A busy weekend of highschool sports activities championships deserves a glance again at a few of the pleasure and oddities.
In celebrating Westchester’s sixteenth Metropolis Part basketball championship on Friday night time, Tajh Ariza was so filled with adrenaline and vitality that he appeared to knock over teammate Courtney Hutchins with a chest bump, sending Hutchins rolling time and again on the court docket like a bowling ball.
Westchester senior Courtney Hutchins did a chest bump with Tajh Ariza, then began rolling on the bottom with a smile.
(Nick Koza)
It seems Hutchins deserves an Academy Award for appearing.
“I wasn’t hurt. I was just happy,” Hutchins stated Saturday morning. “I flop at times during practice. I flop during games.”
Mentioned coach Dewitt Cotton: “They are just playing around. I see it every day at practice.”
Within the Metropolis Part Open Division boys’ rivalry sport between El Camino Actual and Birmingham, the Patriots’ goalkeeper, Armando Cervantes, tackled El Camino Actual’s Christopher Montenegro within the penalty field to forestall a aim. A yellow card was issued, a penalty kick was assessed and El Camino Actual tied the rating to ship it into additional time earlier than successful on a golden aim 2-1.
The perfect sport of the weekend was Canyon Nation Canyon needing triple additional time to defeat St. Bonaventure within the Southern Part Division 2A championship basketball sport on a three-point financial institution shot by Noah Madrigal on the buzzer for an 89-86 win. Earlier than that, Charlie Adams of St. Bonaventure made a 3 with 1.5 seconds left in regulation to ship the sport into the primary additional time. Then there was the three by Canyon’s Isaac Yuhico with 21 seconds left within the first additional time to tie the rating.
Ali Monfared, the 36-year-old head coach for Canyon, stated, “It was the wildest game I’ve ever seen or been involved in. There was big shot after big shot after big shot.”
When Oak Park employed Will Burr from Viewpoint three years in the past as women’ basketball coach, it was like hiring Phil Jackson for the Lakers. He received his third consecutive Southern Part title with a win within the 2A ultimate. He’s received 4 straight titles general. Oak Park’s Delaney White is prone to be a participant of the 12 months within the third totally different playoff division. Her father, Larry, performed basketball at Cal State Northridge and coached at Burbank Burroughs.
Think about being down 17-0 after the primary quarter of a championship sport. That was the problem going through Rolling Hills Prep women’ basketball coach Moniquee Alexander, who had by no means been shut out in 1 / 4 as a participant or coach.
“This coach came up, ‘I would have been flipping tables,’” she stated. “I always say it’s not the situation. It’s how you choose to react. I chose to remain calm.”
Rolling Hills Prep rallied to defeat Rosary 51-49 to win the 2A championship after Regan Enright made two free throws with one second left.
Henry Aslikyan of Birmingham received the 113-pound state wrestling championship.
(Cici Robinson)
On the state wrestling championships in Bakersfield, Henry Aslikyan of Birmingham received the 113-pound division to turn out to be the eighty fifth wrestler in state historical past to be a two-time champion. He’s a three-time Metropolis champion with yet another 12 months to go.
In 2023, after I first met him as a freshman, he was 5 toes 2 and 102 kilos. He has grown to 5-6.
“I’m already getting taller every day,” he stated then. “I’m trying to gain weight. I don’t have much fat.”
He’s a real Mighty Mouse. He’s the first-ever two-time state champion from the Metropolis Part.
