Quinn, Ervin Included Among Nation’s Elite
Noelle Quinn of Torrance Bishop Montgomery and Lauren Ervin of Inglewood have been selected All-American players by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Assn. and have been invited to play in the WBCA/Nike All-American game April 4 in Atlanta.
The UCLA-bound Quinn is a 5-foot-11 guard who has led her team to three state Division III titles.
Ervin, a 6-3 forward bound for Kansas, played for Bishop Montgomery as a freshman before spending two seasons at Artesia.
The two are among 20 All-Americans invited to play at Georgia Tech’s Alexander Memorial Coliseum during the NCAA Women’s Final Four weekend.
The WBCA selected Crystal Erwin of Sante Fe Springs St. Paul and Eshaya Murphy of Van Nuys Montclair Prep as two of 20 honorable mention All-Americans.
Information: www.wbca.org.
The Southern Section is investigating whether Division II football champion Mission Viejo violated the coaches’ code of conduct by stamping Spalding on another brand of football during the playoffs.
Commissioner Jim Staunton delivered a report to the executive committee last week regarding the fact that many teams failed to use footballs made by Spalding, the playoff sponsor. The section has asked Mission Viejo administrators for a report on allegations that the Diablos used “doctored” footballs en route to winning the championship.
Section officials said they’d have no comment on possible sanctions until receiving a report from Mission Viejo.
-- Dan Loumena
Outfielder Delmon Young of Camarillo High, last season’s Southern Section Division I player of the year, likely will miss the first month of the baseball season, which begins March 7, after suffering a sprained ankle in a pickup basketball game last week.
Young, projected to be a first-round pick in the June draft, has his right ankle in a cast.
-- Eric Sondheimer
The Granada Hills girls’ soccer team lost its top two goalies but still qualified for the playoffs, thanks to 5-foot junior Ashlee Allen.
First-string goalie Hypathia Runcie, a junior who was an All-City selection last season, broke her right leg while snowboarding over winter vacation.. Senior Margo Urbina, the backup, had already torn a ligament in her left knee as she played halfback during the first game of the season.
Allen moved up from the junior varsity and has posted eight shutouts in 10 games, saving not only goals but also the Highlanders (17-5-1, 8-2-0).
Allen has allowed only three goals, in 2-0 and 1-0 losses to top-seeded Woodland Hills El Camino Real in West Valley League play.
“She’s an awesome goalkeeper. She’s just small,” Granada Hills Coach Lynda Fritsche said. “It’s scary to come up from JV to varsity, but she’s done a great job.... She’s taken control, she’s ordering other players around, telling them who they should be marking and where they should be out there. And that’s the kind of thing you need from a goalie.”
Granada Hills, league runner-up and the No. 2-seeded team in the City Section playoffs, hosts Eagle Rock (7-5-1, 5-4-1), the fourth-place team from the Northern League, in a first-round game today.
Though unranked in the Southern Section Division II coaches’ poll, the Lake Elsinore Temescal Canyon girls’ soccer team has set a school record for victories in a season that began with three key players sidelined with injuries.
Temescal Canyon (20-4-5, 5-1-2) also won the Southwestern League title, the Titans’ first since winning the Sunkist League championship four seasons ago, with a patchwork lineup.
“We’ve had to work together as a team instead of any one person doing it all themselves,” said sophomore striker Brianna Russo.
Russo and senior midfielder Allyson Lem lead the Titans with 11 goals each.
Russo also leads the team with 12 assists.
Four other players have five or more goals, six players have recorded four or more assists, and the Titans have posted 15 shutouts -- including five in a row to end the regular season -- despite playing goalkeeper by committee.
Danielle Medeiros had 11 shutouts last season, but the senior sat out most of the early season with a back injury, paving the way for sophomore Kelly DeChristopher and senior Marisol Ruiz to share time in goal.
Senior stopper Erica Laugalis returned in December after recovering from a torn ligament in her left knee but has not completely regained her speed.
The Titans also have been without senior sweeper Diane Lewis for the season.
Lewis, a three-time all-league selection and the team’s most valuable player the last two seasons, is recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament she suffered in her right knee during off-season club competition.
“We knew that was going to hurt us, but we pulled through,” Russo said.
-- Lauren Peterson
