Mira Costa’s girls basketball team won its third consecutive Bay League crown, downing Palos Verdes 45-32 to complete an undefeated league season and earning the fifth seed in Division 1A as it enters the CIF Southern Section Toyota Championships.
Jasmine Rutledge scored a game-high 12 points while Joelle Herron and Kylie Nakamine added 10 points each for Head Coach Don Braunecker’s Mustangs, who rode a 12-game winning streak into the postseason. Mira Costa began its quest for a CIF title with a 54-23 home victory over Los Alamitos.
Jordyn Priestley was 6-of-8 on 3-point attempts, scoring a game-high 22 points for the Mustangs. Jasmine Rutledge recorded 10 points, 14 rebounds and five steals and Kylie Nakamine added 11 points.
In the second round Saturday, Priestley was held to just seven points, but nailed her second 3-pointer of the game with just eight seconds left in regulation, giving the Mustangs a 33-30 victory over visiting Chaparral.
Rutledge scored a team-high 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds and had four steals. Joelle Herron added eight points for the Mustangs.
Mira Costa (22-7) travels to Fontana Wednesday to take on No. 4 Summit (23-5) in a 7 p.m. quarterfinal contest.
Redondo clobbered West 50-19 in its Bay League finale and, coupled with Palos Verdes’ loss, finished in a second-place tie with the Sea Kings with a 7-3 league record. Ella Mason scored 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds and Michelle Lowery added eight points for the Sea Hawks.
Unfortunately for Redondo, it was the final game it would win this season, losing to eighth-ranked Long Beach Jordan 58-40 in the first round. Shayna Stuart scored 10 points to lead the Sea Hawks who finished the season with a 13-15 record.
Palos Verdes represents the Bay League as the 5th seed in Division 3A and throttled visiting hosting San Marcos 60-27 in the opening round before beating Buena Park 66-49 Saturday.
The Sea Kings (22-6) play at No. 4 Bonita (23-3) Wednesday.
West (11-17) earned an at-large bid in the same division and upset 16th-seeded Wilson of Hacienda Heights 40-38 in the first round before falling at top-seeded Santa Margarita 59-28.
In Division 2A, Peninsula (10-16) earned an at-large berth but lost to Pacific View co-champion Rio Mesa 60-55.  Pioneer co-champion South (21-9) earned the 6th seed but was upset by No. 11 Rio Mesa 63-47 after downing Westlake 39-30 in the opening round.
Pioneer co-champion North (24-3) earned a 5th seed in Division 3AA and defeated Newport Harbor 58-41 in the first round. The Saxons went on to defeat Beckman 62-23 Saturday and will travel to No. 4 Buena (20-8) Wednesday.
Torrance (11-14) earned an at-large bid and beat Marlborough 60-48 before losing a tough battle to second-seeded Inglewood 58-52 in the second round.
In Division 4AA, Del Rey co-champion Bishop Montgomery was granted the No. 2 seed while El Segundo earned a 15th seed. Bishop Montgomery ran all over Lompoc 71-28 and El Segundo held off Ocean View 50-46 in first-round competition before the two South Bay schools faced each other at El Segundo Saturday.
The host team was no match for Bishop Montgomery, which dominated El Segundo 72-25. Bishop Montgomery (24-6) plays at Alemany (21-7) in the quarterfinals. El Segundo finished its season with a 13-15 record.
Serra, of Gardena, is the top seeded team in Division 5AA and earned an opening-round bye. The Cavaliers (21-6) ran over Ontario Christian 66-23 in the second round and host No. 9 St. Bonaventure (15-13) Wednesday.
Seeded fourth in Division 5A, Chadwick (17-9) beat Sherman Indian 61-29 and Aquinas 49-43. The Dolphins advance to the quarterfinals where they will host No. 12 Saddleback Valley Christian (20-8).
Boys Basketball
On the final day of Bay League competition, West upset host Redondo 64-57, dropping the Sea Hawks into a third-place tie with rival Mira Costa, a 55-40 winner at Palos Verdes.
Redondo and Mira Costa finished with identical 16-10 season and 5-5 league records while Bay champion Leuzinger ran the table with a 10-0 league record and Peninsula went 6-4 to capture second place.
Redondo entered the post season as the Bay League’s No. 3 team and defeated visiting J.W. North 65-51 in the opening round of the Division 2AA playoffs. But that’s as far as the Sea Hawks would go.
After scoring 30 points in the first-round win, shooting star Jamar Cannon was held to nine points Friday and Redondo fell to visiting Murrieta Valley 58-48.
Center Dylan Irwin did his best to make up the scoring deficit, recording 16 points while adding nine rebounds and two steals, but it wasn’t enough for the Sea Hawks, who ended their season with a 17-11 record.
Mira Costa began its quest for a Division 2A title with a 54-50 road victory over Del Rio co-champion La Serna. Elliott Ozer scored a game-high 21 points and gathered five rebounds, Thomas Johnson added 12 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks and Eric Mochalski contributed 10 points and five rebounds for Mira Costa.
The No. 10 Mustangs (18-10) kept the ball rolling Friday, beating Sergerstrom 64-57 to reach the quarterfinals for the first time since 2004.
Johnson played a stellar game at center scoring 20 points, grabbing 20 rebounds and blocking seven shots. Ozer added 18 points and Mochalski contributed nine points, seven rebounds and three blocks for Mira Costa, which hosts second-seeded Pasadena (22-6) Tuesday at 7 p.m.
The division’s sixth-seeded team, Peninsula (19-8), suffered an 86-83 overtime loss to visiting Villa Park in the opening round.
Leuzinger (20-6) earned the third seed in Division 1A and had little trouble defeating Lancaster 90-65 and Capistrano Valley 76-60. The Olympians host No. 11 Roosevelt (19-10) Tuesday.
Bishop Montgomery and North earned the ninth and tenth seeds, respectively, in Division 3AA. Bishop Montgomery (16-10) defeated  Artesia 56-48 and North (18-11) survived a scare, beating Buena 75-72 in overtime.
The teams weren’t so lucky in the second round. Bishop Montgomery lost at La Habra 59-52 and North fell to seventh-ranked Arroyo Grande 72-64.
Palos Verdes (9-16) represented the Bay League in Division 3A, but was no match for 2nd-seeded Harvard-Westlake, losing 79-43 in the opening round. Top-seeded Serra (27-2) began its run for a CIF title beating Servite 78-47 and Pacifica/Garden Grove 88-53. The Cavaliers host Golden Valley in the quarterfinals.
In Division 4AA, Pioneer League representatives El Segundo and Lawndale are seeded sixth and twelfth, respectively. El Segundo (18-10) defeated No. 10 San Juan Hills 66-61 after beating Santa Paula 76-61. The Eagles play at Lutheran of Orange (21-7) Tuesday.
Lawndale (13-15) defeated host Estancia 47-36 in the first round before defeating San Luis Obispo 58-34 Friday. The Cardinals host No. 4 Bishop Amat (20-8) Tuesday.
Boys Soccer
The first round of the CIF Division 1 playoffs was brutal for the Bay League teams, with Mira Costa being the lone survivor.
Bay runner-up and ninth-seeded Mira Costa (18-2-5) edged visiting Crespi 3-2 yesterday and will face fifth-seeded Edison (20-4-2) tomorrow. Mira Costa’s second-half comeback was capped off by Mathias Gesser’s winning goal in the 59th minute. Nick Ziglio and Jake Wilson scored the first two goals for the Mustangs.
Mira Costa’s only two losses of the regular season were to Bay champion West (18-1-3, 8-1-1). All soccer games with the exception of the final round are scheduled to start at 3 p.m.
Redondo concluded its season with a 3-1 loss to league champion West. The Sea Hawks finished 2-8 in league and 5-12 overall.
The upset of the day occurred when No. 3 West (18-2-3) lost just its second game of the season, falling at home to St. Francis 2-1.
Leuzinger (15-5-4) lost at Esperanza 2-1 while wild-card winner Palos Verdes (11-9-5) gave top-seeded Millikan all they could handle, falling to the Rams 1-0 in two overtimes.
In Division 4, Pioneer champion North (18-5-5) defeated Calvary Chapel 2-1 in overtime and advances play No. 6 Diamond Ranch (15-3-1).
El Segundo (15-6-2) saw its season shot down when host University (13-5-1) beat the Eagles on penalty kicks 6-5 after the game ended at 2-2 in regulation.
Wild-card winner South (11-7-5) lost a 1-0 heartbreaker at No. 7 Santa Monica (14-5-3) yesterday. Bishop Montgomery (7-10-2) saw its season end with a 2-0 loss to visiting Channel Islands in Tuesday’s wild-card competition.
Vistamar (10-7), a freelance school in El Segundo, earned a berth in the Division 7 playoffs but lost to Rosamond 5-1 in the first round.
Girls Soccer
Redondo (14-6, 8-2) capped off its best season in years with a 4-2 overtime win at West. Samantha Witteman scored twice in the extra period to lead the Sea Hawks to a second place Bay League finish.
Reaching the playoffs for the first time in five seasons, Redondo hosted Edison Friday in the opening round of the Division 1 playoffs. The scrappy Sea Hawks remained in a scoreless battle until Edison (13-5-4) scored in the 65th minute to end Redondo’s short-lived playoff run.
In a physical Bay League finale, Mira Costa tied league champion Palos Verdes 0-0. Even though the Sea Kings prevented Mira Costa from gaining its sixth straight league title, it was a moral victory for the Mustangs as they enter the postseason as the Bay League’s third-place team.
Mira Costa (16-6-3, 6-3-1) defeated Calabasas 1-0 in its wild-card match Wednesday after Alex Rosen scored the game’s lone goal in the third minute.
In the second round, Mira Costa fell behind 2-0 at the half to No. 4 Santa Margarita (17-2-3), rallying to tie the game on an Annie Curry with about one minute left. But with 10 seconds left in regulation, Santa Margarita scored to end the Mustangs season. Morgan Hilby scored the first goal for Mira Costa.
Despite completing its regular season undefeated, Palos Verdes (21-0-4) could only garner a No. 10 seed. Nevertheless, the Sea Kings are the only remaining Bay League team in the playoffs after beating Rosary 1-0 Friday.
Palos Verdes will host Murrieta Valley (15-5-4) Wednesday.
West (10-11-4) fell to Dos Pueblos 2-0 in its wild-card match.
In Division 5, South (19-5-3) earned a No. 2 seed and defeated Village Christian 2-0. The Spartans will play at Ramona Convent (10-6-6) Wednesday.
Pioneer runner-up El Segundo (15-5-1) held the No. 4 spot but, despite outshooting its opponent 18-3, suffered a 2-1 upset at the hands of visiting Ocean View. Torrance (11-10-2) also failed to make it out of the first round, losing at  No. 9 Lakeside 3-1.
North (13-13-1) saw its season end with a 3-2 loss at Santa Ana in a wild-card match.
In Division 3, Chadwick (14-4-2) begins its postseason beating Artesia 1-0. The Dolphins host Righetti (19-6-1) Wednesday.
Vistamar (17-2-1) began its Division 7 playoff run with a 2-1 victory over visiting Connelly. The team will travel to take on No. 4 St. Genevieve in the second round Wednesday.
Girls Water Polo
In the final match of the regular season, Mira Costa held the lead four times in the first half, but couldn’t hold off Bay League champion Palos Verdes, losing to the Sea Kings 16-7. It concluded Palos Verdes’ run to a fourth straight league title, earning the Sea Kings (21-8) a No. 2 seed in the CIF Division 2 playoffs.
Palos Verdes (23-8) throttled Tesoro 19-5 yesterday and remained on a roll, downing Newbury Park 20-5 Saturday. The Sea Kings advance to the semifinals where they will play No. 3 San Clemente Wednesday at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center in Irvine. The victor will play the winner of the Laguna Beach-Agoura match for the CIF Division 2 championship Saturday at the same venue.
Bay runner-up Mira Costa (14-14) traveled to South Coast runner-up Dana Hills yesterday but lost in triple overtime 8-7.
Marissa Purcell scored five goals for the Mustangs.
Redondo concluded its season with a 9-3 victory over West. Jaycee Baldus scored three goals and Devon Cohen and Tiffany Morales added two goals each for the Sea Hawks who finished 3-6 in league and 9-14 for the season.
Peninsula (5-14) fell to visiting Mission Viejo 12-6 in a wild-card game last Tuesday.
In Division 5, Ocean League champion El Segundo (13-6) earned an 8th seed but lost to No. 9 La Habra 5-2. Torrance (19-12) played its final contest of the season last Tuesday, losing at Alta Loma 12-5 in the division’s only wild-card match.
Prep League champion Chadwick earned the top seed in Division 6 and had little trouble defeating Cate 17-2.
It was a different story for the Dolphins in their second round contest at Bonita Saturday. It appeared Chadwick’s season was over when Bonita went ahead 10-9 with just 1.6 seconds left on the clock, but Carlyn Robertson scored from mid-pool with 0.3 ticks left in regulation to send the match into not one, but five overtime periods.
Dana Ayoob’s goal in sudden death propelled Chadwick (20-6) into the semifinals where it will face No. 3 Los Altos (19-4) Wednesday.
Wrestling
Nine grapplers from Mira Costa and five from Redondo qualified for the CIF Inland Division Individual Championships held last weekend at Fountain Valley High School.
Capturing first place in their respective weight divisions at the Bay League championships were Austin Phillips (112) and Tajee Mobley (135) from Mira Costa and Brennan Abramowitz (145) from Redondo.
Other Mustangs advancing to this weekend’s tournament are Weston Carico (125), Alan Hoa (130), Nathan Aquino (140), Justin Tam (152), Joshua Stern (160), Tyler Emery (171) and Edgar Herrera (189).
Sea Hawks joining Abramowitz at the individual competition are Raymond Gandara (103), Devan Robinson (119) and alternates Matt Ulizio (215) and David Feiner (285).
Visit easyreadernews.com for updated game results. Complete brackets are available at cifss.org. ER
