Sports

PREPS

South Gate High Coach Gary Cordray notched his 100th career coaching victory in the Rams’ 26-14 victory Friday over Jefferson. Cordray, who also coached at Washington from 1978-81, has a record of 100-70-2.

“I’ve never had a real goal to win 100, 150 or 200 games,” Cordray said. “I like to think my success as a coach comes from doing a lot of studying game film and being prepared but I don’t think of this victory as a milestone. It’s just means I’ve been around the game a long time.”

Cordray, 48, led South Gate to the 1988 City Section 3-A Division title and Southeastern Conference titles in 1988 and 1989, but he cites a 28-19 victory over Wilson as a first-year coach at Washington to end the Mules’ 42-game win streak as one of his most memorable victories.

The 13th-year South Gate coach can garner another accolade tonight when the Rams play host to Fremont with the Southeastern Conference title on the line. South Gate (8-1) and Fremont (8-1) are 7-0 in conference.

Here’s a rundown of other league races entering the final week of the regular season:

Almont: Montebello (8-1) visits Alhambra (9-0) tonight for the championship in a game between 4-0 teams.

Bell Gardens is in danger of missing the playoffs for only the third time in 18 years after forfeiting a 29-6 victory over Keppel on Oct. 14 because of an ineligible player.

Keppel (4-5, 2-2) holds a one-game lead over Bell Gardens (3-6, 1-3) and Schurr (2-7, 1-3) for third. Keppel plays at Schurr in the league finale tonight and Bell Gardens plays San Gabriel (3-6, 0-4).

Camino Real: After a 5-0 start, St. Anthony (7-2, 1-2) finds itself battling Cantwell-Sacred Heart (4-4, 1-2) for third. Harvard-Westlake (7-1-1) defeated second-place St. Monica (6-2, 2-1), 23-20, on Friday to finish its league schedule 4-0.

St. Anthony plays host to Verbum Dei (0-3, 5-4) at Clark Field on Friday and Cantwell plays St. Monica on Saturday night. St. Anthony defeated Cantwell, 16-14, Oct. 22 and will advance in the event of a tie.

Del Rey: Bishop Amat, the nation’s top-ranked team, is in the driver’s seat at 9-0 and 4-0. Crespi (5-4, 3-1), St. Paul (7-2, 2-2), Loyola (7-2, 2-2) and St. John Bosco (4-5, 1-3) are in contention for the two remaining playoff berths.

Friday’s matchups include St. Paul at Bishop Amat, St. John Bosco at Alemany and Loyola versus Crespi at Pierce College.

Del Rio: Five teams are in contention for three playoff spots. Santa Fe (6-3) is 3-1 with California (4-5), El Rancho (3-6), La Serna (6-3) and Whittier (4-5) tied for second at 2-2. Santa Fe plays at Pioneer, La Serna visits California and Whittier is at El Rancho in tonight’s games.

Mission Valley: Arroyo (7-2, 4-0) and South El Monte (6-3, 3-1) are leading the way and Cerritos (4-5, 2-2) and Rosemead (3-6, 2-2) are battling for third. Cerritos plays at Mountain View (0-9, 0-4) and Rosemead plays at El Monte (5-3, 1-3). In the event of a tie, Rosemead would advance to the playoffs by virtue of its 19-6 victory against the Dons on Oct. 28.

Moore: Lakewood (6-3, 4-0) clinched a share of its first league title since 1983 with a 25-21 victory Friday over Long Beach Jordan (6-3, 3-1). The Lancers can win the title outright with a victory over two-time league defending champion Long Beach Poly (8-1, 3-1) tonight at home.

A Poly victory coupled with a Jordan win at Long Beach Wilson (5-4, 2-2) would also give Jordan a share of the league title.

Olympic: Valley Christian (8-1, 4-0) is assured a share of the league title. The Crusaders play second-place Orange Lutheran (7-2, 3-1) Saturday night at Brea Olinda High.

San Gabriel Valley: Downey (7-2, 4-0), Paramount (7-2, 3-1) and Dominguez (5-3, 3-1) have clinched playoff spots. Downey can win the title outright with a victory against visiting Paramount tonight.

Suburban: La Mirada (9-0) plays host to Artesia (7-2) Friday night for the championship. Both teams are 4-0.

Bellflower (4-5, 2-2) can clinch the final playoff berth against Mayfair (2-7, 0-4). A Bellflower loss could create a tie for third with the winner between Norwalk (2-6, 1-3) and Glenn (2-6, 1-3).

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Moore League champion Millikan (12-1) and runner-up Long Beach Poly (14-2) are seeded first and second, respectively, in the Southern Section Division II girls’ volleyball playoffs. Millikan plays host to Immaculate Heart and Poly will play North Torrance at home in first-round matches tonight at 7.

La Serna (19-4) is the top-seeded team and Bell Gardens (24-2) is fourth in the Division III water polo playoffs. The Del Rio League champions will play San Marino at home in a first-round match this afternoon at 3:15. Bell Gardens, the Almont League champion that features three girls (Liz Garcia, Nadia Bueno, Brenda Villa) in its lineup, plays host to California.

Long Beach Wilson (20-4), seeded third in Division I, plays Crespi at Belmont Plaza.

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Pitcher Angela Bessolo of Lakewood High has signed a letter of intent to play softball at Notre Dame, choosing the Irish over Ohio State, Northwestern and Long Beach State.

The right-hander was selected the Moore League most valuable player as a junior last season in leading the Lancers to the league championship.

An All-Southern Section Division II second-team selection, Bessolo (20-5) pitched six no hitters, including two perfect games, in compiling a 0.65 earned-run average.

COMMUNITY COLLEGES

The records keep coming for Long Beach City College quarterback Neo Aoga.

The freshman from Long Beach Poly set a school record for completions and tied the mark for touchdown passes in a season in a 65-38 victory over previously unbeaten El Camino Saturday night.

Long Beach (8-1, 5-0) also clinched its second consecutive Mission Conference Northern Division title against El Camino (7-1, 3-1), the state’s second-ranked team. The Vikings, who moved from eighth to fifth in the state rankings, close out the regular season at Mt. San Antonio (3-4-1, 0-4) Saturday night.

“Ratings really don’t matter,” Aoga said. “We could be No. 1 and come out and lose. We just wanted to play for the conference title. We just tried to play our game and not get out of it.”

Aoga completed 17 of 36 passes for 247 yards to bring his season total to 156 completions to surpass the mark of 146 set by Dennis Dummit in 1968. Aoga’s two touchdown passes tied Dummit’s record of 19. He also rushed for 100 yards and three touchdowns.

Against Palomar on Oct. 22, Aoga set single-game records for passing with 454 yards and seven touchdowns. Through nine games, he also passed for a record 2,462 yards.

“I never really thought about breaking all these records that had stood for 30 years,” Aoga said. “If we just played, the coaches said everything would fall into place.”

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Members of the undefeated 1955 Compton College football team will be honored at a tailgate party before the Tartars’ homecoming game against Valley Saturday afternoon.

The team, which included eight black players, broke racial barriers by playing Jones Junior College of Mississippi.

The game, involving the nation’s top two junior college teams, marked the first time a Mississippi college, junior college or high school had played an integrated opponent. Top-ranked Compton won the game, 22-13, before more than 58,000 at the Rose Bowl to claim the junior college national championship.

Saturday’s game against Valley will pit Compton (3-4-1, 1-2-1), the Western State Conference’s top pass defense, against the conference’s top pass offense.

Compton is coming off a 28-9 defeat against Santa Monica. Blase Austin intercepted his fifth pass of the season and Darrence O’Banner had three tackles and 10 assists for Compton.

HALL OF FAME

Long Beach Wilson High swim Coach Klaus Barth was one of nine honorees recently inducted to the Long Beach State Athletic Hall of Fame. Barth, who swam on the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. championship teams in 1969 and 1970, competed West Germany in the 1968 Mexico Olympics.

Other inductees included:

Rikard Bergh (tennis, 1986-87)--He was Long Beach’s No. 1 singles’ player in 1986 and 1987, compiling a 41-16 record. The 49ers were 25-5 in 1987 and finished fifth in the NCAA championship tournament.

Warren Boring (wrestling coach, 1958-65)--Boring established Long Beach’s wrestling program and was instrumental in its classification as an intercollegiate sport in 1958. The 49ers were the state’s top team in the Pacific Coast championship meet and finished 8-3 in dual-meet competition.

Mike Horan (football, 1980-81)--A punter for the New York Giants, Horan holds school records in career average (42.9 yards), season average (44.7) and single-game average (49.5).

Margaret LeDuc (basketball and volleyball, 1968-71)--A member of the U.S. National volleyball team from 1965-69, LeDuc was a two-time all-conference selection in basketball and was also a conference player-of-the-year choice in volleyball.

Ralph Lee (track and field, 1963-65)--Lee was the 1963 NCAA college division 880-yard champion and was a two-time California Collegiate Athletic Assn. champion in the 880 and mile. The 49ers finished second in the 1964 national meet and won the CCAA title in 1965.

Bob Pinkerton (football and track and field, 1957-61)--Pinkerton was named Long Beach’s all-around athlete in 1961, earning all-conference honors as an end on the football team and winning the NCAA college division hammer throw title in track.

Sam Robinson (basketball, 1968-70)--Robinson became the first 49er professional draft choice when he was selected in the first round by the Miami Floridians of the American Basketball Assn. In 1968-69, he was named the All-Southern California College Division Player of the Year.

Rob Townley (baseball, 1978-79)--The center fielder led Long Beach to its first 40-win season, setting school records in home runs (14), hits (100), runs batted in (70), longest hitting streak (28 games) and stolen bases (40) as a senior.

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Actor and professional wrestler Tommie Lister Jr. was among four inducted into the Long Beach City College Hall of Fame. Lister, 36, was a shotputter on the 1979 track team and was the 1982 NCAA Division II champion in the event at Cal State L.A.

A veteran of 24 films, Lister played the role of Zeus, a homicidal maniac who challenged Hulk Hogan to a wrestling match with no rules in the 1989 film “No Holds Barred.” Last year, he co-starred with Mario Van Peebles and Tone Loc in the Western “Posse.”