Ask this question and Jordan Hamilton may be the answer

Who's the best boys' basketball player in the Southland?

Jrue Holiday? DeMar DeRozan?

Last weekend, Dominguez Coach Russell Otis shook his head and told me he just might have the best player -- Jordan Hamilton.

Don't disagree just yet.

Hamilton can drop 30, 35, 40 points and can do it without changing a facial expression -- "He's learned to be calm like that," Otis said -- and the kid's only a junior.

Oh, and Saturday night, Hamilton dismantled No. 12-ranked Gahr with 38 points -- that's a typical evening -- as No. 3 Dominguez (18-2, 6-0) dominated in a 94-78 San Gabriel Valley League victory.

Check out Hamilton's one-handed olley-oop. . . .

- Anthony Stitt

Girls basketball: Ventura loses, but shows it belongs

There was rain around the Southland on Saturday night, and Ventura Coach Ann Larson was pleased with the reading on the barometer. Her Cougars are No. 15 in The Times' rankings, but lacked any victory over a current top-25 opponent.

They are still looking for a first victory after a loss to No. 14 Cajon, 41-39, at the Ventura Buena Showcase. Cajon's 41 points were by five its fewest of the season.

For Larson, it was indicative that Ventura deserves to be counted among the Southland's best.

"I'm very pleased," she said. "We lost by two points, and we couldn't throw a pea in the ocean."

Boys' soccer: Get ready for another photo finish in the Mission League

Every game matters in the Mission League. The winner was decided by a single point last year and it looks as if the seven-horse field will battle all the way to the wire again this winter.

Considering that Loyola, the defending Southern Section Division I co-champion, is mired in third place, it's a sure bet that there'll be no runaway winner.

Goals are huge, points critical and wins precious. That's why Loyola's 1-1 tie with Crespi on Saturday afternoon was important for both teams. The Cubs (4-2-2 in league) loom within striking distance while the Celts (4-0-4) pulled even with frontrunning St. Francis, for a few hours anyway.

Crespi's show is well worth the trip

Crespi Coach Russell White must have known I had to make a trek through pouring rain to see his boys' basketball team play Loyola, and that may explain why he had to ask the first question of our postgame chat.

"Did we make it worth the trip?" White asked.

Well, judging by the way Crespi didn't let up in its 66-61 Mission League victory over Loyola on Saturday night, let's just say I might have to think about revisiting Encino on Monday when the Celts tip off against first-place Harvard-Westlake.

Both Crespi and Loyola played well, and you have to tip your hat to the Cubs for coming back from a sizable deficit in the first quarter. However, Crespi's resiliency came through a bit brighter in the fourth quarter, and once Loyola leading scorer Hollis Thompson fouled out with less than two minutes to go, the Celts took control.

Jerramy King led the way with 17 points and freshman Reggie Coates, sophomore Blake Stanton and seniors Toby Spino and Joseph Fauria played leading roles in besting Thompson and his sidekick, Cartwright Miles.

Speaking of Fauria, here's a postgame interview with the Notre Dame-bound tight end. He wanted to do the interview shirtless, but I advised against it.

-- Austin Knoblauch

Crespi slams past Loyola, 66-61

Joseph Fauria may have looked a little embarrassed botching a couple slam dunks in the first half, but he came up golden when he needed it the most.

A game-clinching three-pointer by Toby Spino coupled with a nail-in-the-coffin slam dunk by Fauria with about 30 seconds to go sealed the deal for Crespi in its 66-61 triumph over visiting Loyola. Spino also hit a three-pointer with a little over a minute to go to help the Celts claw back from what was a five-point deficit late in the fourth.

I'll have more on this one soon.

-- Austin Knoblauch

I'm trying to survive in Cub territory

I hope everybody appreciates what I'm doing here at the Loyola-Crespi boys basketball game because it isn't easy sitting among the diehard Loyola fans.

With all their jumping around and taunting the Crespi team cameraman (nothing over the line, though), it's been a little difficult blogging this one. That's why I'm searching for a new broadcast position to beam my blogs from in the second half.

But I can understand why all these Cubbies are worked up. Loyola outscored Crespi, 22-13, in the second quarter to trail the Celts, 34-33, at halftime. But the biggest highlight of the night has been two slam dunks by Georgetown-bound guard Hollis Thompson. The senior's first dunk officially signaled the Cubs' comeback and he followed it up minutes later with a beautifully executed reverse slam. Hollis has a team-leading 12 points.

Crespi's Joesph Fauria ran into foul trouble in the second quarter, helping Loyola get back into it. But no one's been better for the Celts than sophomore point guard Blake Stanton, who so far has a game-high 13 points . He also scored on a put-back right at the halftime buzzer to give Crespi a slim lead.

The second half should be great and here's some video highlights of Crespi warming up:

-- Austin Knoblauch

Crespi off to a fast start

The Mission League showdown between Crespi and Loyola has just gotten underway and, so far, Jerramy King has netted a couple three-pointers to give the Celts a 13-2 lead. But there's still a really long way to go before this one's decided.

Plus, Loyola looks a little sloppy out of the gate. The Cubs need to slow this one down and start shooting a little better if they want to catch up.

Here's some video of Loyola's pregame ritual. You can see the Crespi boys tried their best to knock them off their game:

-- Austin Knoblauch

Einstein I am not but I can sure spot a trend...

One thing I'm not -- an Einstein. Not even close. I can never figure out how much to tip a waitress, can't find Vermont on a map even if you nudged me toward the New England states, and if you ask me to complete a crossword puzzle, I'll just throw it down and flip on some professional wrestling. Hey, a guy's gotta know his limitations.

But there's one thing I'm great at -- spotting a trend. And here's one that hasn't slipped under my radar.

So far this girls' basketball season, we have had three No. 1-ranked teams and so far three No. 1-ranked teams have lost. First, there was Long Beach Poly, who lost to Millikan. Then, there was Miller, who also bowed to Millikan. And, last night, top-ranked Millikan lost to Poly.

Let's see who the next No. 1 team is. And let's see if the trend continues.

Ah, well, gotta go -- now, where did I put my Hulk Hogan doll?

-- Anthony Stitt

- Image from www.maniacworld.com

Nyingifa harks back to Nigeria

Four years ago, she sat on an airplane flying to London, where she hopped another jet that zoomed her to Western Africa. She journeyed from a big city into villages of Nigeria. "I ended up in the village where my father was born," Antonye Nyingifa said. "Just being there was awakening from let's say living near the beaches of California."

Nyingifa -- the super-scorer for the No. 9-ranked Redondo girls' basketball team -- hopes to return to Nigeria in the upcoming summer before becoming a UCLA Bruin. "It was a different way of life," Nyingifa said, "and I want to see it again."

Nyingifa and the Sea Hawks (18-2, 5-1) host Peninsula on Jan. 29.

-- Anthony Stitt

- Image from www.thecommonwealth.org

Fairfax girls are out to prove they're no paper lions

When it comes to basketball, most of the attention at Fairfax centers around the boys' team. After all, it's the reigning state Division I champion and one of the best programs, if not the best, in the City Section.

This season, though, there's another pride of lions doing the school proud. The girls' squad might not be tops in the City, but it's been preying on Western League opponents for three weeks and is winning as impressively as the "other" team on campus.