Roundup: Oak Park High basketball seniors get playoff victory, then rush to graduation
Leo Beath and his fellow seniors on Oak Park’s basketball team decided to throw caution to the wind. So what if their Division 1 playoff opener against St. Francis would be held only 2 1/2 hours before graduation ceremonies. Players made precise plans. One was going to have his father take him home, shower, grab the cap and gown and return even if the parking lot was full. Others were going to wear caps and gowns over their jerseys as long as the game didn’t last three overtimes.
Beath made one promise to everybody. “There was no way we could lose before graduation,” he said.
Beath and sophomore Isaiah Sherrard each scored 23 points to help Oak Park defeat St. Francis 64-56. The mad scramble began afterward as seven seniors rushed not to be late for the 5:30 p.m. ceremony. Of course, nothing has been normal during this year of COVID-19 restrictions, so a little drama was expected.
“It’s been pretty crazy, but we’re just happy to be playing at all,” senior Jude Will said. “We don’t want it to end.”
Oak Park will play at Eastvale Roosevelt in the next round. Here’s the link to complete results and schedule.
St. Francis (14-9) trailed most of the game but tied it in the third quarter. Senior Trevor Lee, who also plays tennis, provided a lift for Oak Park (14-4) with three baskets. Sherrard, who’s 6 feet 7 and the son of former UCLA and NFL receiver Mike Sherrard, took control in the fourth quarter.
Chaminade 91, Bonita 65: The No. 2-seeded Eagles cruised to the Division 1 victory. Keith Higgins Jr. scored 26 points.
Westlake 55, Mira Costa 53: Elijah Elohim had 18 points and 11 rebounds for Westlake.
Crossroads 83, Sonora 56: Brendan Terry scored 18 points for Crossroads.
University 51, LACES 42: Jaden Peters had 19 points and 18 rebounds.
JSerra 70, Mayfair 36: Isaac Peralta finished with 16 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists.
Santa Margarita 58, Palm Springs 53: Jack McCloskey led Santa Margarita with 19 points.
Bishop Montgomery 41, Riverside Poly 40: Chance Stephens had 19 points for Poly.
St. Anthony 67, Pacifica Christian 56: Jaayden Bush had 17 points.
Narbonne 83, Carson 35: Devean Williams had 30 points and 13 assists.
Loyola 69, Anaheim Canyon 59: Parker Jones had 18 points and Remington Rofer 17 for the Cubs, who face No. 1-seeded Heritage Christian next.
Servite 59, Yorba Linda 43: Andrew Cook scored 29 points for the Friars.
San Marino 61, Artesia 53: Sean O’Brien finished with 23 points.
El Segundo 68, Ayala 54: CJ Hardy had 38 points and 10 rebounds for unbeaten El Segundo.
Baseball
Hart 3, West Ranch 2: The Indians scored runs in the sixth and seventh innings to pull out the victory and win the Foothill League title. Massimo Vega scored the winning run on a wild pitch. In four innings, Ben Niednagel struck out seven and allowed one hit in relief.
JSerra 3, Orange Lutheran 1: Gabe D’Arcy led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a triple and scored on a Luke Jewett sacrifice fly to break a 1-1 tie and help JSerra win the Trinity League championship. The Lions (24-6, 14-1) won two of three games from the Lancers (26-4, 13-2) with terrific pitching. Eric Silva threw a complete game, striking out nine while allowing three hits.
Dana Hills 2, Mission Viejo 1: Aedan Anderson brought a dramatic end to an amazing game with a walk-off home run to left field in the bottom of the 14th inning.
Thousand Oaks 8, Simi Valley 3: Charlie Saum and Dylan Jackson each had two RBIs.
Chaminade 7, St. Francis 5: Billy Gault had two hits and two RBIs for Chaminade.
Bonita 4, Ayala 3: A two-run rally in the bottom of the seventh resulted in the No. 1-ranked team in Division 1 suffering only its second loss of the season. Devon Diaz had two hits and drove in the tying run.
Quartz Hill 16, Palmdale 0: Quartz Hill improved to 22-2 overall and 12-1 in the Golden League.
Vista Murrieta 3, Murrieta Mesa 2: Nate Martinez had two hits.
Etiwanda 12, Upland 5: Armando Briseno contributed three hits and four RBIs.
Woodbridge 1, Beckman 0: Jack Bunnell struck out 11 to outduel Lucas Welch, who struck out eight. Bunnell also had two hits and drove in the game’s only run to clinch the league title for Woodbridge.
King 10, Corona Santiago 1: Evan Yates and John Stark hit home runs and Austin Castillo had three hits to lead King.
Sun Valley Poly 6, Verdugo Hills 4: Jorge Martinez had a home run and threw a complete game.
Sierra Canyon 3, Windward 0: Kassius Thomas struck out 14 and threw a one-hit shutout.
Warren 6, Gahr 2: After a 1-0 loss to Downey, Warren came back for a victory.
Bishop Amat 12, La Salle 4: Tyler White went three for three and Jose Marquez hit a home run.
High school boys’ tennis: Southern Section playoff results and updated pairings
Softball
Villa Park 10, Anaheim Canyon 1: Sydney Somerndike struck out 17 to help Villa Park earn the No. 1 seed from the Crestview League. Drey Flores had three hits and four RBIs.
Lacrosse
El Camino Real 11, Palisades 9: The Conquistadores won their first City Section girls’ lacrosse championship. Twin sisters Vivian and Victoria Velazquez scored four goals and three goals, respectively.
Palisades won the City Section boys title with a 21-1 win over El Camino Real.
Track
Paige Sommers of Westlake set a national girls’ record by clearing 14 feet, 9 inches in the pole vault at the Marmonte League track championships.
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