with its game vs. Torrance at Zamperini Stadium.

San Pedro shuts out Gardena, 35-0. The Pirates (9-1, 4-1 Marine League) will learn their playoff draw at tomorrow's L.A. City Section playoff seeding meeting. If Narbonne (8-1, 4-0) holds on to beat Carson (the Gauchos led, 14-0, at halftime), San Pedro will be the league's second-place representative and likely earn a good seed (no lower than fifth?) based on strength of league.

Narbonne leads Carson, 14-0, at halftime ... win and they complete a 5-0 Marine League campaign and likely lock up the top seed in the L.A. City Section Championship playoffs.

Peninsula beat Palos Verdes, 7-0, in an afternoon game ... meaning they'll be the third-place entry from the Bay League ... Mira Costa is at Redondo tonight in the game that will decide the league title.

Banning rallied from a 13-3 deficit to beat Washington, 22-20, in a game called due to darkness ... The game was called with 1:23 left. Washington the ball with a third-and-10 at the Banning 11-yard line. Note to Generals: Next year, move those 2:15 November (post-Daylight Savings Time) kickoffs to 2 p.m.

By Tony Ciniglio
Staff Writer

The L.A. City Section Championship football final will remain at the Coliseum, at least for this year.

City Section Assistant Commissioner John Aguirre said Friday afternoon that the City Championship football final will be played on Saturday, Dec. 13 at 1 p.m. at the renowned Coliseum, where so many local players dream of playing a championship game.

The compromise is that the City's Invitational final will be played on Friday, Dec. 12 at East L.A. College at 7 p.m., but Aguirre said this was the best scenario the City could have hoped for at this point.

"I think for this year, it's the right thing," Aguirre said. "We wanted our teams to experience the final at the Coliseum. I know that coming out of the tunnel is a big thing, and that's everyone's goal at the beginning of the season. We wanted to make it happen.

"I just don't know about the future, but I think it's as good as we could've possibly hoped for this year."

Aguirre credited City Section Commissioner Barbara Fiege, L.A. City Councilman Tom LaBonge and Pat Lynch of the Coliseum Commission for brokering a deal that worked for all sides.

The sides had been as far apart as $18,000 as late as Monday, even with the Coliseum Commision offering the use of the Coliseum rent-free. However, the City could not meet the minimum requirements for covering the costs associated with the game.

Aguirre said that's when others came to the forefront and helped make sure the City final stayed at the Coliseum, though Aguirre said he was not privy to the exact cost.

"The requirements for our section were lowered considerably," Aguirre said.

Aguirre expressed regret that a deal for the Invitational could not be worked out at the Coliseum as well.

The Southern Section has 13 divisions and does not have its championships at elite sites for every sport, but with just two divisions, Aguirre said the City tried its best for the Invitational

"No matter what division, we try to make it as big as possible," Aguirre said. "For the Southern Section, it's tough to host everything at large venues, but we only have two divisions. But in these times of economic struggles, we did the best we could."

El Camino College and San Pedro High were among the numerous alternate sites the City Section investigated in the case a deal could not be reached.

Aguirre said it was important for the City Section to make a final determination before today's City Section playoff seeding.

"We didn't want to go into that with any confusion," Aguirre said. "Teams need to know where they're headed. We strive to keep communication open and teams informed.

"We want to create memories for everyone."

This is from Correspondent Kirby Lee. The Breeze apologizes for not getting it into the print edition, but it's here on the blog in its entirety:

By Kirby Lee

WOODLAND HILLS - David Rosales couldn't have asked for more vocal support from his older brother Pablo Rosales during the L.A. City Section cross country preliminaries at Pierce College on Thursday.

The San Pedro High sophomore, though, would have preferred to have his sibling running by his side.

With Pablo sidelined by an eye infection, David Rosales persevered to finish sixth in his heat in 16:34 over the 2.87-mile course to help San Pedro finish third and qualify for the finals at Pierce College on Nov. 22.

"He is the one that paces the whole group and I just follow right behind him," David said about his brother. "Since he wasn't here, it was pretty tough. It's different because he is the one that motivates me to move along faster."

In last year's City finals, Pablo finished third and David was ninth to help San Pedro place second to earn a berth in the state championships. The brothers finished 1-2 in the Marine League finals last week to help San Pedro to the team title.

Pablo, however, irritated his left eye during the league finals at Peck Park and exasperated the condition run on the dusty trails of Pierce College on Saturday workout. He missed three days of school before returning on Thursday but didn't have medical clearance to run.

"I'd rather not run this week than to miss the finals and hopefully have the team qualify for next week," Pablo said. "I'd be nervous running with out him too."

The brothers run together and share their room where running is the prevailing topic of their
conversations. On Thursday, Pablo perched himself on the crest of the hill on the multi-loop course to offer his support to his brother and his teammates.

"We give each other enough support out there when we're running together but he needs to get used to what it will be in a couple of years when I am not here," Pablo said.

Defending City champion Birmingham of Lake Balboa won the heat with 65 points, followed by El Camino Real of Woodland Hills in second with 71.

San Pedro, which is seeking its fifth section title in seven years, was in third with 107. Narbonne of Harbor City finished fifth with 167 points to qualify.

The top five teams in each of the two heats advanced to the finals. Granada Hills held off Monroe to win the other heat, 51-52.

"It's not what we would have liked but we qualified," San Pedro coach Bruce Thomson said.
"When you're alone and haven't been alone all season, it didn't help David today. I think
everybody had a little come down after league finals. This is qualifying. All you want to do is qualify. I think we'll see a lot better effort from everybody next week."

The San Pedro girls would like to maintain their effort in the finals after winning their heat on
Thursday with the 4-5-7 of sophomore Itzel Ramirez (19:28), senior Maggie Tortoledo
(19:37) and junior Laura Delgado (19:44).

San Pedro totaled 60 points to outdistance runner-up Garfield (90) and Birmingham
(92).

Mira Costa received an unexpected push from San Clemente in the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division I-AA playoffs, but eventually pulled out a 25-20, 22-25, 25-18, 25-19 victory on Thursday night.

Falyn Fonoimoana had 26 kills and 21 digs as Mira Costa will host the Orange Lutheran-Long Beach Poly winner in Saturday's quarterfinals at 7 p.m.

"Falyn wore them down," Mira Costa coach Lisa Zimmerman said.

Alyssa Anderson had 59 assists and 18 digs, Alex McBride had eight kills and Jackie Gardner had seven kills and seven digs for Mira Costa (25-4). Andi Zbonjniewicz added 14 digs and two aces for Mira Costa.

"My team was anxious to beat them fast," Zimmerman said. "They have to realize in the playoffs you have to play all the way through. Once we steadied out and focused on our side-out game, we were OK."

The San Pedro girls soccer team decided to be pro-active in raising funds to cover the costs of uniforms and other equipment for its upcoming season.

So the Pirates are hosting a Bingo night on Friday.

It will take place at Sequoia Tribe No. 140 Wigwam (543 Shepard St.) in San Pedro. Doors open at 6 p.m., and Bingo starts at 7 p.m.  Coffee and cookies have been promised.

"Driven by energetic parents and maintained by students, we have tried to put together an event that did not follow the usual candy route," San Pedro coach Gerhard Weber said.

With budget cuts forcing San Pedro into a fund-raiser, Weber said the community has stepped up. He said the Ladies' Booster Club just donated jerseys to the program and that several members of the business community have contributed to Bingo Night.

"It seems that when things are getting tough, people around here come together," Weber said. 

No matter what happens in Friday's Narbonne-Carson game, Narbonne will be a winner.

Narbonne will be the Marine League's No. 1 playoff entry, regardless of the outcome of its Marine League showdown.

Narbonne won coin-flips with Carson and San Pedro earlier this week that will serve as the tiebreaker if the teams end in a three-way tie for first place.

The team getting the shaft in a three-way tie would be San Pedro, which will enter as the third-place team if Carson beats Narbonne and forces a three-way tie for first. Even though San Pedro would be 9-1 if it beats Gardena, it lost the coin-flip with Carson.

The L.A. City Section playoff seedings meeting will take place on Saturday morning at Santee High. The City is still trying to determine if it can host its final at the Coliseum.

From wild-card team to contender, the South Torrance girls tennis team posted a dramatic 76-70 victory on games after tying previously unbeaten Whittier, 9-9, in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division IV playoffs.

South trailed, 9-7, heading into the final two sets, including a 69-64 deficit on games, so South needed two lopsided victories to draw even and win on games.

Esther Kim posted a convincing 6-0 victory over top singles player Jessica Guerrero, and freshman Gracie Davis sealed it with a 6-1 win over No. 2 singles player Gabby Juarez.

"Esther Kim was huge for us, and Gracie Davis found a way to battle it out and get a big win for us," South coach Kevin May said. "We stuck it out today. I think the tough competition in the Pioneer League helped prepare us for this match."

Kim and Davis swept their three singles sets for South, which plays  the Cerritos-Templeton winner on Saturday.

Whittier, the Del Rio League champ, finishes at 15-1.

There's some renewed hope in terms of keeping the L.A. City Championship football final at the Coliseum.

The Coliseum Commission met Wednesday and presented the City Section with a counter-proposal that might allow the City to play its Championship final and possibly the Invitational final at the Coliseum.

"We're hoping for the best," City Section Assistant Commisioner John Aguirre said.

Aguirre said that Commissioner Barbara Fiege is looking over the proposal and added that a final decision should come by Friday.

El Camino College and San Pedro High are among the alternate sites proposed if a deal can't be worked out, but Aguirre said the City is doing its best to keep the games at the Coliseum.

"There's a lot of people who want to make sure the games are played there," Aguirre said.

First Bishop Montgomery, now Gardena.

Gardena has forfeitted its season-opening 31-8 victory at Jefferson due to the use of an ineligible player, Assistant L.A. City Section Commissioner John Aguirre confirmed Thursday. The Daily Breeze confirmed on Wednesday that Bishop Montgomery forfeitted its first two wins of the season as well.

Gardena had started the season 3-2 before losing four straight Marine League games.

Gardena's record now stands at 2-7 entering Friday's season-finale against San Pedro with a minimal chance of making the City Championships.

The Bishop Montgomery football team was forced to forfeit two early-season victories for use of an ineligible player, the Daily Breeze confirmed Wednesday.

Athletic director Kareem Mutrie said Bishop Montgomery forfeitted victories over Bosco Tech and Santa Ana Valley for use of a player who did not maintain the minimum 2.0 grade-point average, downgrading the the Knights' record to 2-7.

Mutrie said the school discovered the infraction and self-reported it. Mutrie said the unidentified player has now raised his grade-point average.

"It was tough to have to forfeit two games no matter what," Mutrie said. "We self-reported it, but we didn't make a big deal about it because we didn't want to take away from what the kids were doing."

The forfeits do not affect Bishop Montgomery's league standings. The Knights clinched their first playoff berth since 1983 and still have a shot at the Camino Real League title after posting overtime wins over Mary Star and Cantwell.

"We're definitely really excited about this," Mutrie said. "It's been a long time, and the kids were focused and kept that goal in mind. And we hope to continue this after this year too."

In other Bishop Montgomery news, basketball star Justin Cobbs and softball star Alex Davis held a small ceremony as they signed letter-of-intents with the University of Minnesota.

Not surprisingly, former Mira Costa girls soccer standout Lindsay Bullock has continued to make an impact at the collegiate level.

Bullock, a former Daily Breeze Player of the Year, was named the Big West Conference's Midfielder of the Year after a stellar season at Long Beach State.

Bullock tied for second in the conference with 10 goals and fourth in points with 21.

Bullock helped lead Mira Costa  to three straight Bay League titles.

It had a surreal feeling to it.

The first-round L.A. City Invitational match between Narbonne and Franklin came down to the last match.

It was so dark, only one court was lit, and that was from a street light right outside the school.

Yet Narbonne senior Lily Kurosaki dug down for a 3-6, 6-4, 12-10 victory that came down to a 10-point tiebreaker instead of a third set.

Narbonne, the ninth seed, advances to play at No. 1 Venice on Wednesday, but there was no mistaking the magnitude of the match as Narbonne won its first playoff match in nearly a decade.

And it was a particularly sweet result for Kurosaki, who had been nagged by a shoulder injury throughout the year.

"Lily's our senior, and it was a big-time match, so for her to come out and win like that was something special," Coach Darrall Odell said. "It meant a lot to everyone, and it was exciting."

North almost blows a 30-point lead, but holds off South in a game with 324 penalty yards and a 334-yard, 4 TD effort by South RB John White.

Carson scores on the final play of the game to rub it in, 33-20, on rival Banning.

And Mira Costa needs overtime to get past Leuzinger. Another eventful week in the South Bay.

Here are the final scores:

Friday, Nov. 7

L.A. City Section
MARINE LEAGUE
Carson 33, Banning 20
Narbonne 55, Gardena 0
San Pedro 45, Washington 7

WESTERN LEAGUE
Westchester 34, Hamilton 10

CIF Southern Section
BAY LEAGUE
Redondo 33, Palos Verdes 13
Mira Costa 27, Leuzinger 21, OT
Peninsula 10, West Torrance 6

PIONEER LEAGUE
North Torrance 47, South Torrance 42
Torrance 31, Centennial 14
El Segundo 42, Lawndale 6

OCEAN LEAGUE
Beverly Hills 56, Morningside 21
Santa Monica 20, Inglewood 17
Culver City 42, Hawthorne 21

DEL REY LEAGUE
St. Bernard 44, Bosco Tech 20

NONLEAGUE
Serra 53, Bishop Montgomery 6

L.A. City Section

MARINE LEAGUE

Carson 33, Banning 20

Narbonne 55, Gardena 0

San Pedro 45, Washington 7

WESTERN LEAGUE

Westchester 34, Hamilton 10

CIF Southern Section

BAY LEAGUE

Redondo 33, Palos Verdes 13

Peninsula 10, West Torrance 6

PIONEER LEAGUE

North Torrance 47, South Torrance 42

El Segundo 42, Lawndale 6

Torrance 31, Centennial 14

OCEAN LEAGUE

Santa Monica 20, Inglewood 17

Culver City 42, Hawthorne 21

DEL REY LEAGUE

St. Bernard 44, Bosco Tech 20

NONLEAGUE

Serra 53, Bishop Montgomery 6

North Torrance leads South Torrance, 35-14, at the half after spotting the Spartans a 14-point first-quarter lead. It's the second straight week North has given up 14 points to start the game.

But North QB B.J. Denker has thrown for 118 yards on 9-for-14 passing with two touchdowns. More impressively, he has outgained the South Bay's rushing leader John White, 127-116, in the first half. Denker has one rushing touchdown.

Also, Torrance leads Centennial, 17-6.

Are you ready for an L.A. City Championship football game at San Pedro?

That might be the case this season if the L.A. City Section and the L.A. Coliseum can't work out a deal for this year's final on Dec. 13.

San Pedro is one of five alternatives for the City, along with L.A. Southwest College, Birmingham High, Crenshaw High and Granada Hills High, if they can't make the Coliseum happen. Those venues have the capacities that would work for a title game. A City Section spokeswoman said Friday that a decision could be coming as early as Monday.

The City has hosted the championship football games at the Coliseum since 1996 and has a storied history behind it as the home to the USC Trojans and to the Raiders before they moved to Oakland.

But the City and the Coliseum appear to be far apart in proposed rental costs.

A written proposal from the Coliseum to the City was $30,000 more than what the City had originally agreed to, Section officials said Wednesday.

Pat Lynch, the general manager of the Coliseum, offered the City the chance to host two games rent-free on Thursday, but said that costs associated with the game must still be paid.

The costs cover painting the field, ticket takers, concession workers, security and set-up, among others. For one game, it would be $43,000 and for the traditional two games, it's $57,000. The Coliseum is jointly operated by the city, Los Angeles County and the state. The sides are about $18,000 apart.

Here's some free advice from the Daily Breeze: keep the L.A. City Championship game at the Coliseum to preserve the history and the significance of the event and move the game that doesn't mean anything - the Invitational final that essentially determines the 17th-best team in the City - to a venue more in line with the magnitude of the game.

 

That's $14,000 savings right there! 

Games to watch include the North Torrance-South Torrance rivalry that will likely determine the Pioneer League title and the always entertaining Banning-Carson rivalry.

WEEK 9

Friday, Nov. 7

BAY LEAGUE

Leuzinger at Mira Costa, 7 p.m.
Palos Verdes at Redondo, 7 p.m.
Peninsula at West Torrance, 7 p.m.

DEL REY LEAGUE

St. Bernard vs. Bosco Tech, at St. Matthias High, 7 p.m.

MARINE LEAGUE

Carson at Banning, 7 p.m.
Gardena at Narbonne, 7 p.m.
Washington at San Pedro, 7 p.m.

OCEAN LEAGUE

Santa Monica vs. Inglewood, at Coleman Stadium, 7 p.m.
Morningside at Beverly Hills, 7 p.m.
Hawthorne at Culver City, 7 p.m.

PIONEER LEAGUE

South Torrance at North Torrance, 7 p.m. (PHOTO)
Lawndale at El Segundo, 7 p.m.
Centennial vs. Torrance, at Zamperini Stadium, 7 p.m.

WESTERN LEAGUE

Hamilton at Westchester, 7 p.m.

NONLEAGUE

Bishop Montgomery at Serra, 7 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 8

CAMINO REAL LEAGUE

Mary Star vs. Verbum Dei, at Centennial, 7 p.m.

PREP LEAGUE

Chadwick vs. Flintridge Prep, at La Canada High, 7 p.m.

SAN JOAQUIN LEAGUE

Animo vs. Fairmont Prep, at Cerritos Valley Christian, 7 p.m.

8-man, HARBOR LEAGUE

Windward at Rolling Hills Prep, 1 p.m.

8-man MAJESTIC LEAGUE

Marywood-Palm Valley vs. Pacific Lutheran, at North Torrance, 1 p.m.

JC FOOTBALL

COASTAL CONFERENCE: El Camino at Citrus, 1 p.m.
MOUNTAIN CONFERENCE: Harbor at Mt. San Jacinto, 1 p.m.

In a ceremony in front of his teammates and cheerleaders at Inglewood on Friday morning, highly sought-after Inglewood receiver Shaquelle Evans made his college decision.

Evans announced he was committing to Notre Dame at the end of a ceremony honoring his selection to the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

"It was a good, heartfelt experience for him," Inglewood coach Charles Mincy said. "At the end of the ceremony, he decided to just announce his decision. He didn't pull out one hat and then pull out the other, he just put his Notre Dame hat on, and I thought that was a classy move.

"He went ahead and made the leap."

Evans had 21 scholarship offers on the table and took a deliberate approach to make sure he was making the right decision.

Evans had made a soft verbal commitment to USC, but kept his options open sifting through 21 scholarship offers from schools such as UCLA, Michigan, Ohio State and Colorado.

Evans took a trip to Notre Dame in late September and eventually found the right fit for him.

"It's no slight to the other schools by any means, but I think Notre Dame saw him and the type of person he is," Mincy said. "He considered the hometown schools, and I think it came down between USC and Notre Dame, and personality wise, I think Notre Dame worked best for him."

Evans is one of the more spectacular offensive players in the South Bay, and Mincy said he has no doubt that Evans will succeed - immediately - at the next level.

"I personally think he can go anywhere and play right away," Mincy said. "A lot of high school coaches will say that, but I think he could play for us tonight and go to the next level tomorrow. If he plays as a freshman, it'll be a big deal, but it won't be a surprise."

First Inglewood will try to take care of business tonight against Santa Monica at Coleman Stadium as the Sentinels try to stay right in the center of the Ocean League playoff mix.

Expect Evans to be in the center of everything. And Mincy said he couldn't be happier for his star player.

"Sometimes it seems that this kind of thing doesn't happen to good kids, but in this case, it did," Mincy said.

Don't look now, but Leuzinger is developing into a cross country stronghold.

Jose Lezama and Gustavo Rangel qualified for next week's CIF prelims with top-six performances at Thursday's Bay League finals at Entradero Park in Torrance.

"We're getting there," said Lezama, the 2007 Daily Breeze Runner of  the Year.

Lezama had been hampered by injuries, but appeared to be unencumbered and turned in his strongest effort of the season, a second-place finish in 15 minutes, 59 seconds.

Lezama couldn't quite catch Redondo's Cody Schmidt, but made it a much closer finish than anyone expected.

"I felt good, a lot more comfortable. Cody's just a fast runner. He's just better than me," Lezama said. "He's worked hard all summer and all season. I wish I did the same thing. I was lagging, I guess."

Rangel, competing in just his third varsity race, earned the final individual qualifying berth to the CIF prelims with a sixth-place finish of 16:38.

Rangel, who moved to the United States from Mexico two years ago, said he is enjoying the opportunity to run and compete.

"I always wanted to run in my country, but I never had the opportunity," Rangel said. "I just really wanted to go to CIF. I don't even know what that means totally, but that's why I wanted to go hard, to find out."

Four Marine League girls volleyball teams made the L.A. City Championship bracket.

Four-time league champion San Pedro leads the way, but the Pirates slipped to the No. 7 seed after being a perennial top-four seed the last few years. They open the first-round of the playoffs on Thursday at home against No. 26 South Gate.

Runner-up Carson followed the Pirates at the No. 8 position and will host No. 25 Huntington Park on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Third-place Narbonne earned the No. 11 seed and hosts No. 22 Bell on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Banning, which finished fourth in the league, drew a first-road road assignment at No. 9 Venice, but has a chance to play Carson in the second round.

Palisades is No. 1, Granada Hills is No. 2, Chatsworth is No. 3, Sylmar is No. 4, Van Nuys is No. 5, El Camino Real is No. 6.

The second round is Monday, followed by the quarterfinals on Nov. 13, the semifinals on Nov. 18 and the final at Roybal Learning Center on Nov. 22.

It finally happened.

The Torrance boys water polo team clinched its first CIF postseason berth with an 11-5 Ocean League victory over visiting Beverly Hills on Monday at the Torrance Plunge.

Ryan McDonald scored seven goals, four steals and three assists to lead Torrance (15-10, 5-4). Jordan Than made 10 saves for Torrance, including his fifth blocked five-meter shot of the season.

Nathan Bee added two goals, and Dennis Kalthoff and David Hirotsu also scored for Torrance, which clinched third place and has an excellent chance of adding another win Wednesday against winless Milken.

Coach Scott Peppard helped Torrance establish water polo at Torrance at 2002 and said this is a special day for Torrance, which beat Beverly Hills for the third time this season after getting swept in three matches last year.

"I started this program itself, so this is big for me," Peppard said. "The kids have worked hard, they never miss a workout and they do what's asked of them, most of the time. This is huge. It's nice to see all that hard work pay off."

Peninsula golfer Jenny Coleman won a CIF Southern Section qualifier, and Torrance qualified its five top golfers to Thursday's CIF Southern Section finals.

Coleman shot a 3-under-par 69 at Soule Golf Course in Ojai, leading a group of 11 South Bay qualifiers for Thursday's CIF Southern Section finals at Mountain Meadows Golf Course in Pomona.

Coleman, who shot a 1-over on the front nine, had three birdies and an eagle on the back nine.

"She keeps rolling right along," Peninsula coach Bob Wilton said. "Her concentration is fabulous. Nothing bothers her, and she hits a lot of greens."

Demi Runas led Torrance with a 71 for second place.

Torrance freshman Samantha Martin shot a 73 for fifth place. Chae Won Park (75), Rochelle Chan (78) and Michele Chun (79) also qualfied for Torrance.

Other local qualifiers included Peninsula's Kristin Coleman (74),  Katia Joo (75) and Ayane Itamura (80) and  Mira Costa's Lori Harper (79) and Lauren Heavrin (80).

Peninsula co-football coach Adam Boyd is doing is part to raise funds for a just cause: prostate cancer.

Boyd said he is growing a mustache for the month of November, which he is renaming "Mo-vember," in hopes of raising awareness for both prostate cancer and his fund-raiser.

"That's right fans. I'm bring the Mo back because I'm passionate about tackling men's health issues and being proactive in the fight against prostate cancer," Boyd wrote in an email. "Plus I get to grow a bitchin' mustache."

To donate, go to Boyd's Web site or mail a check to Prostate Cancer Foundation, attn.: Movember, 1250 Fourth St., Santa Monica, CA., 90401 with checks payable to the Prostate Cancer Foundation and the registration number 1815601 written on the check.

San Pedro kicker Donald Jarrin is now a record-holder.

Jarrin drilled a 35-yard field goal last Thursday against Banning, giving him San Pedro's new single-season record with his ninth field goal.

He broke the previous mark set by Zoran Vukotich in 1981 with his third field goal in a triple-overtime loss to Narbonne the previous week.

Now Jarrin will take aim at the school's record for longest field goal of 50 yards set by Guiseppe Cracchilo from San Pedro's 14-0 1996 team. According  to San Pedro statistician Jamaal Street, Jarrin has made five kicks from 50 yards out in practice, including a 57-yarder.