Don’t look now but Cleveland High in Reseda is surging in high school baseball with a nine-game winning streak, going from 1-8 to 10-8 on the season. The Cavaliers are surprisingly tied for first place in the West Valley League with 4-1 El Camino Real going into a series next week.
“We’re playing a lot better and it has has to do with things we weren’t sharp at, pitching, playing defense and productive offense,” coach Peter Gunny said.
All-City player Joshua Pearlstein has been contributing with his hitting and pitching. Sophomore pitcher Xander Guiley owns a win over Birmingham and the Patriots’ ace pitcher Carlos Acuna. Sierra Canyon transfer Shiloh Wickliffe has played in only four games but has already shown potential as a hitter. Ezra Preis has come through with some big hits. Freshman Elliot Schoenwald is the starting center fielder and also a relief pitcher.
Can Cleveland keep it up?
“The kids are playing well,” Gunny said. “They deserve it.”
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.
Darius Garland added 15 points and 11 assists and Derrick Jones Jr. 13 points for the Clippers, who made 45 of 77 shots (58.4%).
Gary Trent Jr. had a season-high 36 points to pace Milwaukee, which had only eight players available. Taurean Prince added 18 points and AJ Green scored 15 for the Bucks, who have lost 10 of their last 12 games.
The Bucks stayed close early, trailing 29-25 after one quarter with Trent scoring 11 points, including sinking three of five from three-point range.
The Clippers began to pull away in the second, holding a 57-46 lead at the half after leading by as many as 16. Leonard had 15 first-half points.
Brook Lopez, a member of the Bucks’ 2021 NBA championship team, was honored with a video tribute in his first visit back to Milwaukee. He was whistled for a technical foul as the teams were headed to the locker room at halftime.
The Clippers outscored Milwaukee 39-28 in the third and extended its lead to as many as 24 points in the fourth before the Bucks pulled within 11 in the late stages.
Sloppy play hurt Milwaukee, which committed 22 turnovers leading to 33 Clippers points.
Giannis Antetokounmpo sat out a seventh consecutive game for Milwaukee with a left knee hyperextension and bone bruise. The two-time MVP has played in a career-low 36 games this season.
The Bucks also were missing Kevin Porter Jr. (right knee), Bobby Portis (left wrist sprain), Kyle Kuzma (Achilles tendinopathy), Ryan Rollins (left hip flexor), Myles Turner (right knee), Gary Harris (personal reasons) and Thanasis Antetokounmpo (left calf).
Green and Ousmane Dieng fouled out in the fourth, leaving the Bucks with six available players to finish the game.
Up next for the Clippers: vs. the Portland Trail Blazers at Intuit Dome on Tuesday.
When measuring the furiously growing buzz around the Lakers, one need only heed the hopeful cries of one of their most rabid fans.
A 6-year-old.
Jackson Tuyay was named the Lakers’ fan of the game when the team beat the Denver Nuggets on Saturday, March 14, 2026. (Courtesy of Tuyay family)
(Courtesy of Tuyay family)
Wearing a Shaquille O’Neal jersey that nearly drapes to his knees.
Leading 20,000 fans in a Saturday night cheer that has swept through a city.
“Yeaaaaaah!,” Jackson Tuyay screamed, and now all of Lakerland screams with him.
It happened in the second half of the Lakers’ steal of a victory against the Denver Nuggets.
The videoboard at Crypto.com Arena announced the regular competition for Fan of the Game, and while searching the stands for the usual dancing fools, the cameras focused on a child who had been cheering the entire night.
Not just cheering, but screaming. Not just rooting, but flexing. Not just clapping, but pounding his fists against his chest.
It was Jackson Tuyay, and he was doing it all with one word in a tiny voice that spoke for a massive fan base.
Yeaaaah indeed. Tuyay was captured on the giant videoboard, he was awarded a $100 gift card for being Fan of the Game, and afterward none other than LeBron James credited him with the comeback win.
“That little kid on the Jumbotron was definitely … I looked up there … I think he’s, yeah, he’s the reason why we won tonight for sure,” James told reporters afterward, and everyone laughed, but there’s something to this.
On what many onlookers credited with being the loudest night of the season, a kindergartner perhaps epitomized what many of this city’s oldest and most die-hard fans are finally feeling.
Everybody is screaming about the Lakers. Everybody is flexing about the Lakers. Everybody is pounding their chest about the Lakers.
They have won nine of the last 10 games, cutting into winning records of the New York Knicks, Minnesota, Denver and Houston in the last 10 days, moving up to third in the West, sprinting toward the potential for greatness.
Did you see them in their fourth quarter comeback win in Houston on Monday night? The Rockets committed nine turnovers, made four baskets and Kevin Durant was held to one garbage-time layup in the entire second half. Once a gaping wound, the Lakers have the league’s sixth-ranked defense during these last 10 games. Combined with its deftly collaborative offense, one can only imagine the heights this team can reach.
They’re playing unselfish basketball, witness James throwing himself through the air while chasing down a loose ball against Denver.
They’re playing tough basketball, witness everything growling Marcus Smart does down the stretch, from steals to treys.
They’re playing redemptive basketball, witness Deandre Ayton finally showing up and proving he is truly the X factor on this team.
And, of course, they’re playing Luka and A.R. basketball, the two best players on this team throwing down one dagger after another, even playing better with James on the court alongside them.
“I think they’re gonna win a lot of games,” predicted Jackson this week, and I think this child genius might be right.
The kid’s impact Saturday night might have been brief, but it’s real, as he received props not just from James, but from Doncic on Instagram.
Lakers center Deandre Ayton blocks a pass to Rockets center Clint Capela during their game Monday.
(David J. Phillip / Associated Press)
“I just wanted the Lakers to win because I thought it would be cool,” Jackson said.
Cooler still is that this was the first Lakers game of Jackson’s young life, as his father, Byron, bought four tickets online for him; his mother, Katherine; and his younger sister, Emilia.
“I saw it on the schedule and just figured it would be a fun afternoon for the kids,” said Byron, a South Pasadena lawyer who grew up during the Shaq-Kobe era and is passing his Laker fandom on to his family.
Like any good Lakers fan, the couple bought souvenirs for the kids before the game, including purchasing a jersey and a foam finger for Jackson. The jersey was the smallest size possible, but appropriately celebrated the biggest man imaginable. Jackson swam in it, but was inspired by it.
“We had to get the Shaq jersey,” said Byron. “We’re old school.”
Once the game started Jackson lived up to a nickname given to him because he runs everywhere, including out of his house in the mornings and around the corner to his nearby school.
A friend’s parent calls him “Turbo,” and he was doing all kinds of turbo things when the cameras caught him in the act.
“He has this crazy aura and energy about him,” said Byron. “He was cheering like that all game.”
Once the fans at Crypto.com Arena saw his flexing and chest beating, they couldn’t get enough. He was not only named Fan of the Game, but he was shown on the videoboard several times during the rest of the game, igniting a huge ovation every time and establishing himself as the team’s new talisman.
After the game ended with the Lakers stunning overtime victory, fans lined up to give him high-fives and cheer for him as his family descended a stairway.
He might be hearing more cheers in the future. He’s already been invited to their next home game by somebody from Doncic’s camp, and future invitations are sure to follow.
C’mon Lakers, get this kid in the building for a playoff game. Show that the sophisticated following of the world’s most glamorous sports franchise is actually rooted in the heart of a child.
After all, Laker fans know a hero when they see one, and the postgame chants for Jackson Tuyay were unmistakable.
Luka Doncic recorded his first 50-point game of the season Thursday, hitting two late free throws as the crowd at Crypto.com Arena showered him with “MVP” chants in the fourth quarter. Doncic checked out with 1:41 remaining to a standing ovation with 51 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists to lead the Lakers to a 142-130 win over the Chicago Bulls.
The Lakers (41-25) jumped into third place in the Western Conference with their seventh win in their last eight games, climbing from sixth in just one week behind Doncic’s brilliance. The NBA’s leading scorer has averaged 40.2 points in the last four games, all wins. Doncic had a chance at 50 points in a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves in October, but missed a late free throw that forced him to settle for 49 points.
LeBron James returned after missing three games because of elbow and hip contusions he sustained against the Denver Nuggets on March 5. He finished with 18 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Austin Reaves had 30 points and seven assists, surpassing 5,000 points for his career. Center Deandre Ayton held down a short-handed big man rotation with 23 points and 10 rebounds.
The Lakers were without starting guard Marcus Smart (right hip contusion) and backup centers Jaxson Hayes (back soreness) and Maxi Kleber (lumbar back strain). Smart has been playing through the injury for several games, but with a six-game road trip starting next week, “we need it to calm down,” coach JJ Redick said. The coach expected Smart to be available Saturday when the Lakers play the Nuggets at Crypto.com Arena.
The Lakers gave up a 12-3 run to end the first quarter and led the struggling Bulls (27-39) by only five at halftime. James helped give them the breathing room going into the locker room as he scored his first points of the game with 54 seconds left in the first half. His three-point play sparked a quick five-point run to end the half, which ended with a dunk from Rui Hachimura.
Lakers star LeBron James, center, drives between Chicago’s Rob Dillingham, left, and Matas Buzelis during the second half Thursday.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
James came alive in the third quarter, beginning with his dunk off a hit-ahead pass from Doncic. He returned the favor by diving out of bounds for a steal on the next possession and the save led to a three-pointer from Doncic.
Doncic made nine of 14 three-point attempts as the Lakers made 17 of 36 shots from beyond the arc, their best three-point percentage in a game since Feb. 20.
After not taking a single shot in the first quarter, James had 11 points, three rebounds and two assists in the third quarter as the Lakers’ lead grew to 22 points.
