By Aram Tolegian, Staff Writer
As if the stakes in Friday’s showdown with rival Rosemead weren’t high enough, the Arroyo High School football team may have a lot more on the line than the Mission Valley League title. At 5-1, the Knights have a chance to finish the season 9-1 if they can get past the Panthers and win their next three games, in which they’d be heavily favored, but that’s the kind of talk that gets teams beat, so Knights coach Jim Singiser doesn’t want to hear any of it this week.

Continue reading “Arroyo, Rosemead set to meet for inside track toward Mission Valley League title” »

It’s been more than two decades since Nogales High School last won a boys water polo league title. The wait might be over. Junior Nick Estevez had five goals and the Nobles took a big step toward their first league championship since the 1980s with a 15-7 victory over visiting Wilson to take over first place in the Valle Vista League on Tuesday.

The entries for the massive Mt. SAC Invite were released today, and as always, the schools of the East San Gabriel Valley will be well represented, with 30 of the 37 area schools and 1132 local athletes taking part in this massive, two day event featuring hundreds of schools from many states and nearly 20,000 athletes. Most local schools will be there on Friday, when Divisions III, IV, & V compete. The ESGV will be well represented in the prestigious Sweepstakes races, with Bonita, Rosemead, South Hills & St. Lucy’s lining up in the girls D3 Sweeps, while a resurgent Damien and South Hills will run in the Boys Sweeps. Update: the Bonita girls will be running in the regular Div. III varsity race, in which most of the ranked teams have chosen to run. Saturday is given over the larger Div. I & II schools, which only includes eight from the ESGV. But those eight include Glendora, which is one of only 12 teams to have both their boys and girls teams make the big Saturday Sweeps, and Claremont, who will compete alongside the Tartan boys.

Above: Claremont QB Daniel Kessler leads the area with 1,820 yards and 20 touchdowns. He will be put to the test Friday at Charter Oak in the game of the week.

1. Bishop Amat (7-0) — Jalen Moore is running with the confidence that a great Amat back should. The Lancers are old school, combining great defense with a grind-it-out offense. If you’re watching the best part is there is still so much room to improve.
2. West Covina (5-1) — Poor Los Altos, they have to travel to West Covina after the Bulldogs’ bye week.
3. Bonita (6-0) — Whoever put the Bearcats schedule together was brilliant. They should get to 7-0 with a home win against Walnut, them comes the stretch run against Rowland, West Covina and Diamond Ranch.
4. Claremont (5-1) — On paper they have become the Sierra League favorites, that’s what a win over Chino Hills gets you. Now, if RB Taj Teague is healthy and ready to go, this team is downright scary.
5. Charter Oak (4-2) — Let’s see, a 17-0 win over Ayala followed by a 54-7 thrashing over Ayala. If history tells us anything, it’s that the Chargers always get better late in the season. If they continue to play defense, they’re as competitive as anyone in the Inland Division.
6. Chino Hills (4-2) — What happened to the unbeatable Huskies? They get Damien next, if they stumble again, they’re suddenly in a fight for their playoff lives.
7. Glendora (4-2) — The Tartans can score with the best of them, but they’re too easy to score on against the type of competition they have to face week in and week out.
8. Azusa (6-0) — If the Aztecs wanted to score 100 points on Duarte this week, they probably could. This is the one game where a running clock should be considered before the game starts.
9. Covina (6-1) — The Colts are one of a handful of teams with a realistic shot at winning the Mid-Valley Division. They become favorites if they can defeat Baldwin Park and San Dimas in the coming weeks.
10. Damien (4-2) — Truth is, the Spartans’ only two losses came against Pac-5 Teams. And they have wins over Diamond Ranch and South Hills. Don’t count coach Greg Gano out just yet.

The Rest: 11. Diamond Ranch (4-3), 12. Rowland (4-3), 13. Arroyo (5-1), 14. Ayala (4-2), 15. Baldwin Park (2-4), 16. San Dimas (4-3), 17. Rosemead (4-2), 18. Walnut (3-3), 19. South Hills (1-5), 20. Sierra Vista (5-1), 21. Diamond Bar (4-3), 22. La Puente (4-2), 23. Northview (2-4), 24. Wilson (3-3), 25. Pomona (3-4), 26. Ganesha (3-3), 27. Mountain View (3-3), 28. Gladstone (2-3), 29. El Monte (2-4), 30. Nogales (1-5), 31. South El Monte (1-5), 32. Los Altos (0-6), 33. Bassett (2-4), 34. Workman (1-5), 35. Duarte (0-5)

San Marino High School football coach and assistant principal Mike Mooney said on Tuesday that he has been placed on administrative leave by the school, but declined to comment why.
Also on Tuesday, San Marino superintendent Gary Woods and high school principal Loren Kleinrock put out a letter to team parents saying that Mooney had in fact resigned, but did not say why. Kleinrock’s letter said that Mooney’s departure had “NO connection to any external complaint or criticism.”

Continue reading “Breaking News: San Marino football coach Mike Mooney says he was placed on administrative leave; school said he resigned as coach” »

Here’s this week’s girls volleyball top 10, where there was no movement among the top eight, with the top five combining for a 10-0 record for the week:

1. Chino Hills (21-3) — The Huskies, who haven’t lost since early October, extended their winning streak to nine matches. They get intra-city rival Ayala today.
2. Bonita (14-3) — The Bearcats are taking care of business in the Hacienda League, sweeping their last four opponents. But it gets tough this week with a home encounter against rival Los Altos on Thursday.
3. St. Lucy’s (11-6) — The Regents appear to be getting their second wind, following up a 3-0 loss to Chino Hills two weeks ago with back-to-back wins, including a four-game win over Ayala.
4. Los Altos (11-3) — The Conquerors are No. 2 in the Hacienda League, but they get a chance to change that on Thursday when they travel to first-place Bonita.
5. San Dimas (15-4) — The Saints are cruising in the Valle Vista League, sweeping two matches last week.
6. Glendora (5-5) — The Tartans, after losing their first three matches in the Baseline League, broke through with a win over Alta Loma. It doesn’t get easier this week, with a match against Los Osos.
7. Ayala (10-7) — The Bulldogs are just a step below Sierra League powers Chino Hills and St. Lucy’s, who beat them in four last week.
8. South Hills (10-7) — The Huskies nearly pulled off the upset of season, taking Chino Hills to five games before losing.
9. La Puente (9-4) — The Warriors, who swept three opponents last week, take over the No. 9 spot after league-rival Gladstone was upset by Azusa.
10. Diamond Bar (14-8) — The Brahmas are back in the top 10 after winning two of their last three matches.