Windward Hoops Teams March On

Two rounds into the CIF Southern Section Division 4AA girls basketball playoffs it seems almost inevitable that Windward School will repeat as champion. The top-seeded Wildcats have yet to be challenged and are the heavy favorites in Wednesday's quarterfinal matchup at No. 8-seeded JSerra Catholic.

After opening the tournament with a 98-14 blowout of Nipomo, Coach Steve Smith's squad traveled to the City of Industry on Saturday night and crushed 16th-seeded Workman 115-46 in the second round.

The Wildcats (25-3) racked up 40 points in the first quarter and led 74-26 at halftime. Forward Kristen Simon had 23 points and 14 rebounds, guard Jordin Canada had 21 points and 10 assists, center Imani Stafford had 20 points and 13 rebounds, forward Paris Baird had 17 points and guard Courtney Jaco added 12 points and seven assists. Smith used all 10 players and nine of them scored at least one basket.

JSerra of San Juan Capistrano, which tied for second in the Trinity League, got past ninth-seeded Bishop Montgomery 68-66 in overtime Saturday. The Lions (22-6) lost two times in league play to first-place Santa Ana Mater Dei, which suffered a 65-52 loss to Windward on Feb. 3 at the Nike Extravaganza.

If the Wildcats prevail Wednesday they will host either fifth-seeded Muir or fourth-seeded St. Bernard in the semifinals Saturday.

Click here to view the complete Division 4AA girls bracket.  

BOYS BASKETBALL

It was not nearly as easy as its first-round victory, but Windward advanced to the quarterfinals of Division 4AA with an 83-70 triumph over Maranatha in Pasadena on Friday. 

The fifth-seeded Wildcats (21-8) held a slim 28-26 halftime lead, but gradually pulled away in the second half thanks to Nicholas Stover, who scored 14 of his 33 points in the third quarter. Jeremy Major scored 34 points in a losing effort for the host Minutemen (20-7), who closed the second quarter on a 12-2 run.

Windward will be on the road again against fourth-seeded L.A. Price on Tuesday, with the winner meeting top-seeded Gardena Serra or No. 8 Harvard-Westlake in the semifinals Friday. Last year, Coach Miguel Villegas and the Wildcats lost to Orange Lutheran 4AA finals before rebounding to win the state championship.

Click here to view the complete Division 4AA boys bracket.

GIRLS SOCCER

The Wildcats won Friday's Division 4 playoff opener 2-0 against Colony and will host second-seeded Los Angeles Marymount, the Sunshine League champion, in the second round at 3 p.m. Wednesday at Mar Vista Park. The Sailors needed penalty kicks to get past La Sierra in the first round. 

The Windward-Marymount winner will meet the La Reina-Beverly Hills winner in Friday's quarterfinals.

BOYS SOCCER

Windward hosts Chadwick in the second round of the Division 6 playoffs at 3 p.m. Tuesday at the Mar Vista turf field. The Wildcats (12-4-2) beat wildcard winner Viewpoint 5-2 in the first round Thursday.