Sports

OUTNUMBERED

La Mirada receiver Wyatt Boatright isn’t ready to declare the Matadores the favorite when top-seeded La Mirada plays host to second-seeded Bloomington in the Southern Section Division VIII football final Friday night.

But the senior predicts a high-scoring game against the Bruins, who have been averaging 66.5 points a game. Bloomington (13-0) has scored at least 60 points 10 times, with a high of 86.

The Bruins were held to a season-low point total in a 34-21 playoff victory Saturday night over Laguna Hills, but still set a national high school record for most points in a season with 832.

“I think 35 to 40 points will win it,” Boatright said. “We’re top seeded but we’re the underdogs. Hopefully, we can tire them out and contain them.”

La Mirada (13-0) held on for a 7-6 semifinal victory over Norte Vista on Friday. Norte Vista missed two field goals in the final three minutes.

Sean Nicolini blocked a 30-yard attempt by Ryan Engen with 2 minutes, 14 seconds left. Engen also missed a 25-yard kick with 22 seconds to play.

The victory avenged a 25-20 defeat to Norte Vista in the first round of the 1993 playoffs and put La Mirada, which won the 1993 Division VII title, in a championship game for the second time in three years.

“You couldn’t forget about last year’s loss, but we got lucky big time,” Boatright said.

Mike Palumbo connected with Mark Rudigar on a 19-yard touchdown pass and Eric Martinez kicked the extra point to give the Matadores a 7-6 lead late in the second quarter.

La Mirada, which had scored no fewer than 24 points before Friday, failed to score three times inside the five-yard line.

“Everybody is gunning for us, but we dodged a bullet,” Coach John Mele said. “We played well but we didn’t take advantage. Now we have to figure out how to stop Bloomington.”

PYRAMID OF SUCCESS

The Long Beach State is 3-0 in the Pyramid, the $22-million on-campus arena.

The 49er men’s basketball team christened the Pyramid with victories over Detroit Mercy and College of Notre Dame last week. The women’s volleyball team defeated Montana in its first contest in the Pyramid in an NCAA second-round playoff match Sunday.

A standing-room-only crowd of 5,021--the largest on-campus athletic crowd in school history--was on hand for the first event in the Pyramid on Nov. 30.

Senior forward Mike Atkinson scored 21 points to lead Long Beach over Detroit Mercy, 71-64, in a nationally televised game on ESPN.

“It’s pretty exciting considering we’ve played in the Gold Mine for so many years,” Atkinson said about the 1,900-seat gym built in 1954. “It’s nice the school lived up to the promise they made to build the Pyramid. Hopefully, we’ll bring people in to fill it.”

Playing in the 77,000-square-foot structure, which is 180 feet tall at its highest point, was not an easy adjustment Atkinson and the 49ers.

Atkinson said he was posting too low in the key in the first half because of unfamiliarity with the Pyramid court.

“At the Gold Mine, there was this orange line I always ran to,” Atkinson said. “There aren’t as many lines on the floor at the Pyramid so I didn’t know where I was.

Atkinson didn’t have trouble finding the basket, making seven of 11 shots from the field.

The same could not be said of his teammates.

The 49ers missed all 13 of their three-point shots and made only two shots farther than 10 feet in the Pyramid, the world’s largest space frame building and one of only three pyramid buildings in the country.

Long Beach fared better in its 96-68 victory over College of Notre Dame, a Division II team from Belmont in Northern California, on Saturday.

“There’s a huge background difference compared to our old gym,” Atkinson said. “But overall, it’s a great facility.”

Long Beach, which shot 49% from the field, made its first two three-point shots and four of 12 in the game.

Freshman forward Akeli Jackson scored a game-high 17 points, made seven of eight shots and had seven rebounds. Junior point guard Rasul Salahuddin had 12 points, nine assists, and a game-high six steals in 24 minutes.

Long Beach (2-1) suffered its first loss of the season Tuesday, losing to Cal State Northridge, 64-58, on the road. The 49ers are idle until a Dec. 21 home game against Montana.

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The Pyramid may be open, but construction is not complete. Portable concession stands were erected and many of the seats were benches on opening night.

The 49er women’s volleyball team will play its Northwest Regional semifinal match Friday night against Hawaii at the Gold Mine. And the women’s basketball team will play its home games at the Gold Mine until January.

That has not sat well with the members of the women’s basketball team. Athletic Director Dave O’Brien said the men’s program has outgrown the Gold Mine, necessitating the need to play in the Pyramid.

The men’s program has sold more than 1,500 season tickets while less than 300 have been purchased for the women.

“A lot of people aren’t coming for just the game,” freshman Sarah Davis said. “They’re coming to the Pyramid. I think we can get a lot of people too. We can get just as many people as the men get.”

Junior Michelle Esparza said the opportunity to play in the Pyramid was one of the reasons she transferred to Long Beach from Cal State Northridge this fall.

“It makes me upset because this is just as exciting for me to be in the Pyramid sitting on the bench as it would if I were playing,” Esparza said.

Nielsen Construction of San Diego loaned the building to the athletic administration for the inaugural game. Because no construction occurred over the weekend, Long Beach was allowed to schedule the men’s basketball game against College of Notre Dame and the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament match against Montana.

“The building still belongs to (Nielsen),” Assistant Athletic Director Scott Cathcart said. “We don’t even have the keys to the building.”

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The Long Beach women’s basketball team beat Loyola Marymount, 77-60, Tuesday to improve to 2-1 after a season-opening defeat against NCAA runner-up Louisiana Tech.

The 49ers, coached by Glenn McDonald, a former Long Beach All-American, have four players from Lakewood and three from Lynwood.

Melissa Gower of Lakewood was an All-Big West Conference second-team pick as a junior, averaging 15.8 points and 9.6 rebounds. The 6-foot-2 senior had a career-high 36 points in a 88-74 victory over Southern Utah and had a game-high 27 points and 13 rebounds against Loyola Marymount.

Junior point guard Akia Hardy of Lakewood, who led the 49ers in steals and assists, and junior forward Kim Barfield of Lynwood are the other returning starters from last season’s 11-17 team.

Ja’net Davis is a junior from Lynwood and Toby Metoyer, a Lakewood High graduate, is sophomore transfer from Duquesne. Amy Heaton, a 6-1 freshman, was a two-time All-Moore League selection at Lakewood.

PRACTICE TIME

Bell High has won City Section titles in volleyball, cross-country and baseball.

The Eagles moved closer to their first City football title with a 27-7 victory over Manual Arts in a 3-A semifinal playoff game last week. Bell (10-3) plays Birmingham (6-5-1) in the final Friday night at Gardena High.

“All we wanted was to practice for four weeks after the regular season ended,” Bell Coach Henry Santiago said. “Regardless if we win in the final or not, our goal was just to make it there. That was the hardest part.”

Clinging to a 13-7 fourth-quarter lead, Bell scored two touchdowns within a five-minute span to secure its first berth in the championship since 1984.

“It was a close game all the way, but we got some lucky plays down the line,” Bell running back Vern Benard said. “Now we want to move forward and prove we can win it all.”

Benard rushed for 142 yards in 18 carries, including a 79-yard touchdown run. Dicky Purcell, who had four receptions for 51 yards, and Gary Herrera, who had two catches for 60 yards, each scored a touchdown.

BOWLING

Charles Ephriam scored three touchdowns and Corey Kelley scored two to lead Cerritos College to a 55-9 victory over Moorpark in the first Strawberry Bowl Saturday night at Cerritos College. Cerritos (8-3) scored three touchdowns in four minutes in the second quarter to race to a 35-0 halftime lead. The Falcons intercepted five passes and blocked two punts.

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Long Beach City College was shut out in the first half for the first time this season in a 31-9 defeat against host Bakersfield City in the Potato Bowl Saturday. Neo Aoga completed 18 of 40 passes for 228 yards and Patrick Norris had 75 yards in 19 carries for Long Beach (9-2).