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December 19, 2024
By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X
Due to some scheduling changes during the St. John Bosco Braves Varsity Winter Classic, the Gahr High boys basketball second round game with Franklin High last Thursday was moved to Gahr. But on a damp, rainy night outside, the CIF-Los Angeles City Section team from north of downtown L.A. was about 30 minutes late arriving to Gahr.
The extra time waiting didn’t affect the host Gladiators as they had scoring sprees of 22-0, 11-0 and 29-0 in an 81-21 rout of the Panthers, leveling their record at 4-4. But Gahr would fall to Taft High and Brea Olinda High the next two nights.
Gahr was holding on to a 9-7 lead midway through the opening quarter before junior Austin Woon’s basket started the first scoring streak, which lasted nearly six minutes. When that run was over, senior Uchenna Okoli had scored six points, senior Nathan Herrera another four points and freshman Bryce Titus, who had seven points earlier in the quarter, added four more points to his resume.
It was 31-7 when Warlow Le-Baker ended Franklin’s scoring drought with a three-pointer. Later in the half, Gahr scored 11 straight points over the final 3:48 to hold a commanding 46-13 advantage at the break. Through the first 16 minutes, Gahr had 22 rebounds and nine steals as nine different players scored.
“Hopefully this game was a confidence builder; trying to work on team moral and get the guys to fully buy into each other and what we’re trying to teach,” said Gahr head coach Marcus Girley.
The Gladiators were doing all this damage with a tweaked starting lineup. Because of events that happened the previous night against Orange Lutheran High, a 54-46 loss, Girley didn’t start Okoli or seniors Ethan Carey and Joshua Pearson, all of whom are intricate parts of Gahr’s offense. Instead, it was Titus, a regular starter, who did most of the damage with 14 points on six of nine shooting from the field and four rebounds in the half. Junior Ogadi Metu was also inserted in the starting lineup and was perfect on all three shots he took in the half while grabbing three rebounds.
“I hope, if nothing else, they understand that I can’t assume anything,” said Girley. “Everybody has to earn [the right to start] and as much as I like to win, I don’t mind losing if we’re going to lose with guys who are doing it the right way. I hope that my guys that are our normal starters who get the bulk of the minutes [understand] that they just had a little bit of a setback. I told them it could be one game; it could be two games, it could be 20. It’s totally up to them, and I’m hoping they at least got the message.”
Both teams traded points until there was 3:15 remining in the third quarter. That’s when Carey began the 29-0 run that ended the game. Titus scored a career-high 21 points and had four rebounds while Okoli posted 15 points and six rebounds as 11 of the 12 players who saw action scored and had at least one rebound. The Gladiators were 35 of 64 from the field, hit seven three-pointers, grabbed 37 rebounds and had 17 steals from eight different players.
“He’s always given me effort,” said Girley of Titus. “He’s a tough-nosed guy; not the most big, physical guy. But he’ll get there and mix it up. He has a pretty good motor. He’s just still learning the game. Once the game slows down in him…he’s going to be a high-level player. But this is good for both my freshmen; just getting that experience and understand that [they’re] going to make mistakes.”
Gahr, which hosted Cerritos High on Dec. 19 in the annual city tussle, will go to Ocean View High on Monday, then face Valencia High at San Dimas High in Silver Division action of The Classic at Damien on Thursday. With a win, the Gladiators will face either Pasadena High or St. Mary’s College on Friday at Mt. San Antonio College. A loss would keep Gahr at San Dimas High. The win over Franklin marked the fourth time the Gladiators had reached .500 through the first eight games as they have yet to fall a game under .500 or go two games above that mark through the first nine games.
“I think what happens is we’ve developed some slow-starting tendencies, and against certain teams, you’re just not going to be able to climb out of that hole,” said Girley. “By the time we come back, and we close that gap, we’ve exerted so much energy that now, those last five or six minutes of the game, it’s more of a mental mistake than a physical mistake. Hopefully, we’ll kind of break that cycle of one step forward, two steps back, two steps forward, one step back.”
In other boys basketball action, Artesia High faced North Valley Christian Academy on Dec. 19 in the first of three contests in the Great Desert Shootout in Phoenix. Following Saturday’s game, the Pioneers (5-2) will be off until Jan. 3.
Cerritos nipped Sunny Hills High 50-49 last Saturday to improve to 4-6 ahead of its tilt with Gahr. After visiting Downey High on Saturday, the Dons will head south to San Diego to face Eastlake High on Thursday in the first game of the Mt. Carmel Tournament.
Other than La Mirada High, the other hot area team is Norwalk High, which improved to 9-2 after a narrow 55-53 win over Garden Grove High this past Tuesday. The Lancers travelled to Kennedy High on Dec. 19 and will visit Rio Hondo Prep on Friday before participating in the Oxford Academy Tournament, which begins on Thursday. Their first opponent will be Valley Christian High.
V.C. had no problem with Calvary Chapel Downey High last Friday in a 60-14 conquest. The Defenders (3-8) hosted Paramount High on Dec. 19 and will welcome Savanna High on Saturday.
Whitney High was blasted by Kennedy 65-15 this past Monday and took a 7-10 record into its Dec. 19 home game against Yorba Linda High, marking the last non-league contest for the Wildcats.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Artesia (0-3) hosted Mayfair High on Dec. 19 and will face Rosemead High on Thursday in its opener of the Whittier Tournament while Gahr got past Katella High 36-31 this past Tuesday to improve to 6-4. After visiting La Mirada on Dec. 19, the Gladiators will face Mission Viejo High on Thursday in the Marina Tournament.
Norwalk (5-6) went to El Modena High this past Wednesday and visited Costa Mesa High the next night to wrap up its December schedule while Whitney rolled past El Segundo High 70-32 this past Wednesday in pool play action of the San Pedro Lady Pirate Holiday Classic. the Wildcats roared to a 26-10 lead after the first quarter thanks to the scoring of senior Haylie Wang and sophomore Alyssa So. They combined for 18 of the 26 points and when the game was over, Wang scored 29 points on 11 of 21 shooting from the field. She was five of eight from three-point land and grabbed seven rebounds while So scored 21 points and added four three-pointers in six attempts. Also having a solid game was junior Tina Namiranian, who added 13 points, three rebounds and three steals.
Whitney will face Serra High on Friday and after its final game on Saturday, will head to Mukilteo, WA, just north of Seattle, where it will face Kamiak High in the first annual Holiday Classic Basketball Tournament. The Wildcats (7-4) will also face Everett High and Auburn Riverside High in the three-day event.
BOYS SOCCER
Artesia edged Norwalk 2-1 this past Tuesday to improve to 4-1-0 as the Pioneers will entertain Mayfair on Monday while Cerritos fell to Bellflower High 5-0 this past Monday to drop to 3-1-2. The Dons are not scheduled to play the rest of the month.
Gahr (5-1-1) lost for the first time this season, 3-1 to Yorba Linda this past Tuesday and will host John Glenn High on Friday. The Eagles (6-2-2) shutout Heritage Christian High 4-0 this past Tuesday and hosted Valley Christian on Dec. 18.
La Mirada (2-5-1) was edged by Brea Olinda 3-2 this past Tuesday and will play Etiwanda High on Thursday while Norwalk (3-1-3) is done until next month.
V.C.’s loss to Glenn dropped the Defenders to 3-6-1 as they hosted Mayfair on Dec. 19 and will go to California High on Friday.
GIRLS SOCCER
Artesia shutout Calvary Chapel Santa Ana High 4-0 and Immaculate Heart High 1-0 last Saturday in pool play action of the Best in the West Tournament. The Pioneers (5-1-0) will host Century High in the first of two more tournament games on Saturday.
Cerritos lost to El Toro High 1-0 before losing to Marlborough High by that same score in the Best in the West Tournament. The Dons (2-5-0) went to Portola High on Dec. 19 and will play St. Genevieve High on Saturday.
Also in the Best in the West Tournament is Gahr, which got past Dana Hills High 3-2 before losing to South Pasadena High 1-0 last Saturday. The Gladiators (1-5-0) visited Kennedy on Dec. 18 and will play Santa Ana High on Saturday.
La Mirada lost its two games in the Best in the West Tournament last Saturday, 2-0 to Fairmont Prep and 1-0 to El Camino Real High to drop to 2-2-2 as the Matadores will meet Charter Oak High on Saturday.
Norwalk defeated Mountain View High 3-1, then lost to South East High 1-0 last Saturday in the Best in the West Tournament. The Lancers (4-4-1) also lost to Schurr High 3-0 this past Monday and will play Rancho Alamitos High on Saturday.
V.C. (1-2-1) travelled to St. Margaret’s High on Dec. 19 and will welcome St. Joseph High on Friday before facing Rim of the World High on Thursday in the opener of the Ontario Christian Tournament.
