third quarter

Ryan Rakowski approached Friday night’s Southern Section Division 2 opener like it was the last of his high school career.

Palos Verdes’ senior quarterback assured it would not be by completing 11 of 14 passes for 248 yards and three touchdowns in a 38-20 triumph over visiting Gardena Serra. He also ran for a three-yard score and was subbed out midway through the fourth quarter with his team comfortably ahead.

“It comes down to one week at a time and the goal tonight was to be one of the eight,” said Rakowski, who committed to Nevada in June. “Whether it’s ugly or pretty, just get it done.”

Palos Verdes running back Christian Reis is shoved out of bounds in the first half against Gardena Serra on Friday.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

The win was the 200th for coach Guy Gardner, the Sea Kings’ head coach since 2009, and afterward his players sang happy birthday to senior wide receiver and defensive back Kevin Owens — a testament to how close knit the team has grown.

“The competitiveness on this team is unmatched,” added Rakowski, who led the Sea Kings to the Southern Section Division 5 title as a sophomore and to the Division 3 final last season. “It helped having played them already. We looked back at the film and were prepared even though they changed some things.”

The teams met in the first week of the season Aug. 21 and Palos Verdes won. 17-14. The Sea Kings will have another rematch next Friday when they host Inglewood in the quarterfinals. The Sentinels dealt Palos Verdes (10-1) its only loss 26-23 in Bay League action Oct. 9.

Palos Verdes was in command from the start Friday, On the first play from scrimmage, Rakowski threw a sideline pass to Jackson Reese, who faked out a defender and raced 53 yards for a touchdown.

Palos Verdes’ Joseph Sarmiento and Jeremey Roe sack Gardena Serra quarterback Hassi Houston for a loss on Friday.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Rakowski’s three-yard run capped a 10-play, 89-yard drive to make it 14-3 and his eight-yard strike to Jalen Flowers capped a 12-play, 78-yard march that upped the lead to 18 points. Jovany Barragan’s second field goal — a 35-yarder on an untimed down — cut Serra’s deficit to 21-6 at halftime.

Rakowski connected with Aaden Brady on a 17-yard score on Palos Verdes’ first possession of the third quarter, Niko Dragin kicked a 30-yard field goal and Weston Reis returned an interception 25 yards to the house after the ball popped into the air on a punishing hit.

Darlington Nzenwa caught a 38-yard pass from Malik Tunai in the third quarter and Quintin Washington closed the scoring on a 30-yard fumble return with 2:35 left for Serra (5-6).

Serra’s star running back AJ McBean was hoping to return after sitting out the last two games because of a hamstring injury first suffered Oct. 2 against Bishop Amat.

Palos Verdes receiver Jackson Reese eludes a Gardena Serra defender near the sideline Friday.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

“I feel pretty good, man!” the 6-0, 215-pound Stanford commit said as he took the field for pregame warmups but he remained in uniform on the sideline all game.

Cavaliers freshman quarterback Hassir Houston had to be carried off the field with an apparent leg injury late in the first half but returned in the fourth quarter.

ATLANTA — Angel Reese had 21 points and 12 rebounds to help the Atlanta Dream beat the Golden State Valkyries 97-71 on Wednesday night and take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven WNBA Finals.

Rhyne Howard added 16 points and Naz Hillmon had 15 for the Dream, who host Game 4 on Saturday.

It was the second straight strong game for Reese, who had 30 points and 16 rebounds in Game 2, which the Dream also won for their first victory ever in the Finals. She now has a double-double in each game of the Finals.

“It feels good when you’re in the Finals. It’s a long season and you play against everybody and go through and push through, but when you can do it at the highest level, this is what you live for, this is what the offseason is for,” Reese said. “I put the work in for this moment and I’m just happy I could lead the team to a win. We’re feeling good going into Saturday.”

With the score tied at 49 in the third quarter, Atlanta scored eight straight, including four by Reese. Golden State got within 59-55 on Tiffany Hayes’ layup, but could get no closer as Atlanta closed the quarter scoring 12 of the final 14 points.

Atlanta has dominated the third quarter so far in the series, outscoring Golden State 63-35 in the three games.

This game was originally scheduled to be played on Thursday at the Gateway Center Arena, where the Dream play most of their home games. The league was able to work with the Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Arena to play the next two games of the championship series there so that they could have a much bigger crowd. Gateway seats 3,500 fans while State Farm Arena can seat more than 17,000.

Wednesday night’s game was sold out, as is Game 4 on Saturday, which will also be played at State Farm Arena.