February 2, 2008 | 11:31
pm
The Mater Dei boys' basketball team played its best when it counted Saturday night in the final game of the Nike Extravaganza, scoring the final 10 points in a 59-50 victory over Chicago Farragut at Mater Dei High.
Farragut took its final lead, 50-49, on a fast-break lay up by Troynell Adams with 2:40 remaining, but Andy Brown followed with two free throws and Gary Franklin swished a three-pointer with 1:03 left to extend the Monarchs' lead to four. Brown added two more free throws with 18.7 seconds left to give Mater Dei (25-0) a 57-50 lead.
February 2, 2008 | 11:09
pm
No glamour gigs for them. No glitz. No gaudy stats.
"Sure, they might not be doing the interviews with you guys after the game," said Russell Otis, the coach of Dominguez boys' basketball. "But they're having a whale of a season."
Otis was talking about guys like Dominick LaCoste, Myron Green and Robert Domingo -- yeah, the unselfish ones -- who may chip in buckets here and there but mainly set up the star of the Dons' solar system: Jordan Hamilton.
February 2, 2008 | 10:48
pm
The Mater Dei boys' basketball team will need to play a little better in the second half if it wants to remain unbeaten.
The Monarchs, ranked No. 1 in the Southland by The Times and No. 2 in the nation by USA Today, is clinging to a one-point lead over Chicago Farragut at the half, 25-24, of the final game of the evening of the Nike Extravaganza at Mater Dei High.
Mater Dei scored the first seven points of the game, but then let its guard down and Farragut to cut the deficit to one after the opening quarter.
February 2, 2008 | 10:26
pm
The much-anticipated matchup between the Southland's pre-eminent girls basketball players had a very decisive winner.
Jasmine Dixon, pictured, of top-ranked Long Beach Poly scored 14 points, grabbed 17 rebounds, and had three steals and three blocks to lead the Jackrabbits to a 55-41 nonleague victory Saturday over No. 8 Redondo on Saturday.
Dixon, a Rutgers-bound guard/forward, was five for 11 from the field as she easilyy outplayed UCLA-bound Atonye Nyingifa.
February 2, 2008 | 10:06
pm
Fairfax didn't get its best game from its best player, but Solomon Hill stepped up for the Lions in a 62-61 victory over Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick in the Nike Extravaganza at Mater Dei High.
Neither team led by more than five points in the second half.
Hill, No. 44 pictured, broke a 58-58 tie by converting two free throws with 1 minute 40 seconds left. St. Patrick re-tied the score, 61-61, on a driving layup by Dexter Strickland with 29 seconds left, but the Lions collected two offensive rebounds, and junior guard Lance Bailey was fouled on the second with 9.1 seconds left. He made one of two free throws to give the Lions their final lead.
Jermel Jenkins had an open three-point attempt with about three seconds left but he missed and Strickland was unable to control the rebound as time expired.
February 2, 2008 | 9:22
pm
It was a slow third quarter, but it was fortuitous for No. 1 Long Beach Poly, which stretched its lead to 12 points and maintained its comfortable lead over No. 8 Redondo.
A couple of three point shots rimmed out otherwise it would be much closer.
As it is, poly leads, 36-28. Neither Dixon nor Nyingifa score that quarter.
-- Martin Henderson
February 2, 2008 | 9:19
pm
A tight first half here between Fairfax and Elizabethtown (N.J.) St. Patrick in the Nike Extravaganza at Mater Dei High.
Fairfax leads, 28-26, but St. Patrick is hanging with the defending Division I state champions.
The Lions jumped to a 16-6 lead on a pair of three-pointers by Solomon Hill and a three-point play by Renardo Sidney, pictured.
St. Patrick scored the final five points of the quarter to get back within five points.
February 2, 2008 | 9:13
pm
The two best players in the Southland are on the floor, but only one is having the kind of game she was expecting.
Jasmine Dixon has eight points and seven rebounds as Long Beach Poly holds a 29-21 lead over Redondo at halftime.
Atonye Nyingifa, the UCLA-bound star for Redoondo, has seven points and three rebounds, but she is only one for nine from the field. That won't get it done in the second half if the No. 8 Seahawks are to come back against the top-ranked Jackrabbits.
-- Martin Henderson
February 2, 2008 | 9:09
pm
Suddenly, one Fighting Frog is hotter than Houston in August -- Krystopher Faber, the double-double destroyer for Ribet Academy boys' basketball.
College coaches are wanting -- and wooing -- Faber, and flocking to him in swarms, everywhere from Notre Dame to Northern Illinois, UNLV to Columbia.
At one game this week, Ribet Academy Coach William Middlebrooks estimated 15 coaches from different colleges scouted Faber, including USC's Tim Floyd and Minnesota's Tubby Smith.
"He's gone from nobody to somebody in one year," Middlebrooks said. "Last year, he was truly under the radar."
February 2, 2008 | 8:30
pm
Long Beach Poly and Jasmine Dixon have the early lead in their nonleague girls' basketball battle with Redondo and Atonye Nyingifa.
Poly leads after one quarter, 19-9. Dixon, being guarded by Nyingifa, has six points and three rebounds. Nyingifa, who has been guarded by April Cook, has three points and a steal.
The difference right now is their supporting casts. Monique Oliver has six points for Poly.
-- Martin Henderson
The Mater Dei boys' basketball team played its best when it counted Saturday night in the final game of the Nike Extravaganza, scoring the final 10 points in a 59-50 victory over Chicago Farragut at Mater Dei High.
