Morningside Basketball Team’s Catch-22 Proved to Be Inglewood

First-year Inglewood High basketball Coach Patrick Roy had trouble giving his postgame talk Tuesday night.

With all the screaming in the Sentinels’ locker room, it was difficult to hear anything.

“The players were very excited,” said Roy, whose team had just defeated Morningside, 69-67, in the first round of the Tournament of Champions at Ocean View High in Huntington Beach.

Inglewood ended Morningside’s 22-game winning streak dating to last season, when the Monarchs won the State Division III title.

Junior point guard Sam Turks’ game-winning three-point shot came with five seconds to play. Morningside had taken a 67-66 lead with 10 seconds left on a three-point play by swingman Dwight Curry.

Inglewood (4-3) meets Long Beach Poly at 7 tonight in the quarterfinals of the 16-team tournament. Serra (4-3), which beat Long Beach Jordan, 68-67, Tuesday on Michael Boyd’s three-point shot with two seconds left, plays Huntington Beach at 8:30 tonight. Morningside (5-1) plays Murphy in a consolation game at 4.

Inglewood, after leading by 14 points in the third quarter, withstood a fourth-quarter charge by Morningside, which used its press and the three-point shooting of guards Stais Boseman and Donminic Ellison to rally.

“With all our turnovers, they came back,” Roy said.

Senior forward Givon Hester led Inglewood with 17 points, and senior guard Chris White, playing in only his second game of the season because of a back injury, added 16.

“It was a big win for us,” Roy said. “We’ve been playing up and down. With this win, I think we’ll be up for a while.”

In its previous game Friday, Inglewood played poorly in a 49-29 loss to visiting Pasadena.

“It was horrible,” Roy said. “We just never got into the flow of the ballgame. There was no ball movement or anything. (Pasadena) totally took us out of sync.”

Roy said he expected the Sentinels to develop slowly because most of the players are juniors and sophomores.

“We’re young and two weeks away from being a really good team, which we will be,” he said.

South Torrance center Kyle McIntosh is a force on the basketball court as well as in the classroom. A straight-A student, the senior wants to attend a strong academic college such as Yale, Stanford or UC San Diego, South Coach LaMont Henry said.

“Basketball is secondary to Kyle,” Henry said.

The 6-foot-7 McIntosh had 21 points and 16 rebounds Tuesday night to lead the Spartans past Ambassador Christian, 68-47, in the first round of the Damien Tournament in La Verne. South (4-1), which lost in the last year’s title game to Damien, plays Fontana in the quarterfinals at 7:30 tonight.

Carson Principal Dhyan Lal said he plans to evaluate the football program before making any decision about the future of the Colt coaching staff.

Carson is 15-9-1 in two seasons under Coach Marty Blankenship. That’s as many losses as the Colts had in seven previous seasons under Gene Vollnogle, who retired in 1990. Vollnogle’s record from 1984 to ’90 was 76-10.

Lal said he was pleased that Carson rebounded from an 0-2-1 start to reach the City Section 4-A Division championship game. But he was dissatisfied with the team’s 17-0 loss to Sylmar in Saturday’s final at El Camino College.

It was the first time Carson had been shut out since 1980, ending a streak of 147 games in which the Colts had scored.

“I was satisfied with our season, but you’re never satisfied enough if you don’t win the big one,” Lal said. “The kids played their hearts out, but things didn’t go our way.”

Lal said he plans to meet with coaches, players and Athletic Director Saul Pacheco to see if changes are needed. After Carson’s poor start, Lal arranged for former assistant Steve Clarkson to help coach the team’s offense.

“We go through an evaluation after every season,” Lal said. “I haven’t talked to the coaches. Perhaps after the holidays, I’ll sit down and evaluate everything. At the moment, I haven’t given anything a thought.”

Turnovers played a big part in Carson’s drop-off the past two seasons. The Colts committed 38 turnovers in 12 games last season, and nearly matched that total this year with 37 turnovers in 14 games.

Quarterback Jamie Sander, Carson’s career passing leader with 4,623 yards, accounted for 59 of the team’s 75 turnovers the past two seasons, with 39 interceptions and 20 fumbles. Two passes were intercepted in the Sylmar game on Saturday, bringing his season total to 20.

Carson needed its defense to bail out the mistake-prone offense many times this season. The Colts held opponents to 114 yards and 10 points a game.

Four defensive players ended their careers among the school’s top 15 in total tackles: linebackers James Pepe (No. 4 with 227 tackles) and Chris Vaimili (No. 9 with 208), lineman Sipo’u Mareko (No. 12 with 204) and safety Dion Brumfield (No. 15 with 196).

Linebacker Rowen Tupuivao holds the Carson record with 263 tackles from 1972 to ’73.

Here is a list of the top senior football players in Southern California, according to the Westminster-based Para-Dies Scouting service:

QUARTERBACKS--Tim Carey (Los Alamitos), 6-4, 190; Sean O’Brien (Santa Margarita), 6-4, 210; Davis Delmatoff (Hart), 6-0, 200; Pat Barnes (Trabuco Hills), 6-4, 210; John Dutton (Fallbrook), 6-4, 210; Mike Smith (Bishop Amat), 6-4, 205; Aaron Flowers (Artesia), 6-1, 170; Johnny Macon (Downey), 5-11, 180; Clelio Boccato (Loyola), 6-1, 190; Aaron Buckner (St. Augustine), 6-5, 185; Frank Ramirez (North Torrance), 6-0, 175; Vaimagalo Faavi-Tua’au (Banning), 6-1, 210; Jamie Sander (Carson), 6-0, 190.

RUNNING BACKS--Saladin McCullough (Muir), 5-11, 185; James Curtis (Kearney), 6-1, 205; Lamont Hicks (Banning, Riverside), 6-2, 180; Eugene Walls (Temecula Valley), 6-0, 175; Chris Hall (J.W. North, Riverside), 6-1, 195; Eric Rockhold (El Capitan), 6-0, 170; Eliel Swinton (Montclair Prep), 5-10, 185; Lawrence Phillips (Baldwin Park), 6-1, 205; Corey McCoy (Hawthorne), 5-9, 165; Jeff Byrd (Rancho Alamitos), 5-10, 170; Scott Seal (Irvine), 6-2, 210; Damin Hurst (Banning), 5-9, 175; Joe Maynes (Bloomington), 5-7, 165; Oliver Baines (Westchester), 5-9, 165.

Torrie Lee (Crespi), 5-8, 180; Conan Smith (Morse, San Diego), 5-11, 195; Archie Amerson (Morse), 5-8, 170; Elphamous Malbrue (Servite), 5-8, 165; Anthony Davis (Castle Park), 5-11, 180; Carzell Jordan (Barstow), 6-0, 185; Michael White (Upland), 5-11, 190; Lamonte Adams (Nogales), 5-10, 195; Larry Harris (St. Anthony), 6-1, 230; Robert Jenkins (Dominguez), 5-10, 205; Kevin McKenzie (Long Beach Wilson), 6-0, 180; Jasper Williams (Rubidoux), 5-11, 155; Charles Ephriam (Compton), 6-1, 175; Paul Turner (University City, San Diego), 5-10, 180; Ernie Wilson (El Modena), 5-10, 180.

WIDE RECEIVERS--Yo Yamamoto (Workman), 6-0, 175; George Sagen (Los Alamitos), 6-2, 190; Antonio Carreon (Dorsey), 5-10, 170; Marcelo Ortega (Lincoln), 6-0, 180; Deriek Charles (Hart), 5-8, 165; Ed Gray (J.W. North, Riverside), 6-3, 190; Tommy Covington (Culver City), 6-0, 185; Kimo Atkins (Montclair Prep), 5-11, 175; Chris Love (Artesia), 6-1, 195; Eric Polk (Hamilton), 6-0, 170; Eric Scott (Crenshaw), 6-0, 175; Tremaine Miles (Crenshaw), 6-1, 185; J.J. Arnett (Hawthorne), 5-11, 170.

TIGHT ENDS--Blake Spence (Capistrano Valley), 6-4, 215; Johnny Cotton (Southwest), 6-1, 210; Kenny Junious (Kearney), 6-6, 205; Josh Eby (Mt. Carmel), 6-5, 255); Bill Pedigo (Mission Viejo), 6-1, 215; Mike Asuega (Long Beach Jordan), 6-5, 220; Hauss Hancock (West Torrance), 6-4, 215; Tim Malone (Crespi), 6-3, 220; Chris Bowman (St. Bernard), 6-3, 210; Jared Meyer (North Torrance), 6-5, 200; Gabriel Anguiano (Artesia), 6-4, 210.

OFFENSIVE LINEMEN--Patrick Freeman (Eisenhower), 6-4, 280; Shawn Stuart (Saugus), 6-4, 280; Cedrick Doakes (Crenshaw), 6-2, 255; Chris Brymer (Apple Valley), 6-5, 265; Mostafa Sobhi (Hawthorne), 6-5, 280; Bob Williams (Orange Glen), 6-2, 295; Brett Bryant (El Dorado), 6-3, 250; Chris Hernandez (Los Alamitos), 6-5, 285; George Roberts (Edison), 6-4, 240; Demetrious Hamilton (Morningside), 6-1, 220; Ryan Watkins (Brea-Olinda), 6-6, 250; J.J. Lynch (Los Alamitos), 6-3, 245; Travis Pulliam (Esperanza), 6-3, 255; Brian Chapman (El Camino), 6-2, 235; Don Fluegge (Orange Glen), 6-2, 245; Jim Mohammad (El Toro), 6-5, 255; Brandon Young (Crenshaw), 6-3, 295; Brent Twedt (Orange Glen), 6-4, 305; Kyle Murphy (Edison), 6-4, 245.

Al McCall (Redlands), 6-4, 255; Bill McMullen (Los Alamitos), 6-3, 240; Jesse Misaalefua (Carson), 6-3, 300; Steve Buether (St. Bernard), 6-4, 250; Lamont Brown (St. Bernard), 6-4, 245; Chad Sauter (South Torrance), 6-6, 260; Armando Gonzales (Verdugo Hills), 6-3, 240; Steve Hill (North, Riverside), 6-3, 250; Anthony Villasenor (Bishop Amat), 6-3, 250; Dewey Reed (Alemany), 6-2, 260; Al Guerrero (West Torrance), 6-4, 260; Tim Daniels (Banning, Riverside), 6-4, 230; Robert Jungerhans (Loyola), 6-4, 240; Santonio Turner (Dorsey), 6-2, 240; Kevin Knighten (Dorsey), 6-4, 275; Andy Meyers (Fontana), 6-6, 270; Rasheed Hibler (Beverly Hills), 6-2, 235; Marcus Whitney (Bellflower), 6-4, 290; Derik Chandler (Lynwood), 6-7, 280; John Fullerton (Loyola), 6-3, 245.

DEFENSIVE LINEMEN--Joe Salaves (Oceanside), 6-5, 250; Travis Kirschke (Esperanza), 6-4, 250; Germaine Gray (Eisenhower), 6-5, 245; Tyson Lingenfelter (Upland), 6-4, 245; Nickey Sualua (Mater Dei), 6-1, 245; Leon Bender (Santana), 6-5, 220; Phalen Pounds (Pasadena), 6-8, 280; Craig Zimmerman (6-5, 220); Beau Ralphs (Newport Harbor), 6-2, 245; Andrew Hoggatt (Highland), 6-2, 230; Jimmy James (Valley View), 6-4, 275; Sam Christian (San Gorgonio), 6-4, 225; Tyrone Gunn (Washington), 6-3, 225; Joe Irving (Bellflower), 6-4, 220.

LINEBACKERS--Ty Wade (Canyon Springs), 6-2, 220; Brian Billings (Redlands), 6-2, 215; James Pepe (Carson), 6-3, 225; Parker Gregg (Mater Dei), 6-1, 225; Sam Young (La Sierra), 6-2, 215; Buck Hamlin (Colton), 6-2, 225; Brian Batson (Torrey Pines), 6-4, 220; Rashad Wright (Kearney), 6-2, 210; Leon Vickers (Rancho Alamitos), 6-1, 200; Ryan Jones (Irvine), 6-2, 220; Chad Peare (Trabuco Hills), 6-0, 230; Brian Willmer (Sunny Hills), 6-3, 230; Tom Pellicer (Esperanza), 6-1, 210; Treyvone Towns (Pasadena), 6-4, 240; Fia Ili (Long Beach Poly), 6-0, 230; Armando Alfaro (Ramona, Riverside), 5-10, 200.

Taso Papadakis (Peninsula), 6-1, 220; Nart Ibrahim (Fountain Valley), 5-11, 225; William Robertson (Hawthorne), 6-1, 230; Mike Palinski (Corona), 6-2, 185; Sipo’u Mareko (Carson), 6-0, 255; Chi Lam (North Torrance), 6-2, 215; Shawn Shamsiadeen (Morningside), 6-3, 215; Keeley Murphy (Arlington), 6-2, 220; George Guzman (Bishop Amat), 6-3, 225; Don Moala (Carson), 6-0, 230; Kelron Sykes (Lynwood), 6-3, 220; Ryan McMakin (Bloomington), 6-2, 215; Josh Henderson (Fontana), 6-2, 215; Matt Branstetter (Redlands), 6-2, 225; Weldon Forde (Redlands), 6-2, 220; Albert Georgino (Loyola), 6-2, 210; Ryan Holmes (El Modena), 6-3, 235.

DEFENSIVE BACKS--Brian Barajas (Mater Dei), 5-10, 175; Bryant Thomas (San Pedro), 6-0, 170; Bryant Westbrook (El Camino, San Diego), 6-0, 200; Mike Booker (El Camino), 6-2, 190; Brandon Moore (Banning), 6-0, 185; Sammy Knight (Rubidoux), 6-1, 200; Ray Jackson (Mater Dei), 6-3, 195; Derrick Hooks (Banning), 6-1, 180; Chris Baker (Helix), 5-10, 175; Billy Baker (Kearney), 5-10, 180; Ronnie Morrissette (Hawthorne), 6-3, 220; Tevita Moala (Hawthorne), 5-11, 180; Bobby Sunderland (Sunny Hills), 6-2, 190.

Tom Hess (Corona del Mar), 6-2, 205; Marshall Brown (Rancho Alamitos), 5-11, 180; Shaunta Baker (Pt. Loma), 5-10, 185; Ace Riggens (Valencia), 5-11, 175; Mike Stewart (Banning, Riverside), 5-10, 220; Raoul Henderson (Ramona, Riverside), 5-9, 170; Woody Leonard (Ramona), 5-9, 170; Mike Flanagan (El Camino), 6-0, 190; Rashad Lewis (Pt. Loma), 6-0, 190; Dion Brumfield (Carson), 6-2, 180; Jerry Price (Aquinas), 6-2, 170; R.B. Bonner (Washington), 5-10, 180; Kevin Devine (Nogales), 5-10, 165.

KICKERS--Jerry Pilato (Peninsula), 5-10, 220; Scott Moore (Redondo), 6-0, 180; Micah Knorr (Orange), 6-2, 160; Kevin Brennan (Chula Vista), 5-10, 165.

South Bay’s Football Top 10

FINAL

Selected by Times Sportswriters

Rank, School, League: Record

1 (tie) San Pedro (Southern): 12-1-1 2 Hawthorne (Bay): 12-2 3 Carson (Pacific): 9-4-1 4 North Torrance (Pioneer): 10-2 5 Peninsula (Bay): 9-3 6 South Torrance (Pioneer): 8-4 7 West Torrance (Pioneer): 9-4 8 Banning (Pacific): 7-4 9 Leuzinger (Bay): 6-5 10 Serra (Camino Real): 6-3-2