CRUNCH TIME: School is winding down, but...

CRUNCH TIME: School is winding down, but before students leave, the Southern Section will crown prep champions in 10 spring sports. Playoffs are underway and will end June 3. . . . In boys’ tennis, Sunny Hills High of Fullerton is beginning its quest to win a third consecutive Division II title. Coach Steve White, in his 25th year at the school, did not win the section until 1991 but will be going for his fourth title in five years. . . . “We’ve had a lot of great players go through here the last couple of years,” White said, “as opposed to the good players we had here before that.”

SMASHING SUCCESS: Rosary High softball players took turns smashing small toy cars after many victories this season. And for bigger games, the girls wrecked bigger toy trucks. Coach Tom Tice got the idea from the University of Arizona, which won the college softball title last year. . . . “We’ll probably get a bigger car the further along in the playoffs we get,” Tice says. “Who knows, if we win the title, maybe the girls can smash my 1988 Volkswagen.”

FLIPPING OUT: Westminster’s La Quinta High baseball team will try to become the county’s second to reach three consecutive sectional finals. Coach Dave Demarest says “heads or tails” could play a key role; coin flips are often used to pick the home team after the first round. . . . “The three most important things in the playoffs are playing well, getting lucky and winning the coin toss,” he says. In the 1980s, La Quinta lost second-round games by one run three years in a row--at Ontario, at Lancaster Antelope Valley and at Indio. Adds Demarest: “We play at home, we win.”

MOVING UP: For years, Tustin High managed only mediocrity in boys’ volleyball in the Sea View League, one of the toughest in Division I. But competing with those stronger teams helped prepare the Tillers for their current run. . . . Tustin (14-1) moved to the new Golden West League, won the title and is seeded No. 1 in the Division II playoffs. . . . “We’re enjoying it,” says Tustin Coach Ken Koci, “but we’re hoping we can do more.”