Girls' basketball: Santa Monica and Harvard-Westlake will scrimmage tonight

Harvard-Westlake will scrimmage Santa Monica on the Vikings' home turf tonight at 7 p.m. 

Harvard-Westlake won the CIF Division IVA championship last season, finishing with a 22-10 record. The Wolverines will be playing without their top scorer, Nicole Hung, who participated in the tennis championships last Friday. Coach Melissa Hearlihy said she will be sitting out for "safety issues."

The team will run their offense through UC Santa Barbara-bound point guard Nicole Nesbit, University of Hawaii-bound Sydney Haydel and junior sharpshooter Skylar Tsutsui.

Santa Monica was eliminated by Canyon Springs in the CIF Division IA semifinals last season, finishing with a record of 23-8.

The Vikings are led by UCLA-bound Thea Lemberger, UC San Diego-bound Lilly Feder, and two new transfers from Arizona, juniors Bianka Balthazar and Moriah Faulk.

-- Melissa Rohlin

Girls' Basketball: Mater Dei hosts 'Meet the Monarchs Night'

Mater Dei is hosting "Meet the Monarchs Night" from 6-9 p.m. tonight. Dinner will be served followed by inter-squad scrimmages for both the fresh/soph and junior varsity teams. The varsity squad will then take the court and play against their families during the first half, and the school's alumni during the second.

"It'll be interesting to see [the alumni] come back, and see if they're in shape," said Christine Collins-Kiernan, Mater Dei assistant coach.

The Monarchs were both Trinity League and CIF Division IIAA champions last season. Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis was last year's Gatorade State Player of the Year, averaging 22.8 points per game and leading her team to a 32-1 record. (Good luck, alumni.)

Dinner and the games cost $10. Just watching the games is free of charge.

-- Melissa Rohlin

Girls' basketball: Long Beach Poly's Thaddesia Southall out until January

Long Beach Poly's 6-foot-3 powerhouse Thaddesia Southall will miss the first month of the season because of a knee injury she suffered in early July. Southall underwent minor knee surgery in late July, and Coach Carl Buggs said she'll rejoin the Jackrabbits in January.

The USC-bound senior averaged 10.7 points, 6.8 rebounds and two blocks last season.

The Jackrabbits are loaded with talent and, according to Buggs, the team has six girls who are capable of scoring 20 points on any given night. With at least five Division-I players and four consecutive Division-I state titles, Long Beach Poly will definitely be a threat this year.

-- Melissa Rohlin

Girls' basketball: A Mater Dei star may be out for the season

Santa Ana Mater Dei's Alexyz Vaioletama might be out for the season. The 6-foot-1 junior has stress fractures in both of her shins. Vaioletama and her teammates Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and Jordan Adams played on the 16-under national team that won the gold medal in Mexico in August.

Vaioletama, who averaged nine points and 10 rebounds last season, thought she had shin splints and rested from August to October. Her doctor broke the news to her this month that her injury hasn't healed, and if she plays she risks the need to have rods inserted in her legs. Her condition will be reevaluated monthly.

Coach Kevin Kiernan said he refuses to risk the heavily recruited forward's future. "There's no surgery or magic tape," Kiernan said. He added that, without Vaioletama, the team's "margin for error is small."

Mater Dei is projected to be one of the nation's top teams this year. The Monarchs were both Trinity League and CIF champions last season, finishing with a record of 32-1.

Although Kiernan admits that losing Vaioletama is a blow to his team, he is confident the Monarchs will remain a national threat and his other players will step up in her absence. Mater Dei defeated nationally ranked Long Beach Poly last weekend without Vaioletama. "We still have a lot of talent," Kiernan said.

-- Melissa Rohlin

Photo: Alexyz Vaioletama, early in her Mater Dei career. Credit: Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times

Girls' basketball: Ayala's Rhema Gardner returns to the court

Ayala's UCLA-bound Rhema Gardner participated in practice today for the first time since she tore her ACL in February. Coach Mel Sims said that she initially looked hesitant but toward the end of practice she began trusting her body, and she relaxed into her natural rhythm.

"The first time you run hard, you're going to have some reservations," Sims said.

Gardner, a 6-foot-2 forward, averaged a double-double last season with 19 points and 11 rebounds per game.

Ayala's leading scorer, Ariel Marsh, also fell victim to the knee injury plague, tearing her ACL in June. The senior guard is expected to be cleared for play in about two weeks.

-- Melissa Rohlin

Basketball: Celebrity game to raise funds for kids

Mark Wahlberg, Kelly Monaco and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar will be among the celebrities participating in a celebrity fundraiser basketball game to raise money for Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles.

The game will be held Saturday at L.A. Valley College with doors opening at 2 p.m. and tipoff scheduled for 3 p.m. Tickets range from $15 to $50. Magic Johnson will serve as one of the coaches.

The event is dedicated to Carter Newman-Milic, a 12-year-old girl who was diagnosed with brain cancer in February and had a malignant tumor removed. Her father, Buckley girls' basketball coach Byrd Newman-Milic, said Carter's recovery has been slow.

"A healthy active 11-year-old no longer walks, and though she is getting better and making improvement she has a long way to go to get her pre-surgery life back," Byrd Newman-Milic said.

More information on the event can be found here.

--Ben Bolch

Basketball: Playoff divisions released

The CIF has released its playoff divisions for boys' and girls' basketball for the 2009-10 season.

To see which division your team resides in, click the "Click Here for More Information" link here.

--Ben Bolch

Basketball: Good matchups at State Preview Classic

There will be plenty of compelling matchups Jan. 30 at Fairfax during the State Preview Classic, which features one girls' game and five boys' games. Here's the lineup:

Noon--Fairfax girls vs. North Torrance girls

1:30 p.m.--Windward vs. La Canada

3 p.m.--Campbell Hall vs. Oceanside El Camino

4:30 p.m.--Santa Monica vs. Torrey Pines

6:30 p.m.--Crenshaw vs. Price

8 p.m.--Taft vs. Gardena Serra

--Ben Bolch

Girls' basketball: Ayala standout picks UCLA

Rhema Gardner, a 6-foot-2 forward from Chino Hills Ayala, has committed to UCLA, according to ESPN.

-- Eric Sondheimer

Girls' basketball: Mater Dei's Mosqueda-Lewis commits to Connecticut

Mater Dei forward Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, one of the top girls' basketball prospects in the nation, has committed to Connecticut, according to ESPN HoopGurlz.

As a junior, she lead the Monarchs to Division II-A title and a 32-1 record last year.

-- Austin Knoblauch