Sports

BEST IN THE WEST

Dominguez High won the Best in the West tournament and ended a three-game losing streak to Inglewood Friday night.

But the victory didn’t come easily. The Dons needed two overtimes to beat the Sentinels, 87-83, in the final of the 12-team tournament at Long Beach State.

Inglewood defeated Dominguez, 51-50, in last season’s tournament semifinals and beat the Dons, 60-56, in the Southern California Regional semifinals.

In December, the Dominguez (13-1) blew a 19-point lead in a 61-54 defeat to the Sentinels in the quarterfinals of the Las Vegas Holiday Classic tournament.

“I felt we had better players and the better team,” Dominguez Coach Russell Otis said. “I felt we should have won the game in Las Vegas. We finally got the monkey off our backs.”

Dominguez led, 67-60, in the closing minutes before Inglewood tied the score, 70-70, on a 25-foot, three-point basket by Paul Pierce with a second left to send the game into overtime.

Tommy Prince of Dominguez and Pierce were selected as the Best in the West tournament co-most valuable players.

Prince finished with a game-high 36 points. The 6-foot-5 senior made 15 of 22 shots from the field, including four three-point baskets, and had seven rebounds.

Prince had nine points in the overtimes and extended an 85-83 lead with two free throws with six seconds left in the second overtime.

“Once I stepped to the free-throw line, I knew we were going to win,” Prince said. “I was too tired. I didn’t want to go another overtime. I didn’t want to let them win a fourth time.”

Tournament host Artesia (10-3) lost to Westchester, 69-63, despite 19 points from Dajuan Wilson and 15 points and seven rebounds from James Lee. Fairfax beat St. John Bosco, 51-39, in the fifth-place game and Long Beach Poly, led by 18 points from Damion Dawson and Scotty Graham, beat Chatsworth, 69-56, in the seventh-place game.

* The Gahr boys and girls, along with the Dominguez girls, were also victorious in tournament finals last week.

Marcus Lemons of Gahr was selected as the most valuable player of the Brea-Olinda tournament, scoring 22 points to lead the Gladiators to a 69-59 victory over Troy in the championship. Brian Givens and Corey Scott were also selected to the all-tournament team.

The Gahr girls won their own tournament with a 65-46 win over Long Beach Poly. Tournament most valuable player Rhonda Anderson had 18 points for Gahr.

The Dominguez girls held on for a 57-56 victory over Banning in the final of the Mt. Carmel tournament. Crystal Hogan, who led Dominguez with 21 points, was chosen as the most valuable player.

* Joe Austin of Compton College scored 54 points in a 161-103 victory over Trade Tech in the consolation final of the Los Angeles City College tournament. Austin, who was selected to the all-tournament team, leads Compton, averaging 20.8 points and 2.5 steals.

FOOTBALL AWARDS

James Sherman of Whittier, The Times’ Southeast lineman of the year, along with defensive back Cedric Gay of Long Beach Poly have been chosen to the All-Southern Section football team. The 25-player team is comprised of players from all 10 divisions.

* La Mirada, which reached a Southern Section championship game for the second time in three years, placed six players on the Division VIII team.

Quarterback Mike Palumbo and receiver Wyatt Boatright were chosen on offense. Linebackers Brett Darnell and Sean Nicolini, lineman Siuta Taufa and back Eric Martinez were selected on defense for Suburban League champion La Mirada (13-1).

Other All-Southern Section players, chosen by the Amateur Athletic Foundation and the First Interstate Band selection board, included:

Division I: Ortege Jenkins (Long Beach Jordan), all-purpose; John Dyer (St. Paul), line; Matt Faagata (Long Beach Jordan), defensive line; Jerry Sprewell (Long Beach Poly), linebacker; Matt Dempsey (Lakewood), linebacker.

Division II: Michael Fletcher (Paramount), back; Jehad Semaan (Downey), defensive line.

Division III: Tadeo Gonzales (Bell Gardens), tight end; Fred Montiel (Montebello), defensive back; Kevin Seto (Schurr), punter.

Division VI: Ryan Matthews (Cerritos), quarterback; Kourtney Dean (Whittier), running back; Brian Haywood (Cerritos), receiver; Gus Sanchez (Whittier), linebacker; Jesus Sanchez (Santa Fe), defensive back; Geoff Berg (Santa Fe), defensive back.

Division IX: Brian Walsh (St. Anthony), receiver; David Stamper (St Anthony), defensive line.

Division X: Jeremy Negen (Valley Christian), linebacker; Dolphin Tillman (Pius X), linebacker; Jonathan DeBie (Valley Christian), punter.

BEACH FRONT

The Long Beach State men’s basketball team will play host to New Mexico State Thursday in a Big West Conference opener and Nebraska Monday in an ESPN nationally televised game at the Pyramid.

Long Beach (4-2) split two games in the Oldsmobile Spartan Classic at Michigan State last week. The 49ers defeated Coppin State in the tournament opener, 69-63, before losing to Michgan State in the final, 70-60.

49er senior forward Mike Atkinson was selected to the all-tournament team. He had 17 points and six rebounds against Michigan. Atkinson and Jamie Davis contributed 13 points each against Coppin State.

CITY HEAT

The City Section will receive two berths each for boys and girls in the Southern California Regional Division I basketball playoffs.

Since 1992, only the City 4-A champions have been guaranteed berths in the boys’ and girls’ regionals. The Southern Section, by comparison, receives four automatic berths each for boys and girls in the eight-team brackets.

The request from the City section was reviewed by the State CIF basketball advisory committee in January and approved by a four-member panel of Southern California commissioners.

To make room for the added berths, the at-large berth that had come from the Southern, San Diego, Central or City sections has been eliminated. The San Diego and Central sections will remain at one automatic entry each.

“Mathematically, it didn’t make sense the way it was written before with the number of schools we had and how successful the City has been at the State level,” City Athletic Commissioner Barbara Fiege said.

The Southern Section fields 91 schools in the Division I classification of 1,500 students or more. The City section has 43 Division I schools. City Section boys’ basketball teams have won eight championships since 1981 and been in the final nine times during that span.

The decision brings the City’s representation back to the level it enjoyed before 1992, when the state cut the City’s automatic berths to one each for boys and girls. Before 1992, the City 3-A and 4-A boys’ and girls’ champions received berths in the regional playoffs.

Only 4-A teams will be considered for the two berths--the champion and either the runner-up or a semifinalist--pending a final decision to be made this month by the City basketball seeding committee.

Fiege said the current City policy is to wait until league play ends before classifying teams 4-A or 3-A, using quality of play as the criterion, regardless of a school’s enrollment or record. So, Fiege said, only the best of the City schools will be 4-A once the playoffs begin.

MISCELLANY

The city of Azusa is accepting registration for youth softball and baseball leagues. The league is open to players ages 5-14. Cost is $20 for residents and $25 for non-residents.

Information: (310) 860-3361.