Walnut Senior Recovers

Walnut senior forward Nicki Becker left St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton Saturday night with a headache that wouldn’t quit and the 12 stitches it took to close her wound.

She suffered a gash nearly two inches long and a half-inch deep on her forehead in a frightening mid-air collision with Costa Mesa starting goalkeeper Kindra Bailey in the 65th minute of the Southern Section Division III girls’ soccer championship game Saturday at Cal State Fullerton.

Becker is glad the injury, which resulted in extensive bleeding that covered her hands and jersey, looked worse than it turned out to be.

“At first, I didn’t think it was that big a deal,” said Becker, who added she still has swelling around her nose and black eyes. “It was seeing all the blood that killed me. And then I started panicking.”

The game was stopped for 10 minutes before Becker was helped off the field and a shaken but uninjured Bailey walked to the Costa Mesa sideline on her own.

The players were tended at the site by certified athletic trainers, and both sat out the rest of the game, which ended in a scoreless tie.

“Hey, I went out with a bang,” Becker said.

Lauren Peterson

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The Moore League might not be held in as high regard as leagues such as the Serra and South Coast when it comes to boys’ soccer, but it produced its third Southern Section Division I champion in five years Saturday when Long Beach Wilson defeated Huntington Beach Marina, 3-2, at Cal State Fullerton.

Wilson’s title, its first, followed championships by Moore League members Long Beach Poly in 1999 and Long Beach Millikan in 2001.

John Ortega

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Chuckie Tiffany of Covina Charter Oak, expected to be one of the top pitchers in Southern California this season, missed the opening weekend of the high school baseball season because of a pulled hamstring.

Tiffany could be sidelined another week or longer depending on how the injury responds to treatment.

Ekene Ibekwe, a 6-foot-9 center from Carson, and D. J. Strawberry, a 6-5 forward from Santa Ana Mater Dei, have been selected to play in the Charm City Classic boys’ basketball all-star game on April 13 at Towson State University in Maryland.

Both Ibekwe and Strawberry have signed with defending NCAA champion Maryland. Carson Coach Richard Masson has been selected to coach one of the teams.

Five boys’ basketball games featuring 100 unsigned seniors from the Southland will take place April 11 at Cypress College.

The Fullcourt Press Senior Showcase, sponsored by Pangos, will begin at 5 p.m. with the last game set for 10 p.m.

-- Eric Sondheimer