Hawthorne Girls Soccer Team Aims for 1st Repeat as Champs at L.A. Games

In the 22-year history of the L.A. Games, no girls soccer team has ever repeated as champion.

But the Hawthorne High squad, the Cougars, set to begin its fourth season, is in good position Sunday to follow up its 1988 L.A. Games title.

The L.A. Games resume Saturday in several sports, and the Cougars will take on Arcadia at 10 a.m. Sunday in the championship game at El Camino College.

“We’re going to try and pull the magic rabbit out of the hat,” said Hawthorne Coach Jim Stone, who has only three seniors from last year’s squad. “Last year I looked at the teams and thought we should win this thing. This year we were just looking to make it through the first round.”

Hawthorne won its first three games by identical 1-0 scores, and Stone said the Cougars’ strong defense should be the team’s trademark next season.

Leading the way is goalie Bobbi Ross and all-Southern Section sweeper Jaymie Bradford. A pair of juniors, Kelli Curtis and Lisa Elliot, have provided Stone with the most pleasant surprise in the L.A. Games.

Center halfback Carolette Thomas and front line player Brigitte Keus have driven the offense, which despite its low output, has played well enough to win.

Now, the Cougars are looking to the intangibles as further impetus.

“We’re really gunning for that second championship in a row,” Stone said. “We would have been satisfied with a win in the first game, but we played with a lot of guts and we came through with three wins, so I’m excited.”

In boys soccer competition, San Pedro plays La Canada in a fourth-round contest at 11 a.m. Saturday at El Camino.

Boys basketball competition resumes Saturday with three South Bay teams playing fourth-round games at Locke High.

Defending L.A. Games champion Westchester, which beat Palos Verdes, Banning and Etiwanda in the first three rounds, faces Lynwood at 9 a.m.

Last season, Carson made it all the way to the championship game of the L.A. City 3-A playoffs. In the L.A. Games, the Colts picked up where they left off with victories over La Salle, Cypress and Verbum Dei. They face Marina at 10 a.m.

Rolling Hills, considered one of the area’s top teams in 1988-89, also made a strong showing in the L.A. Games with wins over Los Amigos, St. Bernard and Buena. The Titans play Camarillo at 11 a.m.

The winner of the Westchester-Lynwood game takes on the winner of the Carson-Marina game at 1:30 p.m., and the winner of the Rolling Hills-Camarillo game faces the Dorsey-Artesia winner at 3 p.m. at Locke.

The semifinals will be played Sunday at El Camino, with the championship game to follow at 3 p.m.

Last March in Oakland, shortly after Brea-Olinda High captured the State Division III girls basketball championship, Morningside took home the Division I crown.

Saturday morning at 11, the defending state champs will meet in the quarterfinals of the L.A. Games at El Camino.

Four starters, including All-American center Lisa Leslie, return to the Monarch lineup next year. But even without Leslie, who was attending camp in Colorado last weekend, Morningside won easily, defeating El Rancho, 60-13, and Pasadena, 35-20.

The winners advance to the semifinal round Sunday at El Camino.

Four South Bay teams are still alive in the touch football competition at North Torrance High.

West Torrance faces L.A. Wilson at 8:45 a.m., followed by the North Torrance-Taft, Morningside-L.A. Baptist and Westchester-Birmingham games at 10 a.m.

The quarterfinals will follow Saturday afternoon at North, with the semifinals and championship game Sunday at El Camino.

In the softball quarterfinals at El Camino, West Torrance takes on Hart at 8:30 a.m.; Rolling Hills faces Thousand Oaks at 10 a.m., and Leuzinger plays Pioneer at 2:30 p.m.

The semifinals and final will be played Sunday at El Camino.

Palos Verdes, still alive in the water polo competition, takes on Capistrano Valley in the semifinals at 8 a.m. at El Camino, with the championship game slated for 12:15 p.m. on Sunday.