Villa Park Defeats Dominguez

Riley Johnson didn’t make a shot in the first half, missed all four three-point tries in the second and had scored only four points when he stepped to the free-throw line with two seconds remaining Tuesday night and the opportunity to win a Southern Section Division II-AA boys’ basketball semifinal for Villa Park.

Just the person Villa Park Coach Kevin Reynolds wanted in that situation.

Johnson made all three attempts and Compton Dominguez missed a desperation shot at the buzzer, giving the third-seeded Spartans a 65-64 victory over the second-seeded Dons at Compton College.

The Spartans (27-3) advance to their second section final in three seasons, where they will meet top-seeded Santa Ana Mater Dei on Saturday at the Arrowhead Pond.

“If you’re picking guys who you want on the line,” Reynolds said, “senior captain, over 90% from the line ... there’s your guy.”

Dominguez (25-6) had a chance to increase its lead to three points with 13 seconds remaining, but sophomore guard Brandon Jennings made only one of two free throws.

The Dons made 19 of 33 free throws for the game, while Villa Park made 23 of 27.

Free throws helped the Spartans rally after they fell behind by 12 at the start of the second quarter. They scratched back to tie the score, 29-29, at the half.

James Cawthorne missed three layups in the first quarter before finding a groove and scoring 14 of his team-high 25 points in the second quarter.

He fouled out with 3:41 remaining and Villa Park holding a one-point lead. Drew Viney added 17 for the Spartans.

Jennings scored 17 of his team-high 27 points in the first half.

Dan Arritt

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Long Beach Jordan 62, Santa Monica 58 -- Larry Anderson, a 6-5 junior forward, scored 18 points and made a critical steal in the final seconds that helped secure the victory for the No. 2-seeded Panthers (26-4) in the Division I-AA semifinal against Santa Monica at Long Beach Millikan.

With the Panthers leading, 59-58, and eight seconds left in the fourth quarter, Anderson poked the ball away from Santa Monica guard Bryan Louff.

Anderson recovered the ball, was fouled on a layup, and made one of two free throws for a two-point lead. Santa Monica turned the ball over on its final possession.

Louff scored 17 points and made four three-point baskets for the No. 14-seeded Vikings (20-10), who outscored host Jordan, 18-9, in the fourth quarter but never pulled even.

Jordan, which last reached the Division I-AA title game in 1996, will face top-seeded Los Alamitos at the Pond in Saturday’s championship game.

Steven Jones

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Girls’ Basketball

When Kim Cram-Torres arrived four years ago at Villa Park to coach girls’ basketball, her first priority was to make the players tougher, “and if they weren’t,” she said, “they weren’t going to be here.”

That toughness came to fruition on Tuesday as second-seeded Villa Park, which started five seniors, defeated third-seeded Redondo, 49-44, to reach the Southern Section Division II-AA championship game.

Villa Park (29-1) had never gone past the quarterfinals.

“When these seniors got to Villa Park, they were scared,” said Cram-Torres, who watched her team shoot 48.6% (18 of 37) from the field and choke off the Sea Hawks with a 12-4 run to close the third quarter after falling behind, 27-25.

Redondo never got closer than four points after that.

Courtney Ford scored 16 points, and Lauren Sahli and senior Kayla Smith, who came off the bench, scored 10 apiece.

Redondo (27-4), which reached the finals four times since 2000, got 17 points and 11 rebounds from Atonye Nyingifa, and 13 points from Courtney Price, but shot 31% (18 of 58).

-- Martin Henderson