If you have any scores or stats from any local high school sporting events call them into the desk at 626-544-0992 or 0991 or scores@SGVN
Boys basketball
Whittier Christian 52, Village Christian 44 — Shane Dean scored 15 points and Christian Labadie added 12 points for the Heralds in an Olympic League victory.
Girls basketball
Village Christian 41, Whittier Christian 27 — Kacie Hunt scored 15 points and Christa Evans had seven rebounds for the Heralds in an Olympic League loss.
La Serna High’s Jessie Garcia (#2), right, shoots for two vs California High at La Serna’s Whittier, Calif. campus gym January 29, 2016. (Photo by Leo Jarzomb/Whittier Daily News)
BOYS BASKETBALL
DEL RIO LEAGUE
LA SERNA 56, CAL 46
WHITTIER — Whenever California and La Serna high schools meet, you can almost always throw out their records, in any sport.
Friday night was no exception in boys basketball as the Condors came out flying with a quick start, but host La Serna proved to be too much in the end. The Lancers came away with a 56-46 victory before a packed house at Melvin E. Locke Gymnasium.
La Serna (16-7, 5-1), which entered the game tied with Whittier for first place in the Del Rio League, and Cal (4-19, 0-6) played a typical rivalry game with both fan bases at their best.
Leading the way for La Serna was junior guard Walter Franco with 15 points (seven in the third), followed by Cedric Sobers (14) and Garcia with 13.
La Serna built a 22-12 lead late in the second quarter, ending the half on a 7-3 run.
Abel Ramirez, who scored seven points in the third quarter, including a 3-pointer, saw his team fall 16 points behind the Lancers (42-26) heading into the final quarter.
La Serna coach Marino Angulo: “The kids are starting to believe this year that we are an excellent team and are a good defensive team. We’re turning things around and it’s paid off these past three years. You have to respect every team and Cal plays so hard and plays great defense.”
La Serna’s Jessie Garcia: “Finally, in my senior year we beat Cal both times. It is the first time we beat them at home in my three years on varsity. We were still pretty hyped about the win over Whittier (Wednesday) and came out a little flat. But we know the rivalry against Cal and the records don’t matter.”
Cal’s Abel Ramirez: “There’s a lot of kids on the team that have parents that went to Cal and we all grew up playing against (La Serna) when we were younger. We could have done better (Friday) and I wish we could have had the last laugh.”
OTHER SCORES
BOYS BASKETBALL
DEL RIO LEAGUE
Whittier 79, Santa Fe 73
Pioneer 64, El Rancho 62
FREEWAY LEAGUE
Sonora 58, La Habra 39
OLYMPIC LEAGUE
Whittier Chr. 52, Village Chr. 44
SANTA FE LEAGUE
St. Paul 70, Mary Star 55
SUBURBAN LEAGUE
La Mirada 35, Norwalk 26
GIRLS BASKETBALL
ALMONT LEAGUE
Keppel 65, Montebello 30
DEL RIO LEAGUE
La Serna 62, Cal 56
FREEWAY LEAGUE
Sonora 72, La Habra 21
OLYMPIC LEAGUE
Village Chr. 41, Whittier Chr. 27
SUBURBAN LEAGUE
La Mirada 46, Norwalk 44
By Stephen Ramirez
SANTA FE SPRINGS — St. Paul High School was one game short of a Santa Fe League boys soccer title last season.
The Swordsmen’s goal this season has been to make up the gap, and they continued in that quest Friday.
Michael Lara had a goal and two assists and Alexander Corpus scored two goals and host St. Paul stayed in first place with a 3-0 victory over St. Pius-St. Matthias Academy.
The Swordsmen improved to 13-5 overall and 6-0 in league play. They are ranked No. 6 in CIF Southern Section Division 7.
The Warriors slipped to 3-5-2 and 1-3-1.
“Leadership has been a big thing (this year),” St. Paul coach Daniel Alvarez said. “The boys have responded in everything I’ve told them. They really want to win. They are hungry.”
The Swordsmen played that way Friday, and got off to a quick start. Lara got loose down the center and scored from inside the penalty area in the fifth minute for a 1-0 lead.
He added to the advantage in the 38th and 40th minutes. Lara again got free and made a perfect cross pass to a hard-charging Corpus, who tapped it in the open net for a 2-0 lead with just over two minutes left in the first half.
The two combined again two minutes later. Lara got open down the right side and Corpus converted Lara’s cross pass with a shot for a 3-0 lead with about 20 seconds left in the half.
“I saw the opening,” said Lara of the surge that produced the final two goals. “I knew I was faster than the defenders and I just went for it.”
St. Paul was dominant for much of the game, outshooting St. Pius-St. Matthias, 12-1 in the first half and 16-4 for the game.
The win was the Swordsmen’s eighth consecutive victory and their ninth during their past 11 games. They stayed at least one game ahead of St. Anthony, who beat St. Paul for the title last season. The Swordsmen scored a 2-0 win over the Saints two weeks ago.
“We could have won last year,” Lara said. “It was silly mistakes (vs. St. Anthony) that cost us. We came up short last year and this year we just really want it more.”
Cantwell-Sacred Heart High girls basketball vs St. Monica High at CSHM’s Montebello, Calif campus gym January 28, 2016. (Photo by Leo Jarzomb/Whittier Daily News)
GIRLS BASKETBALL
CAMINO REAL LEAGUE
CANTWELL 47, ST. MONICA 44
MONTEBELLO — Cantwell Sacred Heart of Mary knew it had one chance to earn at least a share of the Camino Real League girls basketball title.
The Cardinals made sure they didn’t waste the opportunity on Thursday.
Lily Perkins scored 20 points and had two key baskets during the final 30 seconds as host Cantwell rallied for a 47-44 victory over St. Monica to move into a first-place tie with the Mariners.
Kathy Pinnock had nine points, including two crucial 3-pointers in the final two minutes, for the Cardinals, who improved to 18-6 overall and 4-1 in league play. Molly Tomlin had 12 points for the Mariners, who slipped to 15-6 and 4-1.
St. Monica scored a 47-42 victory over Cantwell earlier in the season. Both teams have three league games left.
It looked bleak twice in the second half for the Cardinals. The Mariners, after outscoring Cantwell 18-6 in the second quarter, held leads of 10 points in the third quarter and eight in the fourth. But each time the Cardinals rallied.
They cut St. Monica’s lead to 41-37 with 2:24 left following a 3-pointer by Valeria Lizarraga and two free throws by Perkins.
Pinnock then drained consecutive 3-pointers to give Cantwell a 43-42 lead with 1:02 left,
St. Monica got the lead right back following a 10-foot turnaround by Gloria Scipioni with 50 seconds remaining.
Cantwell followed with a turnover, but Tomlin was short on a 9-footer in the lane with 28 seconds left.
Perkins then followed with a layup and a 44-43 Cantwell lead with 15 seconds left.
Brianna George missed an inside shot with 10 seconds left before Perkins followed with a layup to clinch it at 47-44 with two seconds left.
Cantwell coach Matt Zamora: “There’s nothing more that I can say about this team other than they are resilient. When we needed it tonight, we got it. It’s a big-time game and a big-time win for this school.”
Cantwell’s Lily Perkins: “It was just our composure. We had our composure the whole game and I think that’s what kept us in it. Kathy’s (3-pointers) got us the momentum. We did good. We played as a team, got a team win. We needed this. This game was a big one. At halftime, we got kind of scared, but we stayed in it.”
La Serna’s Andrew Ramos (42) celebrates their win over Whittier in their Del Rio League boys basketball game on Wednesday January 27, 2016. La Serna defeated Whittier 44-43. (Photo by Keith Durflinger/Whittier Daily News)