EL SEGUNDO HERALD May 25, 2017 Page 5 Burkley Brandlin Swatik & Keesey LLP AT T O R N E Y S AT L AW Lifetime El Segundo Residents Living Trusts/Wills, Probate, Employment Law, Personal Injury Trust and Estates Litigation, Business Litigation, Civil Litigation 310-540-6000 *AV Rated (Highest) Martindale - Hubbell / **Certified Specialist Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law, State Bar of California, Board of Legal Specialization Douglass MORTUARY “Our Family Serving Yours Since 1954” B U R I A L - C R E M AT I O N - W O R L DW I D E T R A N S F E R P E T M E M O R I A L P RO D U C T S 500 EAST IMPERIAL AVENUE EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA 90245 Te l e p h o n e ( 3 1 0 ) 6 4 0 - 9 3 2 5 • F a x ( 3 1 0 ) 6 4 0 - 0 7 7 8 • F D 6 5 8 Ball Bounces the Lakers Way By Adam Serrao A lot was on the line for the Los Angeles Lakers at the NBA Draft Lottery held on Tuesday, April 16. All the talk was of ping pong balls bouncing the right way as the Lakers held onto less than a 50 percent chance of landing a top-three pick through the selection process. A team that finished last season with a 26-56 record shouldn’t necessarily expect to be rewarded, but the Lakers walked away from the lottery as the big winners of the day. Overcoming the odds, Los Angeles landed the second overall pick in the draft for what will now be the third year in a row. With fortune certainly on their side, new Lakers GM Rob Pelinka and President of Basketball Operations Magic Johnson will have one very big decision to make leading up to the June 22 NBA Draft. Los Angeles avoided a true nightmare scenario when the team was lucky enough to land the second overall pick in the upcoming draft. Conspiracy theorists might say that the Lakers recent stretch of good luck at the Draft Lottery is the NBA’s way of paying Los Angeles back for a Chris Paul trade that was blocked and eventually went awry. No matter what the reason for the luck, the Lakers now not only hold onto their 2017 draft pick, but also their 2019 first round pick that would have gone to the Orlando Magic should the Lakers have fallen out of the top three. Every year seems to come to its own nailbiting conclusion with the Lakers, even though the team consistently finishes near the bottom of their conference and well out of playoff contention. Trades made in 2012 for Steve Nash and Dwight Howard have been the reason for stressful and anxious times for the Lakers and their fans lately, but at last the team can now officially put those worries--and trades--in the rearview. With a little bit of recent success at being unsuccessful and a whole lot of luck, Los Angeles has a built a young core that Pelinka thinks may be better than any other in the NBA. “We have as good a young core once we add this pick as any [team] in the league,” Pelinka said after the lottery. “Even the great teams that are dominant like Golden State--they grew through the draft. We feel like we have that type of core, for sure.” The number two overall pick leaves the Lakers with a lot of flexibility in the draft, but even still, nothing is set in stone. Many fans have been hoping that former UCLA Bruins point guard Lonzo Ball would fall into L.A.’s lap, despite his father’s unrelenting and overbearing nature. That opportunity has certainly now presented itself, but it’s still no certainty that the Celtics won’t choose to take Ball with the top pick, especially with the injury to and fallout surrounding Isaiah Thomas in Boston. While Ball is currently considered to be the heavy favorite to go number two to the Lakers, his possible departure to the Celtics at number one would leave Los Angeles to look at players like Washington’s Markelle Fultz, Kansas’ Josh Jackson, or even Kentucky point guard De’Aaron Fox. Ideally, the Lakers would love to take Ball with the number two pick and in the process silence his father who seems to love being in West Pays for a Long Day By Gregg McMullin The CIF Southern Section playoffs are in full swing, literally. The El Segundo High School baseball team, which won the Ocean League title, defeated West High 6-3 in the first round of the Division 3 baseball playoffs. It wasn’t so much how the Eagles won the game as it was the performance of Spencer Long. The senior pitcher made sure it was a long day, pun intended, for West High hitters- -but he was also a force with his bat. All Long did was throw a complete game, giving up three runs on four hits while striking out six. He was also three for three with two doubles, a walk, one RBI and a run scored. After an easy one-two-three first inning from Long, the Eagles got on the scoreboard. Long led off the bottom half of the inning with a double off the centerfield fence. Jake Palmer then hit his fifth home run of the season and the Eagles led 2-0. West responded in the second inning with a solo home run by Taylor Proo. The Eagles had an opportunity to score in their half of the second inning go awry when Brendan Casillas hit a fly ball to right field that was misplayed. Casillas attempted to stretch it into a three-base error but was thrown out. In the third inning, Mateo Camano doubled and scored on Long’s RBI single. Jake Palmer walked and Nico Celestial’s RBI double made it 4-1. Spencer Palmer then pounded an RBI single to right field to increase the lead to 5-1. Long ran into trouble in the fifth inning. He walked the leadoff hitter and then allowed a double to Tanner Schafer. Long then showed the poise of an ace and struck out the next two hitters. With two outs, Kyle Sonandres lofted a ball just out of reach of second baseman CJ Shevlin for a two-run single to make it 5-3. In the sixth inning, Kobe Estrada drilled a two-out RBI single to right field to give the Eagles a 6-3 lead and some breathing room. In the seventh inning, West could only manage a leadoff walk. Long shut the door on the Warriors’ season with a strikeout, ground ball and pop up to end the game. The Eagles continue to carve their way into school history. It was their ninth straight win and it also marked their 26th victory of the season--the most by the program since 2005. Besides Long’s perfect day at the plate Spencer Palmer was two for three with an RBI, while Jake Palmer was one for two with two RBIs and a walk. On defense, the left side of the infield was stellar. Celestial continued his highlight season at third base and Camano’s play at shortstop was nothing short of brilliant. The Eagles played host to Troy of Fullerton this past Tuesday. The Warriors, who were 22-8 on the season, were the Freeway League champions. Should the Eagles win, they would be on the road and advance to play the winner of the Sierra Canyon/ Walnut game in the CIF Southern Section Division 3 playoffs. Softball Loses First Round The Lady Eagles made the long trek north to face San Luis Obispo--the Pac-8 League champions. The hosts weren’t so gracious and defeated El Segundo 8-3. The Tigers jumped out to a 6-0 lead before the Lady Eagles scored three runs in the sixth inning to make it 6-3. The Tigers would go on to score two more in the bottom of the sixth inning and El Segundo’s season came to an end. Locals Lead Soccer Team The high school soccer season has been over for months, but that doesn’t mean soccer takes a breather. The Strikers FC U16, coached by Marcus Chorvat, had an incredible season. The Strikers are a club team based here in the South Bay and play their schedule of games after the high school season ends. This program used to be the local “Gunners” and now has transitioned over the years to Strikers FC South Bay. The Strikers have seven Eagles playing for them including Casey Lund, Sam Twigg, Logan Pismopulos, Nathan Salazar, Uly Lozano, Malcolm Holtzmann-Cisse and Chris Herrera. Together these players and their other teammates recently completed their season by competing in the National Cup. The National Cup is for the top-level club See Eagles, page 16 Nico Celestial’s defensive effort helped the Eagles win their first round game. See Lakers, page 12
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