Two of the CIF Southern Section’s most successful coaches over the past
two seasons have been selected to head the East and West teams for the
41st Annual 605 All-Star Football Classic.
The game is scheduled to be played Saturday, June 7th at Cerritos
College.
Long Beach Poly’s Raul Lara will guide the East team. Lakewood High’s
Thadd MacNeal will lead the West squad.
Lara’s Jackrabbits won the CIF-SS Pac 5 Division championship in
December. It was Lara’s third CIF-SS championship team in four years. He has
been the Jackrabbits’ coach since 2001.
MacNeal just completed his second season at the Helm for the Lancers.
This season, Lakewood lost to Poly in Moore League play, 13-6, the
Jackrabbits’ closest victory of the season.
MacNeal is 10-2 in Moore League play and his team has finished second to
Poly the past two years.
Schools represented on the East team are Artesia, California, Cerritos,
Cypress, Fullerton, Gahr, John Glenn, Kennedy, La Habra, La Mirada, La
Serna, LB Poly, Los Alamitos, Los Altos, Mayfair, Norwalk, Pioneer,
Santa Fe, St. John Bosco, St. Paul, Sonora, Whittier and Whittier
Christian.

West team players are from Bell Gardens, Bellflower, Long Beach
Cabrillo, Cantwell, Carson, Compton, Dominguez, Don Bosco Tech, Downey,
El Rancho, Garfield, Lakewood, Long Beach Jordan, Long Beach Wilson,
Lynwood, Millikan, Montebello, Paramount, Schurr, St. Anthony, South
Gate, Cerritos Valley Christian and Warren.

Just wondering: Is the June 7 date too early or late in the summer/ Or would it be better suited for an early August date?

Whittier Christian High School’s girls basketball team and four
area soccer teams are still alive in the CIF Southern Section playoffs.
Whittier Christian defeated Villanova Prep, 48-30, Saturday night for
the opportunity to play for a second consecutive division championship.
The Heralds will face Alpha League mate Maranatha for the Division
V-AA title. The game will be played either Friday or Saturday at the
Walter Pyramid in Long Beach.
The day and time is expected to be announced Wednesday.

Soccer semifinals are scheduled Tuesday.
In girls action, La Mirada will host Santa Monica in Division III,
and La Serna will take on visiting Bishop Montgomery.
In a boys game matching two area teams, Del Rio League champion El
Rancho travels to play Freeway League champion La Habra.

Baseball and softball teams begin the season with nonleague action
Friday.

It’s time to make your preseason predictions.

St. Paul High School, boys basketball.
Season record: 20-9.
Camino Real League: 7-3, second place
CIF Southern Section, Division IV-A:
First round – 70-56 over Whittier Christian
Second round – 75-46 over Flintridge Prep
Quarterfinals – 53-52 over Joel John Scholastic Academy
Next opponent: Semifinals, vs. Cerritos Valley Christian
Roster: Seniors – 1; Juniors – 8; Sophomores 3
Starters: Seniors – 0; Juniors 3; Sophomores 2
Nos./Names: 2 Dont’e Webb, 3 Willie Duff, 10 Jerome Orbita, 11 Steven
Saenz, 13 Edgar Rodriguez, 15 Jacob Garcia, 21 Hector Anaya, 22 Michael
Calderon, 31 Kevin Garcia, 33 Matthew Mata, 42 Paul Lopez, 44 Adrian
Flores.

Super stars: None.
Marquee players: None
Players 6-4 /taller: None

Who ARE these guys??

Nine boys teams, seven girls teams will continue to compete in the CIF-SS postseason tournament.

Tuesday’s games:
Boys basketball:
Div.Girls I-AA: Dominguez at La Mirada.
Div. II-AA: La Habra at Murrieta Valley.
Div. III-AA: Campbell Hall at Montebello; Schurr at Oak Park.
Div. IV: St. Paul at Joel John School.
On paper at least, toughest test ahead: La Mirada hosting Division No.1 seed. Montebello, a close second with No. 1 seed Campbell Hall.
Most mysterious foe: Joel John School, listed in the CIFdirectory as a coed enrollment of 45 students and a member of the International League.

Boys soccer:
Div. III; Century at La Mirada; La Habra at Santa Maria; El Rancho at Walnut.
Div. IV: St. Margaret’s at St. Paul.

Wednesday’s games:
Girls basketball:
Div. III-AA: Marlborough at St. Paul.
Div. V-AA: Whittier Christian at La Reina.

Girls soccer:
Div. III: La Mirada at Garden Grove Pacifica.
Div. IV: California at Paloma Valley; Oxnard Pacifica at La Serna.

Girls water polo:
Div. III: Whittier vs. Ayala, (site to be determined, but possibly Chino Hills HS).
Div. VI: La Habra vs. Sunny Hills, at William J. Woolett Center, Irvine, 3:30 p.m.
NOTE: How tough is the Freeway League?
Three of the four semifinalists (No. 1 seed La Habra, No. 3 seed Sonora, and Sunny Hills) are from the league.

While I was taking in last Wednesday’s boys basketball playoff game between Cal-Hi and South Hills, Condors football coach Jim Arnold, the reigning WDN Coach of the Year, dropped off this year’s finalized Cal-Hi football schedule.

It seems that the Condors have lopped off a couple of easy teams in favor of some stiffer competition.

I spoke to Coach Arnold yesterday and he felt the Condors’ preseason could stand to be a little more challenging, prompting him to make changes.

Check out Thursday’s paper for more of Arnold’s comments.

Anyway, here’s the schedule. I thought it was interesting that both Arnold and Pioneer coach Ramon Juarez felt the need for a nonleague upgrade.

Basically, the Condors dropped Bassett and Buena Park in favor of La Mirada and Pacifica.

How do you think the Condors will fare this season? How does a coach walk the fine line of scheduling challenging squads without burning out his kids before league? When is a schedule too easy or too tough?

2007 Nonleague Schedule**
09/07 v. Rowland (8-3)
09/14 at El Monte (4-6)
09/21 v. Bassett (1-9)
09/28 at Schurr (10-4)
10/05 v. Buena Park (1-9)

Overall Record (24-31)

2008 Nonleague Schedule*
09/12 at Rowland (3-8) Friday, 7 p.m.
09/19 at La Mirada (4-7) Friday, 7 p.m.
09/25 v. Pacifica (10-3) Thursday, 7 p.m.
10/02 v. Schurr (8-5) Thursday, 7 p.m.
10/09 at El Monte (5-5) Thursday, 7 p.m.

Overall Record (30-28)

Bold Indicates Upper Division Opponent
* 2007 Records
** 2006 Records

Remaining Del Rio League Schedule

10/17 at El Rancho, Friday, 7 p.m.
10/23 v. Pioneer, Thursday, 7 p.m.
10/31 v. Santa Fe, Friday, 7 p.m.
11/07 at La Serna, Friday, 7 p.m.
11/14 v. Whittier, Friday, 7 p.m.