Baseball: Los Alamitos, Northview attract attention

After the first full week of high school baseball, Los Alamitos (5-0), the Loara tournament champion, and Covina Northview (4-0), the Glendora tournament champion, deserve praise and respect as two of the best teams in the Southland.

Los Alamitos has tremendous pitching talent, led by Beau Wright, who's 2-0 with 10 strikeouts in nine innings. Travis Garrett and Matt Avery are each batting .533 with eight hits in 15 at-bats.

Taft holds 12 point halftime lead

Oceanside El Camino seemed ready to celebrate after Dee Love's basket with three seconds left in the second quarter cut Taft's lead to 37-28. Then Larry Drew Jr. got the ball, dribbled into the front court and sank a three-pointer at the buzzer, putting the Toreadors on top, 40-28, at halftime of the Division I Southern California Regional quarterfinal playoff game.

Taft looked a little bored in the second quarter and lacked its usual defensive intensity, giving El Camino opportunities to score.

I expect Taft's coach, Derrick Taylor, to do a little yelling in the locker room because the Toreadors need to pick it up a notch in the second half.

-- Eric Sondheimer