Sports (Photo credit: mag3737)
By Loren Kopff
League championships and a trip to the California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section divisional finals were the norm for some of the area basketball and soccer teams this past winter season. The Gahr girls basketball team advanced to the finals while the Norwalk girls basketball team, Artesia and Valley Christian boys soccer teams and the Valley Christian girls soccer squads all won their respective league crowns. Listed are the members of the Los Cerritos Community News 2012-2013 Winter All-Area Teams.
BOYS BASKETBALL
FIRST TEAM
D.J. Ahana (Valley Christian)
A.J. Benson (Artesia)
Ryan Hart (Gahr)
Malachi Hoosein (Gahr)
Rashaad Penny (Norwalk)
SECOND TEAM
Elijah Leonard (Cerritos)
Jonathan Rivera (Cerritos)
Alex Vidana (Norwalk)
Erich Webb (John Glenn)
Ralph Wormley (Norwalk)
THIRD TEAM
Brian Bischoff (Valley Christian)
Jon Campbell (Artesia)
Jeremy Carlyle (Gahr)
David Murrell (Gahr)
Bryan Tong (Cerritos)
HONORABLE MENTION
Sunny Bedi (John Glenn)
Stedman Bryant (Valley Christian)
Dylan Hirata (Cerritos)
Cory Johnson (Gahr)
Johnny Olvera (Norwalk)
PLAYERS TO LOOK FOR IN 2013-2014
Dontae Smith (Artesia)
Henry Buycks (Cerritos)
Evan Leonard (Cerritos)
Kelechi Ukoha (Cerritos)
Anthony Austin (Gahr)
Ardale Encabo (John Glenn)
Daniel Morales (John Glenn)
Dante Foster (Norwalk)
Vaj Rice (Valley Christian)
Player of the Year: In his first season on Gahr’s varsity team, junior Malachi Hoosein dominated the area with 447 points, nearly 100 points head of the next closest player. Hoosein averaged 16.6 points per game and scored at least 20 points 10 times including a career-high 29 at Inglewood.
Coach of the Year: Norwalk’s Jim Webster had the biggest turnaround among the area teams from last season, winning nine more games and going from sixth place in the Suburban League to third place. The Lancers went 15-13 overall, 7-5 in the league and upset league champion Mayfair by 14 points in late January.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
FIRST TEAM
Maiya Griffin-McNair (Norwalk)
Alyssa Movchan (Cerritos)
Rachel Nagel (Whitney)
Jewelyn Sawyer (Gahr)
Reyna Ta’amu (Whitney)
SECOND TEAM
Angie Avila (Artesia)
Ra’vyn Bowser (Gahr)
Deshields Fajardo (Cerritos)
Jasmine Gates (Gahr)
Jazzlyn Gaxiola (Norwalk)
THIRD TEAM
Cristina Batarse (Norwalk)
Tangeray Beverly (Artesia)
Angie Console (John Glenn)
Myra Gomez (John Glenn)
Sydney Teodoro (Gahr)
HONORABLE MENTION
Amber Binford (Valley Christian)
Taylor Dantuma (Valley Christian)
Elizabeth Hernandez (Norwalk)
Taylor Hirata (Cerritos)
Alyssa Wakamiya (Whitney)
PLAYERS TO LOOK FOR IN 2013-2014
Onica Yu (Artesia)
Tatiana Fominyam (Cerritos)
Angelika Soltis (Cerritos)
Stacey Suzuki (Cerritos)
Chidera Agu (Gahr)
Dominique Gomez (John Glenn)
Rocio Resendiz (John Glenn)
Jackie Aldana (Norwalk)
Clarissa Valdez (Norwalk)
Hailey Garcia (Valley Christian)
Kate Vande Vegte (Valley Christian)
Ann Munoz (Whitney)
Allison Tran (Whitney)
Player of the Year: Without senior Jewelyn Sawyer, the Gahr girls basketball team may not have advanced to the Division III-AAA championship game. Sawyer led Gahr with 580 points and averaged just over 18 points a game. The Long Beach State University signee was held to single digits in scoring once and also led the team with 397 rebounds, 150 assists, 135 steals and 109 deflected shots.
Co-Coaches of the Year: The area is losing two fantastic coaches who ended their coaching careers in different championship-type fashion. Gahr’s Al Dorogusker guided his team to an overall record of 22-10 and a berth in the Division III-AAA championship game after winning three straight playoff games on the road. Dorogusker coached at Gahr, among other high schools, for 10 seasons and compiled a 159-117 record there which also included two trips to the quarterfinals. Outgoing Norwalk head coach Richard Drake was truly the dean of Suburban League girls basketball. He coached for 19 seasons, the final six at Norwalk where his team shared the Suburban League championship with Mayfair. Drake, who had coached at John Glenn for 13 seasons, leaves with an overall record of 267-187.
BOYS SOCCER
FIRST TEAM
GK-Ezekiel Diaz (Artesia)
F-Alejandro Martinez (Artesia)
F-Jovanni Michel (John Glenn)
F-Jorge Perez (Norwalk)
M-Jesus Casco (John Glenn)
M-Ari Claro (Artesia)
M-Jose Mora (Norwalk)
M-Raul Navarro (Artesia)
D-Joel Atilano (Artesia)
D-Byron Navarro (Artesia)
D-Michael Sutherlin (Valley Christian)
SECOND TEAM
GK-Walter Dyer (Valley Christian)
F-Alfonso Borja (Artesia)
F-Nick Dupuy (Valley Christian)
F-Arturo Garcia (Artesia)
M-Liam Bestian (Valley Christian)
M-Bryan Portillo (Norwalk)
M-Jose Rodriguez (Norwalk)
M-Anthony Zepeda (Artesia)
D-Blake Allen (Valley Christian)
D-Jeremy Stanley (Valley Christian)
D-Jose Velez (John Glenn)
HONORABLE MENTION
GK-Henry Martinez (Norwalk)
F-Chris Castaneda (Gahr)
F-Austin DeMedeiros (Gahr)
F-Fernando Medina (John Glenn)
M-Abraham Garcia (John Glenn)
M-Oscar Garduno (Artesia)
M-Joe Martinez (Valley Christian)
M-Ruben Martinez (John Glenn)
D-Fabian Gutierrez (Gahr)
D-Adan Ramirez (Norwalk)
D-Ulysses Rosales (Cerritos)
Player of the Year: Artesia senior forward Alejandro Martinez clearly dominated the Suburban League as well as the area. Martinez scored 26 goals, including 14 in league action. He scored two goals in a game seven times and posted a hat trick in another. Martinez was also named to the All-CIF Division IV team. This was the second straight season he scored 26 goals, which is a single-season school record and leaves Artesia with 69 goals.
Coach of the year: The only thing that was missing from Rudy Magallon’s resume this past season was a CIF championship. The longtime Artesia head coach guided the Pioneers to an outstanding 22-1-4 record with the one loss coming in the second round of the playoffs. Magallon won 22 games for the second straight season and won his third straight Suburban League championship. Over the past 16 seasons, Magallon has an overall record of 242-97-44.
GIRLS SOCCER
FIRST TEAM
GK-Haley Magana (Valley Christian)
F-Jahdai Dunk (Valley Christian)
F-Carolina Ornelas (Artesia)
F-Icseel Ortiz (Artesia)
M-Tiffany Castillo (Artesia)
M-Grayce DeGroot (Valley Christian)
M-Stephanie Flores (Artesia)
M-Rebecca Hobson (Cerritos)
D-Natalie DeVries (Valley Christian)
D-Jessica Macias (Artesia)
D-Stephanie Torres (Artesia)
SECOND TEAM
GK-Cyndie Trejo (Artesia)
F-Connie Caliz (Cerritos)
F-Analisa Marquez (Cerritos)
F-Janae Megorden (Valley Christian)
M-Jenny Gomez (Artesia)
M-Janna Jensen (Valley Christian)
M-Erika Lizarraga (Cerritos)
M-Tia Sanford (Cerritos)
D-Ashley Allen (Valley Christian)
D-Victoria Sanchez (Artesia)
D-Mackenzie Vos (Valley Christian)
HONORABLE MENTION
GK-Cierra Trudeau (Valley Christian)
F-Kathia Aquino (John Glenn)
F-Angie Avila (Artesia)
F-Erika Garcia (Gahr)
M-Karen Dominguez (Norwalk)
M-Millie Herrera (Artesia)
M-Carolina Padilla (Norwalk)
M-Odaliz Peregrina (Gahr)
D-Kendra Peck (Valley Christian)
D-Raena Ramirez (Cerritos)
D-Diana Mota (Artesia)
Player of the Year: The Artesia girls soccer program continues to make strides and senior forward Carolina Ornelas had a lot to do with it. Ornelas led the Pioneers, and the area, with 27 goals, a dozen of which came in league action. She leaves with 75 career goals at Artesia.
Coach of the Year: Winning Olympic League championships has been a routine thing lately for Valley Christian head coach Kim Looney. She guided the Lady Crusaders to their fifth straight league title and the team won 17 games this past season, the most since winning 20 during the 2008-2009 campaign.
