Sports

PREPS

LaKeisha Backus won the state 200-meter title and placed second in the event at the World Junior championships in Portugal in August.

The Long Beach Wilson High senior took little time picking up where she left off in her season debut at the Sunkist Invitational Saturday at the Sports Arena.

Backus won her heat of the 50 meters in a meet-record 6.41 seconds. The mark is the second-fastest high school time by a U.S. runner and only two-hundredths of a second off the national record of 6.39 set by Aspen Burkett of Colorado and Kisha Jett of Maryland in 1994.

Marion Jones, a nine-time state champion at Rio Mesa and Thousand Oaks High, set the previous meet record of 6.43 in 1991.

“It was really a surprise,” Backus said. “I haven’t been working out a whole lot and I didn’t really get a good start. I think faster times are to come.”

Backus, though, didn’t get a shot at the national record or cross-town rivals Aminah Haddad and Andrea Anderson of Long Beach Poly when the final was canceled because of time restraints in the meet schedule.

“I really wasn’t pushed at all in the prelim,” Backus said. “With competition and Aminah and Andrea, I really thought I could run a whole lot faster and break the national record.”

Haddad and Anderson won their 50 heats in 6.49 and 6.50. The two also ran on the Jackrabbits’ victorious eight-member 1,280-yard relay team.

Other winners included Eric Patterson of Poly in the 50-meter hurdles in 7.01 and John Davis of Wilson in the discus with a toss of 170 feet. Poly and Wilson were also victorious in their heats of the mile relay (3:41.1) and four-member 640-yard relay (1:08.3).

* Long Beach Poly is the top-seeded team in the Southern Section Division I-AA boys’ basketball playoffs.

The defending division champion Jackrabbits, who received a first-round bye, will play host to Simi Valley on Friday night.

Josh Newburn had 24 points, including three three-point baskets, and Leland Matthews and Damion Dawson scored 12 and 10 points, respectively, as Poly (17-9) clinched its second consecutive Moore League title with a 75-62 victory over Lakewood on Friday.

Dominguez (24-2) and Artesia (20-3) are seeded second in Divisions II-A and III-AA, respectively. San Gabriel Valley League champion Dominguez will play host to Compton in a first-round game Friday.

Suburban League champion Artesia, which enters the playoffs with an 11-game winning streak, plays Savanna in a second-round home game after a first-round bye.

* Long Beach Poly is seeded second and Lynwood third in the Division I-AA girls’ basketball playoffs. Diamond Bar is the top seed. Moore League champion Poly (21-4) and San Gabriel Valley League champion Lynwood (18-5) received first-round byes.

Poly will play host to the winner of Wednesday’s first-round game between Bell Gardens and Temecula Valley. Lynwood will meet either Hesperia or Valley View.

Suburban League co-champion Glenn (14-9) is seeded fourth in Division III-A. The Eagles played Estancia on Wednesday. The winner will meet either Rancho Alamitos or Pioneer on Saturday.

* Montebello and Glenn are the top-seeded teams in the Division II and IV dual meet wrestling championships that began Wednesday.

Almont League champion Montebello and Suburban League champion Glenn, the defending Division IV champion, are among 64 schools to participate in the four 16-team, single-elimination division tournaments.

* Jordan is seeded No. 1 in the Division II soccer playoffs. Jose Guevara, Jorge Tamayo, Halmar Carranza and David Lara each scored goals to lift the Panthers to a 4-2 victory over Lakewood to secure the Moore League title. Jordan (14-2-4) plays Redondo (10-8-8) in a first-round home match Friday.

* La Serna and Mayfair are the top-seeded teams in the Division III girls’ soccer playoffs. La Serna defeated Mayfair in the quarterfinals last season and advanced to the finals before losing to Riverside Poly, 2-0, in overtime.

COMMUNITY COLLEGES

The Cerritos College men’s basketball team finishes regular-season play Saturday at El Camino. The Falcons defeated Long Beach City for the third time, 70-61, and Pasadena City, 106-75, last week to improve to 27-1 and 8-0 in South Coast Conference play.

Wayne Allen had 17 points, seven rebounds and three steals and David Henry had 15 points and 11 rebounds against Long Beach. Darius Rutledge paced the Falcons with 20 points and 11 rebounds and Henry had 18 points on eight-of-10 shooting.

* Jack Bogdanovich, who has coached Cerritos to three state men’s basketball titles, eight South Coast Conference championships and a record of 352-37 record in 13 seasons, will take a one-year sabbatical. Dean Ackland, an assistant for 11 seasons, will serve as interim coach.

* The Cerritos College women’s basketball team is tied for second in the South Coast Conference entering the final week of the regular season. The top two teams will receive automatic berths into the Southern California Regional playoffs. Cerritos (19-10, 9-3 in conference), which played host to Mt. San Antonio on Wednesday, will meet El Camino Saturday in a road game.

Babita Singh scored 28 points on 11-of-15 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds to lift the Falcons to a 69-63 victory over Compton on Friday. Michelle Coleman had 12 points and Liz Espinosa had six assists. Wakia Gipson had 19 points for Compton (12-10, 4-6).