gardena

HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS

CITY SECTION

Friday’s Results

BOYS

At Southwest College

OPEN DIVISION

#1 Palisades 75, #2 Cleveland 56

DIVISION II

#3 Sylmar 70, #4 King/Drew 64

At Birmingham High

DIVISION V

#2 Canoga Park 43, #1 Van Nuys 38

GIRLS

At Birmingham High

DIVISION II

#2 North Hollywood 59, #1 Harbor Teacher 55

At Southwest College

DIVISION III

#1 Washington Prep 45, #2 Gardena 30

At Garfield High

DIVISION IV

#12 Wilmington Banning 39, #11 Bravo 33

DIVISION V

#2 Legacy 33, #9 Los Angeles 32

Saturday’s Results

BOYS

At Pasadena City College

DIVISION I

#1 Granada Hills 59, #2 Chatsworth 51

DIVISION III

#10 Verdugo Hills 62, #1 RFK Community 42

DIVISION IV

#2 Franklin 69, #5 San Fernando 55

GIRLS

At Pasadena City College

OPEN DIVISION

#1 Westchester 60, #2 Birmingham 37

DIVISION I

#2 Granada Hills Kennedy 54, #1 El Camino Real 31

SOUTHERN SECTION

Friday’s Results

BOYS

At Azusa Pacific

DIVISION 4

Colony 51, Trabuco Hills 44

DIVISION 5

Gardena Serra 57, Pilibos 51

GIRLS

At Toyota Arena

DIVISION 1

La Salle 51, Valencia 35

DIVISION 2

Crescenta Valley 51, Saugus 43

DIVISION 3

St. Margaret’s 57, Murrieta Valley 41

At Azusa Pacific

DIVISION 4

El Dorado 41, La Canada 27

DIVISION 6

Savanna 46, Warren 25

Saturday’s Results

BOYS

At Toyota Arena

OPEN DIVISION

Sierra Canyon 59, Harvard-Westlake 53

DIVISION 1

Crean Lutheran 59, JSerra 52

DIVISION 2

Bishop Amat 71, Hesperia 48

DIVISION 3

Murrieta Mesa 65, Aliso Niguel 58

DIVISION 9

Colton 55, Pacific 42

At Azusa Pacific

DIVISION 6

Laguna Hills 78, Ramona 51

DIVISION 7

Rialto 57, Salesian 31

DIVISION 8

Victor Valley 78, South El Monte 45

GIRLS

At Toyota Arena

OPEN DIVISION

Sierra Canyon 69, Ontario Christian 62

DIVISION 8

Schurr 44, Orange 32

At Azusa Pacific

DIVISION 5

Bishop Diego 42, Burbank Burroughs 41

DIVISION 7

La Palma Kennedy 55, Laguna Hills 28

DIVISION 9

Sierra Vista 52, Desert Hot Springs 42

U.S. figure skater Alysa Liu made quite an impression at the Milan-Cortina Olympics with her unique style, her compelling backstory and, of course, her gold medals in the women’s singles competition — the first for an American woman since 2002 — and in the team event.

Her feats captured the attention of local artist Gustavo Zermeño Jr. He wanted to be sure to capture all of it in his new mural paying tribute to the 20-year-old athlete in Gardena.

“Obviously her winning gold was the main factor” in his choosing to paint Liu, Zermeño said.

But once the Mexican-American artist learned more about the Chinese-American skater, he found inspiration in other aspects of her life as well. That includes the Oakland native’s two-year retirement from the sport starting at age 16, her enrollment at UCLA and her decision to express herself in her own way.

“She’s first-generation American, just like myself,” Zermeño said. “So I feel like that tie, her going to UCLA, her stopping skating for awhile and then jumping back in and more being herself — you know, growing up in Venice, I feel like that’s what kind of made me an artist. Venice allowed me to be myself, be wacky on the boardwalk, artists, performers, stuff like that.

U.S. figure skater Alysa Liu poses with the gold medal she won in the women’s singles Feb. 19 at the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics.

(Matthew Stockman / Getty Images)

“So I feel like there were a lot of connections beyond her just winning the gold medal. But ultimately, I think she just deserves her flowers, man. She accomplished something, and I feel like her personality is what’s really garnering all this support from people.”

Zermeño was driving to get dinner near his home earlier this week and noticed a wall he thought would be perfect for his Liu-inspired project outside the Coe’s Glass & Mirror building at 15532 Crenshaw Blvd. It turned out that Zermeño casually knew the business owner, although Alex Lopez said he never realized his former next-door neighbor was a mural artist.

Still, Lopez approved the project immediately upon seeing samples of Zermeño’s work and a digitally created version of his idea for the Liu painting.

“I mean, I probably should have gone up the chain of command and asked the landlord’s permission, but I knew it was going to come out amazing,” Lopez said. “I just said, ‘Let’s go for it.’ The landlord came by this morning and loved the piece. He was really glad that we did it.”

Artist Gustavo Zermeno Jr. said he was inspired to paint a mural dedicated to U.S. skater Alysa Liu for reasons ‘beyond her just winning the gold medal.’

(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)

Zermeño started painting Tuesday and hopes to be finished early next week. The mural will feature three images of Liu, including two of her skating, but the centerpiece is a larger-than-life headshot of her from the women’s singles medal ceremony.

In it, the halo-haired athlete smiles broadly as she pretends to take a bite out of her gold medal, putting on full display her now-famous “smiley” piercing in the tissue connecting her upper lip to her gums.

‘I think it really represents her personality and where she’s from, the Bay Area,’ artist Gustavo Zermeño Jr. said of his mural dedicated to U.S. skater and Oakland native Alysa Liu.

(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)

“I like that it’s a little rough around the edges, but beautiful at the same time,” Zermeño said of the portrait. “I think it really represents her personality and where she’s from, the Bay Area. And so I feel like it just looks, you know, a little hood but at the same time, her being a figure skater, has that softness to it. And that’s kind of what I wanted.”

Lopez added: “I love it. Just her in general, as a person, I think she’s great. What she was able to accomplish in the Olympics is amazing for the United States and just for California. I’m honored to have her mural here. I feel like it represents the community and our business really well.”

HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS

CITY SECTION

FRIDAY

BOYS

At Southwest College

OPEN DIVISION

#2 Cleveland (20-9) vs. #1 Palisades (19-11), 8 p.m.

DIVISION II

#4 King/Drew (12-19) vs. #3 Sylmar (19-12), 6 p.m.

At Pasadena City College

DIVISION I

#2 Chatsworth (14-17 vs. #1 Granada Hills (19-11), 2 p.m.

DIVISION III

#10 Verdugo Hills (15-16) vs. #1 RFK Community (14-6), 12 p.m.

DIVISION IV

#5 San Fernando (19-11) vs. #2 Franklin (10-21), 10 a.m.

GIRLS

At Birmingham High

DIVISION II

#2 North Hollywood (12-7) vs. #1 Harbor Teacher (16-0), 6 p.m.

At Southwest College

DIVISION III

#2 Gardena (13-14) vs. #1 Washington Prep (13-2), 4 p.m.

At Garfield High

DIVISION IV

#12 Wilmington Banning (7-13) vs. #11 Bravo (11-17), 8 p.m.

DIVISION V

#9 Los Angeles (9-10) vs. #2 Legacy (5-14), 6 p.m.

SATURDAY

BOYS

At Birmingham High

DIVISION V

#2 Canoga Park (11-18) at #1 Van Nuys (10-21), 8 p.m.

GIRLS

At Pasadena City College

OPEN DIVISION

#2 Birmingham (27-3) vs. #1 Westchester (25-3), 6 p.m.

DIVISION I

#2 Granada Hills Kennedy (20-8) at #1 El Camino Real (13-13), 4 p.m.

SOUTHERN SECTION

FRIDAY

BOYS

At Azusa Pacific

DIVISION 4

Colony (19-12) vs. Trabuco Hills (20-12), 6 p.m.

DIVISION 5

Gardena Serra (20-13) vs. Pilibos (17-15), 2 p.m.

GIRLS

At Toyota Arena

DIVISION 1

La Salle (28-4) vs. Valencia (28-4), 8 p.m.

DIVISION 2

Crescenta Valley (27-4) vs. Saugus (24-8), 6 p.m.

DIVISION 3

Murrieta Valley (20-11) vs. St. Margaret’s (25-7), 4 p.m.

At Azusa Pacific

DIVISION 4

La Canada (19-12) at El Dorado (18-14), 8 p.m.

DIVISION 6

Savanna (17-13) vs. Warren (21-10), 4 p.m.

SATURDAY

BOYS

At Toyota Arena

OPEN DIVISION

Harvard-Westlake (26-5) vs. Sierra Canyon (26-1), 6 p.m.

DIVISION 1

Crean Lutheran (25-7) vs. JSerra (23-12), 4 p.m.

DIVISION 2

Bishop Amat (27-5) vs. Hesperia (24-8), 11:15 a.m.

DIVISION 3

Murrieta Mesa (22-10) vs. Aliso Niguel (24-8), 1 p.m.

DIVISION 9

Colton (18-11) vs. Pacific (10-11), 9:30 a.m.

At Azusa Pacific

DIVISION 6

Laguna Hills (17-11) vs. Ramona (27-5), 8 p.m.

DIVISION 7

Salesian (19-12) vs. Rialto (16-14), 12 p.m.

GIRLS

At Toyota Arena

OPEN DIVISION

Sierra Canyon (29-2) vs. Ontario Christian (31-1), 8 p.m.

DIVISION 8

Orange (15-11) vs. Schurr (15-14), 2 p.m.

At Azusa Pacific

DIVISION 5

Burbank Burroughs (22-10) vs. Bishop Diego (26-4), 2 p.m.

DIVISION 7

Laguna Hills (17-10) vs. La Palma Kennedy (19-12), 6 p.m.

DIVISION 9

Desert Hot Springs (13-9) vs. Sierra Vista (16-13), 10 a.m.