Page 6 January 10, 2019 EL SEGUNDO HERALD
Catching Up On the El Segundo Eagles As We Start the New Year
Story and Photos by Gregg McMullin
The final year of this decade has arrived. As
we ushered out 2018, the Eagles were competing
in tournaments. The basketball teams played
in some non-league games last week to help
hone their skills entering back into the Ocean
League play this week.
Girls Basketball Team Finishes
Second In Tournament
El Segundo advanced to their first holiday
tournament final since the 2015/16 season when
it played for the Valley Christian tournament
championship. To get to the Temescal Canyon
tournament championship game, the Eagles
defeated Chaparral 66-38, Corona 53-30 and
Hemet 49-44. In the finale, the Eagles fell to
Riverside Patriot HS 56-41.
To start the tournament, Temecula Chaparral
entered the game with a record of 10-3.
The Pumas were blitzed by the Eagles from
the start. El Segundo opened the game 24-10
after the first quarter and never looked back
en route to a 66-38 win in the opening game
of pool play.
The Eagles shot the ball well, hitting on 45
percent from the field. Four players scored in
double figures, led by Reese Jones with 18
points followed by a trio of players with 10
points including Storey Noble, Hannah Chang
and Remicia Germeille. Germeille had both
season and career highs for points. Chang
dished out seven assists to go with four steals.
The Eagles’ unselfish play led to 17 assists,
while their tenacious defense led to 13 steals
and 42 rebounds --with 24 coming on the
offensive end.
The Eagles cruised to a second round pool
play win over Corona High School, 53-30.
Defense played a key role in the win, which
tallied 15 steals and held all but two Corona
players scoreless for the game. After leading
33-18 after the first half, El Segundo cruised
to its second win in the tournament. Chang
paced the Eagles with 13 points and freshman
Bo Takehara added eight points -- a season
and career high.
In the third round, the Eagles faced a Hemet
team ranked in the top 10 of the CIF Southern
Section Division 3AA. El Segundo would need
to rally from four points down to start the
fourth quarter to defeat the Bulldogs 49-44.
El Segundo outscored Hemet 19-10 in the
final period on the strength of crisp passing,
better shot selection and stout defense. The
Eagles were led by sophomore forward Jordan
Peterson, who scored 18 points and added nine
rebounds. The sophomore guard Noble added
five key points in the fourth quarter.
The Eagles advanced to their first tournament
final in three years and their reward was to face
Patriot -- the second-ranked CIF-SS Division
3 team. El Segundo stayed close in the first
half, but the Warriors used a solid third quarter
shooting to extend their lead to 13 points. El
Segundo’s bid for an upset fell short in the
fourth quarter as the team fell 56-41. Noble
led the Eagles with 17 points in the loss.
The Eagles’ 12-7 start is one of their best in
years. They faced Mira Costa before continuing
Ocean League play last night against Culver
City -- the defending league champions. They
also host Lawndale Friday night at 6 p.m.
Eagles Improving
Against Tough Opponents
Head coach David March has directed his
team to a great start. The Eagles are 13-7 overall
heading into this week’s return to the Ocean
League schedule. El Segundo’s great start is
the best in eight seasons and is certainly on
track to have its best year in terms of wins
since 2010-11 when the Eagles won 19 games.
During the holiday break, the Eagles traveled
to the Heritage Christian Tournament and went
2-2. In the first gamem, the Eagles used a
pressure defense to blow out Tahquitz 52-29.
The offense clicked in the second half and the
Titans had no answer. In the second game El
Segundo played Santiago close, but the Cavaliers
-- the top team from the Garden Grove League
-- held off the Eagles 56-52 at the end. In the
third game, El Segundo’s defense was tested
and the Eagles held a high-scoring Heritage
Patriots team to just 36 points. The Eagles had
plenty of opportunities, but fell 36-34. In the
final gamem El Segundo did everything right
on both offense and defense and outscored
Linfield Christian 53-18.
In the final tune-up before last night’s return
to the Ocean League schedule, the Eagles
used a tough second half defense to thwart a
comeback by South Torrance and hold off the
Spartans 47-39.
El Segundo returned to Ocean League action
last night against Culver City and will host Lawndale
Friday night at 7:30 p.m. The Eagles have
the stingiest defense in terms of points allowed in
the CIF Southern Section 4AA Division, allowing
an average of a mere 39 points per game.
Boys Soccer Team
Living Up to Hype
After a historic run to a CIF Southern Section
Division 5 and Southern California Region
championship, the Eagles were rewarded by
going to the Division 3. It hasn’t affected head
coach Andrew Kelly’s team. The Eagles are
off to their best start in perhaps school history
with a 9-1-2 record. They have played such
perennial powers as Division 1 Mira Costa
(ranked third), Santa Barbra (sixth), Division
2 powers Santa Ana Valley (fourth) and San
Marcos. El Segundo’s only loss of the season
was a 2-1 setback to Santa Barbara. The ties
were with Mira Costa and Santa Anna Valley.
El Segundo resumed Ocean League play
yesterday against Culver City and will host
Lawndale Friday at 3 p.m. The Eagles return
home next Friday to host Hawthorne at 3 p.m.
Young Lady Eagles Soccer Team
Keeps Improving
Head coach Skip Jones knew this season’s team
would face some challenges with a squad that
has just six seniors. The Eagles have continued to
improve from game to game. Freshman sensation
Chelsie Charles leads the team in scoring.
The Eagles have played a demanding
schedule. Though they’ve lost to Bay League
powers Peninsula, Mira Costa and Redondo,
they have defeated City power San Pedro and
Da Vinci -- a team that is 11-3 on the year. The
four goals scored against San Pedro represent
more than half of all goals scored against the
Pirates this season.
The Eagles return home next Wednesday
January 16 at 3 p.m. •
Sports
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Hannah Chang has helped guide the Eagles to their best start in three years. The Eagles return to Ocean League play Friday night
at 6 p.m.
Miles Jones drives the baseline against Hawthorne in the Eagles’ blowout Ocean League win. The Eagles host Lawndale Friday night
at 7:30 p.m.