California: Etiwanda tries to go three-for-three

After a pair of upsets to reach the CIF-Southern Section Division I-AA boys basketball final, Rancho Cucamonga Etiwanda will try to play the role of giant-slayer one more time when it takes on Santa Ana Mater Dei.

Trying to put away its third consecutive seeded team, the Eagles (23-8) must beat one of the top programs in the nation: Mater Dei (28-1) has three Division I college standouts in the starting lineup: Tyler Lamb (UCLA), Keala King (Arizona State) and Gary Franklin (Cal). The only break that Etiwanda seems to be getting is the one on Tommy Stangl's foot. The point guard broke his foot, meaning Franklin moves from shooting guard to point guard for Mater Dei.

The teams face each other Saturday, at 6:30 p.m., at the Honda Center.

Not only did Etiwanda upset third-seeded Corona Centennial in the quarterfinals, 78-72, behind 28 points from Byron Wesley (USC), but Wesley scored 10 of his game-high 22 points in the fourth quarter to lead an upset of second-seeded Long Beach Poly, 58-55.

No one is giving sixth-seeded Etiwanda much chance to win and complete the sweep of the division's Big 3, but for what it's worth, Mater Dei has lost three consecutive Southern Section championship games, to Artesia, Riverside King and Compton Dominguez. For a complete list of basketball championship games, see the bottom of the page.

Bryce Jones, Taft

File photo by Todd Shurtleff

There's a big matchup on Saturday when everyone's preseason prediction for the City Section finals will come true. Los Angeles Westchester (26-3) and Woodland Hills Taft (24-3) will play for the City title – again. Westchester won last year's title game, 60-55, as well as the 2006 championship, 68-58. They played earlier this season with Westchester scoring a 71-62 victory on Dec. 5.

Taft advanced with a 29-point effort from USC-bound Bryce Jones in an 81-60 victory over Crenshaw. Westchester defeated L.A. Washington Prep, 90-53, thanks to a 20-point run in the first quarter and 22 points from Arizona-bound Jordin Mayes. It's the fifth final in seven seasons for Taft, which is 0-3 in the playoffs against Westchester since Derrick Taylor took over the program 10 years ago. Westchester is seeking its 11th title. The City championship schedule is at the bottom of the page.

Kilpatrick isn't like most other schools in the Southland. It is a juvenile facility, and as such, playing sports is a privilege at the detention center for the offenders who live on site. Yet according to the Los Angeles Daily News, the program is trying to win its first basketball title with only three players who began the season with the team, Mike Sanders, James Sydow and Marcus Bush. In the playoffs, the Mustangs have gotten a bump from Anthony Hubbard, who came up from the JV and has averaged 14 points in the playoffs.

"We're a probation camp," coach Kurt Keller told the Daily News. "Some left and some lost their privileges. ... We don't have the luxury of having kids for a very long time, but I think we have a good chance. The kids have picked up things really well and have learned good roles for life. We have (rival gang members) playing together on the same team, so it's really been a positive thing."

Kilpatrick, whose football team was the subject of the movie Gridiron Gang, will face Hemet West Valley Christian on Friday, at 6:15 p.m., at Ontario Colony High.

Big plays don't get much bigger than the one that sends Torrance Bishop Montgomery to the girls basketball finals for the first time since 2005. Trailing by three points, Kristen Ale made a four-point play – a 3-pointer from the corner and a subsequent free throw – with 1.8 seconds left to give the second-seeded Knights a stunning 53-52 Division IV-AA victory over third-seeded Orange Lutheran. Montgomery (26-6) will take on top-seeded North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake (29-1) on Saturday.

Narbonne got a buzzer-beating layup from Atoe' Jackson to force overtime, then scored a 50-47 victory over top-seeded Woodland Hills Taft to once again reach a City Section girls basketball championship. The fourth-seeded Gauchos (22-9), who owned the 1990s and the early part of this decade, will play Carson in the finals on Saturday at the Galen Center.

Taft (16-9) had taken a 44-42 lead with seven seconds left, but a return trip to the finals wasn't to be. "I don't know what it feels like to be stabbed in the heart, but if I could imagine it I think it feels something like this right now," Haynes told the Los Angeles Daily News.

Third-seeded Carson (21-8) also came up big at the end of regulation, hitting two free-throws in the final minute to take a 44-42 lead over second-seeded L.A. Washington and then getting a blocked shot by Janitah Iamaleava against Kiana Furlow's layup attempt in the final seconds to protect the margin. Narbonne and Carson split two games during Marine League play. Carson beat Narbonne, 52-51, on Jan. 20 by outscoring the Gauchos in the fourth quarter, 21-10; Narbonne won on Feb. 8, 53-47.

Agoura (29-0), which is still undefeated, will appear in its first championship game on Saturday. The Chargers will take on Inglewood (26-5), which was beaten in last year's final, and then beaten in the State championship game. Inglewood beat playoff perennial third-seeded La Puente Bishop Amat, 63-48, while Agoura KO'd one of the state's most successful programs, fourth-seeded Ventura Buena, 67-55. History was not on Agoura's side but it prevailed anyway: In 1993, Buena defeated another unbeaten team, Thousand Oaks, in the Division I-A final; at the time, Thousand Oaks was 29-0.

One of the biggest shots of the playoffs came off the fingertips of Jaina Abdul-Mansour, who was beyond halfcourt when she unleashed a 45-foot buzzer-beater to send fifth-seeded Beverly Hills to the semifinals with a 52-51 victory over fourth-seeded Laguna Hills in the girls Division II-A quarterfinals. Before the shot, Mansour was 1 of 14 from the field.

"It's a one-in-a-million shot, there's nothing you can do about it," said Laguna Hills coach Jim Martin, whose team finished 25-4. "In sports, crazy things happen. That's just the way it is. The suddenness of it is shocking, to the kids especially. In some ways, when you lose by 20, you have time to reconcile things during the game. There was no time to reconcile this."

In the semifinals, Mater Dei defeated Beverly Hills, 80-63. It was a rematch of the 2009 title game. Mater Dei will play Irvine Woodbridge in the finals on Saturday.

Mike Hartman, 32, suffered a heart attack on Feb. 25, but is recovering after doctors performed an angioplasty and inserted a stent to clear a blocked artery, according to the Santa Maria Times. Hartman is coach of the St. Joseph (Santa Maria) football team, which has won three of the last four Los Padres League titles.

Los Osos (Rancho Cucamonga) boys basketball coach David Smith underwent his second cancer surgery last week to remove any tumors that had moved from his colon to his liver and doctors discovered some good news: The tumors had calcified. Smith had been diagnosed in May with Stage 4 colon cancer, according to the San Bernardino County Sun. He had already been treated with chemotherapy. Essentially, less than a year removed from having a death sentence pronounced on him, Smith is cancer-free.

Corona Santiago pitcher Nick Hurtado won't be playing this season because he must undergo chemotherapy and possible surgery for cancer in his knee. A left-hander who has signed with Cal State Fullerton, Hurtado was to be the Sharks' ace. According to coach Ty DeTrinidad in the Riverside Press-Enterprise, Hurtado told his teammates, "I don't want to be felt sorry for."

Anthony Rice, who was at the center of a melodrama surrounding Pomona football and its first-year coach, John Brown, has been named Brown's successor. Brown had quit after one season and a 6-4 record because, he said, the school had offered Rice the head coaching position while Brown was still coach. Brown, a longtime assistant at Pomona who was the school's fourth coach in six seasons, had done Pomona a favor by taking on the head coaching position for 2009 and had intended to stay on.

Rice (39-12) won two section titles in four seasons while at Ontario Colony before resigning Feb. 2 because he wanted to pursue an administrative position that Colony couldn't provide. He contended that Pomona athletic director Tom Sweeney had spoken to him about becoming Pomona's offensive coordinator under Brown, contrary to what Brown says he was told by Rice.

"That kind of threw a monkey wrench in this whole thing," Rice told the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. "I understand where (Brown) is coming from. I know how he feels."

Matt Bechtel has been hired by Colony (Ontario) to replace Rice. He had been an offensive coordinator at Los Osos for seven seasons, and was also an offensive coordinator for a season at Chaffey College. Bechtel, 35, was considered the eventual successor to Tom Martinez at Los Osos, but "Tom is a young man, he's got plenty of years left and I didn't want to be the one to push him out."

Andrew Jones has been named the new football coach at Lompoc, where he replaced Robin Luken, who resigned in December after 19 seasons. Jones was a quarterback for Lompoc in 2002 when the Braves won their last divisional championship.

Tim McTyer, a former BYU player and five-year veteran of the NFL, has been named the new football coach at Banning (Wilmington). McTyer had previously been defensive coordinator at Inglewood and Gardena Serra, and last season was coach of the defensive backs at L.A. Southwest College. He replaces the retired Chris Ferragamo.

Jesus Garcia has resigned as boys basketball coach at Norte Vista (Riverside) after his team went 1-23.

Soccer Cinderella

Narbonne (Harbor City), seeded No. 14 in the City Section boys soccer playoffs, got a second-half goal from Sergio Cervantes and advanced to its first championship game with a 1-0 semifinal victory over No. 18 L.A. Locke. The Gauchos will play fourth-seeded San Fernando for the City title at Contreras Learning Center in Los Angeles on Saturday, 6 p.m. San Fernando beat No. 8 San Pedro, 2-1. Other title games Saturday: Girls Division I, El Camino Real vs. Sylmar, 3:30 p.m.; girls Division II, Fremont vs. Narbonne, 1 p.m.; boys' third place, San Pedro vs. Locke, 10:30 a.m. Games on Friday: Boys small schools, Annenberg vs. Elizabeth, 7:30 p.m.; girls small schools, Northridge vs. Los Angeles CES, 4:30 p.m.

Five of the 14 Southern Section boys soccer semifinal games were decided on penalty kicks, and another took overtime. Both winners in Division 6 came from penalty kicks, with Hesperia Oak Hills beating Brentwood and El Monte Mountain View beating Pasadena Poly.

The finals, in descending order by division, set up with: Harvard-Westlake vs. San Juan Capistrano JSerra, Santa Barbara vs. Goleta Dos Pueblos, Paramount vs. Santa Ana Valley, Corona del Mar vs. La Mirada, Los Angeles Salesian vs. Inglewood Animo Leadership, Hesperia Oak Hills vs. El Monte Mountain View, and Oxnard Santa Clara vs. Avalon.

On the girls side in the Southern Section, the finals are: Anaheim Esperanza vs. San Clemente, Harvard-Westlake vs.Irvine Beckman, Corona Santiago vs. Riverside King, Sultana vs. Apple Valley Granite Hills, Los Angeles Notre Dame Academy vs. South Torrance, Lancaster Desert Christian vs. Malibu, and Carson CAMS vs. Baldwin Park Sierra Vista.

Damien Gomez of Downey Warren lost his first match of the season, 4-1, to Santa Maria Righetti's Josh Rodriguez, but was among the many Southland athletes to advance to the State Wrestling tournament in Bakersfield this weekend. Gomez dropped the 103-pound final at the Southern Section Masters Meet, dropping his overall record to 53-1.The top nine from each weight class advanced to State. Santa Ana Calvary Chapel was the team winner with 120 points, 39 more than Hesperia Sultana.

San Fernando won its fifth consecutive City Section wrestling championship and 15th overall with a 9.5-point victory over Woodland Hills El Camino Real. San Fernando's two-time champion Miguel Gallegos (125 pounds) was named outstanding lower weight wrestler, and two-time defending champion Adolfo Medina (189) was the outstanding upper-division wrestler.

Mater Dei senior long snapper Joseph St. Germain has committed to Virginia Tech. ... Los Alamitos linebacker Mike Collins has committed to Navy. ... Defensive back Chayz Holt of Rancho Cucamonga has accepted a scholarship offer to Portland State. ... Rancho Cucamonga Los Osos senior point guard Kendall Williams has committed to New Mexico; he committed to UCLA as a sophomore.

Joe Hay of Garden Grove and John Shipp of Fountain Valley have been named opposing coaches for the 51st Brea Lions Club Orange County North/South football game July 16 at Orange Coast College. Former San Gabriel coach Keith Jones, who resigned at the end of the season, and West Covina's Mike Maggiore, will be opposing coaches at the East-West Hall of Fame game June 25 at Baldwin Park High.

Among the tournaments that begin the baseball season on Friday are the Easton, Loara and Newport Elks tournaments. Edison (Huntington Beach), the No. 1 team in the nation as determined by the MaxPreps Xcellent 25, opens the Loara tournament against Aliso Viejo Aliso Niguel.

Austin Lacy, a junior outside linebacker as well as a basketball player at La Puente Bishop Amat, is expected to make a full recovery after a close call during surgery to drain fluid from around his heart. Doctors expected to extract a half-liter, but instead found 3.5 liters, and while the surgery was taking place, Lacy's heart stopped beating. According to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Lacy experienced flu-like symptoms before going to the hospital Monday with chest pains. Doctors expect him to make a full recovery, said his father, Darryl Lacy. Austin Lacy, 17, transferred to Bishop Amat from Pasadena in September.

A memorial service for Santa Ana Mater Dei softball pitcher Brianne Matthews will be held Friday, 3:15 p.m., at the Huntington Beach Sports Complex, where Matthews spent much of her time playing. Her family has requested that softball players in attendance wear their high school or club uniforms in tribute to the 16-year-old, who died Feb. 25. The coroner determined she had committed suicide.

The Southern and City sections will crown boys and girls basketball champions Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Here is a look at the schedule:

Div. II boys: Narbonne vs. San Pedro, 8 p.m.
Div. II girls: Granada Hills vs. El Camino Real, 6 p.m.

Div. I boys: Los Angeles Westchester vs. Woodland Hills Taft, 8 p.m.
Div. I girls: Narbonne vs. Carson, 6 p.m.

Div. III boys: Verdugo Hills vs. El Camino Real, 1 p.m.
Div. III girls: Lake Balboa Birmingham vs. L.A. Monroe, 11 a.m.

5AA boys: Los Angeles Windward vs. La Verne Lutheran, 8:15 p.m.
6AA boys: Los Angeles Ribet Academy vs. Irvine Tarbut V'Torah, 6:15 p.m.
6AA girls: Los Angeles St. Bernard vs. Granada Hills Hillcrest Christian, 4:15 p.m.

1A girls: Fontana Summit vs. Santa Monica, 8:30 p.m.
3A girls: Santa Margarita vs. Pasadena Muir, 6:30 p.m.
5A girls: Long Beach St. Anthony vs. Montclair Prep, 4:30 p.m.

5A boys: Chatsworth Sierra Canyon vs. Ojai Besant Hill, 8:15 p.m.
6A boys: Malibu Kilpatrick vs. West Hills West Valley Christian, 6:15 p.m.
6A girls: Atascadero North County Christian vs. La Verne Calvary Baptist, 4:15 p.m.

4A boys: Mission Hills Alemany vs. Encino Crespi, 8:30 p.m.
4AA boys: Los Angeles Price vs. Orange Lutheran, 6:30 p.m.
5AA girls: Gardena Serra vs. Cerritos Valley Christian, 4:30 p.m.

1A boys: Santa Monica vs. Lawndale Leuzinger, 2:15 p.m.
2AA boys: Murrieta Valley vs. Compton, 10:45 a.m.
2A boys: Rialto Eisenhower vs. Pasadena, 12:30 p.m.
3A boys: Gardena Serra vs. Compton Centennial, 9 a.m.

1AA boys: Santa Ana Mater Dei vs. Rancho Cucamonga Etiwanda, 6:30 p.m.
3AA boys: Huntington Beach Ocean View vs. Santa Ana Foothill, 8:30 p.m.

2A girls: Santa Ana Mater Dei vs. Irvine Woodbridge, 1 p.m.
3AA girls: Agoura vs. Inglewood, 11:15 a.m.
4AA girls: North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake vs. Torrance Bishop Montgomery, 9:30 a.m.
4A girls: Los Angeles Windward vs. Santa Maria St. Joseph, 2:45 p.m.

1AA girls: Long Beach Poly vs. Corona Centennial, 8:15 p.m.
2A girls: Brea Olinda vs. Villa Park, 6:30 p.m.

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.