The Swordsmen are survivors in Western Division semifinal

They had less than two minutes to work with. They had 68 yards to go. They had a bit of magic and drove frantically.

And they did it -- pulling off a cardiac conclusion when Aubrey Haynes bullied into the end zone with 27.5 seconds remaining to give St. Paul an 18-14 victory over host Gahr in a Western Division semifinal.

"A great feeling," Haynes howled, "an all-time great feeling."

So the Gladiators are gone -- the Swordsmen are survivors. And none of it was predicatable.

-- Anthony Stitt

South Hills, El Dorado put on a heckuva entertaining game

South Hills Coach Steve Bogan put in perspective: "It was a great football game. If you're a fan, this was awesome. On our end, there's not a lot of guys that are feeling real good, but, you know what, they'll bounce back."

The Huskies' 23-17 overtime loss to El Dorado in the Southwest Division semifinal at Placentia Valencia High must have been, at its conclusion, painful for South Hills fans, but it was a more-than-entertaining game -- worth the price of admission, worth the $2 bag of Kettle Korn and worth standing outside in the cold to see.

St. Bonny blitzes Saugus in the second half and rolls to 55-36 victory

How do you score five TDs even though you've only had the ball roughly five minutes?

Well, I'm not sure, but that's exactly what top-seeded host St. Bonaventure did to pull off a 55-36 Northern Division semifinal victory over third-seeded Saugus on Saturday night. A pair of 69 and 73-yard TD catches by WR Blayne Lewis, pictured, coupled with three second-half TDs by RB Darrell Scott were enough to win a shootout with the Centurions in the final 24 minutes.

Sure, St. Bonaventure Coach Todd Therrien wasn't exactly thrilled that the game had turned into an offensive free-for-all, but like he said, "All that matters is the score."

Centennial pulls the plug on Chaparral

They should have started that running clock about the second quarter, rather than wait until the fourth.

Corona Centennial is marching on to the Inland Division final after destroying visiting Chaparral, 68-14, in a game that wasn't as close as the score would indicate.

Corona Centennial is running out the running clock

All the other games are ending and we're just starting the fourth quarter here at the Inland Division semifinal between Corona Centennial and visiting Chaparral.

The Huskies just saw their lead shrink to 61-14 as Chaparral scored a touchdown on Centennial's second-string defense, and now the Pumas are acting as if they've just won the Super Bowl.

El Dorado prevails in OT to set up all-OC Southwest Division final

El Dorado quarterback Kane Wilson bounced back from three interceptions to lead the Golden Hawks to a 23-17 come-from-behind overtime victory over South Hills to set up an all-Orange County final in the Southwest Division.

Wilson, a junior, threw a 22-yard pass to tie the score at 17-17 with a minute left and then scored the game-winning touchdown on the Golden Hawks' first play in overtime, running it in from 25 yards. South Hills missed a 41-yard field goal attempt in its earlier OT possession.

Girls' volleyball: Mira Costa wins state Division II title

Mira Costa won its fourth state title in a row tonight at San Jose State, where the Mustangs defeated Northern California power San Jose Mitty, 25-17, 25-23, 25-16, for the third straight year in the Division II final. Mira Costa (34-0) can claim its second straight PrepVolleyball.com national championship.

For coverage of all state championship matches, check here.

It's all over up north ... or out west?

Our cellphone blogger, Austin Knoblauch, just called to say the final score is St. Bonaventure 55, Saugus 36 in their Northern Division semifinal. He will try to update us with postgame fodder later tonight.

-- Editor Bob

Holiday puts on show for Campbell Hall fans

UCLA-bound Jrue Holiday, pictured, was selected the tournament most valuable player in leading North Hollywood Campbell Hall, ranked No. 7 by The Times, to a 62-36 victory over No. 25 Palisades Saturday night in the championship game of the Campbell Hall basketball tournament.

Holiday scored 20 points and had 14 rebounds in the final, but what was memorable was how he found ways to contribute despite a poor shooting night. His smothering defense on Palisades All-City forward Aaron Hawk-Harris left the Dolphins falling behind by 18 points at halftime. Hawk-Harris was limited to eight points.

Holiday made only five of 16 shots, but he got fired up by a small but vocal Palisades crowd, giving them a playful glare after drilling a three-pointer in the fourth quarter. Keegan Hornbuckle, a 6-foot-7 junior, had 17 points for the Vikings and made all-tournament.

Campbell Hall (4-0) will be on ESPN2 on Thursday night at 6 p.m. when it plays St. Edward in Lakewood, Ohio.

-- Eric Sondheimer

-- Image by Richard Hartog/Los Angeles Times

St. Bonny leads Saugus, 49-28

Thanks to some technical difficulties with my laptop, I'm letting you know via my cellphone that St. Bonny is dominating Saugus in the fourth quarter.

Thanks to a 73-yard TD catch by Blayne Lewis and a 48-yard TD run by Darrell Scott, it's just a matter of time before the Seraphs officially advance to the Northern Division finals to play Hart next Saturday at the Home Depot Center in Carson.

-- Austin Knoblauch

-- Image from www.3gpclip.com