Story Created:
Feb 17, 2010 at 2:13 PM PST
Story Updated:
Feb 17, 2010 at 2:13 PM PST
In the City Section’s Small Schools Division girls basketball playoffs, View Park Prep and L.A. Center for Enriched Studies high schools are expected to have a fairly easy run to the March 4 championship game.
With good reason, too.
Top-seeded View Park (24-5) is champion of the Coliseum League, beating out such Division I powers as Crenshaw and Dorsey. LACES (25-5) shared the Western League title with Fairfax, the No. 6 seed in Division I.
But a darkhorse team in this division could be No. 3 seeded Huntington Park College-Ready Academy, which takes a 17-2 mark into Thursday’s first-round game against Gertz-Ressler Academy (4-6).
The Freeway League champion, a charter school in existence since 2005, takes an 11-game winning streak into the postseason. The only losses were in December during the Dorsey Tournament to Huntington Park, 41-30 and Birmingham, 54-40 on consecutive nights. They also edged University, 36-33 during the tourney. Huntington Park, Birmingham and University are all Division 3 playoff qualifiers.
They have one of the City’s top players regardless of division in 5-11 junior Angela Pena. Her 26.6 scoring average is second best in the City and fifth in the state and she has had five games of 30 or more points, with a high of 40. She also averages 11.6 rebounds, 4.8 steals and 2.7 assists per game.
Other key players are Stephanie Ortiz, who averages 8.4 points and 9.4 rebounds, and Valeria Servin, averaging 6.8 points per game.
The Jaguars may not get that first test until the semifinals Feb. 25 when the opponent all most certainly will be LACES.
In the Division I playoffs, No. 8 Wilson (17-5) hosts Manual Arts (12-10) and Franklin (13-13) is at No. 3 Carson (18-10).
Wilson, the Northern League champion, needs to contain the Toilers’ twosome of Jessica Thornton (17.5 points per game) and Ashley Joseph (11.3) to advance.
Franklin has a tough one-two punch of its own to deal with in Carson’s Janitha Iamaleava and Chante Miles. Iamaleava, a 6-2 junior, averages 15.1 points, 11.9 rebounds and 2.7 blocked shots per game. Miles, the point guard, averages 14.2 points, 5.7 assists and 5.1 steals per outing.
Franklin is led by sophomore Rena Tomihara, who averages 12.0 points per game, and senior Roxanne Cardona, who has averages of 10.4 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. Cardona averages 3.3 3-point shots per game.
In Division 2, second-seeded South East (22-8) hosts Lincoln (3-12), No. 4 Roosevelt (17-10) hosts Hollywood (12-8), and No. 7 Eagle Rock (13-12) hosts Banning (5-12).
South East, which shared the Eastern League title with Huntington Park, is led by junior Cynthia Cu, who averages 12.7 points and 5.4 steals per game.
Senior Liliana Renteria (8.6 points, 8.4 rebounds) and junior Portia Tapscott (8.2 points) are other key contributors for the Jaguars.
In Division 3, No. 3 Huntington Park (22-8) hosts Maywood (4-9) and No. 4
Garfield (14-12) hosts Bravo (9-6) in first-round games Thursday.
Huntington Park is led by Erica Garcia, who averages 11.1 points per game. Fernanda Rodriguez averages 9.7 and Ana Valencia 7.5 for the Spartans.
Garfield is led by Evelyn Herrera, who averages 13.2 points and 4.3 steals per game, and Dioseline Lopez, who averages 10.3 points and 3.3 steals. Jessica Hernandez averages 8.6 points per game and is the top 3-point shooter for the Bulldogs.
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