That’s the only way to describe what San Juan Hills players, coaches and fans were feeling on Saturday at Golden 1 Center when Alex Osterloh made two of three free throws with 0.3 seconds left to give Atherton Sacred Heart Prep a 47-45 victory in the Division IV state boys’ basketball championship game.
Osterloh was fouled at the top of the key by Kellen Owens with the scored tied.
“I’m pretty sure I was fouled,” Osterloh said.
San Juan Hills had earlier lost the ball on a turnover, its 19th of the game, surrendering its chance to take the lead.
“It was a tough ending,” San Juan Hills coach Jason Efstathiou said. “We turned over the ball too much. Nineteen is insane. Ultimately we didn’t do a good enough job handling pressure.”
San Juan Hills (22-14) came back from a 12-point deficit in the second quarter to take a four-point lead in the fourth quarter.
Garrett Brehmer finished with 17 points while Rocco Jensen had 10 points and eight rebounds for San Juan Hills. Osterloh scored 15 points and Pat Bala had 13.
“There’s a little distaste,” Efstathiou said, “but at the same time we got to be here.”
If any photo reveals the intensity of two All-Americans, it’s this one from late in the game, where Jerzy Robinson (left) of Sierra Canyon and Kaleena Smith of Ontario Christian battled in the Open Division final.
Call it the Mick Cronin Say Something Nice Challenge.
Not something nice-ish, not a chocolate-covered diss or an insult teased as affirmation. Just a compliment, no chaser.
It’s not impossible, it turns out.
“We have great guys,” Cronin said about his team, which demolished USC 89-68 at Galen Center on Saturday to finish the season 21-10. “I have to make myself yell at some of these guys, because they’re such good guys. And I did that by design.”
He’ll have a funny way of showing it, but Cronin likes the guys he recruited or plucked from the transfer portal. He really, really likes them.
They put up with him, after all. They get him.
Coming after an impressive 72-52 triumph against No. 9 Nebraska on Tuesday, Saturday’s victory launched his Bruins men’s basketball team into tournament play, starting with a third-round Big Ten tournament game Thursday, and then the NCAA tournament.
And, no, the controversial coach won’t likely be excused from his post anytime soon. Not with another four years on his contract, a current buyout price of $22.5 million and now a not-terrible finish to this strange season of all peaks and valleys and no plateaus.
The Bruins are on the way up at the right time, even playing enough defense for Cronin’s taste — though, of course, he’s prepared for that to change.
“I’ve been around these guys for five months,” he said, “so I know that the fight is not over with that. We can go right back to who we were, which was a bad defensive team.”
What can you say? The man’s service might be questionable, but his backhands are unparalleled.
UCLA coach Mick Cronin talks about the Bruins’ win over USC on Saturday.
His opening statement the last time UCLA clocked USC, 81-62 on Feb. 24: “Proud of the guys, they got the job done …” and, wait for it, “I’m well aware you’re going to ask about rebounding, and as I tell people, you can’t be great at everything. And we’re surely not.”
There was the time he actually fell on the proverbial sword after his team’s 86-74 loss to Ohio State: “Blame me — blame me,” he said, only kidding: “I recruited ’em, I signed them as free agents.” (The bums!)
He isn’t exactly dropping jewels of inspiration suited to be posted in classrooms beside John Wooden’s “Pyramid of Success.”
But after five up-and-down months with him, his players say they’re cool with Cronin, who has shaken off what feels like an annual wave of national criticism. This time it hit after he booted his own center Steven Jamerson II from a game at Michigan State on Feb. 17, overreacting because he mistook a clean basketball play for something else.
UCLA coach Mick Cronin shouts instructions to a player during the Bruins’ win over USC on Saturday.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
“I’ve adapted to how he coaches and how he runs stuff,” said Donovan Dent, the Bruins’ sure-handed point guard who had 25 points on 11-of-15 shooting to go with his seven assists without a turnover Saturday.
How does he coach? “Fun, very fun,” Dent laughed, acknowledging that, yes, “absolutely” players have to have some thick skin if they’re going to play for Cronin.
“He can get on you,” Dent said, “but he just wants the best for you.”
“I mean,” forward Tyler Bilodeau said, “he’s intense. Coach Cronin has no off days, he is who he is every single day. You gotta respect that.”
And Cronin’s bait-and-switch bit? It would kill at a comedy club, but working a locker room? Maybe he’s found the right audience of young athletes.
“I’m at a point in my career, I want guys who are good guys,” said Cronin, whose team went 17-1 at Pauley Pavilion and 4-9 away from it. “I don’t want to be fighting with guys, I don’t have the energy for it. I won enough games, it’s not worth it.”
Well, about that.
The Bruins will have made the NCAA tournament five times in Cronin’s seven-year tenure with the team, and they’ve advanced to the Final Four and twice to the Sweet 16. But the Final Four run was six seasons ago, and in the past two years, UCLA made just one tournament appearance and got only as far as the second round.
That hardly seems sufficient for a UCLA program that’s regularly supposed to be breathing rarefied air without caveats or qualifiers.
But he thinks he’s found the right players to roll with his punchlines, and to play defense too.
“We can keep winning games,” Cronin said, “if we stop the other team.”
The Kentucky Derby will be run in eight weeks, which allows plenty of time for considerable changes in the field.
And yet, there’s really not much time at all. Each Derby candidate has only one or two chances remaining to earn one of the 20 stalls in the oversized starting gate at Churchill Downs.
That means every prep race, including Saturday’s San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita, takes on added importance as horses run into or out of contention. Others will disappear from the trail because of illness or injury.
For now, the favorites are horses coming off victories in races in Louisiana, Florida and Arkansas — Paladin, Commandment, Nearly, Renegade and Class President.
But anyone who thinks they know what will happen between now and May 2 probably also believes they can find a hotel room on Derby weekend near Churchill Downs for less than $400.
No one understands that better than the trainer who has won the race a record-tying six times.
You don’t take horses to the Derby, Bob Baffert said this week. “They take you to the Derby.”
Recent events served as another reminder. Barely more than a week ago, Baffert likely would have listed his top Derby candidates as Plutarch, Litmus Test and Brant.
Then, on Feb. 25, Baffert revealed Plutarch had a minor setback after his win last month in the Robert B. Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita and would not make the Kentucky Derby.
Three days later, Litmus Test faded to third place in his first start of the year, the Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas.
In between those disappointments, though, there was surprisingly good news for Baffert. Cherokee Nation, winless in five career starts, ran the fastest mile (1:34.50) in nearly a decade at Santa Anita. It was only a maiden race, but Cherokee Nation won by 10 lengths and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 100. Only one 3-year-old, Fountain of Youth winner Commandment, has a higher figure this year in a race longer than a mile, and that was by one point.
“What he did … was pretty impressive to me,” Baffert said of the son of Not This Time who sold for $1.15 million as a yearling. “His stock went way up.”
Suddenly, Cherokee Nation could be Baffert’s top prospect, though he’ll have to prove it next month in the Santa Anita Derby, in which he’ll need to finish first or second to have enough points to qualify for the Kentucky Derby.
Brant, right, ridden by Flavien Pratt, finished third behind Ted Noffey and John Velazquez, center, and Mr. A.P. and Antonio Fresu, left, in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Del Mar in October.
(Gregory Bull / Associated Press)
Or maybe it’s Brant.
The son of Gun Runner who cost $3 million at a sale last March recorded a 101 Beyer figure in a flashy 5½-furlong debut last summer, and followed that win with another in the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity. But he was third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and hasn’t raced since.
That changes Saturday with Brant making his 3-year-old debut in the Grade 2 San Felipe, one of four graded stakes on an 11-race card at Santa Anita. He is the even-money favorite on the morning line for the 1-1/16-mile race, which will award 50 Derby points to the winner, guaranteeing a spot in the starting gate.
“He looks good,” Baffert said. “The freshening did him well. He grew a little bit. He’s not a real big horse but he’s starting to grow right now. … It’s a tough race. There’s some nice horses in there. It’s a pretty salty prep race, but they usually are.”
Baffert has another San Felipe starter in Potente, an Into Mischief colt who cost $2.4 million as a yearling. He’s run only once, winning a sprint five weeks ago, and while Baffert would have preferred to run him in a two-turn allowance race, there aren’t any available for 3-year-olds at Santa Anita.
As he saw with Cherokee Nation, though, no one knows who will prove worthy or when.
The 2-1 second choice is So Happy, a winner of two sprint races who was sired by a sprinter (Runhappy) but is getting a chance to see if he can run farther than maybe his breeding would suggest. He is an obvious sentimental favorite; he is trained by Mark Glatt, whose wife of 25 years, Dena, died Feb. 12 from cardiac arrest. She was 57.
Not-so-Big ’Cap
With heavily favored Skippylongstocking and San Pasqual Stakes winner Westwood scratched, the $300,000 Santa Anita Handicap on Saturday is down to five starters, none of whom has won a Grade 1 or Grade 2 race. In fact, new morning-line favorite Just a Touch never has won any stakes race, though he’s been second or third six times in seven tries (he was last in the 2024 Kentucky Derby).
The only graded-stakes winners in the field are Baffert’s Getaway Car, who won a Grade 3 sprint as a 2-year-old, and Midnight Mammoth, who won a Grade 3 marathon race two years ago but lost his last two stakes tries by a combined 56¾ lengths.
The other two starters are Vodka Vodka, whose lone stakes win came in a turf race restricted to California-bred horses, and British Isles, who has never won a stakes race. The latter’s trainer, Richard Baltas, won this race with Idol in 2021. Baffert has won it six times.
The first of the four stakes races is the $300,000 B. Wayne Hughes Beholder Mile, with Splendora the 4-5 favorite for Baffert after winning four straight races, including the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint last fall at Del Mar and the D. Wayne Lukas Stakes last month at Santa Anita.
El Potente is the 5-2 favorite in the wide-open, $200,000 Frank E. Kilroe Mile, which this year was downgraded to a Grade 2.
#1 Sierra Canyon, bye #5 Santa Margarita 75, #4 Redondo Union 71 #3 Santa Maria St. Joseph 66, #6 Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 60 #2 Harvard-Westlake, bye
GIRLS
Open Division
#1 Sierra Canyon, bye #4 Sage Hill, bye #3 Etiwanda, bye #2 Ontario Christian, bye
Note: Quarterfinals in Division I-V are Thursday, March 5 at higher seeds; Semifinals in all divisions are Saturday, March 7 at higher seeds; Finals are Tuesday March 10 at higher seeds. State championships are March 13-14 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
Shia LaBeouf says he isn’t too keen on seeking treatment to manage his sobriety after his two arrests over a drunken brawl in New Orleans.
The “Megalopolis” and “Holes” actor, 39, denied struggling with alcohol abuse and seemingly took accountability for his violent Mardi Gras behavior in a rambling interview. He spoke with Andrew Callaghan, the journalist best known for his Channel 5 News YouTube page.
“My side is this: My behavior, b—. I got to deal with that,” the former Disney Channel child star said in the interview published Saturday. “Does that mean I got to go to rehab again? I’m just not into it, bro. I don’t think my answers are there.”
A New Orleans judge last week ordered LaBeouf to begin substance abuse treatment and undergo weekly drug testing after he was arrested on suspicion of assaulting two men in the city’s French Quarter. The actor was initially charged with two counts of simple battery in the Feb. 17 brawl, but he racked up an additional charge for the same count on Saturday.
LaBeouf was released from jail shortly after his first arrest on Feb. 17 and posted $100,000 in bond. More than a week later, on Friday, New Orleans Police Department issued a warrant for LaBeouf’s second arrest in connection with the incident, a spokesperson confirmed. The actor turned himself in on Saturday and was released after posting bond again.
“No regular person would be required to post over $100,000 in bonds, and be jailed two separate times for one misdemeanor incident,” attorney Sarah Chervinsky said, according to the Associated Press. “Just as he does not deserve preferential treatment, Mr. LaBeouf also does not deserve to be treated more harshly by the police and courts just because he is a public figure.”
At the beginning of his chat with Callaghan, LaBeouf said he “1,000%” takes responsibility for the altercation and that he “had a great time” on Mardi Gras. A legal representative for LaBeouf — who has yet to enter a formal plea to the charges — did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.
The New Orleans Police Department said its officers responded to a report of an assault on the 1400 block of Royal Street early on Feb. 17. The former “Even Stevens” child star was “causing a disturbance” at the business, leading staff to remove him from the premises, police said. The actor allegedly “used his closed fists” on one of the victims “several times.”
Authorities said LaBeouf left the business but returned, “acting even more aggressive.” According to the incident report, an unspecified number of people tried to subdue him and eventually let him go “in hope that he would leave.” Instead, police said, LaBeouf began assaulting the same man as before, hitting his upper body with closed fists. The actor is accused of punching the second man in the nose.
People held down LaBeouf until officials arrived. He was taken to a hospital, treated for unknown injuries and arrested and charged upon his release.
An additional police report identified a local entertainer as one of LaBeouf’s alleged victims. The “Disturbia” actor, whose history of violent behavior has led to previous arrests and other legal troubles, allegedly threatened the man’s life and shouted homophobic slurs.
LaBeouf told Callaghan that he was drunk and that, leading up to the incident, he “felt infringed upon.” Elsewhere in the conversation, he said, “big gay people are scary to me,” and said he was wary that “three gay dudes are next to me, touching my leg.” He subsequently apologized and owned up to his homophobic comment.
“I wasn’t in my right mind so it’s on me,” he said elsewhere in the interview. “I said words not OK. I’m wrong for what I did.”
“I am wrong for touching anyone, ever and that’s the end of my statement on this whole s—,” he also said.
Additionally, LaBeouf confirmed his separation from “Frankenstein” and “Pearl” star Mia Goth (they share a daughter), discussed his on-and-off sobriety over the years and stated plainly: “I don’t think I have a drinking problem.”
Instead, LaBeouf said he has a “small man complex,” something akin to a Napoleon complex but more “to do with anger and ego more so than my drinking.” For reference, he stands 5 feet 9 inches.
Last week, Orleans Parish Criminal Court Judge Simone Levine shared a different take on LaBeouf’s habits. She alleged the actor “does not take his alcohol addiction seriously.”
Chervinsky said during her client’s court appearance that “being drunk on Mardi Gras is not a crime,” a sentiment LaBeouf echoed to Callaghan.
There’s a new team with plenty of quality young players to get excited about in high school basketball.
Bishop Amat (28-5), led by sophomore Aiden Shaw and freshman Omar Cox-Labomme, put together a near-perfect performance on Saturday at Toyota Arena in a 71-48 victory over Hesperia to win the Southern Section Division 2 championship for coach Brandon Ertle, the team’s first title since 2002.
Shaw made nine of 11 shots, had four assists, three blocks and five steals while finishing with 20 points. Cox-Labomme made three three-pointers and had 16 points. For players 16 and 15 years old, respectively, to deliver with poise and confidence on such a big stage speaks to a bright future.
“They didn’t seem like they are a freshman and sophomore since the first game of the season,” Ertle said. “Not nervous or afraid of the moment. I think these are pretty good players.”
The Lancers also did a good job containing Hesperia’s 6-foot-7 Nolan Newman-Gomez, who finished with 17 points.
Murrieta Mesa 65, Aliso Niguel 58: Jagger Saul scored 18 points to help Murrieta Mesa win the Southern Section Division 3 title. Jayden Mysin had 18 points for Aliso Niguel.
Verdugo Hills 62, RFK 40: The Dons won the City Section Division III championship. Alex Kasumyan scored 13 points and Jordan Vargas added 12 points.
Rialto 59, Salesian 31: Lionel Madrid scored 16 points and Wayne Johnson had 14 points for Rialto in the Division 7 final.
Colton 55, San Bernardino Pacific 42: Andres Elenes scored 23 points for Colton in the Division 9 final.
Girls’ basketball
Sierra Vista 52, Desert Hot Springs 42: Cailei Buna finished with 19 points, making nine of 10 free throws, in the Southern Section Division 9 final.
Bishop Diego 42, Burbank Burroughs 41: Eden Synne finished with 16 points for Bishop Diego in the Division 5 final. Burroughs had a chance to tie in the final second but a free throw was missed.
The Dodgers shored up the bullpen over the winter, signing three-time all-star Edwin Díaz to a three-year, $69-million contract. With the closer role firmly defined for the first time since Kenley Jansen was on the team in 2021, how the rest of the bullpen falls into place remains a work in progress during spring training.
“Obviously, adding Díaz to the back end is huge for us and getting Alex Vesia [back] is going to be good, and also Blake [Treinen],” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Blake wasn’t right last year, clearly. He’s throwing the baseball really well. Having guys that you trust is everything for the pen. … You’ve got to count on those veteran guys for sure.”
Now included in that veteran group is left-hander Tanner Scott, who joined the Dodgers before last season on a four-year, $72-million deal. Scott struggled to find his footing, primarily as a closer, before a left elbow injury placed him on injured list in mid-July, causing him to miss a month of action. He returned the final week of August, and never looked quite right. Scott posted a 4.74 ERA across 61 appearances and 57.0 IP in his first year with the Dodgers.
On Saturday against the Chicago Cubs in a split-squad game at Camelback Ranch, Scott made his Cactus League debut and pitched a scoreless inning, recording a strikeout and giving up one hit on 17 pitches. With the ninth inning spoken for, Roberts believes this will allow for Scott to bounce back this season.
“I think being able to use Tanner in any inning of leverage, is going to be good for him,” Roberts said. “And it’s going to be good for us.”
Díaz, for his part, has settled in, making his second appearance of the spring on Saturday. He worked around two walks to pitch a scoreless inning, striking out one. Vesia, who missed the World Series due to the death of his newborn daughter, has pitched two scoreless innings while Treinen pitched a perfect inning on Thursday against the Chicago White Sox in his first Cactus League outing.
The 37-year-old Treinen, who’s been on all three of the Dodgers’ recent World Series teams and was a stalwart in the 2024 postseason, struggled last season, going 1-5 with a 9.64 ERA in September.
“You never know what the body throttles back,” Treinen said earlier in camp. “I had a UCL injury, so I don’t know if that’s part of the problem, but something was different. I mean, velocity was there, movements were there, execution wasn’t, and when pitches were in the zone, it was a harder-hit rate. So, that tells me something was different, how to handle hitters. So, just trying to go back and cleaning things up to where the ball does more of what it has done most of my career.”
On the flip side, right-hander Brusdar Graterol — who has not pitched since the 2024 World Series — remains in a holding pattern during spring training as he works his way back from right labrum surgery. And right-hander Evan Phillips is not expected back for several months after Tommy John surgery ended his season last June. But for the most part, the relievers who are healthy have shown glimpses of what it could look like this season.
“I don’t think that there’s one way to manage a pen,” Roberts said. “But when you have a guy like Edwin Díaz as your closer, I do think it frees up other guys. … I think that’s freeing for me and allows for getting the matchups we need in the prior innings.”
As his USC team slid further off the NCAA tournament bubble, falling flat against its fiercest rival, frustrated coach Eric Musselman couldn’t help but lament what might have been.
If the Trojans had Rodney Rice, maybe things would have gone differently in his second season.
“I haven’t really talked about it in a long time,” Musselman said. “But we’ve got three games left, so I’m gonna bring it up now. To run our offense and stuff without a guy like him is problematic for sure.”
Of course, after losing 81-62 to crosstown rival UCLA,, there wasn’t much else for USC to find solace in Tuesday night. Maybe Rice, who has been out since late November, would have elevated the Trojans’ ailing offense. Maybe freshman Alijah Arenas, who didn’t debut until late January, could have found his stride faster with a full offseason.
No amount of what-ifs, however, will fix what ails USC during its final three games. The loss to UCLA was its fourth straight. As of Tuesday night, the Trojans were firmly out of the tournament field, a fact that Musselman was well aware of.
That’s not set in stone yet. But the question now is whether the Trojans even have the capacity to climb back into the March mix.
That path back for USC would certainly be smoother with a more potent offense. Sixth-year senior Chad Baker-Mazara led the team with 25 points against UCLA in spite of playing through a sore knee.
But the rest of the Trojans offense shot under 30% — another issue that Musselman traced back to Rice’s absence.
“The lack of shooting is really hurting us,” Musselman said. “I haven’t really talked about it in a long time. But not having Rodney Rice’s shooting is killing us. It kills our spacing. It kills our help to the ball.”
The arrival of Arenas, the Trojans highly touted freshman, was supposed to solve that. Instead, 10 games into his college career, Arenas is struggling mightily with his offensive efficiency.
USC coach Eric Musselman reacts to the Trojans’ loss to UCLA at Pauley Pavilion on Tuesday.
(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)
Arenas had four first-half turnovers in nine minutes and didn’t hit a shot from the field until midway through the second half. The freshman has shot just 8 of 29 over his last three games. He finished Tuesday with 10 points, four rebounds and five turnovers.
“It’s a learning curve for him,” Musselman said. “He’s an incredible talent who has an awesome ceiling, and he’s got an incredible future. But in a game like tonight — he’s learning. You can see it out there. He’s learning on the fly.”
There’s not much time left to learn. The Trojans will face No. 12 Nebraska on Saturday, before traveling to Washington, which beat them earlier in the season, a few days later. A rematch with UCLA awaits at Galen Center the following Saturday.
USC won’t stand much of a chance against that slate if it can’t find some consistency on either end, but the Trojans had their moments Tuesday. They fired out to an early lead thanks to Baker-Mazara, who followed up a 13-point outburst Saturday by knocking down three consecutive 3’s in a three-minute stretch.
Later, near the midway mark of the second half, Baker-Mazara hit another 3 to cut the UCLA lead to just five points. And for a brief moment, it seemed USC might find a way.
But then, in the waning seconds of the shot clock, UCLA star guard Donovan Dent let a deep three pointer fly with 10 minutes remaining. It swished. A sold-out crowd at Pauley Pavilion roared.
Dent finished with 30 points, while the Trojans never recovered. Musselman, meanwhile, was left thinking of something his wife, Danyelle, had said to him.
“Take a 20-pointer scorer off of any team and see what they do,” Musselman recalled his wife saying. “Take Dent off of them and let’s see what they do. That’s a fact.”
But the facts, for USC, are pretty grim at this point. And with just three games remaining, time is running out for the Trojans to change that.
More than 75,000 people packed the Coliseum for a soccer game Saturday night.
LAFC hosted the largest crowd for a soccer game in the world last weekend, the largest crowd for an MLS season-opening game and the second-largest in league history.
MLS moved the game from cozy BMO Stadium, LAFC’s regular home, a few hundred feet west to the cavernous 77,000-seat Coliseum because Lionel Messi, arguably the best to ever play the sport, would be there. It worked: The crowd was the largest at the Coliseum for any event in more than six years.
But the people didn’t come to see Messi or his team, Inter Miami, the reigning MLS champion. The crowd was not dressed in Miami pink but in the black and gold of LAFC, which won 3-0.
And that’s a good sign for MLS.
According to one high-ranking MLS executive who has attended multiple Messi games in NFL stadiums, Saturday was the first time he heard he Argentine captain booed.
“The fans immediately started booing Inter Miami and Messi as they came out of the tunnel for warmups,” said the executive, who was not authorized to speak publicly. “And that continued throughout the game. There were hardly any pink jerseys in the crowd. It was a real testament to the incredible fan base of LAFC.”
The league made a trade-off in 2007 when the Galaxy signed David Beckham, who was followed by a steady stream of big-name stars from Thierry Henry, Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard to Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Robbie Keane and Bastian Schweinsteiger. Tens of thousands of curious fans came out to cheer the European soccer royalty, not the local teams they were playing against.
Messi took that to another level. Three MLS teams drew the largest crowds in their franchises’ histories when Messi came to town. He brought attention and excitement to MLS and eyeballs to its TV broadcasts.
What the league needed to move to the next level, though, was an authentic fan culture. It needed supporters who cheered for their team through thick and thin, not curious, casual fans who came out to see whatever big-name player was passing through town but never came back.
It has found that with LAFC.
“This atmosphere in the stadium is nice for the team. We know the fans are coming to support us,” LAFC striker Denis Bouanga said. “It’s good for me and my teammates.”
Twice in the last four seasons an LAFC game produced an attendance record. In 2023, LAFC played the Galaxy before 82,110 at the Rose Bowl, the largest crowd in league history. Saturday’s attendance of 75,673 was the second-largest, and largest for a season opener.
LAFC has earned that following. And if the team is the future of MLS, then it will be a bright future.
Since LAFC began play in 2018, no other MLS team has won more games, scored more goals or amassed more points. No other team has won more trophies either. And while LAFC may not have Messi, it’s hardly lacking for star power.
Son Heung-min, the captain of South Korea’s national team and a former English Premier League scoring leader, assisted on LAFC’s first goal Saturday. Bouanga, who scored the second goal, has more regular-season goals than Messi since Messi joined MLS in the summer of 2023. And Hugo Lloris, who pitched the shutout in goal, has played more World Cup games than any other goalkeeper in history.
Lloris also has played in — and won — as many World Cup finals as Messi. In some parts of MLS, Messi is an enemy to be beaten, not a celebrity to be welcomed.
“We want to beat Messi; we want to beat Miami because Messi is there,” Bouanga said. “The motivation is so high for this game. Maybe this game means more.”
Certainly for LAFC supporters it did. Because more than 75,000 of them came to cheer the local team and boo the visiting one, no matter who was wearing that bright pink uniform.
During the early1980s, under coach Craig Raub and with the help of the DeCree sisters, Toya, Fonda and Diane, Granada Hills Kennedy was the best basketball program in the City Section and one of the best in Southern California. Toya, Fonda and Diane ended up playing for Arizona State, Oregon State and Texas A&M, respectively. Toya became a coach and the mother of the NBA Holiday boys, Justin, Jrue and Aaron.
Kennedy won a City Division II title in 2023, but the Golden Cougars are trying to return to relevancy this season having advanced to the City Section Division I final on Saturday against El Camino Real at 4 p.m. at Pasadena City College.
One of the standouts is Abbigail Gomez, a transfer from Highland who’s averaging 15 points. Her parents played football and soccer at San Fernando High. She also plays for Kennedy’s flag football team.
She made a game-clinching three in the fourth quarter on Saturday to help beat San Pedro. Afterward, she turned to the crowd and blew a kiss.
“That’s for my close friends and family,” she said.
She might be even more excited if the Golden Cougars can win a City title on Friday.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.
A season of frustratingly unfortunate events for USC had led here, to this nightmarish crescendo at the one-minute mark Saturday, in a must-win matchup.
Through a roller-coaster afternoon, the Trojans had navigated one wave after another, riding several hot streaks and surviving the cold ones, knowing full well that their NCAA tournament hopes hinged on a win over Oregon, one of the Big Ten’s worst teams.
All that stress seemed to subside as USC took a six-point lead with 70 seconds remaining. Any rational onlooker would assume that the Trojans had held on for good, dispatching of the Ducks.
But then Oregon scored on a layup. It stole the ball back. And it hit a three-pointer.
USC coach Eric Musselman reacts after a play during the Trojans’ loss to Oregon Saturday at the Galen Center.
(Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press)
USC clung to a one-point lead as freshman Alijah Arenas stepped back for a jumper that clanged away. Kam Woods missed a tip. Then, Oregon got the ball back and drew a foul.
Two free throws from Oregon’s Nate Bittle dealt USC one final, unbelievable blow to their Saturday — and perhaps their season — handing the Trojans a devastating 71-70 loss.
Their hopes of making the NCAA tournament aren’t necessarily dead as of Saturday. Four games still remain for the Trojans to build their case before the Big Ten tournament. But two of those come against UCLA and another against Nebraska, one of the best teams in the Big Ten this season.
USC had hoped Chad Baker-Mazara‘s return from injury would help lift them to a victory Saturday. Baker-Mazara led all scorers with 21, but he also fouled out late, during that final possession.
Arenas struggled most of the afternoon, before scoring 11 in the second half. But it was his turnover in the final seconds that ultimately handed Oregon the win
Baker-Mazara hadn’t played since the beginning of February, and in back-to-back losses to Illinois and Ohio State, the Trojans undoubtedly missed his spark. If not for a late game winner in State College from Arenas, they would’ve dropped all three games played without Baker-Mazara.
The circumstances ultimately left USC in a must-win scenario Saturday, if it hoped to continue clinging to the edge of the NCAA tournament bubble. Oregon had, on the other hand, spent most of the season in the Big Ten cellar. It entered Saturday’s matinee with losses in 11 of its last 12 games.
There was no such urgency in Baker-Mazara upon his return. The sixth-year senior sang and danced his way through warm-ups, before opening the game on a stationary bike in the corner of the arena.
But upon checking in, he jolted the Trojans offense to life with 13 straight points.
The boost Baker-Mazara provided eventually ran out of gas. USC hit just three of its final 14 shots before halftime, and Oregon stormed out in front.
The Ducks did the same in the second half, albeit in much more devastating fashion, leaving USC with a much harder road ahead.
“No,” he said Saturday, chuckling at the notion. “Nothing’s changed.”
Ah, but everything has changed, the formerly overpaid disappointment having transformed himself into arguably the most important player on baseball’s most important team.
Barely touching 5 feet 10, he looks tiny next to giant countryman Shohei Ohtani, with whom he’ll always be compared because they joined the Dodgers at the same time with equally historic contracts.
Quiet and contemplative, he seems dry next to the charming Ohtani. Employed only as a pitcher, he seems boring next to the goose-bump-inducing Ohtani.
Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto hoists the MVP trophy as the team celebrates the World Series victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Struggling at times during his first two regular seasons with the Dodgers while Ohtani was twice voted National League MVP, Yamamoto was originally overshadowed by the greatest player in history.
Until last October, when he became one of the greatest World Series pitchers in history.
It was crazy. It was historic. It was two allowed runs in 17 ⅔ innings with 15 strikeouts and two walks.
Put it another way: It was more compelling than Sandy Koufax’s three-hit shutout on two days rest to win the 1965 World Series over the Minnesota Twins.
It was Yamomania. It was Bulldog 2.0. But if you believe the guy on the mound, it barely made a ripple.
At Camelback Ranch on Saturday, in his first news conference since his World Series heroics, he shrugged and acted like those games were just a walk in the park — except, of course, he barely walked anybody in the park.
Someone asked, how did the World Series change him?
Um, it didn’t.
“I was able to get into the offseason with a great feeling and I was able to go into the offseason with more calmness,” he said through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda.
Someone else asked, did he have to alter his legendary workload in the offseason?
Er, no.
“As a matter of fact, the amount of work I did last year has not been affected in terms of preparation,” he said. “In November, I took off and then I began a gradual ramping up. It’s been like a normal offseason.”
Then someone asked, has he watched anything from that World Series?
Actually, yes!
“Of course, that moment of the last out,” he said. “But when I reflect back on that series, there’s so many great plays they made. Also there’s the small play which was very important. So many great scenes.”
One of the best scenes was the one nobody saw, after Yamamoto had thrown 96 pitches in a Game 6 victory.
He was done. He told his personal trainer he was done. Dave Roberts told the media he was done.
But then, in his words, he got “tricked.”
According to a report by then-Times columnist Dylan Hernández, trainer Osamu Yada told Yamamoto, “Let’s see if you can throw in the bullpen tomorrow.”
Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto throws live batting practice during a workout Friday during spring training at Camelback Ranch.
(Ross D. Franklin / Associated Press)
The trainer figured Yamamoto’s mere presence as a potential reliever would inspire the Dodgers and worry the Blue Jays.
Yamamoto figured he was just going to the bullpen for show.
Oh, he put on a show, all right.
After he pitched 2⅔ scoreless innings to win the game and the World Series championship for the Dodgers, the gamesmanship had been transformed into greatness, and the con man had become a hero.
“For him to have the same stuff that he had the night before is really the greatest accomplishment I’ve ever seen on a baseball field,” said Dodgers baseball boss Andrew Friedman to reporters after the game.
Yamamoto explained afterward, “I didn’t think I would pitch. But I felt good when I practiced and the next thing I knew, I was on the mound in the game.”
And before he knew it, history.
“I really couldn’t believe it,” Yamamoto said. “I was so excited I couldn’t even recall what pitch I threw at the end.”
Now, with the Dodgers chasing a third consecutive championship and Yamamoto involved in a daring race for a Cy Young Award — who will get there first, he or Ohtani? — a different sort of question must be asked.
How on earth can he pitch any better?
“That’s an internal personal question … as far as, can you repeat and continue to get better than what you’ve been,” Roberts said. “Certainly there’s a high bar, but there’s always room for improvement and I can’t find anything right now to be quite honest, but …”
Yamamoto needs to stay healthy. He made his major-league high 30 starts last year after making just 18 the previous year. He needs to do that again to support the other frail Dodgers starters.
Yamamoto also needs to take care of himself while playing for Japan in the upcoming World Baseball Classic. Ohtani is not pitching, but Yamamoto is, and he doesn’t need to wreck his arm.
Finally, he needs to continue acting like the ace that he has become, from his uncomplaining leadership to his dazzling arsenal.
“Every time he takes the ball, he expects to win and we expect to win,” Roberts said.
That is the bottom line on Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s new reality. He was once Ohtani’s sidekick. He is now Ohtani’s partner.
Like it or not, his life has changed. Witness the crowd that screamed for him Saturday at Camelback Ranch like they always scream for Ohtani.
