Football: LB Poly's Telemaque commits to Miami, Casey to USC

It was a split decision for USC regarding two Long Beach Poly standouts. Defensive back Vaughn Telemaque has made Miami his college choice and defensive tackle Jurrell Casey has picked the Trojans.

The 6-foot-2 Telemaque was one of the top safeties in California. He was a key reason Poly won the Southern Section Pac-5 Division championship.

The 6-foot, 280-pound Casey has been a defensive stopper for the last two seasons.

They announced their decision on FSN Prime Ticket during a show Thursday night that was taped on Wednesday.

-- Eric Sondheimer

Girls' basketball: Redondo beats Mira Costa and I think about Lou

Let me whip up a few appropriate words from legendary college football coach and quote-meister Lou Holtz:

"They say a tie is like kissing your sister. I guess that is better than kissing your brother."

See, the No. 8-ranked Redondo Sea Hawks beat the No. 7 Mira Costa Mustangs, 47-38, Thursday night. Not only is their season series tied, 1-1, but both squads now sit atop the Bay League -- tied.

The game's star? Not Atonye Nyingifa, who had a solid line with eight points, 11 rebounds and four assists. It was Joylyn Ichiyama, who had 16 points, five rebounds and four assists. Ryann Louie scored 10 for Redondo (20-2, 7-1). Megan Richardson had 17 points for Mira Costa (19-4, 7-1).

Back to Holtz's famous quote -- gosh, thanks for the image, Lou.

-- Anthony Stitt

-- Image from http://blogs.chron.com/cougars/Lou.jpg

Girls' water polo: Warren savors its first win over Downey

It's been a long time coming for Warren, but the Bears finally own bragging rights over their crosstown rivals.

Melissa Cedarholm and Amber Smith each scored three goals and goalie Krityn Casas had 13 saves and five steals on Thursday as host Warren triumphed, 8-7, to claim its first victory over Downey in the program's seven-year history.

Golden opportunity awaits Westlake on Friday

Opportunities like this don’t come around very often, not for the Westlake boys’ basketball team. Friday night’s Marmonte League game offers this group a chance to do something few teams have this season: Defeat Simi Valley, a program that’s lost one game thus far and is ranked No. 7 by The Times.

Confidence should not be a problem for the Warriors. They did, after all, only lose by two-points in the first meeting in early January. Playing on the road, in a hostile environment, certainly doesn’t help the cause for the first-place Pioneers, who could be ripe for an upset.

Oaks Christian has this one in the bag. Or does it?

Trust me, I did my absolute best to get ahold of Oaks Christian boys’ basketball Coach Tom Roanhaus tonight. The plan was to bait him into guaranteeing a victory over Santa Clara in a key Tri-Valley League game Friday. Unfortunately, I never got a call me back from him. He must have known I was up to something.

For a split second, I thought the ploy might work. Roanhaus loves to talk and his team has nothing to lose in this showdown. At one point, Oaks Christian was the odds-on favorite to win the league title before dropping games to the Saints and Oak Park over a four-day stretch in mid-January. The Lions are in third place these days.

A little confusion over Scott's signing site

This much is certain: St. Bonaventure running back Darrell Scott -- widely considered the highest-rated high school running back prospect in the nation –- is planning to unveil his collegiate choice on Wednesday during national signing day.

Unfortunately, it has taken a little while for the specifics of Scott’s big day to reach the ears of the St. Bonaventure football coaching staff.

Offensive line coach Roger Sonsini has had the often difficult task of holding Scott’s hand throughout the recruiting process. The retired Oxnard Police officer was by Scott’s side when he made his official visits to Texas and Colorado in November and has helped shield the 6-foot-1, 200-pound prospect’s cell phone from constant media bombardment.

Co-ed water polo: City playoff pairings set

The City Section will crown its first water polo champion in decades as playoff action begins Friday. Birmingham (25-0) is the top-seeded team. The Patriots have not lost a game since the revival of the sport last season; City water polo programs were eliminated in the 1970s for budgetary reasons before being restarted in 2006.

CO-ED WATER POLO
CITY CHAMPIONSHIP
First round, Friday, 3 p.m.
#1 Birmingham, bye
#9 Santee at #8 Eagle Rock
#12 Garfield at #5 Fremont
#4 Venice, bye
#3 Roosevelt, bye
#11 Contreras at #6 Wilmington Banning
#10 Manual Arts at #7 Verdugo Hills
#2 Cleveland, bye
Notes: Quarterfinals, Monday; semifinals, Wednesday, 3 p.m. Finals, Feb. 8 at Argue Swim Stadium (third place at 4 p.m., championship at 6 p.m.)

-- Eric Maddy, stats guru

-- Image from arcadepunk.com

Girls' soccer: Guzman scores goals by the bucketful at Hollywood

How far will Hollywood advance in the City playoffs? As far as Geyme Guzman can take it.

The Sheiks' junior forward has been the section's most prolific scorer this season with a mind-numbing 34 goals and four assists in only 12 games. She's tallied three or more goals five times, including a season-high seven in Hollywood's 10-0 victory over West Adams Prep. She's also accounted for over half of her team's total offense. To measure Guzman's importance to her team consider that the Sheiks' next highest scorer, Rosie Garcia, has eight goals.

Romeo Miller no longer playing for Beverly Hills

USC-bound guard Romeo Miller from Beverly Hills is no longer playing for the Normans.

Coach Luis Turcios said Miller last played in a game on Jan. 19.

He said Miller's father told him Miller was injured.

Miller was suspended four games by Trucios for missing a tournament, then came back to play sparingly in two games.

-- Eric Sondheimer

-- Image by Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times

Three SCV football coaches accuse Alemany of "undue influence"

It seems a few Santa Clarita Valley football coaches aren't too happy with some of the things going on at Alemany the last couple of months.

According to Gerry Gittelson at the Daily News, Valencia Coach Larry Muir, Saugus Coach Jason Bornn and Canyon Coach Chris Varner have complained to Southern Section Assistant Commissioner Rob Wigod about possible recruiting violations in regard to the Alemany football team. They contend a December meeting at Alemany with SCV-based football players and their families violated the CIF's rule regarding undue influence (page 78 of Southern Section Blue Book).

Alemany Coach Dean Herrington and the school's principal, Frank Ferry (also a Santa Clarita city councilman), have denied any wrongdoing.

Baseball: Lasorda award goes to O'Neil, Saberhagen

Long-time Lakewood baseball Coach Spud O'Neil and former Calabasas Coach Bret Saberhagen, pictured, were honored Thursday at Dodger Stadium as the co-recipients of the Tommy Lasorda Baseball Achievement Award, designating them as the most outstanding high school baseball coaches in Southern California.

The upcoming season will be the 25th for O'Neil as a coach at Lakewood, where his teams have won more than 500 games, 15 Moore League titles and two Southern Section titles.

Saberhagen, who was a two-time Cy Young Award winner, helped rebuild the Calabasas program until his resignation last year after two years as coach. He was not at the ceremony Thursday in which Dodger executive Lasorda presented the award.

-- Eric Sondheimer

-- Image by Associated Press

Football: 7 transfers arrive at Orange Lutheran

Orange Lutheran's football team might have become the favorite to win the Southern Section Pac-5 Division title this fall when seven transfer students -- four of whom could be immediate starters on the Lancers' football team -- enrolled this week for the spring semester.

Among the new arrivals are kickers Mike and Connor Loftus from Servite. Mike will be a senior this fall and Connor a sophomore. Both are projected as college prospects.

The other transfers:

Sultana shows who's in charge in Mojave River League

The Sultana girls' basketball team gained redemption Wednesday night and put itself on the fast track to winning the Mojave River League title by defeating visiting Hesperia, 49-33.

Hesperia won in double overtime when the teams last met on Jan. 9, making their 26-point loss to Sultana at the Serrano tournament over Christmas break look like a fluke. Turns out the double-overtime victory was probably more fluky.

I've never heard this tiebreaker used before, but if both teams finish league play with one loss, Sultana will be the top-seeded team from the MRL because it won the second league game against Hesperia.

I guess that would be appropriate since the Sultans won two of three against Hesperia this season anyway.

-- Dan Arritt

-- Image from www.wbcci12.org

Boys' soccer: South East, Bell all knotted up at 1 each

South East boys' soccer Coach Felipe Bernal said his team had to "play smart" to beat Bell on Thursday.

So imagine Bernal's horror when his visiting Jaguars gave Bell forward Carlos Velasquez a point-blank shot in front of the South East goal. And the senior forward did not miss, giving Bell a 1-0 lead.

But South East got an equalizer from Cesar Gonzalez midway through the first half of this Eastern League showdown.

If the score remains 1-1, it helps Bell more than South East for the league championship. While both began Thursday's match with the same league record of 6-1-1, Bell won the first meeting between the teams.

-- Mike Terry

-- Image from www.ballarddesigns.com

St. Joseph is on top of the Los Padres League heap

There's a new sheriff in town. Wait, scratch that. There's a new boys' basketball team on top of the Los Padres League standings. After chasing down Lompoc for a majority of the season, Santa Maria St. Joseph finally caught the Braves on Wednesday, winning, 58-52, to take over sole possession of first place.

Balance has been key for St. Joseph, a team lacking a true star. We're talking about a group without a player averaging more than 10 points a game. However, five players average more than seven, led by Jeff Blake, Ryan Smalley and Sam Schur. Twins Vincent and Dominic Brunello are steady role players, equally important in the grand scheme of things.

Cathedral takes its scare tactics on the road in Camino Real League

Cathedral was on a roll entering Wednesday’s boys’ basketball game against Camino Real League rival St. Paul. So why would Coach Sheldon McCorn be concerned about traveling to Santa Fe Springs to face the eight-loss Sworsdmen?   

Maybe because he’d watched St. Paul fight his squad tooth and nail on Jan. 9 in Los Angeles, losing by only three points on the Phantoms’ home floor. Would the host Swordsmen pull off the upset this time?

Coach wants to win at basketball, dominoes, just about everything

The man to ask about competitive fire is Chris Francis, the coach of the Compton-Centennial boys' basketball team. Or maybe just ask his wife, who will no longer play him in a casual game of dominoes due to his fierce will to win. "My wife said, 'I won't play dominoes against you but I will play with you,'" Francis said.

His reason for his competitve side: "My inner ball just never stops bouncing," he said.

Huh, inner ball, Coach? Not sure I understand.

Boys' soccer: Red card is no laughing matter for Carter

Last week, a Carter player jokingly offered an official $200 to call the game his team's way before a Citrus Belt League game against Eisenhower. The ref not only didn't laugh, he issued the player a red card, resulting in his ejection from that game, as well as his team's next game.

However, the player was spotted in attendance at the following game, a 4-1 victory over Rialto on Friday. That's a no-no per Southern Section rules, and the Carter athletic director blew the whistle on his own team, resulting in a forfeit against Rialto.

Mira Costa coach mops floor and hopes team mops up Redondo

Their hardwood gleams. Like glass.

Thank the girls' basketball coach, Don Braunecker, who relishes a pregame ritual -- mopping the floor clean in the cozy confines of the Mira Costa gymnasium. "This is my peace of mind. I mop the floor," he said. "And why not? This is the place I want to be, so I want it to be clean."

A spirtual sort of experience? "Absolutely, I think that," Braunecker said. "I got music playing and I'm cleaning the floor. It doesn't get any better than this."

Well, it may get better tonight/Thursday, when No. 7-ranked Mira Costa (19-3, 7-0) hosts No. 8 Redondo (19-2, 6-1) in a Bay League battle for first place. Look for this game to be a classic. And also look for a really clean floor. 

-- Anthony Stitt

-- Image from www.wpclipart.com

Kitani seeing the progress he wants in Fairfax's defense

The better the team, the more demanding the coach. So it's no surprise that Fairfax Coach Harvey Kitani has harped all season about his 18-3 boys' basketball team's inconsistency of play, especially on the defensive end.

But the Lions, who lead the Western League with an 8-0 record, have increased their defensive intensity the last three games.

They have beaten University, Venice and Palisades by scores of 87-56, 73-60 and 78-47, respectively.

Boys' soccer: Bell, South East in big-time Eastern League match today

The boys' soccer match between visiting South East and Bell today/Thursday will go a long way toward deciding the Eastern League champion. And it could have a large impact on the City Section playoff seedings as well.

Each team is 6-1-1 in league play. South East's lone league loss was to Bell, 2-1, on Jan. 7. The Jaguars also lost to the Eagles in the Locke Winter Tournament, 1-0, on Dec. 29.

Bell dropped a 1-0 league decision to South Gate on Dec. 10. But since Dec. 29, starting with that victory over South East, the Eagles have gone 11-1-1 overall. Their only loss was 1-0 to Reseda in the San Pedro tournament final on Jan. 12.

Girls' soccer: Valencia makes its comebck

They're back...

After a couple forgettable outings against Saugus and Canyon, Valencia jumped back into the Foothill League title race with a dominating 3-0 victory over defending champion Hart on Tuesday. It marked the second consecutive victory for the Vikings, who, heading into this afternoon's/Thursday's contest with West Ranch, seemed to have regained the swagger that helped them win 12 of their first 13 games.

Baseball: Granada Hills Kennedy to honor Cassel

Granada Hills Kennedy will retire the jersey of former pitcher Jack Cassel during a ceremony at 11 a.m. on Feb. 9 as part of its alumni game.

Cassel, who now pitches for the Houston Astros, will be the fifth former Kennedy player to have his uniform retired, joining Garret Anderson, Jon Garland, Terrmel Sledge and Jim Anderson.

-- Eric Sondheimer

-- Image from mlb.mlb.com

Norco LB Whittington commits to Fresno State

Norco linebacker Damion Whittington committed to Fresno State, which, if he's as good as Norco Coach Todd Gerhart says, is a great place to max out your talent.

Fresno State puts a lot of guys in the NFL (and the Super Bowl, looks like), something you can't say about Nevada, Colorado State, Northwestern State or Utah State, the other schools that offered scholarships.

Whittington, at 6 feet 1 and 218 pounds, is rated as the 90th-best player in the state and the third-highest recruit from California to commit to the Bulldogs.

-- Dan Arritt

-- Image from fresnohub.com

Girls' soccer: Harvard-Westlake still a force, despite loss

Heading into league play last month, I was pretty sure Harvard-Westlake's impressive two-year long winning streak would fall at some point this season. And I was pretty sure either Notre Dame or Flintridge Sacred Heart would be the primary culprits to get this accomplished.

So I think everyone was a little surprised to find out that Chaminade turned out to be the team that kicked the first-place Wolverines off their 25-game league winning streak. Junior Lauren Battung scored both goals in the Eagles' 2-1 victory on Wednesday, notching the game-clinching tally in the 72nd minute. It marked the first time the Wolverines surrendered two goals in a league contest this season.

Reed and Highland hungry for Golden League title

Kyisean Reed has carried the Highland boys' basketball program during Golden League play this season, managing to keep the Bulldogs close in a heated race between three teams for first place. Close, however, isn't good enough. A title is within grasp and anything short of wining it will be a disappointment.

The 6-foot-7 senior is averaging 18.9 points, 12.1 rebounds and 4.7 blocks a game heading into tonight's/Thursday's matchup with Antelope Valley. Beyond that, the biggest game of the year looms -- a showdown Friday against first-place Lancaster, which is two games ahead in the standings with four left in the regular season.

Girls' volleyball: Mira Costa teammates share Division I MVP honors

Kendall Bateman and Falyn Fonoimoana of Mira Costa were selected co-players of the year in Southern Section Division I girls' volleyball in a vote of coaches, the CIF announced. Mira Costa's Lisa Zimmerman and Harvard-Westlake's Adam Black were named co-coaches of the year.

In Division II, Dana Hutchinson of Laguna Beach and Ilyanna Hernandez of North Torrance were named co-MVPs and Tricia Vansant of Redlands East Valley was named coach of the year.

Pajaud's return sparks Compton Centennials's upset victory

How valuable is Marc Pajaud to the Compton Centennial boys' basketball team? The results speak for themselves. The Apaches' senior guard sat out three consecutive games with an ankle injury and Centennial lost all three. He was back in the lineup Wednesday night and showed no signs of rust, finishing with 31 points, nine rebounds and two blocks as Centennial upended first-place North Torrance, 75-70, in a Pioneer League clash.

Pajaud, a senior wing/forward averaging 15 points a game, scored 14 of the Apaches' 24 points in the fourth quarter. He's become the foundation of a proud program still reeling from the loss of 11 players to graduation. No one understands Pajaud's importance more than Apaches' first-year Coach Chris Francis.

Girls' soccer: San Pedro starts new shutout streak

I wonder if San Pedro Coach Gerhard Weber made his defenders run extra laps in practice on Monday. I mean, they actually gave up a goal to Banning last Friday—the first they’d allowed in eight Marine League games.

Granted, the Pirates were up, 9-0, at the time but hey, there can be no lapses in concentration when you’re flirting with perfection.

Whatever their motivation, the Pirates (11-3, 9-0) made sure they suffered no such indignity against visiting Washington on Wednesday, blanking the Generals, 6-0, to move within one victory of clinching the league title with three games left. Led by freshman striker Amenaide Brown, who has netted 15 goals in her last five games alone, San Pedro has now outscored its league foes, 57-1. Yikes!

Boys' soccer: Eagles soar to top of Trinity League

Games don't get any bigger than the Trinity League showdown between Santa Margarita and Mater Dei on Wednesday. And no, I'm not referring to that epic encounter on the hardwood. I'm talking about the rival schools' clash on the soccer pitch.

Mike Munoz and Alex Rodrigues scored goals five minutes apart in the first half and goalie Billy Thompson made seven saves for his 11th shutout as the Eagles (14-2-4 overall, 5-1-1 in league) won, 2-0, and moved into first place alone with a game in hand on Mater Dei.   

Boys' basketball: A little more about the Moore League

Question: How many back-to-back Moore League titles has Compton won?

Answer: None. But the Tarbabes (20-5, 10-0) are nearing that first-time feat. If they win their next game on Feb. 1 against Long Beach Poly, they will clinch the crown outright. "I want to keep this going," said Compton Coach Tony Thomas.

-- Anthony Stitt

-- Image from williamgrosse.edublogs.org

DeMar DeRozan serves up his specialty: dunks

The gymnasium lights flicked off. Time to go, I thought. As I exited, a man glanced back into the darkness. "I'm surprised DeMar's not in there now, shooting 100 free throws," he said. "He'll do that after games and practice."

The man is Frank DeRozan, DeMar's father.

Thirty minutes earlier, Compton beat Millikan, 86-60, and DeRozan scored an effortless 21 points, and, yeah, he served up his specialty -- three floor-shaking dunks. DeRozan left the hardwood as a couple little kids asked for his photo.

Now, the star's father and I strolled into the night. "Yeah, DeMar's a good-hearted kid," Frank DeRozan said

Agreed. A good-hearted kid with one mean dunk.

-- Anthony Stitt

Girls' basketball: Post-Vaughan Era features another scrap with Ventura

One of the best enduring rivalries in the Southland is Ventura against Buena. The teams meet for the third time this season on Thursday when the Cougars step inside Joe Vaughan Gymnasium and try to complete a season sweep of Buena.

Ventura (20-2, 5-0), No. 14 in The Times' rankings, can clinch outright the Channel League title with a victory. But if Buena (15-8, 5-1) can somehow solve the Cougars' defense and score an upset, then Coach David Guenther will be positioned to share the league title in his first year as Vaughan's successor and trail the legendary coach by only 26 titles.

Mission League is a mess after Chaminade upset

Got off the phone with Bryan Cantwell, the boys' basketball coach over at Chaminade, a couple of minutes ago and he was more than happy to pull himself away from dinner at BJ's Brewhouse in Woodland Hills to talk about the Eagles' 66-54 Mission League upset over first place Harvard-Westlake earlier Wednesday night.

"You better believe this was a big win for us,'' Cantwell said. "I'm sure there were a lot of people that didn't give us much of a chance in this game. But we came out and we weren't intimidated. The kids knew if we played our game and didn't worry about Harvard-Westlake, we could win. And we did. We had fun, too, that's key.''

Girls basketball: Redondo hopes to even the score against Mira Costa

My guess is that the Bay League game Thursday in which Redondo plays at Mira Costa is going to be A) emotional, B) well played, C) pretty good.

When they last met, Mira Costa scored a 53-48 victory over Redondo, providing the first victory over the Sea Hawks for this group of seniors.

Now, it's an opportunity for Megan Richardson and Mikah Maly-Karros to galvanize their signature on the Bay League title. Mira Costa (19-3, 7-0) is No. 7 in The Times ranking and hasn't lost in the nine games since 6-foot-3 Whitney Daniels transferred from Santa Monica. Daniels has come off the bench and averaged 6.2 points and 6.3 rebounds, which takes a lot of pressure off Maly-Karros.

"She's helped us a lot defensively," Coach Don Braunecker said. "She's been a real catalyst for us, in league particularly, but it's tough for me to say she's the one who put us over the hump.  I've got some really good seniors."

Rudd making most of his opportunity with Van Nuys

Victor Rudd has always been one of those players who stood out like a sore thumb on the basketball court -- in a good way, of course. Tall and athletic. Unlimited range from the perimeter. Big-time bounce off the floor. Think he’s what they call the total package. And now, he’s finally getting a chance to prove it.

The junior, fresh off winning an appeal to the CIF state office, scored 24 points and added 10 rebounds in three quarters of work for Van Nuys in Wednesday's 95-75 Sunset Six League victory over Canoga Park. The effort shouldn’t come as a big surprise considering he scored 29 points and had 11 rebounds in his debut last weekend against Verdugo Hills.

Football: This Lemon aids Lutheran amid claims of undue influence

Gabe Lemon, a junior who played defensive back and wide receiver for Trabuco Hills, has transferred to Orange Lutheran.

Lemon, a first-team DB on The Register's All-Orange County team, had nine interceptions last season, a fumble recovery and a blocked kick.

He leaves a team that lost to El Dorado, 13-12, in the Southern Section Southwest Division championship. He joins a team that lost in the Pac-5 semifinals, 2-0, to eventual champion Long Beach Poly.

It's time to witness the Greatest Show in Mid-Air

The 17 banners hang from above as the Moore League battles of yesteryear still seem alive on the floor below. This joint is cool, and I'm here now, the Compton High School gymnasium.

It's first quarter, Compton vs. Millikan, and one kid's mega-dunk just rocked the rafters. Guess who? Yeah, you know who.

It's my first time witnessing the Greatest Show in Mid-Air: DeMar DeRozan -- Compton's super-scorer and super-soarer, whom many hoops pundits consider as the best high school player in the nation.

I'll check back in with some other observations.

-- Anthony Stitt

-- Image from www.nbadraft.net

Top-ranked Mater Dei rallies to beat No. 4 Santa Margarita

The top-ranked Mater Dei boy's basketball team trailed fourth-ranked Santa Margarita by seven points entering the fourth quarter, but scored the first 17 points of the quarter and went on to win, 67-60, at Santa Margarita.

With the victory, the Monarchs (24-0, 8-0) clinched at least a tie for the Trinity League title.

David Wear scored 22 points, Gary Franklin had 17 points and Andy Brown added 16.

Santa Margarita (21-3, 6-2) made nine three-pointers and was led by Klay Thompson's 19 points.

-- Eric Sondheimer

-- Image from www.allposters.com

Boys' Soccer: Zeenni plays big role in Crespi victory

Ryan Lannutti may have been the 74th minute hero, but Crespi goalie Omar Zeenni definitely played a key role in the Celts' 1-0 victory. Even before the Crespi boys' basketball team decided to do a collective cheerleader impression on the sidelines, Zeenni was stopping shots like some sort of soccer madman, especially in the first half when Nick Rihn and Nick Posthuma were peppering him constantly.

Things got a little calmer in the second half, but Zeenni slapped down a couple of big ones, including one fired at point-blank range by David Rios in the 74th minute, just before Lannutti scored. He finished with six saves.

"We had chances to put it away, and we didn't get it done," St. Francis coach Glen Appels said.