Dwayne Polee Jr., scored 19 points, 15 in the second half, as Westchester (Los Angeles) broke a 24-24 deadlock at halftime en route to a 70-60 victory over Taft (Woodland Hills) in the City Division I title game. It is the 11th title for Westchester, second in a row for the defending state champ.
Polee had missed much of the first half with foul trouble. Bryce Jones scored 29 for Taft.
Dwayne Polee is always above the crowd.
File photo by Lonnie Webb
But as good as USC-bound Polee's line was, it still isn't as good as his father's – that would be Dwayne Polee – who scored 43 to lead Manual Arts to an 82-69 victory over Los Angeles Crenshaw in the 1981 title game, perhaps the greatest individual performance in City championship history.
Played at the L.A. Sports Arena, the game attracted 14,123, the largest in City section history and almost 10,000 more than this year's title game attracted.
“Senior” went to UNLV and later Pepperdine, and literally had a cup of coffee in the NBA – he played one game for the Clippers in the 1986-87 season. Nowadays, he is the director of basketball operations at USC.
Junior will continue to play. After scoring 18 to complement Jordin Mayes' 19 in the first round of the Southern California Regionals against Colony (Ontario), Westchester (28-3) will play host to Santa Monica (25-7) on Thursday in the second round. The Regionals continue on Saturday before finishing March 20 at the Galen Center at USC.
Verdugo Hills completes season for ages
More than 50 years passed before Verdugo Hills (Tujunga) won a league title this season, and over the weekend the Dons won their first section championship, 60-52, over Woodland Hills El Camino Real. Verdugo Hills trailed by 15 going into the fourth quarter, but scored the final 19 points of the game. Chris Dees led the Dons with 20 points and 16 rebounds. Team of destiny?
Better lucky than good?
To win a championship, sometimes you have to be lucky. It helps to be good, and it's better to be both. Mater Dei (Santa Ana), the top-ranked team in the state, survived its poorest performance of the season to score a 68-65 victory over Rancho Cucamonga to win the Southern Section Division I-AA championship. Mater Dei (29-1) had lost three finals in a row since last winning in 2006. It now has 20 section titles.
Etiwanda (23-9), which had upset third-seeded Corona Centennial and second-seeded Long Beach Poly, shot 50 percent from the field, led by four points in the third quarter and was tied with the Monarchs with fewer than three minutes left in the game. It had a chance to tie the score in the final seconds on Evan Jenkins' three-point shot, but a no-call on what appeared to be a foul saved Mater Dei a potential overtime nailbiter.
“It looked like (Eli Stalzer) got ball, hand and wrist all in one,” Etiwanda coach Dave Kleckner said. “But that's not what cost us the game.”
Tyler Lamb led Mater Dei with 22 points, and Gary Franklin – who started all four seasons for Mater Dei – scored 21.
Serra delivers with its title
Vaughn Autry lost his father, Stephen, shortly before the Southern Section playoffs began, and Serra (Gardena)dedicated its postseason to Stephen Autry’s memory. Over the weekend, Serra won its fifth section title, 62-58, as Vaughn Autry scored a team-high 14 and the Cavaliers shot 57 percent from the field.
It has been a good year for Serra. The girls’ team won its first section title on Friday in V-AA, and the football team won a section title and State Bowl championship.
It’s that last factoid that puts the pressure on the basketball team, which is trying to win a state title to match the football team’s success. Serra (30-2), the top-seeded SoCal team in State Division III, continues its march on Thursday against Ridgeview (Bakersfield) (26-5).
Olympians get their gold
Leuzinger (Lawndale) won its first boys’ basketball title with a tenacious defense and a 48-39 Division I-A victory over Santa Monica. Third-seeded Leuzinger, which had played one of the toughest schedules in the division but had one of the more modest records among the contenders, opened a 22-5 first quarter lead. Delon Wright led the way with 13 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four blocks. He also had seven steals as Leuzinger forced 19 turnovers. Wright’s older brother, Dorell, plays for the Miami Heat; he had helped the OIympians reach a section semifinal in 2003.
Since losing four straight by a combined eight points at the MaxPreps Holiday Classic, Leuzinger won 20 in a row to get its gold.
The Olympians (25-6) are matched against fourth-seeded Woodland Hills Taft (25-5) in the second round of the Regional Division I playoffs.
Team play leads Foothill
Without the benefit of a go-to guy this season, steady Foothill (Santa Ana,) won its first section title with a 64-58 upset of top-seeded Ocean View (Huntington Beach) in the Southern Section III-AA title game. Myles Carrillo led the way with with 16 points, Rob Filley had 14 and Lucas Mijares 12. The second-seeded Knights (29-2) shot 42 percent as a team, Ocean View (27-4) only 32 percent.
During the season, there was no question that Ocean View was the No. 2 team in Orange County behind Mater Dei, and there was a gap to No. 3.
Not anymore.
Kilpatrick vacates title, Regional berth
Kilpatrick (Malibu), the lockdown facility for juvenile offenders that won its first section title in basketball, had its season end unceremoniously. It seems the school used a player who had already exceeded eligibility limits.
The Mustangs (15-11), who beat West Hills West Valley Christian, were supposed to begin the Regional Division V playoffs Tuesday against Chatsworth Sierra Canyon. Instead, there is a forfeit to Sierra Canyon, which advanced into the second round to face top-seeded El Cajon Foothills Christian.
The section title will be vacated.
“Our school discovered it when we went to state,” Coach Kurt Keller told the Los Angeles Daily News. “My whole thing is the kids didn't do anything wrong. It's tough because they've been told they're doing things wrong their whole life, and this year they accomplished something great. . . . They should feel good about themselves. This is just unfortunate.”
Carson's first girls' title is breathtaking
Carson defeated Narbonne in overtime, 53-47, to win its first City Section Division I girls' title in a game that took one coach's breath away.
Carson coach Marcel Sanders had to be taken from the sidelines at the end of regulation because of breathing difficulties. “I'm high-strung and do have a heart murmur and got to where I couldn't breath,” Sanders told The Los Angeles Times.
He may have been excited or possibly just exasperated by the game's lack of flow. All five starters fouled out for Narbonne (Harbor City), the seven-time section champion, and there were a total of 74 free throws. Carson made 15 of 44, Narbonne 16 of 30. Chante Miles scored 14 for Carson and said afterward, “This is so big, this is about legacy.”.
Actually, there was more to this story. According to the Torrance Daily Breeze, Narbonne was down three players to begin with, standout Atoe Jackson, Tori Paschal and Jamesha Chapman, who were benched for violation of team and school rules.
It's a credit to Narbonne that it would stand firm even with a big game on the line, and a credit to the Gauchos they were as close as they were despite all the adversity.
Narbonne's players were reinstated for the first round of the regionals, but both City teams were ousted: Santa Monica beat Narbonne, 54-39, and visiting Bakersfield Stockdale defeated Carson, 78-72.
Carson finished 22-9, Narbonne 22-11.
Harvard-Westlake fights from behind
Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood) fell behind by 12 points before coming back to beat Bishop Montgomery (Torrance), 58-54, to win the girls’ IV-AA title. Harvard-Westlake’s only loss this season came to Mater Dei, but its big rally – it led, 56-49 with 3:20 remaining – was enough to hold off the Knights, who pulled to 56-54.
Both teams will play Thursday in the second round of Regionals: top-seeded Harvard Westlake (30-1) will play host to tough Burbank Bellarmine-Jefferson (25-6), and Bishop Montgomery (27-7) will play host to La Jolla Bishop's (26-7).
Coach Melissa Hearlihy wasn't happy about having to face Bell-Jeff in the second round; her team has beaten the Guards twice, but the second time it was by a competitive 66-62.
A first for Inglewood and Agoura
Inglewood won its first girls’ basketball championship by forcing 25 turnovers and beating Agoura, 64-49, to win the Division III-AA title.
Agoura was playing in its first championship game – and the Chargers were also saddled with their first loss of the season after 29 victories.
Hazel Ramirez led the way for Inglewood (27-5), which lost last year’s final, with 19 points.
A game of one-upsmanship
Mater Dei (Santa Ana) might have been the best team on the floor Saturday at the Pyramid, as testament by the Monarchs' 42-point victory over Irvine Woodbridge to win the Division II-A title, 71-29, behind Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis' 22 points.
“It's as energized and as focused as we've been in awhile,” Mater Dei coach Kevin Kiernan told the Orange County Register. “Woodbridge is a great team and they are well coached and we took it to them.”
Brea Olinda forward Keitra Wallace.
File photo by Mitchell Reibel
But as impressive as it was, some courtside observers wondered if the more impressive victory was
Brea Olinda's 63-38 win over Villa Park – it was a 33-point game three minutes into the fourth quarter. And, also, because Brea didn't play very well offensively even though Kelsey Harris scored 23 against a team it had beaten previously by 19 and then 14 points.
Villa Park (24-7) is ranked No. 15 in the state by MaxPreps, Woodbridge (27-6) is No. 26, but did score a victory over Villa Park, 47-46, in December.
It adds to the drama as the teams move toward an anticipated showdown in two weeks at the Galen Center in the Southern California Regional finals. Mater Dei has lost only twice in two seasons, both to Brea, and both times when the Monarchs were ranked No. 1 in the nation. That won't be the case if they face each other again – Brea has already made sure of that.
Giving Credit where it's due
When the subject came up after his team's 58-38 Division I-AA victory over Santiago (Corona), Coach Carl Buggs of Poly (Long Beach) (28-2) wanted to make clear that his team's relative lack of success – only four championships in nine consecutive section finals – had to do with an important other party.
Lynwood.
“Saying we're 4-2 in the last six years sounds better,” Buggs said. “Give Lynwood credit.”
Coached by Ellis Barfield, Lynwood was the gold standard at that time featuring players such as Janice Bright and Sade Wiley-Gatewood. It won four titles from 2001 to 2004, and again in 2006. In all those games, its opponent was Poly. Lynwood also reached the 2000 title game but lost to Poly's Moore League rival, Long Beach Wilson, 48-46.
Poly's pursuit of a fifth consecutive state title continues Thursday against visiting Bakersfield Stockdale (28-4).
Too nice for their own good
Windward (Los Angeles) won its only girls' basketball title in 2006 behind the multi-talented Hailey Dunham, now a senior guard at USC. The Wildcats had a chance to win another title on Saturday, but were turned back by Santa Maria St. Joseph, 54-41. Windward (18-10) will be back, that's almost for certain. It has five players 6-0 or taller and includes 6-foot-6 sophomore Imani Stafford. They are losing only one senior to graduation, Whitney Jones – who's 5-11.
“Hailey was tenacious, nasty, mean,” Windward coach Steve Smith said of Dunham, who was one of the top 10 players in the Southland that season. “We have a lot of nice kids. We're young. But Hailey didn't win a championship until her senior year. This team has a chance to win two or three.”
Baseball, notably
El Toro (Lake Forest) pitcher TJ Kendzora pitched a no-hitter on the first day of the season, a 2-0 victory over Anaheim Loara. The San Diego State signee struck out 12. He lost a perfect game when he walked the leadoff batter in the seventh inning on a 3-2 pitch . . . . Bernardo Zavala of Bishop Amat (La Puente) hit three home runs and had five RBIs in a 7-2 victory over Mater Dei. . . . West Ranch (Valencia) sophomore Josh Heinz went five for five and had eight RBIs in a 24-3 victory over Hueneme, which was unbeaten at the time.
Martin Henderson began covering Southland preps in 1993 for the Los Angeles Times. He contributes to the Orange County Register, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin and San Bernardino Sun, and offers up motorsports opinions at Racescribe.com. You can reach him at southlandpreps@yahoo.com.
