No. 1 Poly Routs Oakland Tech

Freshman forward Jasmine Dixon had 14 points and seven rebounds and Candice Nichols added 12 points as Long Beach Poly, ranked No. 1 in the Southland by The Times, defeated defending Division I state champion Oakland Tech, 59-35, in Thursday’s third-place game of the Chandler (Ariz.) Nike girls’ basketball tournament.

Dixon, recently recovered from a knee injury, was playing in her first tournament. Nichols scored eight of her points in the third quarter as the Jackrabbits outscored the Bulldogs, 22-6, in the period.

The Jackrabbits (7-1) limited 6-foot-3 Oakland Tech center Devanei Hampton to five points with a strong defensive effort by Dixon, Taja Edwards and Kalani Patterson.

Oakland Tech, ranked No. 7 nationally by Students Sports magazine, was led by junior point guard Alexis Gray-Lawson with 13 points.

In another Nike tournament game, Fullerton Rosary (10-1), ranked No. 19 by The Times, upset No. 8 Ventura (12-1), 44-38, to capture the Gray Division title.

Rosary used a 13-4 third-quarter surge and 18 points, seven rebounds and five assists by senior guard Karina Figueroa to secure the victory.

Teresa Karcher had 12 points for the Royals. Kali Bennett led Ventura with 17 points.

Sami Whitcomb scored 11 points as No. 13 Ventura Buena defeated Santa Barbara, 43-28, to win the Gold Division championship of the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions at Santa Barbara High.

Whitcomb was named the tournament’s most valuable player.

Boys’ Basketball

Cameron Crain finished with 17 points and Walter Tamidles scored eight of his 16 points in the third quarter as Chino Hills defeated Downey Calvary Chapel, 69-45, to win the championship of the Downey Calvary Chapel tournament.

Tamidles scored eight of his points in the third quarter, when the Huskies (9-1) outscored the Grizzlies, 27-13, to take control of the game after trailing, 26-25, at halftime.

Chino Hills junior forward Darren Smith averaged 17 points and 10 rebounds in four games and was named the tournament’s most valuable player for the second consecutive year.

Eric McNey had 14 points for Downey Calvary Chapel (10-5).

Football

In a sign of potential trouble for a proposal to hold three state bowl football games in 2006, the Moore League, led by Division I champion Long Beach Poly, has come out against the idea.

Poly Principal Shawn Ashley, the president of the league, said changes must be made in the proposal.

The league contends that no provisions have been made for sharing revenue among participating schools, and there are concerns about reimbursement for expenses.

In a memo written last month, Ashley said the Moore League is prepared to sponsor a Southern Section resolution that would call for a boycott of bowl games by member schools if their concerns are not addressed.

The issue could be discussed at a CIF state meeting in May.

-- Eric Sondheimer

Girls’ Soccer

San Clemente returns to defend its championship at the 15th Foothill/Excalibur tournament, scheduled for Monday through Wednesday at Santa Ana Foothill.

The Tritons, ranked No. 1 in the Southern Section Division I coaches’ poll, beat Los Alamitos on penalty kicks in last year’s title game. They face Etiwanda in the first round at 8 a.m. Monday.

San Clemente (6-0-2), led by two-time Division I offensive player of the year McCall Zerboni, won the Mater Dei tournament last week.

The 32-team Excalibur tournament includes eight of the top 10 teams in the Division I preseason poll. The title game is set for 2:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Girls’ Water Polo

Anne Belden scored in the second half of overtime with an assist from Kally Lucas as Newport Harbor, ranked No. 1 in the Southern Section Division I coaches’ poll, defeated No. 2 Santa Ana Foothill, 5-3, to win the championship game of the Newport Harbor/Corona del Mar tournament.

Belden, a senior left-hander who will play for UCLA next season, finished with two goals and senior Ashling Taylor had a game-high three goals for the Sailors (8-0). Newport Harbor, the defending Division I champion, edged defending Division IV champion Santa Barbara, 7-6, in sudden-death overtime in a semifinal game earlier Thursday.