A look at the first round of Almont League play would lead to the conclusion that the Schurr High School girls soccer team is having a cakewalk. The Spartans (12-2-3) are off to a 4-0-1 start and lead the league by three points.

Far from it, coach Elizabeth Oyarzabal said.

“It has been really really tough,” she said. “Every game we left the field you think, ‘Whew, we just got by.’ Every team in league is good.”

The La Serna girls began the season 5-4-5 but the Lancers have won all five Del Rio League games by shutout and overall have shut out the opposition in seven of their past eight games.

“We played several different systems of play in the preseason,” coach Amanda Broussard said. “We had a lot of holes where the girls were not healthy or the girls were injured. We tried everything until it figured out for the personnel we have. We literally tried to have players in different spots that they don’t usually play to figure out what works best for the team.”

See story: www. whittierdailynews.com/highschool-sports

Girls soccer
La Serna 4, El Rancho 0 — Rubie Macias scored twice and Ashlyn Aranda and Elizabeth Hernandez each scored a goal for the visiting Lancers (11-4-5, 6-0) in a Del Rio League win.
Bishop Amat 10, St. Pias X-St. Matthias 0 — Hanna Armendariz scored four goals and Jamie Peters scored twice to lead the Lancers (15-6, 4-0) to the Del Rey League victory and to their eighth straight shutout. Danielle Herrera, Karissa Serna, Caitlyn Gladysz, and Sarah George each scored a goal for Bishop Amat.
Montebello 2, Bell Gardens 2 — Sabrina Padilla and Aylin Garcia each scored a goal for the Oilers (9-4-5, 3-2-1) to tie up the Almont League match.

Pioneer, which entered the week a game behind Del Rio League frontrunners California and Whittier, got a monster game from senior Teran Massengill, who had 33 points and 22 rebounds in a 76-61 win over El Rancho.
The Titans, who are 13-7 overall and 3-2 in league play, hosts Santa Fe on Friday. They are at Whittier next Friday before hosting Cal on Feb. 11.
Cal and Whittier meet at Whittier on Friday with first place on the line.

Sonora’s Meghann Henderson (12) drives past La Habra’s Lani Maehara (13) in their Freeway League girls basketball game at La Habra High School in La Habra on Wednesday January 28, 2015. (Photo by Keith Durflinger/Whittier Daily News)

By Stephen Ramirez
LA HABRA — There’s nothing better than beating your rival, and when you throw in league implications, it can be even sweeter.
The Sonora High School boys and girls basketball teams know the feeling after sweeping rival La Habra on Wednesday.
The boys, getting 18 points from Ben Rico and 15 from Josh Rodriguez, stayed in first in the Freeway League with a 72-37 victory over the Highlanders. The girls, getting 15 points from Meghann Henderson and 12 from Marissa Dunn, took over second place in the league with a 47-40 victory over La Habra.

The key moment in the girls game came in the second quarter when the Raiders (16-5, 4-1) outscored La Habra, 19-10, for a 29-19 lead at halftime. Sonora opened the quarter with a 9-3 run to go up 19-13 following a putback by Lainie James and a fast-break layup by Rodriguez.
Andrea Agramon pushed it to 22-15 with a 3-pointer at 3:55 before Sonora closed the quarter with a 7-4 surge for the 10-point lead at half.
La Habra cut it two four twice in the fourth quarter before losing, 47-40
The boys game was over much quicker.
Sonora (18-3, 5-0) led 22-13 after the first quarter and outscored La Habra, 27-3, in the second to lead 49-18 at halfitme. The Highlanders (5-13, 0-5) were held to six field goals in the half.
A running clock was used in the fourth quarter.

Girls soccer
La Mirada 3, Cerritos 0 — Simone Handy, Brittany Romo and Katie Tineda each scored to lead the Matadores (16-2, 7-0) to the Suburban League victory.