Page 4 February 12, 2015 Cardinals Pioneer Title Hopes Get Dashed by Normans By Joe Snyder, photos by Joe Snyder Lawndale High’s boys’ basketball team was in for a brutal week with critical Ocean League games at Santa Monica and at home against league leader Beverly Hills. Unfortunately the Cardinals failed both tests. At Santa Monica on February 4, the Vikings saw to it that they did not lose all three games to Lawndale and a big fourth quarter led them to a 59-54 victory. The Cardinals won two other games over Santa Monica 73-65 in the Torrey Pines Under Armour Classic on December 29 in San Diego, and their first Pioneer contest 89-65 on January 16. That put Lawndale two games behind Beverly Hills and the Cardinals are out of any hope for a league title after falling to the Normans 63-58 in overtime last Friday. The losses saw Lawndale’s Ocean record fall to 5-3 and into third place behind Beverly Hills (8-0) and the second place Vikings (6-2). With the Normans’ win over the Cardinals, Beverly Hills clinched, at least a tie for the league crown entering last Tuesday’s showdown against Santa Monica. Last Friday’s match-up was between two Major Division I college-bound stars in Lawndale’s six-foot-10 center-forward Chimezie Metu (University of Southern California) and the Normans’ six-foot-nine center-forward Chance Comanche, who will be playing at PAC 12 power University of Arizona beginning this fall. The Cardinals’ defense held Comanche to six points in the first half but, from there, he proved too much for them with 18 second half points and scored five of Beverly’s seven overtime points to finish with a game-high 29. Comanche also grabbed a game-high 18 rebounds. Metu led Lawndale with 18 points and 14 rebounds, most of those in the first half where the Cardinals held a 27-25 edge. Perhaps the turning point of the game came with about 35 seconds left in regulation. With Lawndale leading 56-54, the Cardinals were driving for a basket but a physical confrontation started as Christopher White was called for a technical foul for elbowing Beverly’s Jale Sands. Ryan Manaoocheri made two free throws to tie the game at 56. Neither team scored from there forcing overtime. The overtime period saw Comanche take over with two baskets and a free throw and he and the rest of the Normans’ defense held Lawndale to just two points. “We got overwhelmed by the end of that play,” Lawndale assistant coach John Parker said. “Beverly Hills is very well coached and disciplined and they came to play. We just couldn’t get it going, especially in overtime.” The Cardinals led most of the game including by as many as nine points late in the third quarter. Deandre Snedecor added 14 points for Lawndale, which fell to 14-10 overall. Trevor Bergher chipped in 14 points for the Normans (19-5 overall and ranked third in the CIF-Southern Section Division IIIAA). Both teams entered last week on the prestigious Southern Section Open Division watch list. Lawndale was third in the Southern Section Division IIAA as of February 2 but will be expected to drop with the back-to-back losses. At Santa Monica, the Cardinals held a four-point (43-39) halftime lead before the Vikings outscored them 20-11 in the final period. Lawndale was led by Metu with 16 points, followed by D’lano Beckles with 10. The Cardinals will seek to close the league with a home game against El Segundo last Tuesday and visiting archrival Hawthorne today at 7:30 p.m. Lawndale already clinched a playoff spot despite the losses. The Cardinals begin either the Southern Section Division IIAA or Open Division playoffs next week. Inglewood Avenges Mira Costa: On January 20, Inglewood High’s boys’ basketball team lost at home to Mira Costa 60-55 but, from there, the Sentinels learned from that. Since then, Inglewood, which improved to 14-10 overall and is 6-2 in the Bay League, reeled off five straight wins that included a 57-54 home upset win of highly regarded Redondo (19-5, 7-1) on January 30 and last Friday’s 63-52 win at Mira Costa. It was a sweet revenge for the Sents who surged out to a 32-19 halftime lead. The always tough Mustangs (16-8, 4-4) whittled Inglewood’s lead to six (58-52) with approximately one minute left but Inglewood scored the game’s final five points to put it away. John Conley led the Sentinels with 16 points, followed by Terrell Gomez with 13. At Inglewood on February 3, the Sentinels rolled over Palos Verdes 55-36. Inglewood visited Peninsula, which is always hard to defeat there, last Tuesday and close league at home against cross town rival Morningside today at 7:30 p.m. The CIF-Southern Section playoffs start next week where the Sentinels will most likely play in Division IAA. Last season, Inglewood advanced to the semifinals before a narrow 48-47 loss at eventual champion Long Beach Poly. With the Jackrabbits expected to play in the Open Division, the Sents hope they can keep their hot streak going and win the division and advance to the California State Division I playoffs. Hawthorne Loses Two: Hawthorne High’s boys’ basketball team is currently last in the Ocean League at 1-7 after losses to first place Beverly Hills and El Segundo last week. At Hawthorne on February 4, the Cougars were routed by the Normans 77-41. At El Segundo last Friday, the Eagles avenged an earlier 42-38 loss to Hawthorne with a 55-42 win. The Cougars, who fell to 6-18 overall, visited Culver City last Tuesday and close league at home against rival Lawndale today at 7:30 p.m. • Lawndale High’s Brodricks Jones is pressured by Beverly Hills’ Trevor Bergher (number 22) and Max Walder (number 3) as he attempts to pass the ball in last Friday’s Ocean League boys’ basketball showdown. The Cardinals close league at archrival Hawthorne tonight at 7:30 p.m. Lawndale High’s Chimezie Metu shoots above a Beverly Hills High defender during last Friday’s Ocean League boys’ basketball showdown. The Cardinals lost to the Normans 63-58 in overtime.
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