Serra Basketball Team Is Getting to the Point

It could be construed as a case of the rich getting richer.

With players such as center Akeli Jackson and forwards Arthur Tate and Michael Boyd, the Serra basketball team already had a surplus of talent. All that Coach Dwan Hurt said he needed was a point guard to make another run at the State Division IV championship.

Last week Hurt got his wish. Alex Davis, a 6-foot point guard from St. Monica, transferred to Serra. Davis was an All-Southern Section Division IV first-team selection last season.

Davis, who averaged 19 points a game last season and was regarded as the top point guard in the Camino Real League as a junior, was kicked off the St. Monica squad for disciplinary reasons in January.

Davis transferred to Serra for the start of the spring semester. He was eligible to play immediately because Hurt said Davis moved with his parents into the area.

“I know his departure from St. Monica may not have been on the best of terms, but I think he is a great person,” Hurt said. “I have known Alex since he was a freshman. His father’s a pastor and (Alex) is just a wonderful kid.”

Davis has made an immediate impact for Serra. In four games, he has averaged 12 points and eight assists.

“It’s just taken a good team and made it better,” Hurt said.

On Friday night, Serra plays host to St. Monica. Playing without Davis, St. Monica was defeated by Serra, 89-54, in the first round of league play Jan. 15 in Santa Monica.

“I think (the game) will draw a lot of attention,” Hurt said. “There’ll be a lot of mixed feelings out there.”

In the latest statistics released by Cal-Hi Sports News, Torrance senior guard Michael Dean leads the state in scoring with a 33.1-point average.

But in recent weeks, Dean has struggled offensively. The 30- and 40-point games that had become commonplace earlier in the season have been on the decline.

That has prompted Coach George Tachibana to move Dean from off-guard to point guard, a position he played the previous two seasons.

“It’s a combination of a couple of things,” Tachibana said. “A couple of other players have been shooting well and I wanted to put them in a little more, and Mike’s shooting has been off lately. So I put him at point guard to start the North (Torrance) game (last week) and it worked out well.”

The Tartars lost to North, 74-73, but Tachibana liked the way Dean played.

Although Dean may not play the position exclusively the rest of the season, it gives Tachibana more options.

“We’re kind of juggling our lineup now, depending on who looks the best,” Tachibana said. “This way we can bring in our two other shooting guards, Desmond Norwood and John Cha. I think that gives us a more potent punch.”

Tachibana said playing the point should help improve Dean’s shooting percentage.

“In the half-court game, when Mike’s at the point, he’s looking more to create instead of just score,” Tachibana said. “He’s looking more for the scoring opportunities now, rather than just looking to score.”

South Bay schools are on the rise in the latest Southern Section and state basketball polls.

Among boys’ teams moving up in the Southern Section rankings are Bishop Montgomery from No. 5 to No. 4 and South Torrance from No. 6 to No. 5 in Division III, Serra from No. 4 to No. 2 in Division IV and Chadwick from No. 3 to No. 2 in Division V.

In the girls’ poll, North Torrance is ninth in Division II and St. Bernard is fifth in Division IV.

The one constant in both polls is that Morningside remains No. 1 among boys and girls in Division III.

The Morningside boys and girls are also ranked No. 1 in the state in Division III by Cal-Hi Sports News.

The Monarchs have been the top-ranked team in boys’ Division III all season, but the Morningside girls climbed to No. 1 for the first time this week after San Leandro was granted a petition to move up from Division III to Division II. In the state top 20 for all divisions, the Monarchs are 10th among boys and ninth among girls.

Among the new additions to the boys’ state poll are South Torrance at No. 10 in Division III and Chadwick at No. 8 in Division V.

Notes

Torrance’s Michael Dean leads the state scoring race by less than a point over San Pedro guard Raymond Tutt. A senior who earned All-City honors last season, Tutt is averaging 32.6 points. . . . The Hawthorne football team, which won the 1992 Southern Section Division III title in December, was honored for its accomplishment during a ceremony Tuesday at the Centinela Valley Union High School District Board of Trustees meeting. The Cougars defeated Bell Gardens, 14-6, for their first title since 1954.

El Segundo High is playing host to a baseball reunion and alumni game Saturday at Recreation Park. Players from 1927-88 are invited to participate. There will be batting practice at 10 a.m., a home run derby at 12:45 p.m., introductions at 1 p.m. and the game at 1:05 p.m. Admission is $3 for adults or $1 for those 18 or younger. Information: John Stevenson at (310) 615-2667. . . . Three girls’ soccer teams from the South Bay are listed in the top 10 in Southern Section Division I, including Torrance at No. 3, Peninsula at No. 5 and South Torrance at No. 7. Bishop Montgomery is ranked fifth in Division II and Chadwick is fourth in Division IV. The only area boys’ soccer team ranked is Peninsula at No. 9 in Division I.

The West Torrance wrestling team is ranked third in Southern Section Division II going into a match against cross-town rival Torrance at 3 p.m. today at West. Among the top wrestlers for West have been Lance Kaneoka in the 125-pound division and Edson Park at 130 pounds. Kaneoka won his division and was voted outstanding wrestler in the lower weight divisions as West finished third in the San Gabriel Valley Classic Invitational Saturday in Whittier.

South Bay Boys’ Basketball Top 10

Selected by Times Sportswriters Through Tuesday’s Games Rank, School, League: Record 1 Morningside (Ocean): 20-4 2 Bishop Montgomery (Mission): 17-2 3 Westchester (Metro): 14-6 4 Serra (Camino Real): 14-7 5 Inglewood (Bay): 13-9 6 Peninsula (Bay): 14-7 7 South Torrance (Pioneer): 19-2 8 Carson (Southern): 12-7 9 Mira Costa (Ocean): 15-6 10 Leuzinger (Bay): 12-9