Lynwood Rises to Win Title

By the time they hit the floor Friday night, Long Beach Poly and Lynwood were the only remaining undefeated teams in the Southern Section. By the time they left, only Lynwood’s record was unblemished. Both rose to the occasion, but it was Lynwood that walked away with a 53-50 victory before a near-capacity crowd at the Long Beach Pyramid in the section’s Division I-AA girls’ basketball championship game.

With Janice Bright on the bench with an ankle injury for the last 6 minutes 55 seconds, Lynwood (29-0) made its 45-36 lead hold up, but not without some anxious moments. Poly pulled to within 49-48 with 1:20 remaining on Daisy Benjamin’s drive to the basket, and Benjamin’s putback with 2.9 seconds left made it 51-50.

By the time Poly (32-1) fouled Lynwood’s Sade Wiley-Gatewood, there was only one-tenth of a second left, and Wiley-Gatewood made both free throws for the final score.

“They were more than we expected,” said Gatewood, who scored 20 and played despite aggravating shin splints in the first quarter. “Poly’s a great team.”

Lynwood (29-0) came into the game ranked No. 1 by The Times and No. 1 in the nation by some ranking organizations. Poly (32-1), No. 3 in The Times’ last ranking of the regular season, is ranked as high as No. 12 nationally.

It is Lynwood’s fourth section title and its second in a row after winning the Division I-AAA title a year ago.

*

Torrance Bishop Montgomery 61, Pasadena Muir 54--Muir led by as many as 12 in the first half and by seven, 50-43, with 5:10 left in the game before Bishop Montgomery rallied behind Noelle Quinn to win its second title in three years, taking the Division III-A championship at the Pyramid.

Quinn scored 25 points and had 12 rebounds, six assists and four steals. She scored nine points in a 72-second span to give the Knights a 56-54 lead with 2:07 remaining, and Bishop Montgomery made five of six free throws to close the game.

Muir’s 6-5 center, Tye’sha Fluker, fouled out with seven seconds left. She scored only two of her 23 points in the second half, making her only field goal attempt.

Martin Henderson

*

Redondo Union 42, North Torrance 30--The Sea Hawks rallied in the second half of the Division II-A final at the Pyramid to beat their Bay League rival in the lowest scoring girls’ championship game since 1996.

Redondo (23-7) led, 3-0, after one quarter and trailed, 9-8, at halftime before outscoring North Torrance (24-7), 20-6, in the third quarter. Ofa Tulikihihifo scored nine of her 12 points in the first four minutes of the second half to help the third-seeded Sea Hawks to their second title in three seasons.

Traci Elliot scored 14 points and Julia Pitts had 11 points and 12 rebounds for fourth-seeded North Torrance, which made only two of 28 shots through three quarters and lost in the final for the second consecutive season.

The Saxons finished the game eight for 41 (19.5%) from the field.

*

L.A. Pilgrim 71, Hemet Baptist Christian 33--The top-seeded Patriots took a 27-5 lead and cruised to their fourth consecutive Division V-A championship and fifth title in the past six seasons.

Amber Cunningham scored 19 points, Brittany James had 15 and Sharae Benitez made eight of 10 free throws and finished with 11 points for Pilgrim (26-3).

Jamie De Kiewiet scored 10 points and ReAnne Lappinga and Staci Burger each added eight for second-seeded Baptist Christian (23-1), which fell to the Patriots in the playoffs for the third consecutive season.

Dave Desmond