Garfield’s David Laroue and Julian Sandoval lead on court and in classroom

The Los Angeles Unified School District receives its share of bad press, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t determined students finding ways to succeed.

One example can be found at Los Angeles Garfield, where the basketball team’s starting guards, David Laroue and Julian Sandoval, have grade-point averages worthy of the Ivy League.

Laroue’s GPA is 4.2. Sandoval is at 4.3. They’ve applied to Stanford, UCLA, California and some Ivy League schools, among others. Each lives in East Los Angeles and stands about 5 feet 8. They’ve known each other since fourth grade.

“We try to challenge each other in school and sports,” Sandoval said.

Laroue is the point guard and Sandoval the shooting guard. They’ve helped lead Garfield to a 19-6 record and a berth in Tuesday’s City Section Division III quarterfinals against Wilmington Banning.

“They’re great kids,” Coach Ricardo Rivas said.

Laroue’s academic excellence didn’t start until he reached high school.

“In middle school, I had a real low GPA,” Laroue said. “My brother told me to get my act together because the only way we were going to get out of East L.A. was to go to college.”

His brother is a senior at California on a chancellor’s scholarship. Sandoval’s sister is a freshman at UCLA.

Laroue and Sandoval each love math and computer science. Each has been playing basketball since second grade. Each understands what’s most important.

“Our goal is to have a better life for our families,” Sandoval said.

Turnaround story

A year ago, Rosemead Don Bosco Tech had a 4-21 record, including 0-10 in the Camino Real League. For five consecutive basketball seasons, the Tigers finished in last place.

But second-year Coach Dominic Sermeno has become the school’s miracle worker. The team is 20-8 and plays Pasadena Muir in a Southern Section 4AA quarterfinal playoff game on Tuesday. Add to that, eight of the 13 players have a GPA of 3.5 or higher.

“I think the kids put in a tremendous amount of work,” Sermeno said.

Junior guard Matthew Santos, who’s 5-5, is averaging 17 points. Freshman guard E.J. Mejia, who’s 5-9, made seven three-point shots in a first-round playoff win.

Yes, there’s a way to turn around programs with players and coaches working together.

Orange County showdown

The baseball season begins this weekend with Southern Section schools holding scrimmages on Saturday. They don’t get any better than defending Southern Section Division I champion Santa Ana Mater Dei playing at Mission Viejo at 11 a.m. Then the two schools meet in a game that counts on March 5.

Mater Dei lost to graduation its one-man wrecking crew, Cory Hahn, who’s now starting as a freshman at Arizona State, but back is junior pitcher-outfielder Ty Moore, a UCLA commit who is scheduled to pitch Saturday and the next Saturday. He lives not far from Mission Viejo, so he’s a neighborhood kid coming home.

The key to whether the Monarchs can repeat as champs is the development of No. 2 pitcher Chris Santoro, who missed last season with an arm injury.

City defections

The City Section has been losing some of its most promising football coaches. The latest defection is Matt Kerstetter, the 34-year-old Woodland Hills Taft coach who resigned to become coach at Buchholz in Gainesville, Fla.

Kertstetter lost his full-time teaching position last year amid LAUSD cutbacks.

“LAUSD is down sizing,” Carson Coach Elijah Asante said. “It’s definitely affecting coaches.”

Asante, however, isn’t going anywhere. He guided Carson to the Division I final in his first season and look at the outrageous nonleague schedule he has set up for 2011: Mater Dei, Long Beach Poly, Mission Viejo, Santa Margarita and San Diego Lincoln.

eric.sondheimer@latimes.com

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