Stopping the Clock

Two Bay League games within the previous week have shown examples of why high school basketball should adopt NBA and college rules on clock stoppage.

Some fans were screaming bloody murder at the end of last week’s . They couldn’t believe that Peninsula wasn’t called for a five-second violation after Redondo’s Derek Biale made a layup with about 11 seconds left.

Peninsula’s Reese Morgan didn’t inbound the ball until after calling timeout with 2.8 seconds left.

But the officials didn’t make a mistake, and Morgan did nothing wrong by casually going to get the ball after Redondo scored to cut Peninsula’s lead to one point.

Although he officials could have stopped the clock and given Morgan a delay of game warning with :09 left, it was not a mistake on their part. Rules are rules, and Morgan was not obligated to rush over to the ball.

Besides, that would have only saved about two seconds and Morgan still would have had another four seconds to wait to call timeout.

Three days later, ironically, Redondo was involved in a finish that was virtually identical. This time, however, the rule worked in their favor with about eight seconds left to cut Redondo’s lead to two points.

The Sea Hawks took their time going to the ball and finally called a timeout with 1.1 seconds left, leaving Mira Costa fans mystified that no five-second call was made. An inbounds pass to midcourt wrapped up the Redondo victory.

At the very least, in high school basketball in general, the clock should be stopped after a basket is made in the final minute of the game.

Teams shouldn’t clinch a victory simply by standing on the sidelines not playing basketball—legal and fair as it is under the current rules. What do you think? 

Basketball Playoffs

The set up for making the CIF Southern Section playoffs seems ridiculously complicated at first glance. For example, a team can make the playoffs with a losing record even if it doesn’t finish in the top three in its league.

But this time, the CIF should not be accused of being too bureaucratic. In an attempt to give everyone a fair chance at success, the section has been broken into 12 divisions based on enrollment and success over previous years.

Here in Hermosa Beach, the Bay League, similar to most CIF leagues, includes teams that will compete in different divisions in the postseason.

As a result, all six boys teams still have a realistic shot at making the playoffs, and every school but Leuzinger could make the playoffs for the girls race.

Remembering that the lower the number the higher the strength of the division, here’s how it breaks down:

• Mira Costa is 2A boys and 1AA girls.
• Redondo is 2AA in boys and 1AA in girls.
• West Torrance is 3AA for both.
• Peninsula is 2A for boys and 3AA in girls.
•  Palos Verdes is 4AA for boys and 3A for girls.
• Leuzinger is 1AA boys and 2AA girls.

The top three teams at the end of Bay League automatically make the playoffs. Others can earn at-large bids in their division if the CIF deems them worthy.

At the moment, Peninsula is running away with the boys race, with Leuzinger (4-3) second. Redondo and West are tied for third at 3-4. Mira Costa and PV are 2-5.

“It helps to have 10 wins,” Mira Costa coach Henry Myar said. “And it helps to finish strong in your last three games. Then it just depends on where you rank in your division. A lot of Bay League teams can [still] make it.”

Redondo (7-0) is running away with the girls race, with Mira Costa in second at 5-2 and both PV and West tied at 4-3. Peninsula has just two wins, both over last-place Leuzinger, but is 12-12 overall and in the hunt for a berth in the 3AA.

Time to Wrestle

Emotions are running high in anticipation of the Bay League finals for wrestling Saturday at West Torrance.

Redondo Union earned its first Bay League dual meet victory in four years last week, defeating Mira Costa, 45-36, even though two Redondo wrestlers were injured during the match.

Kevin James dislocated his elbow and Damon Guerrero broke his jaw. Both are out for the season.

Coach Arond Schonberg, who joined the program as an assistant coach before the 2007-08 season and became the head coach last year, was thrilled with the victory.

“It was so exciting I felt like I was going to start crying,” Schonberg told Patch on Thursday. “All that time, we were getting pounded and then we were coming close. It was like ‘can’t we just get one victory?’”

The victory could be the turning point for the Redondo wrestling program, Schonberg said.

“It’s a momentum changer for sure,” he said. “We were getting close and now the kids can see that we’re a lot better than we were getting credit for being…. the perceptions of Redondo wrestling are changing.”

Even Peninsula High coach Mike Liebig was happy to see Schonberg and Redondo’s young wrestlers enjoy some success. 

“They’ve got some young kids who are working hard,” Liebig said Thursday. “It’s a long process to build a wrestling program. I take my hat off to [Schonberg] to keep putting in the time and worry about the basics.”

League Finals

Having won three Bay League dual meet titles in a row, West Torrance has proven to be the top wrestling program in the four-school league.

But Redondo, Mira Costa, and Peninsula also have outstanding wrestlers who will compete for the Bay League individual championships and spots in the CIF tournament starting Saturday. Top two finishers in each weight class will qualify for CIF.

Redondo heavyweight Alex Maldonado, who scored the victory that clinched his school’s dual meet breakthrough, is a contender.

“I think we could have quite a few guys in the league finals,” Schonfeld said.

Mira Costa’s top league candidates include Joey Beck, Jake Shapiro, Tajee Mobley, Justin Tam and Eric Kreager.

Peninsula’s top wrestlers include David Luna and undefeated Danny Powell.

“I have high hopes for all my wrestlers,” Liebig said. “This is all about finishing in the top two and qualifying for CIF. We think we have some wrestlers who can do that. I’m sure the other schools do, too.”