St. Bernard Appears to Be Palos Verdes’ Next Victim

Is there a Division III school out there that can give the Palos Verdes High girls’ basketball team a game?

After playoff victories of 75, 45, 24, 33 and 35 points, the Sea Kings rumble into the semifinals of the state regional tournament tonight against St. Bernard. Starting time is 7:30 at Palos Verdes.

Arrive early. If the game is anything like Palos Verdes’ previous playoff contests, it could be decided quickly.

St. Bernard might not be as worthy an opponent as it appears. The Vikings (25-6) won the Southern Section Division III-A title Saturday and defeated Kearny of San Diego, 59-30, in a regional opener Tuesday night.

Those are fine accomplishments. But it should be noted that St. Bernard finished third in the Mission League behind Alemany and Bishop Montgomery. Alemany, the Mission champion, lost in the first round of the Southern Section Division III-AA playoffs.

Here’s where a comparison can be drawn.

Palos Verdes (29-2) won the III-AA title Saturday with a 69-36 victory over Lompoc. Prior to that, Lompoc beat Newport Harbor, 68-48, in the second round and Newport Harbor beat Alemany, 63-60, in overtime in the first round.

Comparing those scores, Palos Verdes is somewhere around 60 points better than St. Bernard.

Palos Verdes Coach Wendell Yoshida says that is absurd, and he’s probably right. Comparing scores is an imperfect science.

“We’re not 60 points better than St. Bernard,” Yoshida said. “I’m a real poor judge of watching somebody else and comparing ourselves to that team. But I don’t think there’s any way we could be that much better than them.

“They have good size and good quickness. They scored a lot of points in their CIF final.”

St. Bernard beat Costa Mesa, 73-71, in the III-A final Saturday on guard Joi Turner’s 18-foot shot at the buzzer. Earlier this season, Palos Verdes beat Costa Mesa by 52 points in a nonleague game.

What about that, coach?

“It doesn’t mean we’re a 50-point favorite,” Yoshida said. “But I think our kids can easily think that way.”

By now, everyone is thinking that way.

Yoshida said he doesn’t regret not moving up to a higher division, where Palos Verdes would have played a more demanding playoff schedule. Schools are placed in divisions according to enrollment, but have the option to move up before the season.

Morningside, a Division III school based on enrollment, competes on the Division I level. Brea-Olinda, another Division III school, moved up to Division II this season and won the Southern Section II-AA title last week. (Some believe Brea moved up to avoid having to play in the same division with Palos Verdes).

“I don’t measure ourselves by the way other people play,” said Yoshida, addressing his team’s recent blowouts. “We go about our business. Playing in a higher division wouldn’t change it at all.

“If people want to see us play in Division I, they can see us play there next year.”

Yoshida figures to be the girls’ basketball coach next year at Peninsula High, which will consolidate the student bodies of Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills and Miraleste on the Rolling Hills campus, making it a school with a Division I enrollment of approximately 3,000.

Yoshida said one of the reasons for Palos Verdes’ dominating play in the postseason has been the improvement of center Jeffra Gausepohl.

The 6-foot-5 junior had a game-high 18 points Tuesday night in a 74-39 victory over Edison of Fresno in the first round of the regionals.

“She’s been playing outstanding,” Yoshida said. “She’s really come on strong in the playoffs. She’s not only scoring, she’s doing everything with confidence.”

Westchester High’s basketball team and, in particular, the 6-8 LeRoi O’Brien improved greatly during the course of the season.

In fact, San Pedro Coach Jack Kordich barely recognized the Comets on Friday in their 65-57 victory over Manual Arts in the L.A. City Section 4-A Division final at the Sports Arena.

“I took my two sons to the game,” Kordich said. “They kept saying, ‘I can’t believe you beat these guys.’ ”

San Pedro beat Westchester, 57-55, in a nonleague game Dec. 3. Even more surprising is that the Pirates, whose starting lineup averaged 5-foot-11, held O’Brien without a point.

“I go back and look at the tape to try and figure out how the heck he didn’t score,” Kordich said. “It was just one of those games. Obviously, he’s a much better player now than when we played them.”

Westchester’s Cinderella season came to an end Tuesday night with a 60-57 loss to Long Beach Jordan in the State Division I regional tournament. O’Brien led all scorers with 17 points.

Had it taken better care of the ball, Morningside’s basketball team could have won the Southern Section Division III-A title and would have won Tuesday night in the opening round of the state regional tournament.

The Monarchs lost a three-point lead in the final two minutes Saturday, as Servite of Anaheim rallied for a 49-46 victory in the Division III-A final at the Sports Arena. The critical mistake came with about five seconds left when a no-look pass deflected off two Monarchs and went out of bounds.

A bad pass again cost Morningside on Tuesday night at Pomona.

Morningside lost an 84-81 lead in the final 14 seconds of overtime when Pomona’s Johnny McWilliams scored on a follow shot and then intercepted a Monarch pass and scored on a layup with three seconds left to give Pomona an 85-84 victory in the Division III regionals.

It was a sad ending to an otherwise fine season for Morningside (27-5).

The Monarchs, though, figure to be even better next season. Among the players returning are guard Stais Boseman, the Ocean League co-most valuable player; 6-8 center Pauliasi Taulava, 6-7 forward Keenan Jourdan and swingman Dwight Curry.

Notes

Josh Gormley of West Torrance failed in his attempt to win a second consecutive state heavyweight wrestling title Saturday at University of the Pacific in Stockton. Gormley was pinned by eventual champion Darin Preisendorf of American High at 2:45 of their semifinal match. Gormley and Torrance’s Chris Xavier (103-pound division) each placed fifth, and Pat Wheat (135 pounds) of Torrance took sixth. . . . Banning, The Times’ top-ranked South Bay baseball team, will open Pacific League play at 3 p.m. today with a home game against San Pedro. All-City right-hander Mike Busby (1-0) will start for the Pilots (2-1). . . . Gillian Boxx of South Torrance scored two goals to lead the Pioneer League past the Ocean League, 4-1, in a girls’ all-star soccer game Tuesday at Torrance. . . . Mira Costa will play an alumni baseball game at noon March 23. Anyone interested in participating is asked to call Mira Costa Coach Jim Beaumont at school at 318-7344.