The Sea Hawks finally drop one

It took two overtimes and a phenomenal three-pointer for Redondo to finally lose.

In a wacky, wonderful night of girls' basketball, the No. 11-ranked Sea Hawks -- winners of eleven straight against zero losses -- dropped this classic to No. 9 Narbonnne, 64-60, in the Gahr tournament championship game Saturday night.

But don't fret, Redondo. The Gauchos (13-3) are good, and Narbonne's Reiko Thomas had a magical touch as she tied it on three-point bomb with eight seconds remaining in regulation. Atonye Nyingifa led the Sea Hawks with 22 points, 18 rebounds and eight assists.

-- Anthony Stitt

Poly girls' basketball barnstorms to another triumph

They found the blues in Oregon. They met redemption in Arizona. And now they reacquainted themselves with supremacy in New Mexico.

The Long Beach Poly Jackrabbits -- and their Great Barnstorming Tour of 2007-08 -- whipped up a 68-37 championship game victory in the Albuquerque tournament against helpless Hampton (Va.) on Saturday night. Jasmine Dixon scored 22 points and Monique Oliver finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds for the No. 1-ranked Jackrabbits (8-1).

Earlier this season, Poly lost to San Francisco Sacred Heart Cathedral while losing its top national ranking in Portland, Ore. Then Poly beat the No. 1-ranked team nationally, Notre Dame Academy of Middleburg, Va., in an Arizona tourney.

Next up on the tour: St. Paul, Minn., for a tournament next week. 

-- Anthony Stitt

Compton loses to Campbell Hall ... again

Compton Coach Tony Thomas summed it with three painful words: "Just lost it." Meaning, just lost to Campbell Hall once again. Just lost for the second night in a row. Just lost when his team appeared ready to dominate.

The No. 5-ranked Compton boys' basketball team  -- which built a 12-point lead in the second quarter -- stumbled for the second time this season against the No. 7 Vikings. This time it was a 70-62 defeat and for third place of Torrey Pines tournament's' ultra-elite National Division. The night before, Simi Valley took out the Tarbabes, whom many believed would sweep the tourney.

"Yeah, it's been tough of late," Thomas said.

Truth be known, the Compton lineup has been a bit thin -- two players are sick or injured and another is away with family. "Let's take our lumps now, get back in the gym, get healhty and get ready for league," Thomas said.

-- Anthony Stitt

In case you missed today's best girls' basketball game

Remember when I posted earlier about the guy who said there were better games than No. 9 Narbonne against No. 11 Redondo?

While he was off watching a better game, he missed Narbonne's 64-60, double-overtime victory in the championship of of the Gahr tournament.

He missed Reiko Thomas making a three-point basket from the corner with eight seconds left in the first OT to tie the score, 56-56.

Campbell Hall shares the wealth against Compton

For the second time this season, Campbell Hall humbled the Demar DeRozan-led boys over at Compton, and the Vikings did it without relying too heavily on Jrue Holiday.

Two other players besides Holiday netted more than 15 points in Campbell Hall's 70-62 win over the Tarbabes for third place in the National Division of the Torrey Pines tournament in San Diego County. That's the kind of performance Coach Terry Kelly wouldn't mind seeing again when the Vikings play Minnetonka (the No. 1-ranked team in Minnesota by Scout.com) a week from tonight.

"To have a championship caliber team, you've got to have balanced scoring," Kelly said. "We need a third or fourth scorer if we want to compete against top teams because it takes some of the pressure off Dallas (Rutherford) and Jrue."

Is it or isn't it the best girls' basketball game?

There was some discussion on a forum about the game between Narbonne and Redondo. Some guy said there were better girls' basketball games today. Since I'm at the Gahr tournament, and I know what games are being played at Ayala and Marina, I would disagree. The game of the day is in front of me.

There was inadequate seating at the press table, so I asked Gahr Coach Al Dorogusker if I could take one of the two chairs at the admission table.

Based on tournament director Art Jackson's reaction, you'd think I had the Mona Lisa in my hands.

Well-traveled Crespi could make Mission League impact

After dropping the ball against the tournament host on Friday, it's great to see Crespi didn't make a trek all the way out to Texas for nothing.

Behind 17-point, 12-rebound effort by 6-foot-8 forward Joseph Fauria, the Celts made their after-Christmas, Lone Star adventure a memorable one with a 65-51 victory over Arlington (Tex.) Mansfield Timberview for third place at the American Bank Sherman Holiday Invitational. It's good to see the Celts go out and test the prep basketball waters in far off, exotic locales because that experience will come in handy when they start Mission League play next week.

Girls' soccer: Things will be close in the Mission League

If I played for Harvard-Westlake, I'd be shaking in my shin pads right about now.

Notre Dame and Flintridge Sacred Heart tied, 0-0, in the championship game of the Los Tacos Holiday Festival (that's the name, I didn't make it up) on Friday, proving the Knights and the Tologs are the early-season frontrunners for this year's Mission League title.

Hopefully we'll find out who's got the upper hand when the two teams meet again on Jan. 18 -- as long as there isn't another tie. I don't like ties and I never have, especially all those stinkin' Southern Section divisional title game ties. Who's with me on this one!?!

Oh well, enough of my ranting. Check out what Dylan Kruse over at the Glendale News Press wrote up on the game. By the way, I'm picking Notre Dame in the rematch because, apparently, the Knights were missing four of their starters in this one.

-- Austin Knoblauch

Gauchos coach not messing with proven formula

Just because you take over a program, especially a successful one like the Narbonne girls' basketball team, doesn't mean you have to give it a makeover.

Coach Victoria Sanders, in her first season at Narbonne, inherited a senior-dominated team, including C. Danielle Lenoir and Delky Nicholas. The seniors had won Marine League and City Section championships under former coach James Anderson. So, Sanders said, some things didn't need fixing.

"Our seniors pretty much know the routine and have a strong desire to win," Sanders said. "Seven of them had been in Anderson's program for quite awhile.

"So we've kept his offense. I've added a few things on defense. But since they've been in the same system for a long time, why change it?"

-- Mike Terry

Image by:www.narbonnehigh.org/yearbook.jsp

Ennis carrying Ventura in Kiwanis Tournament

Talk about your clutch performances: Ventura's James Ennis had a team-high 20 points and tossed in the game-clinching basket with 11 seconds left to help the Cougars beat Westlake, 58-56, on Friday in the semifinals of the Ventura Kiwanis tournament.

Along with teammate James Staniland, Ennis has been a dominating force in this tournament. He netted 16 points against Rio Mesa on Thursday and opened the tournament with a 23-point game against a tough Santa Clara squad. He's averaging a team-best 17.9 ppg and 8.1 rpg. Of course, as good as his stats are, this shouldn't come as a surprise to the Varsity Times faithful.

So, be sure to keep an eye on No. 41 if you're lucky enough to make it out to Ventura to see the Cougars play crosstown rival Buena at 6:30 tonight.

-- Austin Knoblauch