Los Alamitos Towers Over Westchester, 64-51

After 29 consecutive victories in the postseason, the Westchester boys’ basketball team finally met its match Thursday night.

Los Alamitos benefited from a significant height advantage and, using a stifling zone defense to thwart the Comets from the start, pulled away in the second half behind the clutch shooting of Stanford-bound guard Landry Fields for a 64-51 victory in a Southern California Regional Division I semifinal at Westchester.

The fourth-seeded Griffins (29-4) advanced to play second-seeded Fresno Clovis West in the regional final at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Sports Arena.

The top-seeded Comets (25-7), winners of three of the last four Division I state titles, had not lost a playoff game since falling to Corona Centennial in the 2001 Southern California regionals.

“That’s a very good team,” Westchester Coach Ed Azzam said of Los Alamitos. “They gave us trouble with the 3-2 zone and we struggled to attack it.”

Westchester does not have a regular player taller than 6 feet 6. That posed problems against the Griffins, who clogged the middle with 6-10 junior Clint Amberry and 6-9 sophomore Corbin Moore. Fields, at 6-5, protected the perimeter along with 6-5 senior Charles Hinkle and 6-3 junior Cameron Jones.

The Comets made 20 of 52 shots but only six of 24 from beyond the three-point line. Jarred Dubois made four of seven three-point attempts and scored 20 points, the only Comet in double figures.

Fields scored 14 of his game-high 24 points in the second half for Los Alamitos. He buried a three-pointer early in the fourth quarter to give the Griffins a 50-42 lead, then made another with 3 minutes 38 seconds left to push it to 55-44.

-- Dan Arritt

Santa Ana Mater Dei 94, San Diego Hoover 70 -- Danny Campbell made five consecutive three-pointers in the second quarter and finished with 20 points as the top-seeded Monarchs (32-2) cruised to a Southern California Regional boys’ Division II semifinal victory at Huntington Beach Ocean View High.

Taylor King scored 28 points and had 17 rebounds for Mater Dei, which led, 51-30, at halftime.

Campbell’s outside shooting added another dimension to a Mater Dei attack that already features the versatile play of the 6-7 King, 7-1 Alex Jacobson and point guard Camyron Brown.

Norvell Arnold scored 25 points for fourth-seeded Hoover (28-6), which lost point guard JayDee Luster when he fouled out with 5:42 left in the third quarter.

Mater Dei will play second-seeded Villa Park (29-4), which beat Ontario Colony, 72-57, in a regional final 4 p.m. Saturday at the Sports Arena.

Eric Sondheimer

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Lynwood 58, Newhall Hart 42 -- Two seasons ago, with her team ranked No. 1 in the state and among the top 10 in the nation, Lenita Sanford spilled scalding water on her legs and missed a Southern California regional game. Thursday, in a girls’ Division I regional semifinal, it was Sanford’s play that was hot.

She made her first nine shots and finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds as top-seeded Lynwood (24-4) moved a step closer to winning its third state title by advancing to the regional finals against Long Beach Poly at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Sports Arena.

“It really hurt me to see my team lose like that,” said Sanford, who hurt herself in a cooking mishap the night before a first-round game that Lynwood lost, 73-61. “This year, I had to pay back.”

Time and again, Sanford fielded entry passes lobbed over Hart defenders. She was four for four in each of the first two quarters.

Hart (28-5), which got 18 points from Taylor Lilley, never led, yet hung tough early, and trailed, 17-12, after Lilley’s three-point play. But Sanford scored six in an 8-0 run in a span of three minutes that doomed Hart’s upset hopes and its 16-game winning streak.

Martin Henderson

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Long Beach Poly 53, Harbor City Narbonne 29 -- Sophomore forward Jasmine Dixon scored 19 points and was instrumental in limiting Narbonne standout Morghan Medlock to five points in the other Division I girls’ semifinal at El Camino College.Dixon and her teammates frustrated second-seeded Narbonne (24-7) to no end, forcing 27 turnovers.

Medlock picked up two fouls before two minutes were gone and sat out the rest of the first quarter.

Poly (9-25), which will make its second appearance in a regional final, led, 12-2, after the first quarter and 26-11 at halftime.

“Our kids looked defeated before the five-minute mark of the first quarter,” Narbonne Coach James Anderson said.

Medlock, who signed with USC, had five rebounds but sat out more than half the game and finished with four fouls. Guard Brittany Groves fouled out after scoring five points.

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Lauren Peterson

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Top performers

BOYS’ BASKETBALL

* Alex Stepheson, North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake: Had 26 points, 22 rebounds and 10 blocked shots in a 60-58 victory over Compton Centennial in a Southern California Regional Division III semifinal.

BASEBALL

* Robert Stock, Agoura: Hit two home runs as the Chargers, ranked No. 6 in the Southland by The Times, upset top-ranked El Camino Real, 9-0, in a Moorpark tournament semifinal.

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