St. Paul High players jubilate after their 56-52 win over San Bernardino High at the Swordsmen’s Santa Fe Springs, Calif. campus gym Feb. 23, 2017. (Photo by Leo Jarzomb, SGV Tribune/ SCNG)
St. Paul closed the first quarter with an 11-5 surge to lead 15-10. But with Bangai on the bench, the Cardinals prospered, using a 15-4 blitz to lead 25-19. The Swordsmen, with Bangai back in, closed the half with a 6-0 run to lead 26-25 at the break.
They pushed the lead to 47-39 after three quarters before the Cardinals opened the final quarter with a 11-4 surge and pulled within 51-50 on a 3-pointer by Bradley with 1:15 remaining.
Bangai then went 5 of 6 from the foul line down the stretch to send St. Paul to the finals. St. Paul’s Louis Bangai: “I’m feeling really good. I’m very proud of my teammates, my coach and all of my fans. This is a good thing for the school, to get to the championship of CIF.” — Stephen Ramirez
Maranatha’s Josh Kim (right) drives to the net during the semifinal round of CIF-SS playoffs at Maranatha High School in Pasadena, Calif. on Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. Maranatha defeated Cantwell-Sacred Heart 52-50. (Correspondent photo by Trevor Stamp)
DIVISION 1AA
MARANATHA 52, CSHM 50
PASADENA >> Maranatha High School certainly can’t complain about its return on investment when it comes to boys basketball coach Tim Tucker.Four years ago, Tucker was brought in to make the Minutemen a power and he’s doing just that. For the second time in four years, Maranatha will play for a CIF Southern Section championship after posting a 52-50 win over visiting Cantwell-Sacred Heart of Mary on Friday night in the semifinals of the Division 1AA playoffs.Maranatha improved to 18-9 and will play either Rancho Verde in next week’s championship game. CSHM, which had beaten Maranatha in December, finishes at 15-15.
Maranatha had to withstand a furious rally by CSHM in the fourth quarter. The Cardinals fell down by double figures early in the second half, but after chipping away, took a 45-44 lead with 2:50 left to play.
It didn’t last long. Maranatha’s Josh Kim drove to the basket, got fouled and made the shot. Kim hit the free throw to put his team up two. CSHM tied it at 47-47 moments later, but Maranatha had the answer yet again, this time on a flashy drive and scoop for the score by guard Sean Espinosa with 50 seconds left.
Trailing 49-47, CSHM had Maranatha in a precarious situation with 14 seconds left to play. The Minutemen were in-bounding the ball under their own basket with just five seconds left on the shot clock. But on the in-bounds attempt, the referee ruled that a CSHM player kicked the ball and the shot clock was reset.
Cantwell was forced to foul and sent Maranatha big man Jesse Elrod to the line, where he nailed both free throws for a 51-47 lead. Maranatha fouled CSHMl guard Dawit Wilson on a 3-point attempt and he made all three free throws to cut it to one.
Elrod was then fouled on the in-bound pass and made both free throws with just over one second to play. CSHM’s full-court shot for the tie fell way short as time expired. Maranatha coach Tim Tucker: “We’re not supposed to be here. We’re the 4A school that was thrown into 1AA and we’re not supposed to be here. I wasn’t fearful (tonight) because we’ve been playing big war games and our kids were battle tested. I knew it would come down to the wire and we stepped up and made plays.” — Aram Tolegian NEXT WEEK’S CIF-SS CHAMPIONSHIPS
3A
St. Paul vs. Twentynine Palms, TBA 1AA
Maranatha vs. Rancho Verde, TBA Note: CIF-SS will release the championship schedule early next week GIRLS SOCCER
DIVISION 2
LA MIRADA 2, CORONA DEL MAR 0
Natalie Day and Gabrielle Hurtado each scored a goal as the Matadores upset top seed Corona del Mar.
La Mirada, seeking a CIF-SS 3-peat after winning Division 4 the past two seasons, advances to Tuesday’s semifinals. The Matadores will host Temecula Valley.
Division 7 No. 1 San Gabriel Mission 2, Saddleback Valley Christian 0 No. 4 Lennox Academy 0, Arroyo 0 (Lennox wins on PKs, 3-2) Pacific 2, El Monte 0 No. 2 Rancho Mirage 1, Alverno 0
Tuesday’s semifinals
Division 2 Temecula Valley (23-3-2) at La Mirada (18-4-2) Moorpark (20-1-2) at No. 2 Vista Murrieta (19-4-2)
Division 3 Claremont (22-2-2) at No. 1 Bishop Amat (24-3) No. 2 South Torrance (18-1-2) at Flintridge Prep (22-3-3)
Division 5 Gabrielino (16-3-2) at Crean Lutheran (16-5-2) No. 1 Palm Desert (19-4-4) at Viewpoint (16-5-2)
Division 7 No. 4 Lennox Academy (13-1-2) at No. 1 San Gabriel Mission (22-4) Pacific (14-12) at No. 2 Rancho Mirage (17-7-2)
By Tony Ciniglio
IRVINE —The feeling was still fresh. The moment raw. The Adrenaline still pumping.Finally the Schurr High School girls water polo team came together and let out a roar as it celebrated advancing to the program’s first CIF Southern Section final.Schurr reveled in the moment as the high-fives, hugs and smiles gave way to jumping and screaming for joy.“It was like a mosh pit,” Schurr’s Stephany Velasquez said.Schurr scored the final four goals of the match to stun top-seeded Agoura 7-5 in the Division 2 semifinals at the William Wollett Aquatics Center to punch its ticket to the program’s first CIF final.Schurr (30-2) advances to play Riverside Poly in Saturday’s final. Riverside Poly was a 6-5 winner over Riverside’s King.
“This group has been working so hard since September,” said Schurr coach David Argumosa, in his fifth season. “We did not play that many matches early, so we were not ranked very high in the beginning of the season, but the whole idea was to gear toward the end of the season.
“I’ve got a deep bench and I can plug different players into different spots and not miss a beat. Having the ability and the right pieces of the puzzle made all the difference.”
Agoura (22-9) missed a chance to make its first CIF-SS final since 2007.
It was heartbreak city for Agoura, which led 5-3 with 5:57 left in the match after a goal from Lexi Rond, who had three goals. Maddie Demattia scored twice.
“I just thought at that point, it was ours,” said Rond, who is headed to Santa Barbara City College to continue her career. “I wish I could tell you what happened there. I’m honestly not sure. The only thing I’m sure about is that we gave it our all. We still had a great season and I was honored to be able to play with these girls.”
Schurr did it with balance as seven players accounted for the seven goals.
Lizbeth Guzman, Milena Guzman and Nayeli Cisneros scored in the first half.
Then Valeria Martinez, Cynthia Rosa, Kayla Santos and Jassmine Kezman rattled off the four consecutive goals in the fourth quarter. Santos delivered the tie-breaking goal with 1:29 left in the match.
“I didn’t know what to do. I was scared,” Santos said. “Should I shoot it? Should I not shoot it? So I just shot it and it went in.
“I was so hyped. I was like ‘Whoo.’”
The dagger came from Kezman with 31 seconds left to put the match on ice to cap the dramatic comeback.
“Their goalie kept fading with our shots, so I decided to go near-post instead. That put us up by two, and even if they scored, we knew we had this game,” Kezman said. “When we were down, we never thought it was over. The game was still going and we were not going to stop until the end.”
Schurr goalkeeper Itzahiana Baca said she liked the way her defense responded when Schurr began making its fourth-quarter comeback.
“All of their shooters were really good, but my team just really stepped up, especially in that fourth quarter,” Baca said.
Schurr’s comeback foiled a fantastic performance from Agoura goalkeeper Emma Pfister, who made 11 saves, including a pivotal stop of a 5-meter shot midway through the second quarter that seemed to give Agoura momentum, at least for a little while.
“It could be all in my head, but I did notice a change in the team after that 5-meter,” Pfister said. “We got our normal Agoura mentality back.
“We played a really great game. Did it end the way we wanted? No, but it was still a great season.”