Bay League Bullies

It’s playoff time.

For the Bay League boys' basketball teams who beat up on each other in a vain attempt to keep up with Peninsula’s unbeaten Panthers, that also means it’s redemption time.

Bring out the brooms. Peninsula, Redondo, Mira Costa and Palos Verdes swept away their first-round opponents on Wednesday night. It was a display of consistent strength that vindicated the coaches’ opinion that this year’s league race was a dogfight night in and night out.

Redondo coach Tom Maier, one of the true veterans of boys' basketball coaching in the CIF, believes the competitive Bay League race paid off on Wednesday and could continue to pay dividends.

“Even though Peninsula went undefeated, there were several games they had to pull out in the end,” said Maier, whose Sea Hawks went to Katella for a 59-52 victory in CIF II-AA. “It was very competitive in league, which I think has really paid off in the playoffs.

“It’s not out of the question that some of us could keep winning (in addition to No. 1-ranked Peninsula, which pounded Troy at home, 62-28, in a II-A opener).”

The Bay League race and resulting first-round victory paid off with one highly unusual benefit for the Sea Hawks and their fans. The Sea Hawks (15-12, 6-4) will get a home game Friday night against second-seeded Mission Viejo. It will be Redondo’s first game in a new gym that was just built while remodeling begins inside the spacious pavilion the team has always played in.  

“We’ve never played a game in there and we’re facing them Friday,” Maier said with a smile. “It seats 900 and it’s a beautiful high school gym. It’s only for one year while they work on the pavilion, but we have practiced in there. We’ll see how that goes.”

The Sea Hawks are underdogs, of course, against a second-seeded team but an upset is not out of the question. The Sea Hawks have two quality players in transfers Martyre DeMarco and Jacquiese Bates, plus senior guard Brandon Boyd is starting to regain confidence in the knee that was surgically repaired and held him out until January.

“I think he feels better about how he can go off the knee now,” Maier said. “That’s a big plus for us. Brandon is quite an athlete and he can play good defense and attack the basket when he's healthy.”

Including 10 points and six rebounds from Brian Frew, the Sea Hawks got great contributions from their starters in the first-round playoff victory. If they can get that kind of contribution again on Friday, anything is possible.

VOICES OF WISDOM –Mira Costa Henry Myar is one of the deans of the Bay League coaching fraternity. Palos Verdes’ Bob Varnell is one of the younger coaches. Both think the Bay League’s competitive season played a part in Wednesday’s four victories.

“The Bay League is definitely a scary league,” Varnell said. “We were 4-7 against Bay League teams this year and 7-0 against Pioneer teams. That’s not to denigrate the Pioneer teams. But it shows the Bay League is a tough league.”

No one stands out as a better example of the Bay League’s depth than Mira Costa, which lost five consecutive games in league, all by five points or less, before going to San Bernardino and winning a II-AA opener, 62-54.

“Absolutely, league was tough this year,” said Myar, whose team is 10-17 overall after going 2-8 in league. “I think it says a lot that we won this game after so many close calls in league.

“You have to credit the kids. They refused to stop competing.”

BATTLE TESTED – Peninsula has the ultimate go-to guy in Reese Morgan, but Coach Jim Quick agrees that the Bay League’s fiercely competitive demands are another reason the team has a chance to go all the way in the playoffs.

“Every night was a battle,” Quick said. “This team has learned how to win, and that’s partly because league demanded so much from them. They never wavered, no matter how challenging the game was.”

Although they’ve won 24 games in a row and are 26-1, the Panthers are still getting better. They proved that in their playoff opener, just as they proved in the second half of their last league game at West Torrance.

“We’re eager to head into the playoffs,” senior guard Andrew Menard said. “I think we are still getting better. We’ve held it together in league and we’re playing our best basketball now.”

GIRLS PREVIEW – The Bay League’s four girls' basketball teams open playoff action tonight. Winners will continue on Saturday and then into next week.

Bay League champion Redondo (20-8, 10-0) opens at home in the school’s new 900-seat gym against Millikan, the Moore League’s fourth-place team in a Div. I-AA game. Mira Costa (18-9, 8-2), runner-up to Redondo, is at home against Long Beach Jordan (16-9-1), the Moore League runner-up, in another I-AA game.

Palos Verdes slumped just a bit in the second half of Bay League play and the penalty was a road game at Mojave League runnerup Hesperia. Peninsula, which was 2-8 in league but 12-15 overall, has a road game at Rosemead, which was 10-0 in the Mission Valley League.

Don’t be surprised if Palos Verdes makes a run in the Div. III-A. The Sea Kings have a great player in Kelsey Brockway, who could do some big things in what is a weaker division overall than the Bay League.

SOCCER SURPRISE FOR BOYS – The Bay League boys' teams didn’t get a lot of respect from the CIF pairings committee overall. Considering the league’s excellent reputation over the years, that’s a bit surprising.

Bay League champion Palos Verdes (19-3-4) has played strong soccer all season and won two CIF championships in the past six years, but did not earn a top-four seed. The Sea Kings are seeded fifth and will open at home Friday afternoon against a wild-card team.

Mira Costa and Redondo, meanwhile, were forced to play wild-card matches on Wednesday. Each team won. Mira Costa (13-4-4) defeated Laguna Hills, 2-1, on goals by Alex de la Espriella and Charlie Pitts. Redondo (11-10-5) won in sudden death overtime, 1-0, at Moorpark on a goal by Nasaya Kawauchi.

No matter what happens from here, the victories vindicated the beliefs of Mira Costa and Redondo that they had solid teams this season. It’s the first playoff win by Redondo in several years, while Mira Costa lived up to Coach Gary Smith’s belief that this is a team with the potential to make something happen.

“If there’s a team that could sneak up on someone and earn a victory, this is that team,” Smith said after Mira Costa played a great game in a regular-season ending 1-0 loss to Palos Verdes. “I couldn’t be happier with how this team played. I hope we learned something today.”

It looks like the Mustangs did, but their next game won’t be easy. Mira Costa is at second-seeded Millikan, which beat the Mustangs, 4-0, in December.

Redondo is at St. John Bosco on Friday.

RESPECT – While the PV boys were slightly slighted, the PV girls’ lackluster finish after clinching a Bay League championship didn’t influence the CIF seeding committee. The Sea Kings (19-3-3) earned a No. 1 seed in the CIF Division II playoffs and opened up Thursday afternoon against a wild-card team.

The Sea Kings gave up eight goals in their final two league games after starting 8-0 to take the title. An optimist would say the girls are ready because they’re so focused on the playoffs they lost interest in league once they clinched their title.

“It’s got to be this year for us,” Coach Sean Lockhart told a local newspaper. “The last three years have to get us to this point.”

It says here the Sea Kings will get the job done, but soccer is a notoriously difficult sports to predict. It’s so difficult to score the better team doesn’t always win.

Peninsula also has a chance to make a run in the playoffs. The Panthers, mature and solid, open today against Pacific League runner-up Burroughs/Burbanks.

Mira Costa, the league’s third-place team, is at Channel League runner-up Dos Pueblos.

WATER POLO DISAPPOINTMENT – Mira Costa, Palos Verdes and Redondo all lost their opening matches of the CIF playoffs. Mira Costa came the closest to winning on Wednesday, losing to Edison, 13-6, despite four goals by Marisa Purcell, a great player and a great leader.

STAY TUNED – The best wrestlers from Peninsula, Redondo and Mira Costa compete for CIF individual honors this weekend. A look at how they did next week.