PREPS : Mistakes Prove Costly for Westchester in Loss to Manual Arts

A thunderous dunk caused a 45-minute delay during Friday’s showdown between Westchester and Manual Arts high schools for the Metro League basketball lead.

In the end, though, it was the little things that eventually caught up with Westchester. Ill-advised passes, poor decisions and ballhanding mistakes added up to a frustrating game for the Comets, who lost, 73-62, at home.

“We don’t take care of the ball very well,” Westchester Coach Ed Azzam said. “We make a lot of mistakes, but we do play hard. If we keep playing hard and keep our good attitude, we have only one way to go, and that’s better.”

Azzam’s young team--the Comets start only one senior, 6-foot-8 center LeRoi O’Brien--made a run at Manual Arts in the third quarter. They erased a 39-30 halftime deficit and went ahead, 46-45, following an inspired sequence of plays by guard Jason Sanders.

In what seemed like a matter of seconds, Sanders scored three consecutive baskets and set up a fourth--a dunk by forward Lorenzo Ball--with a steal to ignite a 8-0 run by Westchester. Three times during the stretch the Comets scored baskets after stealing the inbounds pass.

But it proved a temporary setback for Manual Arts, considered one of the best, if not the best, team in the L.A. City 4-A Division. The Toilers regrouped to take a 52-48 lead at the end of the third quarter and gradually pulled away in the fourth quarter as mistake-prone Westchester faded.

“They’re tough,” Azzam said of Manual Arts, which opened a two-game lead over Westchester and Fairfax in the Metro League.

“They’ve got to be one of the best two or three teams in the City. Them and Washington are probably the two best 4-A teams. And from there, I think anybody can win the City. If we come to play, we can beat them. We can beat Washington. We lost by four to them here. So it’s wide open this year. All we have to do is keep getting better.

Manual Arts Coach Randolph Simpson, whose team improved to 18-3 overall and 8-0 in conference play, echoed Azzam’s thoughts on parity in the City.

“It’s a lot more balanced than it’s been in a long time,” Simpson said. “You have Washington, Cleveland, Crenshaw and even Fairfax. And Westchester is a threat. The thing that is scary (about Westchester) is that they’re young. They will all be back next year except for O’Brien. Azzam has coached them real well. They’re a team to be reckoned with in the playoffs.”

Both of Westchester’s league defeats have come against Manual Arts, which got a game-high 28 points from guard Dwayne Bradberry, including eight in the fourth quarter. The Comets (16-7, 6-2) were led by O’Brien and Sanders with 14 points each. Sanders scored 12 in the third quarter.

The 45-minute delay in Friday’s game came with 3:51 left in the first quarter when Manual Arts forward Kevin Beal dunked over a Westchester player and bent the basket, which had to be replaced.

Azzam said the long wait had little effect on his team.

“Actually, I think we played better (after the delay),” he said. “We didn’t play any worse.”

St. Bernard missed a chance to move into a first-place tie in the Mission League basketball race, losing to Notre Dame, 60-57, Friday night in Sherman Oaks.

Notre Dame threatened to make it a laugher in the opening minutes, moving out to a 14-0 lead. But St. Bernard battled back and closed within a point, 58-57, on two free throws by forward Rick Famuyiwa with 24 seconds left.

Viking center Wyking Jones (game-high 20 points) then fouled out on a scramble for a rebound, sending Notre Dame’s Marcello Anderson-Tellez to the free-throw line. Anderson-Tellez missed the front end of a one-and-one situation, but managed to get the rebound.

Notre Dame guard Omar Seikaly gave his team a three-point lead by making two free throws with 10 seconds left. St. Bernard missed a three-point shot at the buzzer.

“It could have gone either way,” Notre Dame Coach Mickey Cady said. “It just depended on who executed down the stretch.”

With the victory, Notre Dame (18-4, 9-1) opened a two-game lead over St. Bernard (11-11, 7-3) and St. Paul in league play with two games left. Notre Dame can clinch the title outright by beating either Crespi or Bishop Montgomery this week.

Rolling Hills has been out of the Ocean League basketball race for some time, but that didn’t stop the Titans from playing the spoiler role Friday night.

Getting a big game from usually light-scoring David Iwasaka, the Titans ended Mira Costa’s title hopes with a 53-49 victory at Rolling Hills.

Iwasaka, a junior point guard, scored 14 points and had six assists as Rolling Hills improved to 12-12 and 3-4. Center Roger Hendrix added 11 points and forward John Clavadetscher scored 10 for the Titans.

Mira Costa (17-7, 4-2) had hoped to be in position to move into a tie for first place when it plays host to Morningside (22-2, 7-0) Wednesday night. By losing to Rolling Hills, however, the Mustangs allowed Morningside to clinch the championship with a 93-79 victory over Redondo.

Inglewood completed a remarkable turnaround Friday night by clinching the Bay League title with a 57-52 victory over visiting Hawthorne.

A year ago, the Sentinels were the league’s last-place team.

Under Coach Art Bias, who replaced Vince Combs, Inglewood is 8-0 in league play with two games remaining and 15-8 overall. Bias’ accomplishment places his name near the top of contenders for South Bay Coach of the Year honors.

Guards Michael Stith and Codi Evans paced the Sentinels against Hawthorne with 13 and 12 points, respectively.

The second-place Cougars slipped to 11-11 and 5-3.

One of the area’s most dominant teams this winter has been the Torrance girls’ soccer team, which is ranked No. 1 in the CIF-Southern Section 3-A Division.

The Tartars recorded their 17th shutout and clinched the Pioneer League title Friday with a 4-0 victory over visiting South Torrance. Jessica Reifer and Jenny Yokoyama each scored two goals for Torrance (19-1-1, 5-0), which is coached by John Jackson.