EL SEGUNDO HERALD November 3, 2016 Page 5 Eagles’ Win is Convincing No Kobe, No Problem By Adam Serrao For the first time in 20 years the Los Angeles Lakers took the court without Kobe Bryant on their Opening Day roster. It was a peculiar sight to behold. Jack Nicholson was there, looking on from his normal seat. Denzel Washington was wearing his normal sweat suit and hat, ready to take in the game. The Staples Center was packed to the rafters with Lakers fans, ready to root their team on to victory. Yet, still, no Kobe. Despite the five-time NBA champion not being in the house and an obvious lack of superstar power emanating from center court, Opening Day 2016 was still a success for the Lakers. The young pups on the team were finally able to spread their wings and play the game that they wanted to play. The result? A 120-114 victory over the Houston Rockets. Last year, it took the Los Angeles Lakers five games to finally get their first win of the season when they beat the Brooklyn Nets by six points on Nov. 6. This year, the Lakers got their first win of the season in their very first game, almost assuring their fan-base that they will surpass last year’s franchise worst final record of 17 wins and 65 losses. “A big part of what we are trying to do here is develop this identity, this culture,” Lakers firstyear head coach Luke Walton explained. “We keep using [that] word and learning how to win games is part of figuring out who we are and it’s a skill at this level.” Walton, the NBA’s youngest head coach at the age of 36, experienced success last season while filling in for Steve Kerr as interim head coach with the Golden State Warriors. Walton posted a 36-4 record through 40 total games, but the young coach knows that he has an entirely different beast ahead of him with a Lakers team that hasn’t had success in years. While this year’s Lakers certainly don’t figure to be a championship team by any means, the young core does figure to be able to electrify the Staples Center crowd. On opening night alone, Jordan Clarkson recorded 25 points off of the bench while D’Angelo Russell contributed 20. The performances by those two and the rest of the team gave fans a glimpse into what they can expect the future of this team to be. “It’s not like we’re rebuilding from the first step,” Walton explained. “[The Lakers have] put in some pain already.” Three consecutive NBA Draft Lottery picks are evidence of that pain as an extremely young L.A. squad looks to mature quickly in order to begin competing for a playoff spot once again. This year may just be the year that the maturation takes place. While one win doesn’t speak too loudly in the grand scheme of an 82 game season, it is certainly an encouraging sign. A team full of young players can stick together, play together, and fight together against an opponent featuring one of the NBA’s best players in James Harden. “Tonight is a baby step,” Walton continued. “It’s just one game. But it’s a step in the right direction of what we are trying to do.” Julius Randle, another one of the Lakers young studs, echoed Walton’s feelings. “It’s just one game,” he said. “It’s not the dang Super Bowl.” It may just be one game, but after only winning 17 of them last year, starting the regular season out with a victory becomes a rather enormous accomplishment. When Kobe Bryant is in the game, he obviously dominates the ball and decides what he’s going to do with it. Now, without Kobe, it is evident that these new-look Lakers play selflessly and have no problem distributing the ball around the court. While it may just be one game and not the Super Bowl, like Randle explained, one win has the ability to give fans and players hope. Hope that a team as young as the Lakers can, indeed, blossom into a contender in the West. Hope that even without Bryant, Los Angeles is capable of gathering wins. This season is clearly one of rebuilding for Los Angeles. But one win can maybe make the rebuilding era something that is fun and entertaining to watch, in stark contrast to the wreck that was last season. The post-Kobe Bryant era has officially begun and the Lakers started it off the right way with a win. The team has officially turned the page on the next chapter in the history of the franchise and it should be entitled, “Rebuilding”. Though that word often comes along with negative feelings, this year’s Lakers team may have what it takes to compete on a nightly basis, which is much more than we could have said for the team last year. Inspired basketball is back in Los Angeles and now, with these Lakers, the game may actually be fun to watch again. • Story and Photos by Gregg McMullin The El Segundo high school football team’s 35-7 win over Hawthorne proved to the rest of the Ocean League that they are the team to beat. Before the game there were four teams tied atop the standings that included the Eagles, Kylee Glickman gets ready to make one of her 11 digs against Santa Monica. Hawthorne, Lawndale and Culver City. That number was reduced to three and if all goes according to plan the Eagles, Culver City and Lawndale will all finish in a three-way tie for the Ocean League crown, assuming each wins Friday night. The Eagle’s only loss was a narrow 24-19 loss to Culver City. On a night which El Segundo was penalized 15 times for 142 yards, the Eagles overcame their sloppy play by outplaying their guests. Some might counter that all the flags were a result of a dubious officiating crew. But then the start of the game was puzzling as well. The Cougars won the flip, did not defer but instead elected to kick. This meant the Eagles would not only get the ball to start the game but would elect to receive the ball to start the second half as well. El Segundo didn’t waste much time by scoring on their second play from scrimmage. Jake Palmer scrambled for a 35-yard gain. Then Kobe Lagarde found Billy Brasher open in the middle of the field for a 25-yard touchdown reception with 19 seconds into the start of the game. On the Eagles’ next possession, they had a 14-play drive that was destined for another score wiped out by a series of penalties and El Segundo turned the ball over on downs. The Cougars took advantage and went the other way on a 13-play drive of their own capped by a 15-yard touchdown pass from Marte Mapu to Carlos Jacobo to tie the game. That would wake up the El Segundo offense and the Eagles would score on their next three possessions. Officially the Eagles went 65 yards on their next possession to get into the end zone but adding in the penalties, the offense was assessed, the Eagles went a combined 82 yards. The highlight of the possession was a 51-yard pass reception from Lagarde to Haamid Brooks Jr. That set up the running game where Ashton Saltz carried the ball twice, including a 9-yard touchdown run to make it 14-7. El Segundo’s defense, which has been one of the best in Ocean League play if not the entire CIF Southern Section Division 7 based on points allowed, came up with consecutive interceptions on Hawthorne’s next two possessions. They would score on both turnovers before the end of the first half. After Mapu was sacked by Dylan Radke and Adrian Johnson, the Cougar quarterback was intercepted by Taj Balogun. The Eagles took over on their own 35-yard line where Palmer hooked up with Brasher on a 39-yard pass play. On the next play, Taz Tauaese scooted through a big Alyssa Pearson goes up to make one of her four blocks. See Eagles, page 12
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