Coaching legend John Strycula passes

By Steve Ramirez, SGVN

When it came to being a football coach, very few in the area did it better than John Strycula.

The local legend won league titles at Charter Oak and Glendora high schools before putting Citrus College of the map in the 1960s and 1970s, including winning four consecutive titles in the Mission Conference, which was always regarded as the top conference in the state.

Strycula, who was inducted into the California Community Colleges Football Coaches Hall of Fame, died this past Friday. He was 86.

“He was top of the line,” said his son, John Strycula, himself a former football coach. “He won where ever he went. He always put great teams on the field. His record spoke for itself.”

Strycula was the first football coach at Charter Oak, and won three league titles for the then Lancers. He moved on to Glendora in the early 1960s and led the Tartans to three league titles.

He then went to Citrus, turning the Owls into one of the top programs in the state during 1970s, winning four consecutive Mission League titles, including back-to-back seasons in the middle of the decade when the Owls went 17-1-2 with a bowl victory.

Strycula was 120-60-7 in 19 seasons at Citrus, leading the Owls to 10 conference championships and three bowl games.

His 1975 and `76 teams are considered by many as the Owls’ best. Citrus went 9-0-1 in winning the Mission Conference and tied College of the Canyons in the Mission Bowl.

The Owls followed it up with an 8-1-1 record in 1975, with another Mission Conference title before routing Santa Barbara City, 24-0, in the Mission Bowl.

Strycula retired following the 1985 season and was inducted in the CCCFCA Hall of Fame this past March.

Services for Strycula will be held this Saturday at 11 a.m. at Beaumont Presbyterian Church, which is located at 702 Euclid Avenue.

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Prep Roundup: Damien faces Keppel in quarterfinals on Thursday; Glendora knocked out by California

Glendora-California photo gallery

CALIFORNIA SHOCKS GLENDORA IN OT: California High School began its boys basketball season with a 52-49 overtime victory against Glendora in the third annual Sierra Vista/Baldwin Park “Winter Tip-Off” Tournament on Tuesday night. The Condors scored two quick baskets to start the overtime period. Robert Amaro scored, then Andrew Barber added a basket off a steal by Ryan Schroll.

SIERRA VISTA/BALDWIN PARK TOURNAMENTPool play
Damien 63, Diamond Ranch 51
Damien were led by sophomore guard Jeremy Hemsley and senior guard Jared Dizon with 19 and 17 points, respectively.
Rowland 54, Garfield 30
Rowland easily handled Garfield and will advance to next face Thousand Oaks on Thursday. Leading the Raiders (3-0) in scoring was Chris Arzadon with 14 points and four rebounds and Joe Dionision contributed with 12 points and four assists. Rowland built up a 29-8 halftime lead and was able to hold Garfield (0-2) scoreless in the second quarter.
Jacky Tu rounded out the scoring for Rowland with seven points and three assists. Dave Perez led the scoring for the Bulldogs with eight points.
Tuesday’s Baldwin Park/Sierra Vista round-robin results
Rowland 54, Garfield 30
California 52, Glendora 49, OT
Troy 76, Covina 53
Keppel 66, Walnut 58
Colony 79, South Hills 61
Thousand Oaks 84, Don Lugo 62
Claremont 79, Baldwin Park 59

THURSDAY’S “LIKELY” QUARTERFINALS
At Baldwin Park

Rowland vs. Thousand Oaks, 6 p.m.
Troy vs. Colony, 7:30 p.m.
At Sierra Vista
Damien vs. Keppel, 6 p.m.
Claremont vs. California, 7:30 p.m.

BOSCO TECH TOURNAMENT
Pool play
Los Altos 63, Rosemead 39

Los Altos led 14-6 after one quarter of play and never were challenged after that. Los Altos (1-0) were led by sophomore guard Christian Espinoza with a game-high 20 points. Senior guard Sal Lopez and senior forward Danny Ahn chipped in with 10 and eight points, respectively. Rosemead (0-2) was led by Everado Camacho with 13 points.

GIRLS BASKETBALL
Schurr 45, Baldwin Park 39: It might only have been an early season game, but the Baldwin Park High and Schurr High girls basketball teams battled like it was the postseason Tuesday night. Schurr, behind a game-high 14 points from junior guard Elizabeth Castillo, defeated the visiting Braves 45-39 in a season-opening nonleague game for both teams.

NONLEAGUE
South Hills 57, Sierra Vista 25

South Hills put the game away in the first half leading by a score of 35-11. Leading the Huskies (2-3) in scoring was Brittany Wang with 16 points and five steals and Sarah Madrigal contributed with 11 points and had six rebounds. Imani Payton chipped in with nine points for South Hills. Sierra Vista (0-5) got their scoring from Evelyn Estrada with six points as Maritz Ortiz, Karina Diaz and Kristen Villamor each added four points for the Dons.

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PrepPrep Roundup: Rowland dominates La Puente; Bishop Amat girls open season with win over St. Lucy’s

To share results in the paper and on the SGV Tribune prep page, phone in results to 626-544-0991 or 626-544-0992.

BOYS BASKETBALL
SIERRA VISTA/BALDWIN PARK TOURNAMENT
Pool play
Rowland 70, La Puente 25

Rowland High School will advance in pool play and will take on Garfield of Los Angeles tomorrow at 3 p.m.The Raiders (2-0) were led by senior guard Joe Dionisio who scored a game-high 16 points, six assists, four rebounds and four 4 steals. Senior center DJ Jackson added 12 points, six rebounds (3 offensive, 3 defensive), two assists, while senior forward Saeed Montoya chipped in with eight points and two steals.La Puente (0-1) received 12 points from Matt Ageulo and six points from Daniel Martinez.

BALDWIN PARK/SIERRA VISTA BOYS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
Monday’s round-robin results

Walnut 80, Edgewood 13
Colony 75, Arroyo 43
Claremont 86, Sierra Vista 43
Glendora 76, Garey 30
Damien 89, Azusa 21
Troy 69, Jurupa Hills 54

Tuesday’s round-robin schedule
At Baldwin Park

Walnut vs. Keppel, 3 p.m.
Colony vs. South Hills, 4:30 p.m.
Don Lugo vs. Thousand Oaks, 6 p.m.
Claremont vs. Baldwin Park, 7:30 p.m.
At Sierra Vista
Rowland vs. Garfield, 3 p.m.
Damien vs. Diamond Ranch, 4:30 p.m.
Glendora vs. California, 6 p.m.
Troy vs. Covina, 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday’s round-robin schedule
At Baldwin Park

Keppel vs. Edgewood, 3 p.m.
Garfield vs. La Puente, 4:30 p.m.
Diamond Ranch vs. Azusa, 6 p.m.
West Covina vs. Don Lugo, 7:30 p.m.
At Sierra Vista
Garey vs. California, 3 p.m.
South Hills vs. Arroyo, 4:30 p.m.
Baldwin Park vs. Sierra Vista, 6 p.m.
Covina vs. Jurupa Hills, 7:30 p.m.

NONLEAGUE
Santa Fe 54, Rosemead 31

Santa Fe opened the season with a convincing victory over the Panthers. After leading 20-13 at halftime, the Chiefs outscored Rosemead 21-8 in the third quarter to pull away. Junior forward Jonathon Parral had a game-high 15 points, three rebounds, two assists and one steal. Junior center Christian Perez added seven points, eight rebounds (5 offensive, 3 defensive) and four assists, while sophomore guard Elijah McElroy chipped in with seven points and four steals. Rosemead was led by Ethan Chan’s 13 points, while Steve Sian-Migul and Jacob Garcia each scored five points
Santa Fe hosts King High School from Sydney, Australia next Monday.

GIRLS BASKETBALL
NONLEAGUE
Bishop Amat 55, St. Lucy’s 26

The Lancers opened their season and cruised to victory over the Regents (0-2).
“For it being the first game, we played a little bit ragged but, that’s to be expected,” said Bishop Amat coach Richard Wiard. Leading the Lancers (1-0) was junior guard Janae Chamois who started her first game after coming off the bench her first two seasons. Chamois finished the game with 15 points and three steals.
Lancers senior forward Mauriana Clayton added 11 points and nine rebounds, while junior guard Paulina Santana chipped in with nine points. St. Lucy’s was led by junior guard Mary Serafin with nine points and junior guard Alyssa Lim with six points. Bishop Amat is back on the court on Wednesday in a nonleague contest as the Lancers travel to Cantwell Sacred Heart of Montebello.

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Monrovia, Rio Hondo Prep and La Serna ready to chase titles this weekend

Keith Birmingham’s SIGHTS OF THE GAME

By Aram Tolegian, SGVN

For guys like Monrovia High School football coach Ryan Maddox and Rio Hondo Prep’s Ken Drain, the CIF-Southern Section luncheon held the Monday before the championship games have seemingly become an annual tradition.

Even La Serna was back at the luncheon for a second consecutive season on Monday when all the teams in all the championship games kicked off the biggest week of the season by dining together at The Grand in Long Beach.

“No it doesn’t get old, this is a great thing,” said Drain, who has been to seven championship luncheons as head coach of the Kares. “The menu is pretty much the same. It’s usually really good. I enjoy it.”

Rio Hondo Prep was represented by Drain and team captains Colby Rivera, Jake Holguin, Rico Perez and Jared White. The Kares (11-1) host Mission Prep of San Luis Obispo on Friday night in the Northeast Division championship. Kickoff is 7:30.

The game marks the second time this season the teams will have played. Mission Prep beat Rio Hondo Prep, 47-14, on Aug. 31 and is favored to deny the Kares their second straight division title and Drain’s fifth overall.

“I think we’ll be a lot better, but they are a really good team,” Drain said. “I think we’re a lot better than we were and we didn’t play very well in that game. We’re looking forward to it.”

La Serna is taking a more businesslike approach this season after last year’s championship game resulted in a disastrous loss to West Covina. The Lancers (12-1) take on Downey (10-3) on Saturday night in the Southeast Division final at either Cerritos College or Cal State Fullerton.

The Lancers were represented at Monday’s luncheon by captains Frankie Palmer, John McFarland, Isaiah Osorio and Michael Dingillo.

“It’s a great honor to be around the great teams, especially the captains that worked so hard to get their teams there,” Palmer said.

After having been through the distractions of last season’s trip to the finals, Palmer feels the Lancers are much better equipped to focus fully on the game.

“Since we were there a year ago, it gives us that experience because a lot of the team returned,” Palmer said. “But we still have that 84-21 (loss to West Covina last year) still on our minds. Just because we beat West Covina (this year), it’s not out of our minds yet. We still have unfinished business to win the championship.”

Monrovia is in its fourth consecutive Mid-Valley Division championship game and bidding for its third straight title. It’s getting so that Maddox and his team should have a permanent table at the luncheon.

“I wish I could say it’s going to be like this every year, but I’ve been around this game long enough to know that it isn’t guaranteed and isn’t necessarily going to be the case,” Maddox said. “We’re just grateful to be back The kids are focused and trying to finish the goal that we started way back in fall.”

The Wildcats were represented Monday by linebackers Brett Walsh and George Frazier V, and wide receiver/defensive back Anthony Craft. Monrovia (12-1) hosts Paraclete (12-1) on Friday night. The game pits the division’s top two teams and will provide the final verdict on whether the Southern Section’s plan to beef up the division in order to make things harder on Monrovia worked.

If Monrovia wins on Friday, it stands a good chance to be selected to a state championship bowl-game qualifier that would take place next week.

With so much on the line in terms of history and the chance to have its season continue, you’d think the Wildcats may be caught up in the moment.

But Maddox said that isn’t the case.

“We have to focus on Paraclete,” Maddox said. “We have no control over the other stuff. We have no control over a state bowl game. All we can control is what we do today in practice and we’ve got to take advantage of that.”

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Damien, Glendora, Claremont and Wanut win openers in 32-team Baldwin Park/Sierra Vista boys basketball tournament Monday

We’ll update the brackets each day and ask that coaches phone in results with information on the game to 626-544-0991 or 626-594-0992. Also, twitter me your finals so I can retweet them @sgvnsports

BALDWIN PARK/SIERRA VISTA BOYS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
Monday’s round-robin results
At Baldwin Park

Walnut 80, Edgewood 13
Colony 75, Arroyo 43
Claremont 86, Sierra Vista 43
Glendora 76, Garey 30
Damien 89, Azusa 21
Troy 69, Jurupa Hills 54

Tuesday’s round-robin schedule
At Baldwin Park

Walnut vs. Keppel, 3 p.m.
Colony vs. South Hills, 4:30 p.m.
Don Lugo vs. Thousand Oaks, 6 p.m.
Claremont vs. Baldwin Park, 7:30 p.m.
At Sierra Vista
Rowland vs. Garfield, 3 p.m.
Damien vs. Diamond Ranch, 4:30 p.m.
Glendora vs. California, 6 p.m.
Troy vs. Covina, 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday’s round-robin schedule
At Baldwin Park

Keppel vs. Edgewood, 3 p.m.
Garfield vs. La Puente, 4:30 p.m.
Diamond Ranch vs. Azusa, 6 p.m.
West Covina vs. Don Lugo, 7:30 p.m.
At Sierra Vista
Garey vs. California, 3 p.m.
South Hills vs. Arroyo, 4:30 p.m.
Baldwin Park vs. Sierra Vista, 6 p.m.
Covina vs. Jurupa Hills, 7:30 p.m.

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Bonita girls cross country follow CIF title with a Division II state title in Fresno

By Keith Lair, SGVN

FRESNO – There could have been a big letdown.

The Bonita High School girls cross country team won its first CIF-Southern Section championship last week at Mt. SAC and had a big celebration.

But the Bearcats did anything but let down. They ran the seventh-fastest team time of the day to win the CIF State Division II championship going away on Saturday on Fresno’s Woodward Park 5,000-meter course. It was Bonita’s first state title as well.

“We got this far, so we said, `Why not see another championship?’ ” senior Marissa Scott said.

Experts called the Bearcats’ team time of 94 minutes, 10 seconds the biggest surprise of the meet. The Bearcats won the title by 60 points.

Bonita had 83 with Cathedral Catholic of San Diego at 143.

“The girls ran it perfectly,” coach Lonny Carr said. “They did everything perfectly; their mental preparation, their physical preparation. I have no complaints. We wanted this. We wanted CIF, then why not state? We got that.

“What an amazing year.”

Last year, Bonita finished 13th in this meet.

“We knew what we could be,” Carr said. “This group of girls was ready for this since last year in track. That’s when we turned the corner.”

Scott, competing in her fourth state meet, was the Bearcats’ top finisher but not the top Valley finisher in the race.

That honor went to Bishop Amat sophomore Emily Hubert, who was sixth in 18:20.

“It was a lot better than last year,” she said. “It feels real good.

I trained to do well and I’m proud that I came through. Last year I tried to forget.”

She was 89th last year.

Azusa sophomore Roxanne Valle finished 12th in 18:41. It was the first time an Aztecs girl had competed in the meet.

“It was a challenge,” she said.

Bonita’s Scott was 10th in 18:30.

“I was really nervous before the race,” she said. “I knew we trained all season for this and I knew we would pull it off because I had a lot of confidence in my teammates. They get their best effort.”

The Bearcats never lost to a Division 3 team this season.

“They were just outstanding,” Carr said “That big margin (of victory), that’s how good we are. I’m extremely proud of these young ladies. I’m overwhelmed right now.”

Carr will lose only Scott next year. The other six starters are returning.

“We used to try to come here every year,” Carr said. “Now we’re one of the best. We will do everything we can to live up to that.”

Marissa’s sister, sophomore Kailyn, was 17th in 18:49. Freshman Kelsey Creese was 21st in 18:52, junior Mackenize Landa was 23rd in 18:53 and Jordin Prado finished 34th in 19:06.

“We got better after (two miles),” Carr said “We trained for that. We moved up. After that hill, we maintained the pace and held it until the last turn and then let it go.”

The Bearcats’ first six runners were in before Cathedral’s fifth runner.

It arguably was the Valley’s biggest-ever day in the 36th edition of the meet. Arcadia won its second Division I title in three years and California finished second. The Apaches, led by a second-place finish from Estevan De La Rosa and third-place effort from Mitchell Pratt, won by 74 points and ran the second-fastest team time on the course. La Salle’s Daniel De La Torre won the Division IV race. The Flintridge Prep boys finished second in Division V, losing by one point, and Mayfield was third in Division IV.

Arroyo senior Samuel Garcia was ninth in Division II in 15:27. Los Altos Mark Huizar was 15th in 15:48 in Division III. He was the first Los Altos athlete to run in the meet.

“It’s a big honor,” he said. “It just feels great to have all of the faculty support me. I felt like dying out at the end. I left it all on the field.”

Arcadia won it by putting five runners within the top 30. The Apaches ran a team time of 77:00, second only to the 2010 Arcadia team’s 76:12. The Apaches were second last year.

La Salle’s De La Torre made an amazing comeback to win the Division IV race in 15:30.

He trailed John Lawson of Sir Francis Drake, who won the title last year, by 15 seconds with a mile to go., He passed Lawson with 50 yards to go for the win.

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