Damien defeats Crespi and Palisades advances in state Division II playoffs, eliminating No. 1-seeded Eastvale Roosevelt.
Mike LeDuc has a long history of letting his players fire away from three-point range. In the 1980s, Tracy Murray got to play two years with a three-point line at Glendora under LeDuc and became the state's all-time scoring leader with 3,053 points and a 44.
3 scoring average. In the Southern California Division I regional playoffs, LeDuc has watched his Damien players make threes in bunches. First the Spartans eliminated Inglewood with 13 threes. On Thursday night, they defeated Crespi 59-55 thanks to 11 three-pointers. Junior Zaire Rasshan finished six of 11 from three-point range and had 18 points. 'We have shot a lot of threes this year,' LeDuc said. Rasshan has been given the Murray-like green light. 'He has free range as long as it's a shot he can make,' LeDuc said. Damien advances to play Crean Lutheran, a 71-66 winner over second-seeded Corona Centennial, in Saturday's regional semifinal. For Crespi , it was a disappointing ending but the future looks bright. All five starters are underclassmen. Jasiah Williams scored 13 points and Isaiah Barnes and Rodney Mukendi each had 10 points. Palisades 62, Eastvale Roosevelt 56: The City Section Open Division champs advanced to the Division II regional semifinal, knocking off the top-seeded defending state champion Mustangs on the road. OJ Popoola scored 24 points, Phillip Reed had 16, Jack Levey 12 and EJ Popoola 10. Palisades will play at Torrey Pines on Saturday. Shalhevet 50, Gahr 37: Sam Jacobson scored 22 points in the Division III win. Canyon Country Canyon 67, Victor Valley 56: Isaac Yuhico scored 41 points in Canyon's Division V win. Birmingham 77, Trabuco Hills 68: The Patriots move to the Division III semifinals. Tekeio Phillips, X'zavion McKay and Wizdom Burnes each scored 17 points. Mater Dei 64, JSerra 60: After losing six straight games to JSerra, the Monarchs finally won to advance to the Division 1 semifinals against St. John Bosco. Luke Barnett scored 25 points for Mater Dei. Jaiden Bailes scored 25 points for JSerra. St. John Bosco 78, Chula Vista Victory Christian 51: Tariq Escandari scored 17 points and Christian Collins had 15 for the Braves. Birmingham 77, Cathedral Catholic 69: The Patriots will play Saugus in the Division II semifinals. Kayla Tanijiri scored 28 points. Francis Parker 60, Oak Park 46: The Eagles fell in a Division I game. Maya Urteaga scored 13 points. Birmingham 10, Sylmar 0: Carlos Acuna threw a one-hitter with six strikeouts and Efrain Cervantes had three hits for the Patriots. Chaminade 8, Foothill Tech 1: Drew Kostich threw five scoreless innings and Austin Maiden went three for three. South Hills 4, La Mirada 3: Darren Murphy picked up his 500th coaching victory. Mater Dei 12, Marcus 1: Ezekiel Lara had two doubles, a triple and four RBIs for the Monarchs. Giovanni Rudisill and Sebastian Navarro each had three hits. Sierra Canyon 2, Burroughs 0: Jael Long and Kaylee Ton combined for the shutout. Viewpoint 4, Louisville 3: Emjay Peck struck out 15 and contributed three hits for Viewpoint. Oaks Christian 11, Granada Hills 0: The Lions stayed unbeaten behind Trystyn Crutcher, who had four hits, including two triples. Freshman Julia Horton struck out 12. JSerra 8, Westlake 4: Annabel Raftery and Zena Edwards each had home runs for JSerra. Presley Watters hit a two-run home run for Westlake. Norco 9, Camp Verde 0: Peyton May had nine strikeouts in four innings and Savannah Gonzalez hit a three-run home run for unbeaten Norco. Mater Dei 2, El Camino Real 1: The Monarchs advance to the Division I regional championship. Santa Margarita 3, Cleveland 0: The City Section champion Cavaliers were beaten in the regional semifinals. Santa Margarita will face Mater Dei in the regional final on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Tesoro. Mater Dei defeated Oaks Christian 2-0.
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