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Sports

Bay League Notebook: Plan on the Playoffs

Bay League teams vie for a shot in the CIF Southern Section playoffs.

At first glance, the set up for making the CIF Southern Section playoffs seems ridiculously complicated. You can make the playoffs with a losing record even if you don’t finish in the top three in your league.

This time, however, the CIF should not be accused of being too bureaucratic. In an attempt to give everyone a fair chance at success, no matter what their enrollment is, they have broken down the section into 12 divisions based upon enrollment and success in previous years.

That means the Bay League, like most CIF leagues, include teams who will compete in different divisions in the postseason. As a result, all six boys teams still have a realistic shot at making the playoffs and every school but Leuzinger could make the playoffs in the girls race.

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Remembering that the lower the number the higher the strength of the division, here’s how it breaks down. Peninsula is 2A for boys and 3AA in girls. Palos Verdes is 4AA for boys and 3A for girls. Redondo is 2AA in boys and 1AA in girls. Mira Costa is 2A boys and 1AA girls. West Torrance is 3AA for both. Leuzinger is 1AA boys and 2AA girls.

The top three teams at the end of Bay League automatically make the playoffs. Others can earn at-large bids in their division if the CIF deems them worthy. At the moment, Peninsula is running away with the boys race, with Leuzinger (4-3) second. Redondo and West are tied for third at 3-4, with Mira Costa and PV 2-5. Redondo (7-0) is running away with the girls race, with Mira Costa second at 5-2 and both PV and West tied at 4-3. Peninsula has just two wins, both over last-place Leuzinger, but is 12-12 overall and in the hunt for a berth in the 3AA.

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“It helps to have 10 wins,” Mira Costa boys coach Henry Myar said. “And it helps to finish strong in your last three games. Then it just depends on where you rank in your division. A lot of Bay League teams can (still) make it.”

Some, like the Palos Verdes boys in the 4AA division and the PV girls in 3A, might actually have an impact even if they finish out of the top three. Both teams have significant talent that could flourish in CIF divisions that – on paper, at least – seem weaker than the Bay League.

WRESTLING — The sport has been hurt by major cutbacks at the college level and isn’t as popular at the high school level as it once was, but it remains a vibrant, exciting sport for the fan and a demanding test of skill and will for the wrestler.

With that in mind, it’s good to see emotions still run high after a dual meet or in anticipation of the Bay League finals starting Saturday at 11 a.m. at West Torrance. Good examples of that came in the past week, when Redondo earned its first Bay League dual meet victory since the 2006-07 season and West Torrance defeated Peninsula for the league dual meet championship.

Redondo defeated Mira Costa, 45-36, even though Kevin James (dislocated elbow) and Damon Guerrero (broken jaw) were lost for the season during the match. Coach Arond Schonberg, who took over the program before the 2007-08 season, was thrilled by the victory.

“It was so exciting I felt like I was going to start crying,” Schonberg said Thursday. “All that time, we were getting pounded and then we were coming close. It was like ‘Can’t we just get one victory?'”

The victory could be the turning point for the program, Schonberg said.

“It’s a momentum changer for sure,” he said. “We were getting close and now the kids can see that we’re a lot better than we were getting credit for being.

“The perceptions of Redondo wrestling are changing.”

From afar, Peninsula coach Mike Liebig was happy to see Schonberg and Redondo’s young wrestlers enjoy some success.  

“Redondo’s improved. They’ve got some young kids who are working hard,” Liebig said Thursday. “I know one of their assistants, so I know Schonberg has some help now. You can notice it in them this year.

“It’s a long process to build a wrestling program. I take my hat off to him to keep putting in the time and worry about the basics.”

LEAGUE FINALS — Having won three Bay League dual meet titles in a row, West Torrance has proven it has the best wrestling program in the four-school league. But Redondo, Peninsula and Mira Costa also have outstanding wrestlers who will compete for the Bay League individual championships and spots in the CIF tournament.

Redondo heavyweight Alex Maldonado scored the victory that clinched his school’s dual meet breakthrough. Mira Costa’s top league candidates include Joey Beck, Jack Shapiro, Tajee Mobley, Justin Tam and Eric Kreager.

Peninsula’s top wrestlers include David Luna and undefeated Danny Powell. Linius Lau, Mitchell Nelson and Duncan Conley, among others, also have had some good moments this season. Peninsula has several wrestlers who could challenge for a league championship.

“I have high hopes for all my wrestlers,” Liebig said. “This is all about finishing in the top two and qualifying for CIF. We think we have some wrestlers who can do that. I’m sure the other schools do, too.

“We’ve been working hard. Day by day, we’ve been getting a little bit better. We were suspect to start with, but the last few month we’ve actually started to come together.”

TIME FOR A CHANGE — Some fans were screaming bloody murder at the end of last week’s Peninsula-Redondo boys basketball game. They couldn’t believe Peninsula wasn’t called for a five-second violation after Derek Biale made a layup with about 11 seconds left and Reese Morgan didn’t inbound the ball until after calling timeout with 2.8 seconds left.

But the officials didn’t make a mistake. And Morgan did nothing wrong by casually going to get the ball after Redondo scored to cut Peninsula’s lead to one point.

Although the officials could have stopped the clock and given Morgan a delay of game warning with :09 on the clock, it was not a mistake on their part. Rules are rules and Morgan was not obligated to rush over to the ball. Besides, that would have only saved about two seconds and Morgan still would have had another four seconds to wait to call timeout.

Three days later, ironically, Redondo was involved in a finish that was virtually identical. This time, however, the rule worked in their favor after Mira Costa’s Thomas Johnson made a 3-point shot with about eight seconds left to cut Redondo’s lead to two points.

The Sea Hawks took their time going to the ball and finally called a timeout with 1.1 seconds left, once again leaving Mira Costa fans mystified that no five-second call was made. An inbounds pass to midcourt wrapped up their victory.

The bottom line? The back-to-back finishes at Redondo expose the need for high school basketball to adopt the NBA and college rules on clock stoppage late in the game. At the very least, the clock should be stopped after a made basket in the final minute of the game.

If that had been the case Friday at Redondo, Peninsula would have had to inbound the ball with about 11 seconds left. On Tuesday, Redondo would have had to inbound the ball with eight seconds left. Neither team could have clinched victory simply by standing on the sidelines not playing basketball – legal and fair as it was under the current rules.

CLASSY COACH — Some coaches might be tempted to question the decision or moan about their fate, but Palos Verdes girls water polo coach Pat O’Brien has done an admirable job of seeing the human side of sports since his top scorer, junior Monica Vavic, opted to transfer to Rancho Del Mar two weeks ago.

The Sea Kings are not as dangerous or dominant without their gifted top scorer, but  O’Brien sees the bigger picture. According to Athletic Director Mike Boyd, Vavic made the decision in the hopes she will graduate early. Her father, Jovan, is the water polo coach at USC.

“I’ve talked to her and she’s fine with her decision,” O’Brien said Monday after Mira Costa avenged a 14-8 loss at PV with an 8-4 win in Manhattan Beach. “If she’s happy with it, so am I. It’s her life and that is what’s important.”

The Sea Kings remain a quality team despite the loss of Vavic. Their loss to Mira Costa could easily have gone to the wire if a few of their half-dozen high-percentage scoring opportunities had been converted.

THIS  'N THAT — After watching Peninsula’s Reese Morgan score 33 points in a half at Palos Verdes, I figured it was likely the 6-foot-2 senior forward would go for 50 at least once before his high school career ended. He didn’t wait long, going for 53 points in an overtime victory against Leuzinger Tuesday. Morgan has been nominated for the McDonald’s All America team and, given the way he’s playing, should be one of the finalists announced Feb. 10. on ESPNU. …

A lot has happened in a week in the Bay League boys soccer race. West Torrance defeated Mira Costa after Mira Costa upset league favorite Palos Verdes. Then PV (5-1-1) defeated West, 2-1, on Wednesday, to take control of the league. West (4-3), Mira Costa (3-2-2) and Redondo (2-3-2) are about as evenly matched as possible in the battle for second. …

It was mentioned here last week that Peninsula’s water polo team faces the handicap of playing in much bigger pools when it goes on the road. Mira Costa’s girls pointed out the reverse is true when teams play in Peninsula’s “tiny” pool.

“It’s hard to play up there because the pool is shallow and not nearly as wide,” Mira Costa’s Marisa Purcell said.

Told the goalie can almost stand, goalie Bianca Magno laughed and said “that’s crazy.”

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