Girls' soccer: Knights' streak nearly disappears in a flash

Lancaster Desert Christian Coach Deann Lewis spent most of Saturday's Division VI first-round playoff game exasperated, wondering what it would take for her team to score. Despite their overwhelming advantage in shots the top-seeded Knights trailed wild-card winner Fillmore, 1-0, with the clock ticking under 10 minutes.

"It felt like there was an invisible shield across the goal that we just couldn't penetrate," Lewis said. "There's a lot of pressure when you're expected to win."

Finally, eight minutes from full time, Cara Eskenazi headed in a cross by Robyn Estrada to tie the score. Less than two minutes later, Jaide Garcia half-volleyed a pass from Eskenazi into the net for the go-ahead goal and the Knights held on for a 2-1 victory.

Girls' basketball: Engeln soars but Hawks are a target

Dropped in on Laguna Hills for its girls' basketball playoff opener. After receiving a first-round bye, the top-seeded Hawks defeated Banning, 66-48, in the second round in Division IV-A.

Ah, it would do the Hawks (20-6) well to listen to their coaches, who seem convinced that the players don't fully grasp what it is to be No. 1. "Every  team is gunning for you," Coach Jim Martin said. "You have a target on your back."

Perfect example: Banning, which dropped to 14-14 after the loss, trailed after one quarter, 14-7, fell behind a little more, then pulled to within three points, 26-23, with a little more than a minute left in the first half.

Fortunately for Laguna Hills, it had an answer: A 9-1 run to close the half for a 35-24 lead.

Boys' soccer: Long Beach Cabrillo beat jeopardy

Its season dangled in jeopardy. It trailed by two goals with 15 minutes left and it had not scored all game.

Still, the Long Beach Cabrillo boys' soccer team won -- netting not one, not two, not three, but four goals in the waning minutes and winning, 4-2, against Alta Loma in the first round of the Southern Section Division I boys' soccer playoffs on Friday.

The Jaguars' goal scorers: David Jimenez scored twice and Miguel Hernandez and Robert Tapia once.

Now, a zany aside. . . .

The red light makes these guys go, not stop

Call these guys "red-light players" -- great players who play even greater when the TV camera's red light blinks on. You know them, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, Reggie Jackson and David Ortiz.

And you can't forget Joe Montana.

Last night, a slew of red-light players sparkled in the first round of the Southern Section Division I-AA boys' basketball playoffs. Just check out the list. . . .

Compton's DeMar DeRozan put up 40 points, Gahr's Casper Ware scored 30, Dominguez's Jordan Hamilton finished with 29 points and 10 rebounds, Mayfair's Charles Odom chipped in 21 points and Loyola's Hollis Thompson had 20. Yes, big points from big players -- in big victories.

Let's see if the red-light trend continues in the second round which kicks off on Tuesday.

-- Anthony Stitt

- Image from http://www.eriding.net

Cleveland rocks the first round

I'm sure Palisades didn't see that ambush coming from Cleveland in their City Section Championship Division first-round matchup. I'm sure the Dolphins, seeded fifth, were not expecting the kind of trouble they got from 12th-seeded Cavaliers.

But that's the beauty of having time to prepare. Cleveland (20-7) spent a week working on ways to neutralize -- or at least not be intimidated by -- the relentless full-court press of Palisades (24-7). That preparation, and the calm-under-fire feeling it produced, went a long way in helping the visiting Cavs upset the Dolphins on Friday.

The game also verified something else Cleveland Coach Osiris Nalls believed.

"We understood that physically we matched up [to Palisades]," Nalls said. "Other than The Big Three of Taft, Fairfax and Westchester, we feel there's a lot of parity as far as athletic talent goes. That gave us the feeling they were not necessarily taller, faster or more athletic than we were."

Girls' soccer: Kennedy pulls off first big upset in City playoffs

One round into the City Section girls' soccer playoffs we don't know much more than we did before the tournament started. Higher seeded teams won 14 of 16 games and one of the two lower seeded squads to advance was No. 17 Belmont, which squeaked by No. 16 Verdugo Hills in overtime -- hardly a shocker.

The only major upset was No. 28 Kennedy's 1-0 victory over fifth-seeded North Hollywood. Chloe Reyes scored on a corner kick with less than five minutes left as the Golden Cougars snapped the Huskies' eight-game unbeaten streak. Fourth-seeded Palisades, an easy 8-1 winner over No. 29 Manual Arts, stands to benefit the most from Kennedy's win because the highest seeded team left in the Dolphins' quarter of the draw is No. 12 Cleveland.

The first round also showed the strength of the West Valley League. Five of the six teams advanced (outscoring their opponents, 30-0) with only last-place Taft losing. The No. 19 Toreadors now become one of the favorites to win the Invitational Division.

Righetti's Araujo plays and excels through the pain

Everybody knows Righetti's Randall Hunter is one of the most lethal scorers in San Luis Obispo County, but it was another Warrior who made an impact against Antelope Valley's revolutionary punch-and-go defense on Friday night.

Despite saying he was hit "three or four times" in the face by Antelope Valley defenders, senior guard Joey Araujo scored a season-high 21 points to lead Righetti to a 71-51 Division II-A victory over the visiting Antelopes.

Araujo suffered a cut above his right eye against the slap-happy Antelopes in the first half, forcing him to sit out a huge chunk of the game's first 16 minutes. He scored most of his points in the second half as the Warriors pulled away from what was a close game at halftime. Hunter also scored 21 points in the win.

Katella has waited many days and a few Knights to reach this point

When you're looking for a coach of the year, stories like the one that includes Tom Gorrelll and Katella are the kind that deserve a hard look.

Katella won only five games over the previous four seasons. It heads into its second-round boys' basketball playoff game with fifth-seeded Righetti (21-5) on Tuesday with a 22-5 mark.

Katella won its first-round playoff game on Friday, when it posted a 49-26 victory over Saddleback. Regardless of the circumstances -- one of Saddleback's best players was academically ineligible, but that was his own fault -- it's a huge step for the Knights' climb back to respectability. Then again, by winning the Empire League title, maybe that first step was already taken.

It's not only a testament to Gorrell, but also to the five seniors on the squad, including Frank Gutierrez, who Gorrell credited with being the "heart and soul" of the team in Adam Maya's game story.

-- Martin Henderson

Wrestling: He's not a loser, he just hasn't won

If you don't read any other story today, I recommend this tale of Cullen Fitzgibbons, a wrestler for Los Alamitos who went into the final match of his career winless. Yet, the story is not about winning or losing, but caring.

The impact this young man with Down's syndrome had on his classmates is inspiring. And, really, it's worth taking the time to read.

-- Martin Henderson

Bring on the Comets

Ed Waters is playing with house money now. The first-year Crenshaw boys' basketball coach -- and the first basketball coach there to follow the legendary Willie West -- took a big step for what is now his program by taking the 10th-seeded Cougars on the road and defeating seventh-seeded Jordan in a City Section Championship Division first-round playoff game.

Crenshaw's reward? A date with Westchester, seeded second, on the Comets' home floor next Wednesday.

Certainly Waters won't go out of his way to inflame Westchester, which has become the kind of dominant boys' basketball program that Crenshaw used to be under West. But Waters relishes the chance for his young team -- 10 of his 15 players on the roster are sophomores and juniors -- to face a team like Westchester, which now always expects to be in the City championship game.

"That was our motivation (in beating Jordan)," Waters said. "We don't get to play Westchester in the regular season or in tournaments, and we've kind of been going around in a circle. So we look forward to playing them."

-- Mike Terry