February 2012 Archives

The Serra boys basketball team especially is looking forward to Friday night's game against Price at Morningside High in the CIF Southern Section Division IV-AA semifinals, and not just because a win lands them in the CIF finals.
Price handed Serra (27-2) one of its two losses this season on Jan. 14 in a game with a controversial ending in the Johnnie Cochran Classic at LACES.
Serra  trailed 49-47 when center Emmanuel Ndumanya's putback appeared to tie the score just before the final buzzer to send the game into overtime.
But the head referee jogged over to the scorers table, waved off the basket and promptly ran out of the gymnasium.
Serra was up in arms, Price (22-7) walked away with the win and that was that -- until now.
"Oh yeah, we've really been looking forward to meeting them again,"  Serra coach Dwan Hurt said.

The South Bay has eight boys soccer teams still alive in the playoffs. Here are next week's matchups.
CIF SOUTHERN SECTION
Tuesday, second round  (all games at 3 p.m. unless noted),  Division I: St. John Bosco at Palos Verdes; Division IV: Saddleback at South Torrance; Oak Hills at North  Torrance; Division VI: Chadwick at Windward; Division VII: Thacher at Serra; University Prep vs. Pacific Lutheran at Daniels Field in San Pedro, 4:30 p.m.; West Shores at Mary Star.
L.A. CITY SECTION CHAMPIONSHIPS
Quarrterfinals, Thursday, 3 p.m.: No. 7 Narbonne at No. 2 El Camino Real.

1. Leuzinger 21-5, 10-0

2. Peninsula 18-7, 7-3

2. West Torrance 18-8, 7-3

4. Mira Costa 17-9, 4-6

5. Redondo 10-16, 2-8

6. Palos Verdes 6-21, 0-10

1. Washington 20-10, 12-0

2. Banning        16-10, 8-4

3. Carson          18-9, 7-5

3. Narbonne      13-15, 7-5

5. San Pedro     14-13, 6-6

6. Gardena         11-17, 2-10

7. King-Drew      3-22, 0-12

1. Narbonne 13-6-4, 7-2-1

2. Banning 11-6-1, 7-3

3. Gardena 9-11-1, 6-4

4. San Pedro 7-9-4, 4-4-2

5. Carson 4-8-1, 4-5-1

6. Washington 0-11, 0-10

1. Palos Verdes 22-2-3, 9-1

2. Leuzinger 19-7-3, 7-3

3. West Torrance 15-4-4, 5-3-2

4. Mira Costa 9-9-7, 3-5-2

5. Peninsula 6-12-2, 2-8

6. Redondo 8-12-2, 2-8

Final Pioneer League Standings (Boys Soccer)

1. South Torrance  7-0-3

2. North Torrance   5-1-4

3. El Segundo         4-4-2

4. Lawndale            3-4-3

5. Centennial          3-7

6. Torrance             1-7-2

CIF Southern Section Boys Basketball Rankings

IIAA: Inglewood 14th
IIA: Leuzinger 4th, North Torrance 8th, Peninsula 13th, Mira Costa 14th
IIIAAA: West Torrance 7th, Lawndale 11th
IIIAA: South Torrance 2nd, Torrance 3rd, Palos Verdes 16th
IVAA: Serra 1st, Bishop Montgomery 3rd, Morningside 15th
VAA: St. Bernard 1st
VA: Rolling Hills Prep tied for 2nd

Marine League Standings

1. Banning (11-4-1, 7-1)
2. Narbonne  (11-6-4, 5-2-1)
3. Gardena (8-10-1, 5-3)
4. Carson (3-7-1, 3-4-1)
5. San Pedro (5-9-4, 2-4-2)
6. Washington (0-8 in league)

Notes: The biggest game left is Banning at Narbonne on Wednesday afternoon. Narbonne needs a win to have a chance at first and keep Gardena off its  tail. Narbonne is on a hot streak at home and Banning star Peter Velazquez's availability (ankle injury) is a question mark. Banning finishes at  Gardena on Friday in another dangerous game. Carson and San  Pedro are fighting for fourth place and a possible playoff berth. The L.A. City Section usually  takes three to four Marine League  teams. Fourth place may or may not be good enough.

Marine  League  Standings

1. Washington (17-10, 9-0): Only Narbonne has played Washington close, losing 57-54 in the first meeting between the teams. Otherwise no team has lost by fewer than double digits. It's Washington's title again.
2. Banning (15-8, 7-2): The real battle for Banning is for second place.  Banning hosts  Narbonne on Wednesday with second place on the line.
3. Narbonne (12-13, 6-3): Big week for the Gauchos, who host San Pedro on Monday and play at Banning on Wednesday and at Carson on Friday. Second place is not out of reach.
4. Carson (16-9, 5-5): Colts finish at  King-Drew on Wednesday and at Banning on Friday with a good chance to finish over .500 in league.
5. San  Pedro (13-12, 5-5): Tough loss against Banning last Friday, San Pedro could use a bounce-back win at Narbonne on Monday to improve L.A. City Section Division II playoff seeding.
6. Gardena (10-16, 1-9): Only league win is against King-Drew. Gardena looks to finish with two league wins, as it plays at King-Drew on Monday.
7. King-Drew (2-19, 0-9): King-Drew's best chance to garner a Marine League win is at home on Monday against Gardena. King-Drew lost to Gardena the  first time around by just 8.

STANDINGS

1. Leuzinger (18-5-1, 6-1), at Mira Costa, Friday, 3 p.m.
2. Palos Verdes (19-2-3, 6-1), hosts Peninsula, Friday, 3 p.m.
3. West Torrance (12-4-4, 2-3-2), at Redondo, Friday, 3 p.m.
4. Mira Costa (8-7-7, 2-3-2)
5. Redondo (6-9-2, 2-5)
6. Peninsula (7-10-2, 1-6)

Notes: Who will blink first between the Sea Kings and the Olympians with three regular-season games left? A tie could be enough for one of them to slip out of first place, and no team in the Bay League is an easy opponent ... Either Redondo or Peninsula could play spoiler ...  Leuzinger gets a big test on Friday at Mira Costa ... Leuzinger slipped past Mira Costa in overtime in the first meeting ... Palos Verdes looking to capture back-to-back Bay  League titles ... West and Mira Costa in a tight race for third place ...

STANDINGS
1. Leuzinger (18-5, 7-0), at Mira Costa Friday, 7:30 p.m.
2. West Torrance (17-6, 6-1), at Redondo Friday, 7:30 p.m.
3. Peninsula (15-7, 4-3), at Palos Verdes Friday, 7:30 p.m.
4. Mira Costa (16-7, 3-4)
5. Redondo (9-13, 1-6)
6. Palos Verdes (6-17, 0-7)

Notes: West Torrance has to get through host Redondo Friday night to earn its shot at Leuzinger on Tuesday at West High ... Crazy that West -- unheralded coming into the season -- has a shot at the title with three games left, but indeed it does ... Mira Costa is at  Peninsula on Tuesday in what likely is a battle for third place ...

North Torrance's Ryan McDaniel may have had his season cut short by a knee injury, but it didn't cut short his aspirations of getting a scholarship with a major college football program.

A strange season came to a happy ending for Serra defensive back Raymond Ford, who signed Wednesday with Cal.

The recruiting process was a hectic one for longtime USC commit Darreus Rogers, who officially chose USC on Wednesday after being courted heavily by Arizona State.

Darien Barrett played defensive end at Inglewood, but he'll have a new role on the Boise State defense and this morning after his school's signing ceremony at Inglewood High, he told us that he can't wait to get started.

Inglewood star did a little bit of everything for Inglewood High, but he knows exactly what he wants to do at Oklahoma - catch passes.

This morning at Inglewood High's National Signing Day ceremony, Devian Shelton ripped off his jacket to reveal that he will attend USC.Afterward, the Pure Preps Blog caught up with Shelton for a short but sweet chat about his decision. Shelton says USC is getting the "greatest underrated player" in the country.