Girls’ Basketball, Division 1
Long Beach Poly vs. Clovist West @ USC’s Galen Center, 6pm
On the road to a fifth straight state title, Poly has just two more hurdles—they’ll face arguably the largest one in the Clovis West Golden Eagles, today at USC at 6pm. The no. 2 seed in the SoCal bracket, the Golden Eagles are 27-4 and have played a schedule nearly as arduous as Poly’s, having traveled to the Iolani Classic in Hawaii; they come from the less talent-rich Central Section, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have the players to stretch Poly’s defense.
The two players to watch are point guard Brianna Orlich (#30), a 5-10 senior who has the power to take a game over, and Janae Coffey (#34), a 6-3 senior who’s headed to Long Beach State (49er fans might want to make the trip up the 110 to check out this top-level recruit).
However, Coffey will have her hands full against Poly; with Natalie Butler, the only other 6-foot player on the Golden Eagles team out with a knee injury, Coffey will be facing the likes of Sheila Boykin, Destiny King, Ta’Nitra Byrd, and of course USC signee Thaddesia Southall more or less by herself. They’re likely to try and collapse to the center to try and compensate for lack of height, but Poly’s done such a good job this year of getting the ball inside and then out that it would be hard for the Golden Eagles to do that for 32 minutes.
If Poly can defend well, and keep Orlich from running wild, they could very well be headed to Bakersfield next weekend.
GAME INFO:
CLICK HERE FOR DIRECTIONS FROM POLY TO THE GALEN CENTER
Tickets: $18, $10 with student ID
Parking: $8 to park at USC
Boys’ Basketball, Division 2
Compton vs. San Diego Lincoln @ USC’s Galen Center, 4pm
The Tarbabes may perhaps be the local team with the most on the line when they take the court today against a very good Lincoln team from San Diego. Both Poly and St. Anthony won CIF titles, and will sport rings from this season regardless of Saturday’s outcome; Compton fell just short in the section championship, and needs a win today badly to qualify for the state championships next weekend.
Compton won’t have the height and athleticism advantage they’re used to bringing into a game, particularly in their frontcourt, as Lincoln is just as tall as Compton, on average, and they get up and down the court very well. In particular, Norman Powell (#4), a 6-3 junior, will have to be contained; he’s averaging 19.3 points per-game. The Hornets also have two post players 6-6 or taller in Victor Dean (#24, 6-6) and Nathan Maxey (#32, 6-10).
If the Tarbabes can box out and stay active, they’ll be able to feel as though they still have that physical advantage. If they have a breakdown defensively, Lincoln won’t hesitate to put their foot down. It will take a good afternoon from Cliff Sims, Anthony January, and Allan Guei for the Tarbabes to move on, to earn another chance to play for a ring.
GAME INFO:
CLICK HERE FOR DIRECTIONS FROM Compton TO THE GALEN CENTER
Tickets: $18, $10 with student ID
Parking: $8 to park at USC
Girls’ Basketball, Division 5
St. Anthony vs. Montclair Prep @ Colony High School, 1pm
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss—the Saints are facing a very familiar foe on Saturday afternoon at Colony High, when they take on the Montclair Prep Mounties, their opponent in the CIF Division 5 title game, a 57-47 Saints victory.
Truthfully, though, the Saints should count themselves lucky to find themselves opposite the Mounties; coach James Anderson admitted his team did not play their best game in that championship, and despite Chantel Dooley and Kimberly Scamman both having great games for the Mounties (who have a playing roster of just seven girls), his team still won by ten points. The Mounties have neither the depth to contend with the Saints’ athleticism, nor the height to contend with the excellent Coopers, Kendall and Jourdan, who together average 17.3 points and 15.5 rebounds a game; Jourdan scored 12 and grabbed 13 boards when they first met, and Kendall scored six and had 10 rebounds despite spending most of the game on the bench in foul trouble.
Between the Coopers and Rina Towne, who was very smart in drawing fouls from the gassed Mounties in the second half, the Saints should have a happy bus ride back from Ontario, and they should keep on marching all the way to Bakersfield.
GAME INFO:
CLICK HERE FOR DIRECTIONS FROM ST. ANTHONY TO COLONY HS
Tickets: $12, $8 with student ID
Parking: $5 to park at Colony HS