December 4, 2014 Page 5 Inglewood Tops Lawndale; Both Find it Tough Going at Shores By Joe Snyder Photos by Joe Snyder Inglewood High’s boys’ basketball team began its season with a 70-58 win over Lawndale in the first round of the highly regarded Redondo Pacific Shores Tournament on November 24, but both squads found the classic tough going. After the win over the Cardinals, the Sentinels, who many feel that will be a top contender for the Bay League championship and were last year’s CIF-Southern Section Division IAA semifinalist before a one-point loss at eventual champion Long Beach Poly last season, lost their next three games, including 79-57 in the championship quarterfinals to the eventual tournament champion Jackrabbits on November 26. Lawndale went on to lose in the championship quarterfinals to Woodland Hills Taft 68-56 before coming back after Thanksgiving for two straight consolation wins over last year’s PAC Shores runner-up (behind host Redondo) Lakewood Mayfair on Friday and Newhall Hart on Saturday for a 13th place finish in the 16-team classic. In Inglewood’s win over the Cardinals, returning all-CIF Southern Section Division IAA junior guard Terrell Gomez led with 22 points, six rebounds and six assists. Darae Elliot added 18 points and eight rebounds and Tyree Jones chipped in nine points. Joshua Conley gathered 10 rebounds. Leading 46-44 after three quarters, the Sents (1-3) pulled away by outscoring Lawndale 24-14. Leading the Cardinals (2-2) was six-foot-10 center-forward Chimeze Metu with 15 points. D’lano Beckles was close behind with 14. Deandre Snedecor and Chris White each had nine points. Poly proved too much for Inglewood as it built a 44-30 halftime lead and the Jackrabbits, who are expected to again be one of the top contenders for the Southern Section Division IAA or even the title in the prestigious Open Division, continued to have command in the second half. Gomez led Inglewood with 22 points in the loss. The Sentinels went on to lose to Calabasas 61-54 on Friday and Compton 53-52 Saturday for an eighth place finish. Lawndale struggled in the games before Thanksgiving with the consolation quarterfinal loss to Taft but the Cardinals, who should contend for the Ocean League crown, returned from their turkey feasts to win the final two games. The Cardinals rolled over Mayfair 70-51 on Friday, then finished with a 59-51 victory over the Indians. The Sentinels resume play with a home non-league game against a tough St. John Bosco team from Bellflower next Tuesday at 7 p.m. The Braves were among the teams in the Redondo Tournament as they placed third with a 60-55 win over CIF-Los Angeles City power and last season’s Southern California Regional finalist Westchester last Saturday. St. John Bosco (3-1) had wins over Hart (58- 55) and Compton before falling short of host and tournament runner-up Redondo 58-56 in the championship semifinals last Friday. Poly edged the Sea Hawks 63-61 in overtime for the title. Lawndale will travel to Sacramento to play in the St. Hope Elite Classic beginning on Tuesday. The Cardinals open against El Dorado Hills Oakridge at 6 p.m. Morningside Routs Verbum Dei Last Friday’s non-league match-up between host Inglewood Morningside and southeast L.A. Verbum Dei could remind older prep boys’ basketball fans of the 1970’s when they were two of the top powers in Southern California. Neither squad has quite the lust that they had some 40 years ago. The Monarchs, though, brought back more their glory days then the Eagles with an 82-57 win. Morningside (1-0) wasted little time in jumping out to a 23-5 first quarter lead and had command throughout the rest of the contest. The Monarchs, in fact, added 31 fourth quarter points to put away Verbum Dei. Leading Morningside, a young but talented squad that could be a Bay League contender this season, was Charles Wright with 14 six points and 16 rebounds. Lawndale Opens With Win; South Routs Hawthorne Lawndale High’s girls’ basketball team began its season by winning the opening round of the South El Monte Tournament with a 35-26 victory over Norwalk last Friday. The Cardinals were led by Taylor Hall with 10 points, 13 rebounds and eight steals. Rejinae Crandall totaled nine points and 10 steals. Hawthorne High’s girls’ basketball team opened its season with a 67-31 loss to South Torrance in the first round of the Downey Tournament last Friday. Deonshanae Sadler led the Cougars with 14 points. • points. Chio Harris and Brandon Anyanwu were right behind Wright with 13 points apiece in the Monarchs’ balanced scoring attack. Morningside is currently playing in the West Coast Shores Tournament at West Torrance High where it began last Monday against Hart. The classic runs through Saturday. Leuzinger Girls Take Third Leuzinger High’s girls’ basketball team finished in third place in the Culver City Tournament by slipping past Panorama City St. Genevieve 51-48 last Saturday. The Lady Olympians (3-1) were led by Sydney Coleman with 13 points and seven rebounds. Tajaheray McMahon contributed 13 points, six steals and five assists. Precious Onwuka tallied Lawndale’s J.T. Johnson tries to pass under pressure of Inglewood’s George Bell in last week’s Redondo Pacific Shores Boys’ Basketball Tournament action. The Sentinels won 70-58. The Cardinals finished 13th in the classic, losing the first two games and winning the final two. Inglewood High’s Terrell Gomez dribbles ball past Lawndale’s Quincey Pinkard during last week’s 2014-15 boys’ basketball Redondo Pacific Shores Tournament action. The Sentinels defeated the Cardinals 70-58, then lost the next three games.
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