Poly beats No. 1-ranked team in nation

It wasn't redemption. Not vindication. Nothing like that, the coach emphasized. It was just a win -- well, maybe a smidgen more. "It was awesome," said Carl Buggs, the coach of the Long Beach Poly girls' basketball team.

Why so awesome? The Jackrabbits jacked up the No. 1-ranked team in the nation, Notre Dame Academy (9-1) from Middleburg, Va., with a 58-54 victory in the finals of the Chandler (Ariz.) Tournament of Champions tonight -- and they also restored their cachet as possibly the best squad in the nation.

The Centaurs are a perfect 10

Culver City's girls' basketball team won again. That makes 10 victories in row. That also makes zero losses this season. "I can't ever remember starting 10-0," Coach Jack Nakanishi said after the Centaurs beat talented Beverly Hills (11-3) Saturday night in the finals of the Beverly Hills tournament.

What's gone right this year, Coach? "Camaraderie," he replied. "They seem like they've connected together and that includes the reserves. It's been a neat thing to watch."

Culver City plays Eagle Rock on Dec. 26 at 6 p.m.

-- Anthony Stitt

- Image from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:I-10.svg

Weary Lions glad to be coming home

Fairfax, which returns to Southern California on Sunday morning, would have loved to bring home the  championship of the Amare Stoudemire Classic tournament in Florida. That was denied by Compton Dominguez, however, which beat Fairfax, 56-52, in the title game Saturday night.

Lions Coach Harvey Kitani, pictured at right, does believe his 7-1 team will bring back something important -- the understanding of how to consistently get ready for big games against good teams.

"We definitely learned the kind of preparation it takes to play well and against good teams," Kitani said.

"Tonight was not one of our better performances; we made a lot of mental mistakes throughout the game. Maybe a little of that was fatigue. We played three straight games at 9:30 p.m. But our kids have to learn from that."

-- Mike Terry

Image by: Anne Cusack/Los Angeles TImes

Boys' volleyball: Piva and Townsend heading to Santa Barbara

Valencia middle blocker Jake Piva and Chaminade outside hitter Matt Townsend signed with UC Santa Barbara on Friday, according to Gauchos' Coach Ken Preston.

The 6-foot-8 Piva helped the Vikings win a Division II title as a sophomore in 2006 and also played an integral part in Valencia's push to the divisional semifinals last year.

Townsend was an All-Mission League selection last spring and he competed at the Slovenia Global Challenge last summer (as did Piva) as a member of the Southern California Volleyball Assn. Regional Team.

Tesoro's Grant Goswiller and Newport Harbor's Mark Liebermann also signed with the Gauchos.

-- Austin Knoblauch

Jimenez, state's leading scorer, puts up 61

Elizabeth Learning Center dressed only five players for Saturday's boys' basketball game against Firebaugh, so Eric Jimenez took it upon himself to shoulder most of the scoring load. He did that and then some.

The 5-foot-8 senior guard poured in a school-record 61 points in the Bulldogs' 85-83 loss in the 11th-place game of the Cantwell Sacred Heart tournament, shattering the previous mark of 52 set by Luis Garcia in 1997. Jimenez is the state scoring leader, according to Maxpreps.com, with 435 points in 14 games -- an average of 31.1 a game. His previous high was 41 points against Central City Value in the Hollywood tournament on December 15.

Roberts chosen 8-man football coach of the year

Joshua Springs Christian in Yucca Valley might be tiny but it's a giant when it comes to 8-man football. Despite being in a town with a population less than 30,000 and having a student body of 140, the school is gaining recognition as having perhaps the best 8-man football program in the Southland.

It certainly earned that distinction this year. Several weeks after winning the Southern Section 8-man Division I championship, the Lightning have another award to add to their trophy case. Coach Jackie Roberts was selected coach of the year in the Southern Section after guiding his team to a 12-0-1 record, its sixth Agape League title in seven years and its ninth consecutive trip to the playoffs. With Roberts at the helm, the Lightning have won 83 of 104 games (nearly 80%).

-- Image from moonraker.com

Who should be Comeback Player of the Year?

Steve Fryer of the Register wrote a nice little story about Eric Childs of St. Michael's, which plays eight-man football. For determination and persistence, it's hard not to appreciate what Childs accomplished.

Fryer mentioned that the Register doesn't have an award for Comeback Player of the Year. Neither does The Times, which plans to release its all-star team on Dec. 26.

Besides D.J. Shoemate of Servite, who are some of the top CPOY candidates for football in 2007?

-- Martin Henderson

Southland not holding back at Arizona girls' tournament

Three Southland teams will be playing in title games later today at the Nike Tournament of Champions in Chandler, Ariz.

Long Beach Poly (6-1), currently ranked No. 4 in the nation by USA Today, will play the nation's No. 1 team, Middleburg (Va.) Notre Dame Academy, in the championship of the marquee Black Division. The Jackrabbits finished second in last year's tournament, and hope to restore some luster with a title this year following an earlier loss to San Francisco Sacred Heart Cathedral. Poly opened the season No. 1 in the nation.

-- Image from www.dnr.state.co.us

It's always nice to design your own tournament brackets

A couple boys' basketball tournaments wrap up tonight in the Inland Empire.

Chino Hills and Ayala are scheduled to meet in the final of the Ayala tournament at 7 p.m. If you're interested in a sneak preview of two of the top teams in the Sierra League, this game might be worth checking out.

Cory Harkey, a 6-foot-5, 235-pound senior forward who has committed to play football at UCLA, is averaging close to 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Huskies.

So Milton, what's Bruin?

Birmingham standout Milton Knox, pictured left, probably will be watching the Las Vegas Bowl game this evening between UCLA and Brigham Young.

He is watching the UCLA coaching situation even closer.

Although Knox verbally commited to the Bruins earlier this year, he hasn't signed a letter of intent yet. And that didn't stop other recruiters, like USC assistant coach Ken Norton, from patrolling the Birmingham sideline during the City Section playoffs.

Knox sounds as if a door is still open. "UCLA is still the one right now," he said. "But I'll wait and see. I want to see what happens" when the Bruins replace fired coach Karl Dorrell. Former Washington and Colorado coach Rick Neuheisel, currently offensive coordinator with the Baltimore Ravens, is reportedly a leading candidate.

-- Mike Terry