EL SEGUNDO HERALD December 29, 2016 Page 5 Looking Back at 2016 Sports in El Segundo By Gregg McMullin As 2016 comes to a close, this gives us the opportunity to look back and recall the ups and the downs, the winning teams and some tough losses for El Segundo sports teams. We cheered and we supported the hard-luck results. It was another year of close calls, heartbreaks and a time to reflect and remember. High school and youth sports once again took center stage as we supported each event. So with that in mind, let’s revisit the first six months of 2016 and relive the excitement of some very special and precious memories that had our community buzzing and outside cities in envy. Basketball The El Segundo High School boys’ and girls’ basketball teams did some traveling during the 2015 holiday break to get ready for their Ocean League schedules. The Lady Eagles traveled to Henderson, Nevada to play in the Green Valley Invitational while the boys’ team flew to Hawaii to play in the Punahou Invitational. It was an experience for each of the players on his/her teams that will remembered for future reunions to come. The Lady Eagles basketball team was full of talented seniors who had played together for four years. They would have one of their best seasons in the program’s history. They defeated Culver City 55-46 in a key Ocean League game. It marked the first time in 42 consecutive Ocean League games that the Centaurs had lost, dating back to February 10, 2011 when Culver City fell to Beverly Hills 45-37. The Lady Eagles finished third in the Ocean League, won 17 games and advanced to the CIF Southern Section playoffs for the eighth consecutive year--a school record. El Segundo would defeat Nipomo and Covina in the first two rounds, but fell to secondranked Duarte 38-36 in the quarterfinals. Paige Endo ended her high school career by scoring over 1,500 points. Head coach Jason Ito took the boys’ basketball team from not making the playoffs in three straight seasons to the second round the past two seasons, including 2016. The Eagles finished fourth in the Ocean League behind two teams that played for CIF titles and another that reached the semifinals. The Eagles faced Miramonte League champion Pomona in the first round and used a huge second quarter to propel them to a 66-51 victory. The Eagles’ win rewarded them with a matchup against Mission Prep (San Luis Obispo)--a team that had reached the CIF-SS Division 4AA finals the past three consecutive seasons. The Royals were a big and physical team that used balanced scoring. The result was a 78-62 win over the Eagles. Soccer The high school soccer team won its first Ocean League title outright and played host to a first round of the CIF-SS Division 4 playoff game against Temecula Valley. The Eagles took care of business with a relatively easy 4-1 win over the Golden Bears. In the second round, the Eagles defeated defending CIF champion Bellflower 2-1. Tyler Hollick boomed a punt that was misjudged by a Bellflower defender. Gilbert Cortez utilized the bounce that fell his way, went one-onone with the goalie and pounded one to the back of the net to tie the game. The Eagles capitalized a man advantage when Cortez got into position behind the defense on a long throw-in by Justin Knoll and scored to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead that eventually held up. El Segundo fell to fifth-seeded Santa Paula 3-2 in the third round. It was a game in which the Eagles held 1-0 and 2-1 leads, but gave up the go-ahead goal in the final 10 minutes. The girls’ soccer team was decimated by injuries throughout the season. They did however win the South Torrance Tournament and were competitive in the Ocean League to advance to the CIF playoffs for the sixth consecutive season. Though the Lady Eagles advanced, they had challenges getting out of the first round. Davis & DeRosa Physical Therapy, Inc. Davis & DeRosa Physical Therapy, established in 2003, provides a quaint boutique practice located in El Segundo, California. The 4,000 square foot facility is a well known practice offering its patients private, personal treatment by a licensed therapist at every visit. Patients are guaranteed one-on-one attention for their 45-minute treatment. THE PRACTICE SPECIALIZES IN DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT FOR: Chronic Neck and Back Pain Pre and Post Surgical Rehabilitation Sports Injuries Work Injuries Neurological Disorders Foot and Ankle Disorders (including orthotics) Osteoporosis and other Age Related Disorders Balance and Vestibular Disorders Injury Prevention Troy Davis Owner, PT, DPT • Chris DeRosa Owner, PT, OCS Leo Valenzuela, PT, DPT • Lianne Nakazaki, PT, DPT • Garret Wong, PT, DPT Rachael D’Angelo, PT, DPT • Tami Chang, PT 325 Main Street El Segundo, CA 90245 310.648.3167 www.davisandderosa.com See El Segundo Sports, page 16 2016: A Year of Firsts in the World of Sports By Adam Serrao So much can happen in sports throughout the course of one calendar year. Granted 365 days doesn’t necessarily sound like a long time… but as 2016 has shown us all, just one year has the potential to take everything that we thought we knew about sports and turn it all completely upside down. In the leap year of 2016, we were all afforded one extra day to appreciate the sports world as we have all become accustomed to doing. In a year that was so entirely jam-packed with record-breaking history, any amount of extra time is, of course, extremely valuable and has shown us all that there truly is a first time for everything. The city of Cleveland was very busy in the year of 2016, most specifically with providing the sports world with its share of groundbreaking events. One of those events people across the nation have been waiting their entire lives for was the championship won by the Chicago Cubs in Game 7 of this year’s World Series. The series was special for a few reasons. It was the first-ever postseason meeting between the Cubs and the Cleveland Indians (who had home field advantage in the series). Everyone loves a do-or-die Game 7, and this series gave you more than that. The final and deciding game went extra innings and was interrupted by a rain delay just as the 10th inning was about to begin. Chicago came back from a threegames to-one deficit in the series to win its first MLB championship in 108 years. It was something not even the movie Back to the Future could have predicted, though it came close. Keeping the winning in Cleveland, the NBA’s Cavaliers won that city its first major professional sports championship since 1964. The 2016 NBA Finals was a rematch of the 2015 Finals in which the Cavaliers took on the Golden State Warriors in what has become one of the sport’s biggest rivalries to date. The series went a full seven games, like all sports fans love to see, and ended with LeBron James bringing his team back from a three-games-to-one deficit to give the title to the Cavs. It was the first time since 1978 that the road team had successfully won a Game 7 and the first time in NBA Finals history that a team has overcome a 3-1 deficit in the series. James, of course, took home the series MVP and had an iconic block in the final seconds on Andre Iguodala of the Warriors that played a huge part in the victory. The year 2016 has become famous across Visit us online: www.heraldpublications.com the sports world for some of the great athletes who have said goodbye. Peyton Manning went out on top and rode his white bronco off into the sunset after he defeated Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in the AFC championship game and Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers in the Super Bowl. With the win, Manning became the first quarterback to win the Super Bowl with two different teams and notched the second championship of his career. Losing Kobe Bryant and Manning in the same year was certainly a big blow to the sports world, but that’s exactly what happened in 2016 when Bryant retired after a 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers. The basketball legend left the game a five-time NBA champion and two-time NBA Finals MVP, and made the All-Star team 18 seasons in a row. Bryant was, of course, known for his high-flying, high-scoring ability. Despite being broken down and battered, he finished the last game of his career in typical Kobe Bryant fashion. He scored 60 points and left the crowd at the Staples Center in awe. It wasn’t the first time that he did that. Perhaps no athlete can be considered more of an icon than Michael Phelps--not only for his own career accomplishments, but also for what he has done for the United States in the Olympics. Phelps is the most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals 23 of those gold. At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Phelps brought home a total of six medals with five golds and one silver. The accomplishment in 2016 made Phelps the most successful athlete of the Games for the fourth Olympics in a row. Like Manning and Bryant, Phelps used the year of 2016 to retire, but did so as arguably the greatest athlete of all time. With so much that happened in 2016, it is truly impossible to get to it all. Some other notable events, however, included an absolutely thrilling NCAA basketball championship win by the Villanova Wildcats. With perhaps no bigger shot in NCAA history, Kris Jenkins hit a three-pointer as the final buzzer sounded to give his team a 77-74 victory. Normally the winner of the college football championship would be notable, but Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide win it so often that it has become commonplace. Saban and the Tide are the favorites to win it all again in 2017. In golf, the U.S. team won the Ryder Cup trophy for the first time since 2008 and for just the third time in the last 11 competitions. Serena Williams won her 22nd career See World of Sports, page 6
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