We’ll keep an eye on the area’s fab four of Chino Hills, Damien boys and Bonita, Bishop Amat girls. All four schools are on the bubble to be selected to the new Open Division at the end of the year. CIF will consider teams that finish in the top ten of their divisional rankings. Bonita girls are the area favorites to get selected. If they do well in the Centennial tournament in Las Vegas coming up, that could seal their fate in the Open Division. Bonita girls are 8-0, even if they lose once in Las Vegas, when they return to the Hacienda League they will likely go undefeated again, meaning they could finish the season with only one, maybe two losses. That could be enough to get them in, which isn’t necessarily a good thing. Bishop Amat girls probably have no chance since they will likely lose a few once the Del Rey starts. Damien and Chino Hills will battle it out in the Sierra. My sense is if one sweeps the other, that could send the sweeper to the Open Division as well.

CIF-SS BOYS BASKETBALL RANKINGS
DIVISION 1AA
1. Mater Dei, 2. Etiwanda, 3. Loyola, 4. Corona Centennial, 5. Mayfair, 6. Long Beach Poly, 7. Chino Hills, 8. Damien, 9. Rancho Cucamonga, 10. Roosevelt.
DIVISION 2AA
1. St. John Bosco, 2. Redondo Union, 3. Mira Costa, 4. Anaheim Canyon, 5. Glendora, 6. Murreita Valley, 7. Thousand Oaks, 8. Canyon Country Canyon, 9. Foothill, 10. Westlake.
DIVISION 3AA
1. Santa Margarita, 2. Brea Olinda, 3. Corona del Mar, 4. La Mirada, 5. Atascadero, 6. San Marcos, 7. Western, 8. Servite, 9. Yorba Linda, 10. Bonita

CIF-SS GIRLS BASKETBALL RANKINGS
DIVISION 1AA
1. Mater Dei, 2. Long Beach Poly, 3. Etiwanda, 4. Corona Santiago, 5. Lynwood, 6. Alemany, 7. Troy, 8. Bonita, 9. Canyon Springs, 10. Bishop Amat.
DIVISION 3AA
1. Lakeside, 2T. Diamond Ranch, 2T. Santa Barbara, 4. Garden Grove Pacifica, 5. San Juan Hills, 6. Esperanza, 7. South Hills, 8. Corona del Mar, 9. El Modena, 10. Wilson.

DIVISION 3A
1. Lakewood St. Joseph, 2. La Canada, 3. Oak Park, 4. South Pasadena, 5. Inglewood, 6. Santa Margarita, 7. Estancia, 8. Ocean View, 9. Ridgecrest Burroughs, 10. Covina.

LA CANADA BOYS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

South Hills 7, San Dimas 0: The South Hills High School girls soccer team tied for last in the Sierra League a year ago and were 8-11 overall, but this season is a different story.
The visiting and unbeaten Huskies (5-0) recorded their fifth consecutive shutout in a 7-0 victory over San Dimas, ranked third in CIF-SS Division 6, on Monday.
Leading the way for South Hills, ranked fourth in the Valley, was sophomore forward Amber Marinero with two goals and an assist.

GIRLS SOCCER STANDINGS, SCHEDULES, LEADERS
Baseline League
Del Rey League
Hacienda League
Mission Valley League
Montview League
Sierra League
Valle Vista League

CIF-SS GIRLS SOCCER RANKINGS

BOYS SOCCER, STANDINGS, SCHEDULES, LEADERS
Baseline League
Del Rey League
Hacienda League
Mission Valley League
Montview League
Sierra League
Valle Vista League

CIF-SS BOYS SOCCER RANKINGS

By John Sherrard
Recently hired baseball coach Darren Murphy of South Hills has only been on the job for two months and already he has helped guide the Huskies to a championship.
It may only be a fall baseball championship, but to win the 6th Annual Cory Lidle Memorial Tournament is special to the program, as Lidle was a graduate of South Hills.
South Hills, 5-1 in the tournament, won both a semifinal game (7-0 over Cathedral of Los Angeles) and the tournament final over Chaparral (3-2) of Temecula, 2-1, Saturday afternoon at South Hills high.
“It (win) takes a special angle of course because Cory is a graduate of South Hills so it’s a little extra significance,” Murphy said. “And also, us as a coaching staff, this is our first tournament with these kids, so it’s nice to win and change is good sometimes.”
In the championship game, pinch hitter Jake Johnson came off the bench and singled to left, scoring catcher Corey Cadek in the eighth inning for the win. Cadek opened the inning with a walk and was sacrificed to second
This is the second tournament title for the Huskies.
In the semifinal game, pitcher Gavin Velasquez went the distance, striking out ten batters and allowed only a first inning single.
Velasquez, a junior who has committed to Cal State Fullerton, was given a $1,000 scholarship for college by the Lidle Foundation for his performance in the tournament. It was presented by Cory’s sister-in-law Brandie Peters.
Velasquez was 2-0 in the tournament.
“It’s an honor to be even mentioned next to his name, who did a lot for the community,” Velasquez said.
With South Hills holding a slim, 2-0 lead in the semifinal game, the Huskies blew the game open with a grand slam in the sixth inning by pinch hitter Brennan Piceino to give South Hills a 6-0 lead.
The tournament featured 191 total teams, 24 of which were in the high school division.

By Stephen Ramirez
@steverramirez on Twitter
GLENDORA — Damien High School enjoyed a dream season a year ago, when it won its first CIF-Southern Section boys basketball title and advanced two rounds in the state tournament.
The Spartans have picked up where they left off.
Jeremy Hemsley scored a game-high 26 points and Malik Fitts had 14 and Damien won its fifth consecutive game to start the season, a 77-44 victory over Burbank on Saturday to take the Glendora Tournament championship.
Damien, also getting 10 points from Isaiah McCullough, put this one away with first-half runs of 12-2 and 11-4 before opening the third quarter with surges of 8-4 and 20-10 to win handily.
Damien, getting 15 points from Hemsley, led 36-24 at halftime.
Jeremy Hemsley: “It feels real good. I think we play real hard. We have better chemistry than a lot of teams, so it feels good to be 5-0. We just want to continue to play hard, and if we do that I think we can win a lot more games.”

Bonita, Bishop Amat photo gallery

Bonita (8-0) followed last week’s Brea Olinda tournament title with a 49-41 victory over Amat to win its second consecutive tournament to remain undefeated, dropping Amat to 4-1.
“They’re such a great program,” Bonita coach Darren Baumunk said of Amat. “They’re fundamentally sound as far as doing all the right stuff and they’ve done it that way for a very long time. For us to be disciplined against a team like that says a lot about our girls as well.”
Bonita’ Nikki Wheatley, named the tournament MVP, finished with 20 points and seven assists. Kandyce Smith drained four 3-pointers to finish with a game-high 21 points.
Bishop Amat’s Janae Chamois tried keeping the Lancers close, finishing with 19, but the Lancers couldn’t keep up.
“The last game I made two stupid fouls and I made sure in an important game like this I had to stay in the game the whole time,” Wheatley said. “Kandace and I have a lot of chemistry. She allows me to drive a kick. When she’s hitting shots it makes it great for everybody.”

GLENDORA BOYS BASKETBALL
SEMIFINALS
Damien 66, Walnut 60
GLENDORA — It takes a lot to beat the Damien High School boys basketball team.
Walnut found out how tough it is Friday night.
Jeremey Hemsley scored 19 points and Malik Fitts had 18 and the Spartans used a 14-0 blitz during the middle of the fourth quarter to score a 66-60 victory over the Mustangs in a Glendora Tournament semifinal game at Glendora High School.
Damien, also getting 11 points from Micah Robinson, improved to 4-0 and advanced to tonight’s championship game to face Burbank — which beat South Pasadena, 54-42 — at 7:30.
Walnut, getting 16 points from Rob Harrelson and 14 from Zuri Williams, slipped to 4-4. The Mustangs, who led 35-30 at halftime, will face South Pasadena, also at Glendora High School at 6 p.m. Host Glendora will face Don Lugo at 4:30.
Damien, after trailing, 35-30, at halftime and 50-48 after three quarters, used a three-minute stretch to take command. Fitts hit a 3-pointer to tie the score at 53 at with 6:27 left the fourth quarter before Hemsley made one of two free throws for a 54-43 advantage at 6:01. Fitts followed with a 3-point play before Tyler Ginyard hit a 3-pointer for a 60-53 edge with 4:22 remaining. Isaiah McCullough and Hemsley converted putbacks to complete the 14-0 blitz for a 64-53 lead with 2:57 left.
Damien coach Matt Dunn: “Walnut does a great job of keeping the game at their pace. We had trouble all game long. There was a three-minute window where we did things right. Malik Fitts hit some big shots and Jeremy made good decisions down the stretch. But I never really felt like we were in a very good rhythm.”
Jeremy Hemsley: “We started off kind of slow. It was kind of a sloppy game. We never lose confidence. Whenever where we are in a situation where we are losing, we always feel confident. We’re not going to get down on ourselves. We’re going to try and play harder than the other team.”
Burbank 54, South Pasadena 42
Burbank, after South Pasadena tied it at 40 during the middle of the fourth quarter, closed its semifinal win with a 14-2 run to advance to face Damien. Joey Toyama scored nine points to lead South Pasadena (4-3).
South Pasadena coach David Lutzeier: “We didn’t play our best game. I think it’s a hangover from beating Glendora (on Wednesday). We were really excited to beat Glendora, and I think it kind of drained us.”

Damien-Walnut photo gallery

GLENDORA BOYS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
Friday’s semifinals
Damien 66, Walnut 60
Burbank 54, South Pasadena 42
Saturday’s championship at Glendora
Damien vs. Burbank, 7:30 p.m.

COVINA GIRLS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
Friday’s semifinals
Bonita 59, Cantwell Sacred Heart 51
Bishop Amat 42, El Rancho 33
Saturday’s Championship at Covina HS
Bonita vs. Bishop Amat, 8 p.m.

ARROYO BOYS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
Friday’s semifinals
La Canada 69, Montclair 55
California 54, Wilson 45
Saturday’s Championship at Arroyo
La Canada vs. California, 7:30 p.m.

Chino Hills girls soccer stays undefeated: The set pieces told the story at Long Beach Poly High on Thursday afternoon as visiting Chino Hills netted two second-half goals to leave with a 2-1 Aliso Cup victory. The CIF-SS Division 2 No. 5-ranked Huskies (5-0-0) took Pool B with the victory and advanced to the Champion’s Cup bracket this weekend while the Jackrabbits (1-1-2) will play in the President’s Cup bracket for the second-place finishers from all eight pools.

La Habra wins emotional game over Mountain View, 3-1: The members of La Habra High’s boys soccer team found several ways to honor and remember coach Steve Aanderud, who died suddenly last weekend, during Thursday’s game against Mountain View at the Huntington Beach Tournament. Every player wore a black armband, and several wrote notes of thanks and remembrance to the longtime coach on their cleats.