Big Kids Spoil Fun as Leuzinger Rolls Over Hawthorne, 76-65

Leave it to the big kids to spoil all the fun for the little guys.

Hawthorne and Leuzinger High Schools’ youthful backcourt players were having a great time trading baskets--just like a neighborhood pickup game--in the first half of their El Segundo tournament semifinal game Wednesday night in the El Segundo High gym.

That was before Leuzinger’s big, bad seniors--center Frank Willis and power forward Ty Merriweather--started throwing bodies around in the second half. Willis and Merriweather were all business in leading Leuzinger to a 76-65 victory.

But this latest chapter of one of South Bay’s most intense cross-town rivalries was fun while it lasted.

“It’s like family out there,” Leuzinger Coach Phil Sherman said. “The kids on both teams are all friends. You don’t see too many tempers flare up out there.”

Sherman starts a pair of sophomores in his backcourt, while Hawthorne’s Richard Wells starts a sophomore and a junior. In the first three quarters, the talented youngsters put on a show.

Leuzinger sophomore Troy Matthews scored 10 of his 14 points--including two three-point baskets--before halftime.

And 15-year-old sophomore Dominic Ellison scored 15 of his 17 in the half, including a pair of leaning jump shots from the baseline that brought Hawthorne a 39-39 tie at the buzzer. Ellison, a crafty ballhandler, added 13 assists on the night.

Hawthorne junior Shanta Cotright finished with 17 points, but Leuzinger’s Willis--a 6-foot-8 post player--dominated the boards and Merriweather took advantage by scoring several easy inside baskets to help the Olympians (3-0) pull away in the second half.

Willis finished with 17 points and Merriweather led all scorers with 19.

Senior guard Robert Northern added 12 points for Leuzinger and sophomore Antwan Lewis scored eight.

Leuzinger advances to meet the winner of tonight’s 7:30 semifinal between El Segundo and Mira Costa in the championship game Friday night at 7:30.

Hawthorne dropped to 2-4.