It was both good news and bad news for the Cantwell Sacred Heart of Mary basketball teams. The boys, arguably the top team in all of SGVNland, beat Alemany, 64-52 to advance to the Maranatha Rose City Classic semifinals. The girls weren’t as fortunate as Jaryn Fajardo hit a 3-pointer with 16 seconds left to give South Torrance a 54-51 victory over the Cardinals in the Downey Tournament championship game.
Here’s a recap of both games:
BOYS
Cantwell 64, Alemany 52
Division I signees Gligorije Rakocevic and Balsa Dragovic combined on 22 rebounds, with Rakocevic scoring 13 points as the Cardinals advanced to the Rose City Classic semifinals.
Cantwell will face host Maranatha at 8 p.m. on Friday. The Minutemen beat Oak Park, 60-53.
GIRLS
South Torrance 54, Cantwell 51
Jaryn Fajardo hit a 3-pointer with 16 seconds left to lead South Torrance to a 54-51 victory over the Cardinals in the championship game of the Downey High School girls basketball tournament.
Kasey Takahashi scored a game-high 20 points and Fajardo had 16 to lead South, which improved to 4-0. Cantwell, which overcame a double-digit lead in the first half, received 19 points from Lily Perkins and 13 from Vanessa Espinosa, slipped to 3-1.
“Turnovers really hurt us,” Cantwell coach Matt Zamora said. “We were able to overcome it, but sometimes when you get down too soon, it’s hard to get out of it.
“But we gave a great effort in the second half.”
OTHER SCORES
BOYS
Bosco Tech Tournament
Whittier 73, Bosco Tech 71
Pioneer 75, South Hills 53
Buena Park Tournament
Whittier Chr. 64, Magnolia 26
GIRLS
La Habra Tournament
Burroughs 40, Whittier Chr. 18
Crescenta Valley Tournament
La Canada 47, Whittier 28
South El Monte Tournament
Riverside King 68, La Serna 20
El Rancho 61, Los Osos 48
Bishop Conaty-Loretto 39, Pioneer 37
FRIDAY’S SCHEDULE
BOYS
Buena Park Tournament
California vs. Tesoro, 7:30 p.m.
La Habra vs. Valencia, 6 p.m.
Crean Tournament
St. Paul vs. Santa Fe Christian, 5 p.m.
Bosco Tech Tournament
Pioneer vs. Artesia, 6 p.m.
Whittier vs. Diamond Bar, 7:30 p.m.
Mission Viejo Tournament
La Mirada vs. La Costa Canyon, 7:30 p.m.
GIRLS
Crescenta Valley Tournament
Whittier vs. Lancaster, 5 p.m.