Sports

KO OF THE KING

Few expected 34-year-old boxer Mark Connolly of Culver City to last more than two professional fights. It was even more surprising to see Connolly knock out “The King.”

Fighting against Paul (Elvis) Presley of Memphis, Tenn., in a four-round heavyweight bout Saturday during the reopening of the Grand Olympic Auditorium, Connolly won by technical knockout.

Connolly knocked Presley down with a hard right to the stomach in the second round. Connolly (4-0, two KOs) fought a swing bout before the Oscar De La Hoya and Jimmi Bredahl World Boxing Organization junior lightweight championship bout.

Connolly, a 6-foot-6, 235-pound former basketball player, is the son of Olga and Harold Connolly, gold medalists in the discus and the hammer at the 1956 Olympics.

DEJA VU

St. Bernard High had a rally Tuesday to celebrate the Vikings’ Southern Section Division IV-AA girls’ basketball championship. For the second consecutive season, the Vikings beat Santa Ynez to win the title. This time the score was 52-39.

Despite leg cramps, Olympia Scott had 25 points and 32 rebounds to led the Vikings. It was her fifth consecutive game where she has had 30 or more rebounds. Marte Alexander had 15 points and eight rebounds.

Scott, The Times’ 1993 Westside player of the year, has led the Vikings to three Southern Section titles in four seasons.

On Tuesday, Scott had 26 points, 21 rebounds and 10 blocked shots to lift the Vikings (26-5) to a 77-34 victory over Sierra of Fresno in a State Division IV game. They continue defense of their state title tonight by playing host to Village Christian.

“We’re starting all over again,” St. Bernard Coach Lori Pawinski. “People assumed we were going to win and would have been disappointed if we hadn’t.

“But the championship still feels great. We deserved it.”

Although the Stanford-bound Scott and Alexander graduate in June, the Vikings appear to have a strong lineup for next season. Among the top players returning are starting sophomore point guard Tracie Oaks, 6-foot-2 sophomore forward Joi Thomas and 5-10 freshman Tanda Williams.

REPEATERS

Pacific Hills High may be the first school to win Southern Section boys’ basketball titles under two names.

The Bruins won their second consecutive title, beating Arroyo Grande Coastal Christian, 69-59, in the Southern Section Division V-A championship Friday night at Murphy High.

The Bruins also won the title last season when the school was called Bel-Air Prep.

Danny Brummel scored 17 points to lead the Bruins. Westley Allen scored 15 points, Bryan Sterling had 14 points, and (Chispa) Barahona had 14 points and eight assists.

“We had four rookies trying to mesh with three veterans,” Pacific Hills Coach John Bobich said. “It took a while for the chemistry to develop, but the younger Bruins have improved to make valuable contribution to the championship.”

The rookies were sophomore point guard Barahona, junior guard Adam Feldman, freshman forward Danny Kohn and junior guard Pablo Sprynger.

The Bruins beat to Fresno Riverdale, 65-50, in the Southern California Regional Tuesday night at Murphy. The winner plays North Hollywood Campbell Hall tonight at Occidental College.

HONORS

Westchester senior quarterback Seka Edwards was selected to the 1993 All-Academic football team by the Los Angeles Football Coaches Assn.

Edwards, a two-time Times’ Westside offensive back of the year, has a 3.05 grade-point average. The 6-1, 170-pound Edwards passed for 2,053 yards and 28 touchdowns last season to help the Comets reach the City Section 4-A Division semifinals. He passed for 3,599 yards and 52 touchdowns in the past two seasons.

He was the only area player selected to the team.

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Senior guard Terryl Woolery of Fairfax and sophomore guard Danny Walker of Westchester were selected Western League co-most valuable players by league coaches.

Woolery averaged 16 points, 7.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists for the Lions, who reached the City 4-A quarterfinals. Walker averaged 19 points.

Also selected to the first team were Duane Davis (Fairfax), Ben Sanders (Westchester), Cullen Countee (Westchester), and Rasheed Hazzard (Venice).

Second-team selections were Shaphan Roberts (Fairfax), Quintin McCowen (Venice), Larry Atkins (Venice), Jason Hart (Westchester), Seneca Hester (Los Angeles).

COLLEGES

The UCLA men’s gymnastics team will compete in its final home meet of the season--and final home meet ever--Saturday, playing host to the seven-team John Wooden Center invitational. Third-ranked Oklahoma, Air Force, Arizona State, Army, Brigham Young and UC Santa Barbara are scheduled to compete against the Bruins, who are the defending champions. Men’s gymnastics is being discontinued because of budget constraints.

The Bruin women’s gymnastics team will compete in the UC Santa Barbara invitational at 7 p.m. Friday. Other teams entered include the host Gauchos, New Hampshire, Illinois State and Central Michigan.

The Bruins’ final home meet is against UC Santa Barbara at 7 p.m. Saturday at the John Wooden Center.

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The UCLA women’s basketball team needs a sweep of this week’s home games have a shot of qualifying for the 64-team NCAA tournament. Currently in fifth place in the Pacific 10 Conference, the Bruins play host to Oregon State at 7 tonight and Oregon at 2 p.m. Saturday. The Bruins could move into third place with a sweep.

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After playing Pacific and Stanford on the road, the UCLA men’s volleyball team returns home Sunday to play 12th-ranked Ball State in a nonconference match at noon in the John Wooden Center. The Bruins play at Pacific tonight and Stanford on Friday.

Last week, the Bruins extended their winning streak to 12 consecutive games with victories over San Diego State, Cal State Northridge and Indiana-Purdue, Ft. Wayne. Junior Jeff Nygaard led UCLA in kills in all three matches. Nygaard had 36 kills, one short of a school record, against Northridge.