mater dei

The rise of girls’ flag football is following a familiar path. There now are travel teams with girls competing in offseason competitions as all-star teams similar to seven-on-seven football tournaments.

Under The Radar sports media, which for years has shot videos for YouTube and been involved in 11-man football competitions, is sponsoring a flag football team gaining attention for its success this year.

Called the Ballerettes, the team has several high school athletes from Southern California.

Leah Davis is a sophomore from Upland who was All-Baseline League. Denver De Jongh was a standout freshman at Mater Dei.
Savvy Su’e was the freshman quarterback at Banning last season. She also plays softball and basketball.

As participation and popularity rise, you can expect more travel competitions, camps and opportunities for college recruiting.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.

HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS

SATURDAY’S RESULTS

CITY SECTION

GIRLS

QUARTERFINALS

DIVISION I

#1 El Camino Real 45, #9 Garfield 28

#4 Eagle Rock 50, #5 Arleta 34

#3 San Pedro 47, #6 Grant 38

#2 Granada Hills Kennedy 53, #7 Verdugo Hills 41

DIVISION II

#1 Harbor Teacher 58, #8 Larchmont Charter 19

#5 West Adams 30, #4 Triumph Charter 27

#3 Santee 43, #11 South East 38

#2 North Hollywood 51, #7 New West Charter 49

DIVISION III

#8 Diego Rivera at #1 Washington Prep

#4 LA Marshall 47, #5 Sun Valley Poly 20

#3 San Fernando 44, #11 Animo Robinson 30

#2 Gardena 40, #7 Crenshaw 24

Note: Semifinals Feb. 21; Finals Feb. 27-28.

SECOND ROUND

DIVISION IV

#1 Maywood CES 36, #16 Huntington Park 33

#9 Smidt Tech 31, #8 Magnolia Science Academy 25

#12 Wilmington Banning 52, #5 Foshay 20

#13 Lincoln 42, #4 LA Wilson 37

#19 Franklin at #3 WISH Academy

#11 Bravo 39, #6 Marquez 35

#10 Panorama 61, #7 Contreras 31

#18 South Gate 48, #2 Sun Valley Magnet 38

DIVISION V

#1 LA Roosevelt 33, #17 Horace Mann UCLA 19

#9 Los Angeles at #8 Camino Nuevo

#12 Discovery at #5 Torres

#20 Sotomayor 39, #4 Chavez 25

#3 Vaughn 40, #14 Animo Bunche 19

#11 Monroe 57, #6 Lake Balboa College Prep 26

#10 Port of LA 54, #7 Aspire Ollin 33

#18 East College Prep at #2 Legacy

Note: Quarterfinals Feb. 19; Semifinals Feb. 21; Finals Feb. 27-28.

SOUTHERN SECTION

GIRLS

SECOND ROUND

OPEN DIVISION

Pool A

#9 Rancho Christian 73, #8 JSerra 71

Pool B

#10 Fairmont Prep 63, #7 Lakewood St. Joseph 51

Pool C

#11 Oak Park 67, #6 Corona Centennial 44

Pool D

#4 Mater Dei 52, #12 Redondo Union 45

Note: Third round pool play games Feb. 18 at higher seeds; Quarterfinals Feb. 21; Semifinals Feb. 24; Finals Feb. 28 at Toyota Arena.

DIVISION 1

#1 Ventura 50, Bishop Montgomery 40

Windward 64, #8 Flintridge Prep 49

#5 Valencia 81, Mira Costa 56

Troy 61, #4 Brentwood 48

#3 Moreno Valley 69, St. Bonaventure 39

#6 Orange Lutheran 55, Marlborough 48

#7 Villa Park 58, Santa Margarita 45

#2 La Salle 48, St. Anthony 42

DIVISION 2

Portola 44, #1 Glendora 34

#9 Saugus 57, Heritage 50

312 Summit 47, #5 Yucaipa 34

Camarillo 54, #4 Rancho Cucamonga 42

#3 Crescenta Valley 56, #14 Chino Hills 34

#11 San Clemente 72, Rolling Hills Prep 59

Dos Pueblos 52, #7 San Juan Hills 45

#2 Rosary Academy 63, Riverside King 50

DIVISION 3

Murrieta Valley 64, #1 Lynwood 61

#8 St. Monica 78, Arcadia 57

#12 Trabuco Hills 58, #5 Segerstrom 45

#4 Oxnard 37, #13 Aliso Niguel 34

#14 Mark Keppel 54, El Modena 31

#6 Leuzinger 72, #11 Shadow Hills 66

#7 St. Margaret’s 65, #10 Riverside Poly 34

Canyon Country Canyon 54, #2 Wiseburn-Da Vinci 39

DIVISION 4

#1 Long Beach Jordan 36, Lancaster 32

#9 La Canada 41, #8 Yorba Linda 27

#5 Eastside 42, Gabrielino 23

Anaheim Canyon 39, Knight 26

#3 El Dorado 64, #14 Ontario 29

#6 Long Beach Wilson 56, Westlake 49

#7 Pasadena Poly 66, Shalhevet 44

#2 Marina 54, #15 Holy Martyrs 47

DIVISION 5

#16 Sunny Hills 48, #1 Tesoro 19

#9 Bishop Diego 55, Fullerton 44

Torrance 53, #5 Fountain Valley 26

#13 Godinez 50, Heritage Christian 41

Whitney 40, #3 Santa Ana Foothill 33

Oakwood at YULA

#7 Burbank Burroughs 51, #10 Culver City 23

Carter 45, #2 Western Christian 42

DIVISION 6

#16 San Jacinto 65, #1 Carpinteria 43

Immaculate Heart 44, #9 Costa Mesa 39

Savanna 41, #5 Redlands 28

#4 Palm Desert 45, #13 Santa Monica 29

Hillcrest 52, #14 Notre Dame Academy 20

Rowland 57, #11 Liberty 41

#10 Sante Fe 48, #7 Hart 23

Warren 41, Silver Valley 39

DIVISION 7

#16 Foothill Tech 55, #1 Fillmore 35

Laguna Hills 45, Capistrano Valley Christian 40

#12 Rosemead 54, Desert Christian Academy 42

Patriot 74, Villanova Prep 40

#3 Canoga Park AGBU 45, #14 Nogales 44

Ridgecrest Burroughs 45, #6 Barstow 21

La Palma Kennedy 47, Long Beach Poly 46

Cajon 42, Garden Grove 25

DIVISION 8

Yucca Valley 61, #1 Cobalt 44

University Prep 45, #8 Norwalk 39

Orange 44, #12 Coachella Valley 40

#13 Riverside Notre Dame 51, #4 Santa Ana Valley 45

#14 Schurr 49, Mesa Grande Academy 23

#6 CAMS 49, #11 South El Monte 42

#10 Chadwick 47, #7 Victor Valley 44

#15 Santa Monica Pacifica Christian 57, #2 Riverside North 35

DIVISION 9

#16 Vista del Lago 44, #1 NOVA Academy Early College 18

#8 Santa Clarita Christian 53, #9 Victor Valley Christian 34

#5 Channel Islands 37, #12 Jurupa Hills 31

Desert Hot Springs 48, #4 Temple City 37

La Sierra 46, Faith Baptist 38

#6 Redlands Adventist 55, #11 Newport Christian 32

#10 Sierra Vista 48, #7 San Gabriel 32

Western 48, Santa Maria Valley Christian 38

(Quarterfinals Feb. 18; Semifinals Feb. 21; Finals Feb. 27 or 28)

La Mirada finally got its breakthrough win in the Southern Section Open Division basketball playoffs on Friday night, going on the road to defeat St. John Bosco 56-53.

The Matadores (23-7) wanted to be in the Open Division playoffs last season and went 1-3, failing to make the state playoffs. They lost to Sherman Oaks Notre Dame on Wednesday, in a pool-play opener, ending their 14-game winning streak, then came back to inflict a rare home defeat on St. John Bosco in a pool play game. St. John Bosco had a chance to tie the score at the end but a three-point attempt failed.

Jordyn Houston led La Mirada with 22 points. St. John Bosco faces Notre Dame on Tuesday. La Mirada is in good position to claim second place in the pool and advance to the quarterfinals.

Harvard-Westlake 67, Damien 62: Joe Sterling finished with 22 points to help the Wolverines get back into the win column in an Open Division pool play game.

Corona Centennial 74, Etiwanda 48: The Huskies rolled to a win in their Open Division opener.

Crespi 82, Corona del Mar 70: The Celts faced a large, enthusiastic road crowd and won their first Open Division game. Isaiah Barnes scored 24 points and Jasiah Williams 23. Maxwell Scott scored 35 points for Corona del Mar.

JSerra 75, Loyola 46: Jaden Bailes scored 22 points in the Division 1 playoff victory.

Mater Dei 85, Westlake 59: It was another dominating win for the Monarchs in Division 2.

Rolling Hills Prep 63, Orange Lutheran 52: Josahn Webster, the son of King/Drew coach Lloyd Webster, contributed 23 points for Rolling Hills Prep.

Shalhevet 42, Palm Springs 41: Sam Jacobsen had the game-winning basket for Shalhevet in a Division 4-A game.

Venice 58, Sun Valley Poly 40: The Gondoliers advanced in the City Section Division I playoffs.

In the old days, during the 1980s and 1990s, when the Notre Dame-Crespi basketball rivalry was in peak form, it would get so hot in Notre Dame’s sold-out gym that they’d have to open windows from high above or sweat would be everywhere. Then came the invention of air conditioning, but Friday’s Mission League tournament semifinals were also super hot in terms of intensity and top performances.

Notre Dame (20-6) was able to pull out an 82-78 victory over Crespi on the strength of four consecutive pressure free throws made by standout junior guard NaVorro Bowman Jr. in the final 14 seconds to earn the Knights a championship game appearance against host Sierra Canyon on Wednesday night.

Crespi (19-11), which went on the road to upset Harvard-Westlake on Saturday, gave the Knights plenty to sweat about. The Celts held a 70-67 lead with 4:46 left until a Josiah Nance three tied the score and started a 10-0 Notre Dame run. A three by sophomore Zion Lanier off an assist from Bowman with 1:10 left put the Knights on top 77-70. The Celts were forced to foul and never got closer than two points.

Notre Dame has produced some outstanding high school guards in the past five years, from Dusty Stromer to Mercy Miller to Angelino Mark, who’s a freshman at Rutgers and showed up Monday night to root for his former teammates. But Bowman is headed to rarefied air. From making threes to powering his way through defenders to converting layups to making a seemingly impossible off-balance shot Monday, he has been in a class by himself.

He’s averaging 23 points and finished with 32 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

“He’s a special player,” Notre Dame coach Matt Sargeant said. “He shows up in big moments. He’s super mentally tough.”

His father was an NFL player, and Bowman has the family genes to perform at his best when the team needs him the most. Crespi was trying to cover him closely in the first half. Notre Dame players kept setting him screens, but Bowman was a little bit off, missing six shots. In the second half, he couldn’t be stopped.

“I had to lock in,” Bowman said.

The game was briefly halted early in the second quarter when the officials gave a warning to Sargeant and Crespi coach Derek Fisher to stay in their coaching boxes. Adding to the drama, Fisher’s wife was asked to leave the gym by Notre Dame officials. Both teams plowed through the distractions to put on a terrific second half that went back and forth.

Isaiah Barnes finished with 24 points and Cayman Martin had 20 points. Ilan Nikolov helped out Notre Dame with 19 points.

“This has been a rivalry for years,” Bowman said. “It feels good to win twice.”

Wednesday’s Mission League tournament final will also decide league MVP honors. The league champion gets to pick who the MVP is, so if Notre Dame wins, it surely will be Bowman.

Sierra Canyon 103, Loyola 74: The Trailblazers (22-1) received 30 points from Brandon McCoy and 23 points from Maxi Adams, both of whom were selected for the McDonald’s All-American Game in an announcement on Monday.

Mater Dei 92, Orange Lutheran 65: Luke Barnett scored 31 points to lead Mater Dei in an opening game of the Trinity League tournament.

JSerra 78, Servite 53: Ryan Doane had 16 points for the Lions.

Cleveland 61, Chatsworth 56: Harout Posheyan had 14 points and Charlie Adams 13 for Cleveland, which clinched the West Valley League championship. Aaron Krueger had 13 points for Chatsworth.

Brentwood 71, Viewpoint 56: Ethan Hill had 24 points and 20 rebounds for Brentwood.

Los Alamitos 68, Edison 61: Tyler Lopez led the way with 17 points.