February 16, 2017 Page 5 Lawndale Girls Make History By Adam Serrao The Lawndale High girls’ basketball team has just gotten finished accomplishing a feat that it had never before achieved in the entire history of the school. With a 43-25 blowout win over the Beverly Hills Normans last Tuesday night at home, the Lady Cardinals walked away with an Ocean League championship for the first time ever. Coming into the season on the heels of a successful campaign last year in which the team finished in second place to Culver City, head coach Anthony Gipson knew that his girls were on the precipice of greatness. Lawndale took the experience that it gained from a successful season one year ago and improved on it while becoming even better. Now, with first place in their division officially clinched, the Lady Cardinals can formally call themselves Ocean League champions for the first time ever. It was a long time coming, but behind a shutdown defense that held Beverly Hills in check, the Lawndale recorded its sixth win in seven games while simultaneously walking away with a first place standing and league championship. The team’s first place finish broke a streak set by Culver City that saw the Centaurs finish in first each of the last six seasons. Now it’s Lawndale’s time, and senior guard Rejinae Crandell couldn’t feel any better about it. “It feels really great,” Crandell explained with a smile beaming from ear to ear. “It took us years to accomplish this. We came in third place, second… and this year we won the whole thing. It took a lot of hard work.” Crandell led the team on offense with 12 points on the night, but it wasn’t Lawndale’s scoring that proved to be the difference. A stout defense, spearheaded by senior forward Jazzmin Oddie, provided much of the Cardinals’ firepower on the night. Oddie finished the game with eight steals and proved to be the fly on the court that Beverly Hills just couldn’t seem to swat away. “I thought Jazzmin played her best game of the season,” Gipson said. Oddie was everywhere on the court, stepping in front of passes and swiping in through lanes. Her eight steals were the most on the team, but Crandell also chipped in with six of her own. It was the Cardinals’ defensive effort that led to Beverly Hills’ inefficient night on offense. The Normans failed to score at least 10 points in any of the four quarters of the game. Despite a slow start, though, Beverly Hills was able to go on a 9-0 run at the end of the first half and began the third quarter outscoring Lawndale by 10 in the opening minutes. That’s when the Cardinxals’ defense got back down to it and held the Normans to just four total points in the fourth quarter while scoring 11 of their own to eventually take an 18-point victory on what also very fittingly happened to be the team’s senior night. Lawndale will look to a roster full of seniors to call on the experience necessary to have success this postseason. The team’s second place finish one year ago was enough to get them into the second round of the playoffs where they took a 46-41 loss at the hands of Mayfair. The Cardinals (16-9, 8-1) will look back on lessons learned from a long regular season to find even more success in the postseason and maybe even bring home the much-coveted CIF championship trophy. Hawthorne High The Hawthorne girls’ basketball team is making a certain kind of history of its own. Only unfortunately for the Cougars, it’s the kind of history that teams and coaches alike look to avoid by any means necessary. After opening up the regular season by winning two of their first three games, things were looking up for head coach Paul Mason and the Cougars. That’s precisely when everything began to spiral rapidly out of control. Dating back to Hawthorne’s last victory in early December, the team has lost 18 games in a row. The Cougars’ main problem has been putting points up on the board. There have been nine matchups this season in which Hawthorne has failed to score at least 10 points in a game. The Cougars have only scored over a total of 20 points three times all year long. Hawthorne began last week with a matchup against the fifth place El Segundo Eagles. The Eagles led by a score of 30-11 at the half and held the Cougars (2-19, 0-9) to just one point in the third quarter to eventually cruise to a 54-16 victory. Hawthorne’s eyes are already set on next season when the team will lose only two seniors and gain much more experience on a roster that should be able to produce both offense and wins. Inglewood High The Inglewood girls’ basketball team has had an unsuccessful go of things in this year’s divisional play within the Bay League. Nine straight losses have highlighted an ineffective campaign that was made even more difficult for head coach Charles Michael Cain and his Sentinels with a 76-23 loss at the hands of the Mira Costa Mustangs on the road last Tuesday night. Inglewood only managed two points in the first quarter and three in the fourth as Mira Costa senior Allie Navarette led all scorers with 20 points to bring her team to the win. With four freshmen and two sophomores on the varsity team this year, Inglewood should benefit from experience and maturity in years to come. • Brady Cements Legacy as Greatest Ever By Adam Serrao Whether you hate him, love him or just love to hate him, there is no questioning the fact that Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback to ever play the game of football. Even before Super Bowl LI was played, Brady had already cemented his name atop the list of all-time greats to ever lace up his cleats in the NFL. After playing over two quarters of horrific football, the Patriots, led by Brady, began what is now the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history. Down by 25 points with 8:31 left in the third quarter, Brady never gave up and eventually led his team to a 34-28 overtime victory. Now that all is said and done, it can safely be said that Brady isn’t only the greatest quarterback of all time—but also the greatest football player to ever play the game. Tom Brady now has a Super Bowl ring to go on every finger of his left hand. In addition to setting a record for the most championships of all time, Brady also earned his record-setting fourth Super Bowl MVP. He passed for a Super Bowl-record 466 yards and devised a historic 25-point comeback when the previous record for largest come-from-behind victory in the Super Bowl had been 10 points. As much as everybody sat there with beers in their hands rooting for the quarterback who seemingly has it all to stumble…there he stood, as unflappable as ever, turning in one of the greatest performances ever on the biggest stage in America. In the final quarter-and-a-half of play, Brady didn’t only bring his team back from the dead. Brady brought his team back from the dead with one of the greatest performances ever. The quarterback cemented his legacy as the best by going 26 of 33 for 284 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions. At a time when just one tiny mistake would have sealed the Patriots’ fate as Super Bowl losers, Brady remained flawless. In the same amount of time, Brady’s quarterback rating was 122.7. A normal, well-above-average quarterback rating is right around 105. Brady even did it with his legs. A quarterback that used to be absolutely immobile took off on a 15-yard run on third-and-eight for a first down when a forced punt would have almost certainly lost the game. Despite leading his team to just three points in the first half and throughout their first seven drives, Brady showed up when it mattered most. He realized that his best bet to avoid double coverage was to avoid the middle of the field. Rookie Malcolm Mitchell then became his target of choice on the outside portion of the field. Brady used his pass-catching running back out of the backfield, James White, who eventually recorded a Super Bowl-record 14 receptions- -most of which came on check-downs. The Patriots wound up scoring on four separate drives that spanned 70 or more yards and took 10 or more plays. The Atlanta Falcons went a span of 68 minutes (including halftime) without touching the football. Throughout a stretch of 29 plays in the second half, Brady converted 24 first downs. The Patriots converted a total of 37 first downs in the game, while Atlanta managed only 17. In the end, it was Brady standing there on the podium once again, raising the Super Bowl championship trophy in one hand and his Super Bowl MVP trophy in the other as red, white and blue confetti fell from the NRG Stadium ceiling in Houston, Texas. “We’re bringing this sucker home!” an elated Brady shouted to thousands of Patriots fans who had just finished watching their quarterback make history. Brady and the Patriots didn’t hold a lead in the game for one minute before the first overtime in Super Bowl history began. Yet, when the coin flip landed in the Patriots’ favor, everyone knew what was about to happen. “Just play every play,” said Patriots receiver Julian Edelman. “Play every play.” By not giving up and playing every play, the Patriots rattled off 31 consecutive points, with an absolutely ridiculous catch by Edelman added in, to eventually win the game. The Falcons had their chances to ice the clock. They were up by 25 points. Instead of simply running the ball, though, they kept giving Brady and his offense chances. When running out the clock was key, the Falcons ran the ball four times in the second half as they watched their more-thanthree touchdown lead slowly disappear. “When they got hot, it was hard for us to deal with,” Falcons head coach Dan Quinn explained after the game. The Patriot defense stepped up to rattle Matt Ryan and the offense converted time and time again to exhaust Atlanta’s defense. New England gave the Falcons the first half. The Patriots shined, though, in the minutes that mattered most. Now that the game is over, it’s easy to look back and realize that the Patriots did what the Patriots always do. Whether you love the team or you hate them, whether you’re tired of seeing them win or have just come to expect it, Brady did what Brady always does. Bill Belichick also did what Belichick always does and the Patriots did what they have now done more than any other team in football history. Tom Brady wasn’t going to let his team lose. A 25-point deficit just led everyone to believe that he had no other choice. Brady accomplished the unbelievable. He did what no one possibly thought could be done. With a win in Super Bowl LI, Tom Brady made history and ascended to the ultimate level of greatness. Even if you hate him, you’ll always be able to look back and say that you had the chance to watch the greatest quarterback to ever play the game. Super Bowl LI was his greatest performance. • – Asixlion@earthlink.net Every Visit our Website www.heraldpublications.com issue always available online! New Issues/Old Issues • Out-of-town? Read the Herald newspapers online • Interested in an article from a prior date? See it online • Excited about an ad, photo, or article? Refer your friends, family and associates to the website, so they can see it too • Want to read the Torrance Tribune or other Herald newspapers not in your area? All available on our website! Check it out! www.heraldpublications.com
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