Prep Notebook / Rob Fernas : Ho-Hum League: Lady Monarchs Win 55th Straight

It was business as usual for the Morningside girls basketball team Tuesday.

The Lady Monarchs beat visiting Redondo, 84-40, for their 55th consecutive league victory, a streak that dates back to the 1983 season.

Coach Frank Scott is aware of the streak, but he doesn’t go around telling others about it. Unless, of course, you ask him.

“I take a lot of pride in it,” he said. “Most of the girls don’t even realize it. Some of the seniors know we’ve won league for five straight years. But they don’t know about the undefeated part.”

Morningside’s league wins have become so commonplace that you can understand why Scott takes them for granted. The Lady Monarchs’ last league defeat came to rival Inglewood in the final Ocean League game of 1982.

Since then, Morningside has captured one Ocean and four Pioneer League titles with unbeaten records. The No. 1-ranked team in the CIF 4-A Division is heading toward another perfect league season, sporting a 7-0 Pioneer record and a 22-1 overall mark with three regular-season games remaining.

The Lady Monarchs have surpassed the 100-point mark in four league games and are averaging 93 points an outing. Scott says if he wanted, the team could have scored “120 or 130” points in some wins.

“Redondo is our toughest competition,” he said. “After Redondo, there’s no competition.”

In past years, the lack of competition in league has hurt Morningside when the playoffs roll around. Scott has tried to keep the team sharp by scheduling tougher non-league opponents, but even those games tend to get one-sided. The Lady Monarchs put away Fountain Valley, 89-64, and Hawthorne, 86-29, in recent non-league outings.

Scott says winning a CIF championship sometimes comes down to winning a coin flip. The Lady Monarchs lost a coin flip last season and had to travel to Buena in Ventura, where they lost, 67-56.

“I think if we would have played Buena somewhere else, we would have won the championship,” Scott said.

Morningside won its only CIF title in 1983 with a 50-46 victory over Buena in the 4-A finals. The Lady Monarchs have not been back to the finals since, but Scott feels this could be the year.

“I like our position,” he said. “From a statistical standpoint, we’re having our best season.”

When Morningside won the CIF title, the team was led by center Lynn Sherow, the 4-A co-player of the year, and forward Monica Raspberry.

This season the Lady Monarchs have another talented front-court tandem in center Lisa Leslie and forward Shaunda Greene. Leslie, a 6-4 sophomore, is averaging 22.3 points, 12.4 rebounds and 6.4 blocks. Greene, a 6-1 senior, leads the team with a 25-point average.

Scott says one of the reasons he likes Morningside’s title chances better than last year is the improvement of Leslie, who, by the way, can dunk.

“She’s the most heavily recruited player we’ve ever had,” he said. “She gets about 15 to 20 letters (from colleges) a week.”

Senior point guard Carla Gladden does a good job of getting the ball to her taller teammates. She leads the Lady Monarchs in assists and is averaging 15.3 points a game. Scott says Gladden and Greene will sign with four-year colleges.

Today there is a more pressing matter than statistics or recruiting.

Morningside plays host to Miraleste at 3 p.m. with a chance to clinch at least a tie for its sixth consecutive league title. The Lady Monarchs beat Miraleste, 80-18, in the first round of league play.

And the streak goes on.

Chadwick owns the longest league winning streak among boys basketball teams in the South Bay.

Coach Tom Maier isn’t sure how many consecutive games the Dolphins have won, but he knows they haven’t lost a Prep League contest since 1984.

“It’s at least 40 games,” he said. “We’ve lost only one league game since 1978. That was to Rio Hondo in 1984.”

Chadwick improved its league record to 5-0 Tuesday night with a 55-50 victory over Rio Hondo Prep. The Dolphins, who played a demanding non-league schedule, are 8-9 overall.

Maier says Chadwick will be well on its way to another Prep title if it can get past Webb in a home game Friday night and Pasadena Poly in a road game Saturday. The Dolphins handed Pasadena Poly, the preseason league favorite, its only loss, 61-56.

“It’s a competitive league this year,” Maier said. “It’s not as strong as it’s been in the past. I feel we can win every game, but there are no blowouts. I’ve got to coach.

“It’s the type of ballclub that I almost have to play the game for these kids. Some years you can sit back and let them play. Others you can’t.”

Although Chadwick is not ranked in the CIF 1-A Division top 10, the Dolphins were ranked No. 7 in last week’s state Division V ratings by Cal-Hi Sports.

“I think that’s just because of our reputation,” said Maier, who guided Chadwick to the CIF Small Schools Division title in 1980 and the 1-A crown in 1985. The Dolphins lost in the Small Schools finals in 1979 and 1983.

Maier feels this team is capable of making an impact in the playoffs if it continues to improve. He says balance is a key. Senior guards Charlton Jackson and Mike Faller are averaging 18 and 9 points, sophomore forward Larry Williams is averaging 8 rebounds, and senior forward James Haines is averaging 10 points.

“The players feel pretty good about each other now,” Maier said. “It’s not a rah-rah, go-get-em group, but we’re coming along.”

PREP NOTES--Mira Costa’s girls soccer team (11-4-4, 6-0) can clinch the Ocean League title with a win Friday against Beverly Hills. The Mustangs stayed in first Tuesday with a 1-0 win over Santa Monica on a goal by Danielle Compton and a shutout by goalie Janet Hubble. . . . St. Bernard’s basketball team is ranked No. 6 in the CIF 5-A rankings, but that’s still only fourth best in the competitive Angelus League. The Vikings are ranked behind Angelus opponents Bishop Amat (No. 1), St. Paul (No. 4) and Mater Dei (No. 5). . . . Rolling Hills dropped from No. 2 to No. 5 in the 3-A basketball poll after its upset loss to North Torrance. West Torrance is ranked No. 3.

South Bay Top 10 Boys’ Basketball

Selected by Times sportswriters (Records through Tuesday’s games)

Rank, School, League Record 1 Westchester (Central) 16-4

2 St. Bernard (Angelus) 15-6

3 West Torrance (Bay)16-4

4 Rolling Hills (Bay) 15-5

5 Morningside (Pioneer) 13-7

6 Leuzinger (Pioneer) 13-5

7 Palos Verdes (Bay) 12-8

8 Hawthorne (Ocean) 10-8

9 Carson (Marine) 13-5

10 Inglewood (Ocean) 10-9