There are plenty of reasons to try to win a section title, but top-seeded
Serra (Gardena, Calif.) (25-2) will fly into the Southern Section Division III-A boys basketball playoffs with a little extra motivation: Steven Autry, father of Montana-bound guard
Vaughn Aurty, died Feb. 13 of congestive heart failure. The Cavaliers open the playoffs against
Servite (Anaheim, Calif.) on Feb. 17, and will wear black socks instead of the usual armbands.
“He really loved Serra athletics,” Coach Dwan Hurt told the Torrance Daily Breeze. “He'd show up to all the football and basketball games. He'd invite the team over for gumbo or food. Even (guard) Keith Shamburger was over at the house at the time it happened.”
Boys basketball playoffs begin on Feb. 17, girls on Feb.18. Here is a look at some of the top divisions in the Southern Section basketball playoffs:
Keala King, Mater Dei
Photo by Louis Lopez
Seeded teams: 1. Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) (24-1), 2. Long Beach Poly (Long Beach, Calif.) (23-3), 3. Centennial (Corona, Calif.) (23-4), 4. Rancho Verde (Moreno Valley, Calif.) (23-3)
Outlook: Mater Dei is one of the best teams in the nation behind Tyler Lamb, Keala King and Gary Franklin. Poly is one of the best teams in the state. There's a difference.
Boys Division I-A
Seeded teams: 1. Chino Hills (Chino Hills, Calif.) (25-2), 2. Loyola (Los Angeles, Calif.) (23-2), 3. Leuzinger (Lawndale, Calif.) (19-6), 4. Colony (Ontario, Calif.) (21-6).
Outlook: Not all schedules are created equal, and Leuzinger's record proves it. Behind Amir Garrett and a diverse supporting cast, the Olympians have won 15 in a row since losing four straight – by a combined eight points – at the MaxPreps Holiday Classic. Five of their six losses were by a combined nine points. A Leuzinger and Loyola semifinal could be epic.
Boys Division II-AA
Seeded teams: 1. Summit (Fontana, Calif.) (25-2), 2. Edison (Huntington Beach, Calif.) (22-4), 3. Canyon (Anaheim, Calif.) (20-7), 4. Alta Loma (Alta Loma, Calif.) (20-7).
Outlook: This division is wide open with No. 5 Murrieta Valley (22-4), No. 7 Compton (14-12), No. 12 Redondo Union (16-10) and No. 15 Aliso Niguel legitimate threats as well. There are so many threats, it would be a shock if it's Summit vs. Edison in the finals.
Boys Division II-A
Seeded teams: 1. Eisenhower (Rialto, Calif.) (23-5), 2. Pasadena (Pasadena, Calif.) (20-6), 3. Keppel (Alhambra, Calif.) (21-5), 4. Damien (La Verne, Calif.) (19-7).
Outlook: Eisenhower won last year's title and, behind Alex Varner, have six players averaging in double figures. The Eagles seem poised to repeat, probably against Pasadena, but a run by No. 6 Palos Verdes Peninsula (19-7) wouldn't be surprising.
Girls Division I-AA
Seeded teams: 1. Long Beach Poly (Long Beach, Calif.) (23-2), 2. Santiago (Corona, Calif.) (25-2), 3. Troy (Fullerton, Calif.) (23-3), 4. Etiwanda (Etiwanda, Calif.) (21-6).
Outlook: Poly's depth is too much for most teams, and it's going to take an extraordinary effort to take out the Jackrabbits. That's just not likely to happen. Santiago doesn't have a player over 5-10 (Poly has five over 6-0), and you don't beat Poly if you don't rebound, and that's if you can take care of the ball against their pressure.
Girls Division I-A
Seeded teams: 1. Canyon Springs (Moreno Valley, Calif.) (23-3), 2. Santa Monica (Santa Monica, Calif.) (20-6), 3. Ayala (Chino Hills, Calif.) (18-6), 4. Summit (Fontana, Calif.) (21-5).
Outlook: Among the four top divisions, this is easily the most wide open. Santa Monica lost to Summit in the season's first week but the next night beat Canyon Springs. Both those teams are on the opposite side of the bracket, but the gut feeling here is that the title game is the semifinal between Santa Monica and Ayala.
Girls Division II-AA
Seeded teams: 1. Brea Olinda (Brea, Calif.) (23-2), 2. Villa Park (Villa Park, Calif.) (20-6), 3. Edison (Huntington Beach, Calif.) (20-4), 4. Ventura (Ventura, Calif.) (22-4).
Outlook: Strong inside, strong outside, strong on defense and strong on offense, this is Brea's title to lose. The Ladycats have beaten second-ranked Villa Park twice in league, by 19 and 14 points, and the only way they will be denied a second consecutive title (and 17th overall) is if they get undone by officiating.
Girls Division II-A
Seeded teams: 1. Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) (24-1), 2. Diamond Ranch (Pomona, Calif.) (22-2), 3. Woodbridge (Irvine, Calif.) (23-5), 4. Laguna Hills (Laguna Hills, Calif.) (23-3).
Outlook: Mater Dei is 55-2 over the last two seasons, and both losses are to Brea. Motivated to reach the Southern California Regional finals to face Brea once more, Mater Dei will play like its on a mission, and that's bad news for everyone else.
No surprise in City Section
Westchester (Los Angeles, Calif.) (23-3) and Taft (Woodland Hills, Calif.) (21-4) are seeded 1-2 in the Los Angeles City Section Division I boys' basketball playoffs, just as everyone expected at the beginning of the season. Westchester (23-3) beat Taft in last year's title game and hopes to repeat at USC's Galen Center on March 6 in the City championship.
Westchester defeated Taft, 71-62, on Dec. 5 in the finals of the Westchester Tip-Off Classic. Although some thought a third meeting was probable – in the Southern California Regional finals – that is far more tenuous now with the emergence of Mater Dei as the No. 1 team in the state.
The third-seeded team in the City is perennial power Crenshaw (Los Angeles, Calif.) (19-3), which is trying to match its football team by winning a City title. Washington (Los Angeles, Calif.) (20-6) is No. 4. It's still going to come down to Westchester and Taft.
On the girls' side in Division I, it's No. 1 Taft (14-8), No. 2 Washington (19-10), No. 3 Carson (18-8) and No. 4 Harbor City Narbonne (19-9). With two losses in its last three games, Taft is susceptible to perennial power Narbonne which, if healthy, should win the whole thing.
Saints keep streak alive for late coach
Santa Clara (Oxnard, Calif.) finished only 8-15 and tied for fourth place in the Tri-Valley League with a 3-7 record, but made the Division 5AA boys' playoffs for the 38th consecutive season by virtue of being one of 12 at-large teams.
With 15 section titles, the Saints keep alive a streak that was important to players, whose coach, Mike Sandoval, died in October at age 39. Sandoval, who coached the team for five seasons, died from a sudden blockage in his lung artery after a blood clot in his leg broke loose a couple of weeks after surgery on an Achilles tendon.
Coached by Kevin Thompson, the Saints open against fourth-seeded La Canada Flintridge Prep.
Just call him Sherlock
According to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Baldwin Park (Baldwin Park, Calif.) boys basketball coach Marc Hart went looking for evidence of previous playoff success in his program, and he uncovered that the Braves reached the quarterfinals in 1984. Hart suggested that was probably the last time they won a playoff game.
Baldwin Park (22-4), led by seniors Tomas Montes and Fernie Morelos, will have its best chance in decades to advance in the playoffs. It is the No. 11 seeded team in the Southern Section II-A playoffs by playing host to Lancaster Eastside (15-10).
Agoura may have to pay the piper
Agoura (Agoura, Calif.) is the only undefeated team in the team in the girls' playoffs but hasn't exactly stepped outside its comfort zone.
The Chargers (26-0) are the top-seeded team in Division III-AA. They are in the same division with programs that have rich basketball traditions. Third-seeded La Puente Bishop Amat (20-6), fourth-seeded Ventura Buena (18-8) and Los Angeles Marlborough (down this year at 8-16) have all won state titles.
Inglewood (22-5) is the No. 2 seeded team, and after losing last season in the Section and State finals will have something to prove.
Speaking of Bishop Amat
Richard Wiard, who coached the Lancers to state titles in 2005 and 2006, is back as head coach of the program. He went on hiatus after the 2008 season to further some educational pursuits before rejoining to program late in 2009 as an assistant.
“It still gets exciting,” he told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune. “I had trouble sleeping Saturday night thinking about the draw.”
Verdugo Hills ends lengthy streak
Verdugo Hills (Tujunga, Calif.) put an end to five decades of frustration by winning its first league title since 1959. Senior Aragad Abramian scored 19 points in a 65-50 victory over Van Nuys to give the Dons the East Valley League title. Six-foot-seven Chris Dees, nicknamed “the Eraser,” had 10 points, 16 rebounds and 10 blocked shots.
The Dons, who played in the Northern Conference, Sunset Six and East Valley leagues during the 51-year streak, are seeded No. 2 in the City Division III playoffs; they open Feb. 19 at home against Maywood Academy.
Verdugo Hills is coached by physical education teacher Jared Gibson, 33, a former 3-point shooting ace at Cal State Stanislaus who had no coaching experience when he was hired, but who has has successive seasons of 18-11, 19-10 and 20-7. The Dons were 11-1 in league.
Holmes surpasses Parks at Marina
Cherokee Parks was a legend at Huntington Beach Marina, but Brendan Holmes bumped Parks from atop the school scoring record with 2,015 career points. Holmes is second all-time in the Southern Section with 403 three-point baskets.
Two Southland players selected for WBCA game
Cassie Harberts of San Clemente and Lindsay Sherbert of Temecula Great Oak are among the five Californians chosen for the 19th Women's Basketball Coaches Association All-America game presented by Nike. The game will be played April 3 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
Sherbert, a California-bound forward, was also selected for the McDonald's All-American game to be played March 31 in Columbus, Ohio.
Ila Borders, Take 2
Ila Borders shook up 1990s baseball by pitching against high school and college men, and now it looks like another female will have her day on the diamond in the Southland.
Birmingham (Lake Balboa, Calif.) appears set to use Marti Sementelli this season, and for good reason: According to The Los Angeles Times, she pitched over the winter against Encino Crespi and allowed one run in three innings. Said Birmingham Coach Matt Mowry: “She's one of our three or four best pitchers.”
Sementelli was a member of the Bronze medal-winning Team USA at the 2008 Women's Baseball World Cup in Japan; she pitched six shutout innings to beat Australia in the third-place game, 2-1. Last season she pitched for the junior varsity team at Burbank.
Inland Empire shaken by deaths
A tragedy on the freeway affected Moreno Valley as Ryan Villalpando, his wife and two young children were killed when their car became wedged between two tractor-trailers and burst into flames on Interstate 15 in Ontario.
Villalpando, a teacher for five years at Moreno Valley, was the school's offensive line coach. He was 32. He had also coached at Redlands East Valley and Riverside Notre Dame.
His wife, Veronica, 29, taught second grade at the Norton Space and Aeronautics Academy in San Bernardino. Also killed were son Matteo, 4, and daughter Bella Rose, 7 months. The Villalpandos were on their way to get a pizza when the accident, part of a six-vehicle pileup, occurred on Feb. 13.
Several dozen cheers for Jon Mack
The new coach at Crespi (Encino, Calif.) has already proven popular with the players in the program, especially the younger ones. The primary philosophical difference between mack and former coach Jeremiah Ross is two-way starters. Mack doesn't like them.
“I talked to the freshman and JV kids and said that no one will start both ways, and the guys cheered,” Mack said. “The kids have been very receptive to some philosophy changes. We're going to have 22 different starters on freshman, 22 on JV and we'll do everything we can to have 22 on varsity.”
He said there were at least seven and perhaps as many as nine two-way starters on the varsity.
Crespi, 5-5 last season, lost four games by four points or less and failed to make the Southern Section Pac-5 playoffs.
A few weeks into his administration, Mack says Crespi is looking for games in Week 1 and 4.
“I like the commitment of the kids,” Mack said. “We're a little thinner on talent than what I hoped, but if you're in it for the long haul, you don't look at the first group, you just work hard and good things will happen.
“We plan to compete. I'm not a big prediction guy, but we're going to work out tails off and let God take care of the rest.”
Comings and goings
Cameron Stevens, who is a junior high principal, has resigned as football coach at Calvary Murrieta (Murrieta, Calif.) after two seasons. He was 9-11-1.
John Hallenbeck has been dismissed as coach at Yucaipa (Yucaipa, Calif.) after two seasons in which the Thunderbirds went 10-11.
Sebastian Hernandez has been hired as the new football coach at Nogales (La Puente, Calif.). A graduate of Anaheim Servite, he had been a defenisve coordinator at Riverside Norte Vista after stops at Corona Centennial and Servite. He replaces Vito Saracino, who was dismissed after going 3-17 in two seasons.
“I'll take my cues from Coach (Matt) Logan at Centennial," he told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.
He's smart, you have to give him that.
Joe Kanach has been hired by Hawthorne (Hawthorne, Calif.). He had been a defensive coordinator at L.A. West Adams.
Ollie Lynch has been dismissed as co-head coach at La Mirada (La Mirada, Calif.), which won the Southern Section Southern Division championship in the fall, the school's second. He will remain the Matadors' track coach, according to the Whittier Daily News. He shared the position for two seasons with Mike Moschetti. La Mirada was 17-8 with the Moschetti-Lynch combination.
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.
