Parmer’s 40 Points Lead Verbum Dei to 21st Title

At Verbum Dei, Southern Section championships are expected--and usually delivered.

The Eagles defeated Santa Monica Crossroads, 70-50, and won the Division IV-A boys’ basketball championship Friday night before 3,245 at the Bren Center.

Marlon Parmer scored 40 points for top-seeded Verbum Dei (24-7), which won its 21st section title and advances to the Division IV state championship, which begins Tuesday.

“I want to win state too,” said Parmer, who made 14 of 24 shots and 10 of 12 free throws.

Devrin Anderson scored 14 points for second-seeded Crossroads (19-9) before he was ejected for throwing an elbow.

Oxnard Santa Clara 75, Pasadena Poly 52--Nick Jones topped his career high for the second consecutive game, scoring 36 points to lead the Saints over the Panthers in the Division V-AA title game.

Jones, who scored 34 points in a 77-56 semifinal victory over Pacific Hills on Tuesday, was deadly against top-seeded Poly (27-1). He was nine for nine in the second half, and overall the UC Santa Barbara-bound player made 14 of 21 shots, including all four of his three-point attempts.

“I’m going to go home, work out, watch a tape of the game and see what I was doing wrong,” Jones said. “I have a long way to go right now, really.”

Really?

Teammate B.J. Ward, who has also signed with UC Santa Barbara, scored 16 points for the second-seeded Saints (26-3), who likely will be top seeded in the Southern Regional of the state Division V tournament, which begins Tuesday.

Jones propelled the Saints on an 18-5 third-quarter run that effectively ended the game. Jones scored 13 points during the run, including a buzzer-beating three-pointer that put the Saints up, 50-33.

Jones said he was inspired by the Saints’ overtime loss in the championship last year to Pacific Hills.

“Big-time,” Jones said. “That’s what I thought of the whole summer. It felt so bad.”

Pasadena Poly trailed only 32-28 after a basket by 6-foot-7 center Koko Archibong, who scored 14 points.

Gardena Serra 78, Twentynine Palms 60--The Cavaliers went from the bottom of the Del Rey League to a Division IV-AA championship.

Ryan Odums scored 16 points for unseeded Serra (19-12), which started out 1-4 in the Del Rey League, but rebounded from injuries to win its first section title since 1993.

“From rags to riches, basically,” said Aerick Sanders, who scored 12 points for Serra, which led at halftime, 30-25.

Maurice Buchanan scored 19 points for third-seeded Twentynine Palms (22-5).

L.A. Price Christian 77, Antelope Valley Christian 60--Othel Johnson, a 6-foot-5 forward, scored 20 points, grabbed seven rebounds and set the tone with 14 first-half points to lead Price in the Division V-A final.

“Price is a little bit bigger than we are,” said Coach David Nurse of Antelope Valley Christian. “I thought had we boxed out a little better, their size would not have been a problem.”

Antelope Valley Christian (21-3) got only two points from its reserves, while Price (27-2) got 18 points from its non-starters, including nine by Andrew Howard.

Antelope Valley Christian was hurt by 21 turnovers.

Christopher Alexander added 14 points for Price, which won its first section title.