Boys Basketball Preview: Surprise! La Mirada, Cantwell open season atop of area rankings

La Mirada boys basketball players Dylan Banks, Vittorio Reynoso-Avila, Rendwick Helaire and Anthony Newman, before practice at La Mirada High School on Monday November 16, 2015. (Photo by Keith Durflinger/Whittier Daily News)

La Mirada boys basketball players Dylan Banks, Vittorio Reynoso-Avila, Rendwick Helaire and Anthony Newman, before practice at La Mirada High School on Monday November 16, 2015. (Photo by Keith Durflinger/Whittier Daily News)

PRESEASON AREA BOYS BASKETBALL RANKINGS
1. La Mirada
2. Cantwell-Sacred Heart of Mary
3. Sonora
4. Whittier
5. Whittier Christian

By Stephen Ramirez
It was a dream season in 2015 for the La Mirada High School boys basketball team, which went 31-5 and won its first CIF State championship.What do the Matadores do for an encore?They get back to work.
“We’re really excited about the potential,” La Mirada coach Bryce Jones said. “We have a good group of core guys, along with a a transfer who has (signed) with Dartmouth. But we’re not focused on winning another state title. Our focus is on the daily process.
“Everyone talks about us winning another state title, but we’re trying to avoid that talk, and just work on the daily process. We’ve never been in this situation before, and it’s easy to get into your head. But we’re just worried about whoever our next opponent is.”
La Mirada, which won the Division II title, is expected to be a big player again in the division. Top player Kendall Lauderdale has graduated, but almost everyone else has returned, including guard Vittorio Reynoso-Avila. The senior has the potential to be one of the area’s best after averaging 12 points and six rbounds per game last season.
Continue reading “Boys Basketball Preview: Surprise! La Mirada, Cantwell open season atop of area rankings” »

Facebook Twitter Reddit Tumblr Email

How area tennis players did at CIF-SS individual regionals

San Marino, Arcadia and La Canada are the lone remaining representatives from the San Gabriel Valley after Monday’s CIF-SS tennis individual regional tournaments.
The Titans’ Devon Jack and the Apaches’ Michelle Deng both won their singles draws at the Whittier Narrows tennis courts, as did San Marino’s Madeline Gandawidjaja and Libby Chang, Arcadia’s Rachelle Yang and Angelica Zhou and La Canada’s Cassie and Sophie McKenzie in doubles play.
All third-round winners advance to a Round of 20; 12 players will earn berths in the Round of 16 in Seal Beach and eight players will play for the final four berths at Whittier Narrows next week.
Cassie and her older sister, Ally, reached the doubles semifinals last year. Gandawidjaja and Sophia Lee reached the Round of 20.
The Round of 20 is Dec. 1. The Round of 16 and quarterfinals are Dec. 2 with the semifinals and finals Dec. 3.

WHITTIER NARROWS REGIONAL
Singles
Group 1
First round
Tegwyn John (Marshall, Mission Valley 1) def. Marina Chow (Gladstone, Montview 2) 6-0, 6-0
Taylor Valenzuela (West Covina, Hacienda 1) def. Michelle Salina (El Rancho, Del Rio 2) 6-0, 6-0
Lauren Ko (Arcadia, Pacific 2) def. Tiffany Chan (Alhambra, Almont 1) 6-2, 6-1
Second round
Christie Wan (Sunny Hills) def. John 6-0, 6-0
Valenzuela def. Ko 6-3, retired
Third round
Wan def. Valenzuela 6-0, 6-0
Group 2
First round
Devon Jack (San Marino, Rio Hondo 1) bye
Kallysta Lopez (La Serna, Del Rio 1) def. Marian Huang (Rowland, Valle Vsta 2) 6-4, 6-2
Tammy Van (Bolsa Grande) def. Gabby Dondonay (Alhambra, Almont 2) 6-1, 6-4
Katia Betancourt (South Hills, Palomares 2) def. Jazmin Sandoval (Montclair) 6-0, 6-0
Second round
Jack def. Lopez 6-0, 6-0
Van def. Betancourt 6-3, 6-2
Third round
Jack def. Van 6-1, 6-3
Group 3
First round
Hailey McNall (Maranatha, Olympic 1) def. Tiffany Nuynh (Garden Grove) 6-0, 6-1
Cameron Ward (Ayala) def. Beverly Lee (Arroyo, Mission Valley 2) 6-0, 6-0
Vicky Lamayo (Wilson, Valle Vista 1) def. Emma Hall (Alta Loma) 6-0, 6-1
Second round
Vivien Cheng (Santa Monica) def. McNall 6-2, 6-0
Ward def. Lamayo 6-2, 6-1
Third round
Cheng def. Ward 6-1, 6-2
Group 4
First round
Michelle Deng (Arcadia, Pacific 1) bye
Katrina Stephanovic (Beverly Hills) def. Florence Ao (Walnut, Hacienda 2) 6-0, 6-2
Angela Hsieh (Maranatha, Olympic 2) def. Kiana Martinez (Baldwin Park, Montview 1) 6-1, 6-1
Katherine Wu (Temple City, Rio Hondo 2) bye
Second round
Deng def, Stephanovic 6-0, 6-0
Wu def. Hsieh 6-3, 6-2
Third round
Deng def. Wu 6-0, 6-1
Doubles
First round
Group 1
Cassie/Sophie McKenzie (La Canada, Rio Hondo 1), bye
Quynh Tran and Vivian Nguyen (Westminter) def. Deanna Gomez/Valerie Castro (Azusa, Montview 2) 6-2, 6-0
Iris Wong/Shirley Mach (Rosemead, Mission Valley 1) def. Kelsey Baez/Kaitlin Howard (Wilson, Valle Vista 2) 6-1, 6-0
Second round
McKenzie def. Tran/Nguyen (Westminter) 6-0, 6-0
Sarah Smith/Kimmsee McKenna (Alta Loma) def. Wong/Mach 1-6, 6-5, 10-7
Third round
McKenzie def. Smith/McKenna 6-1, 6-1
Group 2
First round
Emmaline Loo/Kelly Chuang (Walnut, Hacienda 1) def. Mariam Gegamyan/Jana Matsuda (Montebello, Almont 2) 6-0, 2-3
Amanda Rodriguez/Karlee Fink (Glendora, Palomares 1) def. Samantha Valenzuela/Trisha Montemayor (Montclair) 6-1, 6-2
Sydney Tran/Aubrey Weissbuch (Arcadia, Pacific 2) def. Karissa Lee/Yvonne Rodriguez (California, Del Rio 2) 6-2, 6-0
Second round
Amanda Tabanera/Jennifer Shin (Valencia) def. Loo/Chuang 6-0, 6-1
Tran/Weissbuch def. Rodriguez/Fink 6-3, 7-5
Third round
Tabanera/Jennifer Shin def. Tran/Weissbuch 6-4, 6-1
Group 3
First round
Madeline Gandawidjaja/Libby Chang (San Marino, Rio Hondo 1), bye
Shirley Dam/Kelly Chu (San Gabriel, Almont 1) def. Haley Chu/Kim Nakhienchanch (Garden Grove) 6-1, 3-6, 10-5
Justine Elitzur/Sabriana Saitta (Beverly Hills) def. Sabrina Liao/Bella LeDeaux (Rowland, Hacienda 1) 6-3, 6-2
Yun Kil/Kaila Phaychanpheng (Ayala) def. Ngoc Nguen/Jazmin Osorio (Sierra Vista, Montview 1) 6-0, 6-0
Second round
Gandawidjaja/Chang def. Dam/Chu 6-1, 6-1
Third round
Gandawidjaja/Chang def. Kil/Phaychanpheng 6-0, 6-1
Group 4
First round
Rachelle Yang/Angelica Zhou (Arcadia) bye
Carlie Ozaki/Megan Cho (Saugus) def. Genesis Salguerro/Emily Carranza (California, Del Rio 2) 6-0., 6-2
Vivian Lee/Sara Santos (Walnut, Hacienda 2) def. Jenny Ly/Joanne Gong (Rosemead, Mission Valley 2) 6-1, 3-6, 10-4
Natalie Yee/Sarah Rutzen (Maranatha, Olympic 1) bye
Second round
Yang/Zhou def. Ozaki/Cho 6-0, 6-1
Lee/Santos def. Yee Rutzen 6-3, 6-1
Third round
Yang/Zhou def. Lee/Santos 6-1, 6-0

JACK KRAMER REGIONAL
Doubles
Group 1
First round
Isabella Dickey/Michelle Hung (Sage Hill) def. Emily Pratt/Jacqueline Baggott (Mayfield, Prep 2) 6-2, 6-1
Group 3
First round
Sami Collins/Tara Adarkar (Pasadena Poly, Prep 1) def. Megan Guttieri/Ariana Crockett (Long Beach Poly) 6-4, 6-0
Second round
Alyssa Grijalva/Emily Zargham (Redondo) def. Collins/Adarkar 6-0, 6-0

CLAREMONT REGIONAL
Singles
Group 3
First round
Nikhil Pluta (Granite Hills) def. Sonny Gonzalez (La Puente, Miramonte 1) 6-0-, 6-0
Doubles
Group 1
First round
Lizette Avina/Gina Reyes (La Puente, Miramonte 2) def. Kameron Foutz/Keely Mikkelsen (Hemet) 3-6, 6-3, 10-8
Second round
Camydyn McGrew/Mirian Kolar (Ridgecrest Burroughs) def. Avina/Reyes 6-1, 6-3

Facebook Twitter Reddit Tumblr Email

Friday Final: The La’s have it…La Habra, La Mirada and La Serna advance to semifinals; Schurr, Sonora ousted

La Habra Head Coach Frank Mazzotta congratulates quarterback Eric Barriere (3) plays Laguna Hills in their CIF quarterfinal football game at Laguna Hills High School on Friday November 20, 2015. (Photo by Keith Durflinger/Whittier Daily News)

La Habra Head Coach Frank Mazzotta congratulates quarterback Eric Barriere (3) plays Laguna Hills in their CIF quarterfinal football game at Laguna Hills High School on Friday November 20, 2015. (Photo by Keith Durflinger/Whittier Daily News)


FRIDAY’S RECAPS
SOUTHWEST DIVISION

LA HABRA 42, LAGUNA HILLS 14

LAGUNA HILLS — A year ago, the La Habra High School football team might have caved under the pressure of being pushed in the CIF Southern Section playoffs.
But not now, and the Highlanders continued to show Friday why this season is different.
Senior quarterback Eric Barriere accounted for 347 yards and four touchdowns and La Habra cruised into the Southwest Division semifinals with a 42-14 victory over host Laguna Hills in a quarterfinal game.
CJ Taylor rushed for 200 yards and two touchdowns for the top-seeded Highlanders, who improved to 11-1 and will host No. 3 seed Villa Park, a 28-15 winner over Valencia, in next week’s semifinal.
Mitchell O’Hair passed for 169 yards and accounted for two touchdowns for the Hawks, who finished 8-4.
La Habra, after leading 21-7 at halftime, broke Laguna Hills’ back in the second half with two long scoring passes by Barriere, who threw for 247 yards and two touchdowns. He tossed 54 yards to Prince Ross for a 35-14 lead on the first play of the fourth quarter and 52 yards to Amon Fellows to push it to 42-14 with 7:45 left to play.
La Habra also got a 1-yard run from Taylor, which gave the Highlanders a 28-7 lead early in the third quarter.
La Habra’s Eric Barriere: “This just shows with all the hard work this team has put it, we’re not like last year. We know how to finish this year, and it’s a really good feeling to go on to the semifinals. I’m really excited for next week’s game.”
— Stephen Ramirez
SAN CLEMENTE 52, SONORA 45
LA HABRA — Jason Fimbres kept Sonora in the game with two of his three TDs in the second quarter. The final score came with 5:34 left to close the gap to 45-42. San Clemente let a kickoff roll to the 11 and the Raiders picked the ball up.
But Reaves scored from the 1 to get the lead back to 10 points. Sonora closed the gap to seven with a field goal with 1:03 to play.
The Raiders (9-3) then recovered their third on-side kick, but Cole McDonald’s desperation pass was intercepted. It was Sonora’s first appearance in the quarterfinals since 2010.
— Staff Report
SOUTHEAST DIVISION
LA MIRADA 38, DOMINGUEZ 13
COMPTON — In a CIF Southern Section Southeast Division quarterfinal matchup between two local league champions, it was La Mirada that looked ready for a championship run with a 38-13 win on Friday night at Dominguez.
After a relatively even start to the game, the Suburban League champion Matadores (9-3) scored on four straight possessions to end the first half and efficiently ran out the clock against the run-heavy Dons (8-4), who didn’t have the big-play ability to get back into the game. La Mirada racked up 354 total yards against the co-San Gabriel Valley League champion Dominguez defense.
Tristan Meyer threw for 204 yards and two touchdowns
La Mirada coach Mike Moschetti: “No one has run on Dominguez like that all year, and it always takes a few series to get used to their offense, so I’m very proud of our guys. We had a great week of practice and this group is just relentless. But the mission is not complete.”
— JJ Fiddler

LA SERNA 68, HARVARD-WESTLAKE 42
STUDIO CITY — La Serna High School went wild with Anthony Garcia scoring a school-record six touchdowns and rushing for more than 300 yards to propel the Lancers to a 68-42 victory over host Harvard-Westlake in a CIF-SS Southeast Division quarterfinal game on Friday night.
The Lancers (10-2) will play at St. Francis in next week’s semifinals. La Serna defeated the Golden Knights in the quarterfinals last year. The Lancers have been to the semifinals the last six years.
La Serna built a big lead on the Wolverines (8-4) early in the game and then pulled away in the third quarter. But Harvard-Westlake kept it within a couple of scores until Garcia got going again.
— Staff Report
MID-VALLEY DIVISION
SIERRA CANYON 49, SCHURR 14
MONTEBELLO —
The undefeated and top-seeded Trailblazers got out to a 28-0 lead in the first quarter en route to the Mid-Valley Division quarterfinal victory at Montebello High.
Bobby Cole scored on a 46-yard run on the opening series and came back to score on the next Sierra Canyon drive from the 8. He finished with 118 yards and three scores on 11 carries.
The Spartans (6-6) got both of their scores on Efren Velez TD runs, of 29 and 12 yards. He rushed for 113 yards on 16 carries.
NEXT WEEK’S SEMIFINALS
FRIDAY, NOV. 27

SOUTHWEST DIVISION
Villa Park (12-0) at La Habra (11-1)
SOUTHEAST DIVISION
La Serna (10-2) at St. Francis (9-3)
La Mirada (9-3) at Cathedral (11-1)

Facebook Twitter Reddit Tumblr Email

Boys Water Polo: La Serna loses to Redlands East Valley in D5 semifinals

Redlands East Valley defeats La Serna in over-time 12-11. during a prep semifinal water polo match at Diamond Bar High School in Diamond Bar, Calif., Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015. (Photo by Keith Birmingham/ Pasadena Star-News)

Redlands East Valley defeats La Serna in over-time 12-11. during a prep semifinal water polo match at Diamond Bar High School in Diamond Bar, Calif., Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015. (Photo by Keith Birmingham/ Pasadena Star-News)


DIAMOND BAR — La Serna High School, after losing in the CIF Southern Section boys water polo semifinals last season, was hoping for redemption Wednesday.
But Redlands East Valley had other ideas.

Zachary Arthur scored six goals, including three in overtime, and the Wildcats upset the No. 2 Lancers with a 12-11 victory in a Division 5 semifinal at Diamond Bar High School.
Jared Gornay and Nicholas Flemington had two goals and Harrison Land had 12 saves, including the game-winner in overtime, for REV, which improved to 23-8 and advanced to face either Claremont or Webb in Saturday’s finals at Irvine High School.
Eric Borunda had six goals for La Serna, which finished 21-9.
Arthur, after La Serna tied it at 9 late in the fourth quarter to force overtime, put the Wildcats ahead for good with back-to-back goals to start the extra period. He scored on an inside shot at 2:35 of the first half of overtime before putting a penalty shot in the back of the net at 2:01 for an 11-9 lead.
Borunda scored on a turnover to cut it to 11-10, but Arthur scored again for a 12-10 lead with 49 seconds left in the second half.
But La Serna didn’t give in.
Bryan Santis scored with 26 seconds left to cut it to 12-11 before the Lancers forced a turnover. But Evan Monterroso’s shot from inside was blocked by Harrison with seven seconds before catching a loft shot at the buzzer.
George Mooney fed Borunda with a perfect pass in the hole and he converted with 11 seconds left to tie it at 9 and force overtime.
La Serna coach John Pringle: “We still had seven seconds, so maybe he didn’t realize we still could have made a play. But it wasn’t about one play. We played four quarters and two overtimes. I give credit to REV. They played great.”
Redlands East Valley’s Zachary Arthur: “We feel amazing right now. We worked hard and fought as a team. We knew we had to keep going (after La Serna tied it). We all played as a team and worked hard to get those goals to win the game.”
— Stephen Ramirez

Facebook Twitter Reddit Tumblr Email