Best of the Blog

The Varsity Times Insider blog, a source for observations, news and game coverage, can be found at latimes.com/highschool.

Here are some excerpts we like to call “Best of the Blog”:

From the City Section

There was a Larry Drew Jr. sighting during Thursday’s City Section championships at Birmingham High. And the standout senior point guard for the Taft boys’ basketball team, who committed to play ball for North Carolina, wasn’t in the stands watching. . . . He was on the track competing.

Drew ran the second leg of the 400-meter relay for the Toreadors, who finished seventh out of eight teams with a time of 43.21. At least he had a good view of Dorsey’s dash to first place in 41.67.

Sean Ceglinsky

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From Los Angeles County

The much-anticipated duel between Long Beach Wilson’s Aaron Hicks and Hart’s Mike Montgomery lived up to its billing on Friday afternoon. . . .

Before tossing five innings of no-hit ball to finish the game, Montgomery surrendered five hits and three earned runs (he also had two balks) in the first two innings as the visiting Bruins pulled off a 4-2 victory over Hart in the Southern Section-Toyota Division I quarterfinals.

Hicks’ performance was even better. The USC-bound standout struck out eight and frustrated the Hart batters with his 95-mph fastball.

Austin Knoblauch

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From Orange County

There’s nothing particularly special about the winning mark of 176 feet 4 inches in the boys’ discus at the Southern Section-Toyota Masters meet Friday, other than it was by a sophomore.

Cecil Whiteside of Newport Harbor came into the meet seeded fourth, but he beat out Korben Boaz of Nipomo, who threw the discus 175-8.

Whiteside is a linebacker and receiver, and Newport Athletic Director Eric Tweit told me to be sure to keep an eye on him. The conversation went something like this: “He’s going to be a stud. Keep an eye on him.”

Martin Henderson

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From the Valley/North

Quartz Hill swept Loara in the Southern Section-Toyota Division III boys’ volleyball finals Saturday and became the first team from the Antelope Valley to win the crown.

“We’re not just good for the desert,” said Coach Justin Harris. “We’re good for Southern California.”

No, not good -- but great.

The Rebels (26-0) won all 26 of their matches in straight games. They lost only four games this season -- all of them at the Dos Pueblos tournament in March.

“It’s unexplainable what we did. It’s unbelievable,” said Quartz Hill’s Hunter Horn. Anthony Stitt