Boykins Doesn’t Let Taft Boys Roll Over

Raja Boykins is a role player for the Taft High boys’ basketball team.

Friday night against Kennedy, his role was to save the Toreadors from an upset loss.

With center Amir Bar-Netzer suffering through his worst game of the season with seven points and four rebounds, Boykins stepped forward to score 17 of Taft’s final 26 points in a 65-62 victory over the Golden Cougars.

Boykins, Taft’s fourth-leading scorer, had five three-pointers and finished with 22 points to help Taft take a one-game lead over Cleveland in the West Valley League. The Toreadors can clinch their first league title since 1992 with a victory over the Cavaliers Wednesday.

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Numbers game: Grant High girls’ basketball Coach Steve Brumwell was betting on the development of sophomore Leslie Mui to give the Lancers more than just an outside threat.

Mui made sure Brumwell didn’t lose his shirt, even if she lost hers.

Mui, a sophomore guard, had her home basketball jersey stolen out of her locker at school two weeks ago.

“I reported it, but it was never found,” she said.

Mui switched from No. 14 to No. 5. Since then, she has been doing a number on opponents, showing a more well-rounded game to go with her accurate outside shot.

Against Monroe on Wednesday, Mui had 17 points and 11 assists in a 79-33 victory. She had 16 points and four assists in Grant’s 65-45 victory that ended North Hollywood’s 51-game Valley Pac-8 Conference winning streak. The Lancers (18-4, 7-1) figure to finish as co-champions with the Huskies (21-2, 7-1) in the Mid-Valley League.

In a 79-25 victory over Reseda, Mui had 17 points and nine assists, and she had 19 points in a victory over Poly.

“She’s really had some big games since she lost that jersey,” Brumwell said with a laugh.

The 5-foot-1 Mui is Grant’s third-leading scorer, averaging 11.4 points. She leads the team with 4.3 assists per game and is becoming “a much more complete player,” according to Brumwell.

Mui, 16, played on the varsity as a freshman, but was solely a three-point specialist. This year, she still looks for the open shot, but also is more willing to drive into the lane or pass off.

“Before, I used to only shoot, that was all I did, and people could key on me for that,” said Mui, whose father, Ken, is a Grant assistant coach.

“Now, I try to be more aggressive or give it to somebody else. I know it’s a team game, and it opens up more things for me.”

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Good news, bad news: The season ended for Richelle Sherman on Monday when she was declared academically ineligible to play for the North Hollywood girls’ team.

With the loss of the 6-foot freshman, who averaged 8.7 points and 6.4 rebounds, Angelle Hill has stepped in to fill the void.

Usually North Hollywood’s sixth man, Hill, a 5-7 junior, has given the Huskies a new dimension with her quickness.

“We lose a little bit inside without Richelle because of her height,” North Hollywood Coach Rich Allen said. “But with Angelle, we have more speed. She’s a good athlete and she does such a great job defensively.”

Hill helped shut down Grant’s Angela Terry on Friday, limiting her to seven points in a game that was critical to the Huskies’ hopes of defending the Mid-Valley League title. North Hollywood’s 59-40 victory gave the Huskies a split with the Lancers this season.

Against Grant, Hill had five steals to go with seven rebounds and six points, and she scored eight points in a victory over Monroe.

Sherman’s absence also has meant increased playing time for Ashley Fargeon, who was used sparingly before. Fargeon had 16 points and 10 rebounds against Monroe and had five points and four rebounds against Grant.

SOCCER

School daze: Two years ago, Sylmar won its second Valley Pac-8 Conference boys’ title in three years. These days the Spartans are one of the circuit’s lesser teams and Coach Manuel Vega said one of the main causes comes off the field.

“I have plenty of guys at the school who are as talented as anyone else in the district but they’re not into [academics],” Vega said. “That [1995-96] team, they were not college prep students but they were at least in the classroom and I never had any problems with their grades.”

Vega said he feels little remorse for either players unable to achieve the grades necessary for participation or for the many Sylmar standouts from recent years who have not continued on to college.

“I tell them that going to school to play soccer is not the right purpose,” Vega said.

“I don’t think the kids have the discipline and their parents don’t push them for anything. I can’t change that overnight.”