Vikings Squads in Regional Semifinals

The St. Bernard High boys and girls basketball teams are both still alive in the state playoffs and both are on the road in the Southern California Regional semifinals Saturday night.

The boys, under the guidance of first-year coach Reggie Morris, are coming off a 68-54 upset of second-seeded La Canada Flintridge Prep in the quarterfinals Thursday and will travel to Van Nuys Montclair Prep for a 7 p.m. tip-off Saturday against the third-seeded  Mounties (25-9), who beat St. Bernard 67-55 in the Southern Section Division 5A semifinals on Feb. 25 at St. Genevieve High.

To avenge that defeat, the Vikings (24-8) will have to finish stronger (they held the lead after the first quarter but were outscored in each of the last three in the last meeting) and need a  game from sophomore Brandon Randolph (averaging 19.1 points and 6.5 rebounds per game), who was held to 16 points and only one rebound in the section semifinals.

The girls squad, coached by Bo Corona, is the No. 4 seed and will take on top-seeded Los Angeles View Park Prep at 5 p.m. at RFK Learning Center.

The Knights (29-6) lost to Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies in the L.A. City Section Small Schools Division final, had a bye in the first round of the regionals, and beat Palos Verdes Chadwick in the quarterfinals Thursday.

The Vikings (22-14) beat San Diego Horizon 78-57 in the quarterfinals and must slow down View Park senior guard Danielle Pruitt, who averages a team-best 16.1 points, 7.7 rebounds and 4.6 steals per game. 

The girls are also looking for a measure of revenge, having lost to View Park 63-45 at the Inglewood City of Champions tournament on December 3. The Knights will try to contain St. Bernard freshman LaJahna Drummer, who is averaging 17.3 points, 11.9 rebounds, 3.3 blocks and 2.3 steals.