Area News : INLAND EMPIRE

Riverside North’s Chris Claiborne, The Times’ Inland Empire football player of the year, has chosen to attend and play football at USC. . . . In one of the year’s strangest boys’ basketball games, Palm Springs’ Bishop Miller held the ball for more than seven minutes against Coachella Valley. Palm Springs built a 13-point lead and Coachella Valley went into a tight zone defense and did not contest Miller on the perimeter, so Miller held the ball. Palm Springs won, 52-33. . . . Jim Weisen, who enjoyed much football success at Hamilton in Division 11, has been hired to coach West Valley in Hemet. . . . In girls’ basketball, Maylana Martin of Perris scored 41 points, grabbed 25 rebounds and blocked 10 shots as Perris beat Hemet, 81-50. . . . Veronica Campa scored 38 points as Cathedral City beat Palm Springs, 64-50. . . . Veronica Patee scored 44 points in a 71-47 victory over Western Christian.