Torrance Boys’ Team on the Upswing as Regular Season Draws to a Close

The fortunes of the Torrance High boys’ basketball team have turned around.

The Tartars completed their Pioneer League schedule with an impressive 97-85 victory over South Torrance on Friday night. South was the fourth-ranked team in Southern Section Division II.

Torrance finished the regular season 10-13 and tied for third place in the league behind South and Centennial at 5-3, but Coach Bob Little said the Tartars’ record is deceiving.

“We’ve been playing well most of the season, but we felt like we needed something to take us over the hump in critical parts of a game,” he said. “There were very few games where we weren’t leading at one point or another.”

That was the case when Torrance played at South on Jan. 29. The Tartars pulled ahead in the second half only to lose, 69-67.

A similar scenario appeared to be unfolding Friday with South leading, 43-41, at halftime. But Torrance scored 28 points in the third quarter to win easily. Dean led the Tartars in scoring with 31, forward Adrian Dupin had 24 and guard Darryl Burgess added 22.

“In the first half, we just got run off the court,” Little said. “In the second half, we took away their running game. That was the difference.”

Little said he likes the way his team is playing entering the first round of the Division II-AA playoffs Friday. The Tartars reached the quarterfinals last season.

“We’re real happy right now,” he said. “I just hope we get a nice draw in the playoffs.”

Friday was a long day for South Torrance boys’ Coach LaMont Henry.

After the Spartans lost to cross-town rival Torrance, creating a tie for the Pioneer League title between South and Centennial, a coin flip was held to determine the league’s No. 1 representative in the playoffs.

Torrance Coach Bob Little flipped the coin and Henry called tails. He was wrong.

“It’s sort of weird,” he said. “We thought we deserved to be the No. 1 representative but that’s the way the CIF wants us to do it.”

Although the Spartans (19-5, 6-2) won a share of their first league title since 1978, it was not the way that Henry had hoped to see the regular season end. Two days earlier, South lost its first league game to Centennial, 76-65.

But Henry is optimistic about South’s postseason chances.

“I think we’ll be OK,” he said. “We’re terribly disappointed about the two losses in a row. But these kids are winners. They’ll get over this by the end of the weekend. These are not the kind of kids who will get depressed and let a loss like this affect us going into the playoffs.”

The Spartans have lost three of five.

“I’m not happy with the rebounding,” Henry said. “We are a small team and we knew rebounding would be our toughest challenge at the start of the season. (Six-foot-seven center) Kyle McIntosh can’t do it by himself all the time.”

Because of potentially hazardous weather conditions, City officials decided to cancel classes on Friday. It also forced postponement of prep basketball games.

With the regular season scheduled to end Friday and the playoffs scheduled to begin Feb. 26, City teams will have to play three games in four days to complete the schedule.

Understandably, coaches are upset, including Carson’s Richard Masson. The Colts, who were scheduled to play host to Banning on Friday, will play the Pilots on Tuesday.

“I guess they have to make considerations for places like the Valley,” Masson said. “But (Banning and Carson are) only a mile apart. We could walk there.”

Westchester was scheduled to play at Palisades.

“If you’re out in the Valley or some area where it really was a problem getting around, I can see where you might want to postpone the game,” Comet Coach Ed Azzam said. “But I think it should have been done on an individual basis.

“Hey, it was a beautiful day Friday. It seems hard to believe that they (postpone) games because of what might have happened. This is Southern California. It might not rain for another six months.”

But Azzam thinks the Comets, the top-ranked team in the City by The Times with a 21-2 record, have enough depth and experience to play three games in four days. He said other schools may not be as fortunate.

“How would you like to be Palisades and have to play Westchester, Manual Arts and Fairfax in a four-day span?” Azzam said. “Or, how would you like to be Gardena and play Washington, Crenshaw and Dorsey? That would be tough for anyone. But imagine being a team that doesn’t have a whole lot of depth to begin with.”

It is particularly worrisome to Masson, whose team must also play Narbonne on Wednesday and San Pedro on Friday. The Colts are 14-7 and 5-2 in the Pacific League.

“This year has really been butchered,” Masson said. “This is just the latest in a long line of things that has not made the season very enjoyable for me as a coach.”

Jennifer Hughes, a South Torrance volleyball standout who was named to the All-Southern Section team and was the Pioneer League’s most valuable player, has signed a letter of intent to attend Idaho State.

Idaho State Coach Jon Potter thinks the 5-8 Hughes has a bright future.

“Jennifer is an all-around player with a lot of experience,” he said. “We will expect her to have an impact on the program in her first year. Jennifer does everything well--passing, setting, serving and playing defense.”

Said South Coach Moira Fagan: “I can see Jennifer improving and blossoming at the college level. I think she’ll rise to the occasion and show tremendous improvement in her first year of college ball.”