The LookOut sports

Santa Monica Sports Notes

While Crossroads and St. Monica were playing basketball in Grisanti Gym Tuesday night the Crossroads boys soccer team was defeating Village Christian, 6-2, next door...

The Crossroads girls soccer team, playing at Village Christian, lost 1-0...

St. Monica defeated Chadwick, 2-0, in a non-league boys soccer match...

The Santa Monica High girls basketball team defeated Culver City, 58-38, to win the consolation bracket championship of the Marlborough Tournament. The bracket is made up of teams who lost their first round games. Culver City's first round defeat was to St. Monica, 51-34...

Following the team banquet at the Olympic Collection in West Los Angeles last week Santa Monica High's championship football team moves to the off-season. Weight training will soon begin, a determination will be made whether assistant coach Tebb Kusserow is returning or retiring and Head Coach Norm Lacy will be hoping to find some new players from within the student body, his instinct strong that there is talent already on campus...

More than half the games of the Santa Monica High boys soccer team have ended in ties. The team has a record of 2-1-4 following a victory over Cabrillo, then a loss to Bishop Montgomery in the South Torrance Tournament. The match against Bishop Montgomery ended in a 1-1 tie but Samohi lost on penalty kicks, 5-3. Junior goalie Alex Quick is having a fine season...

The Santa Monica College mens basketball team finished sixth in the Pasadena City College Tournament, losing to host Pasadena 71-66 despite 11 points by Marco Mihalovich and 10 by Richard Bluette. SMC defeated Compton, 65-53 in the consolation bracket as Mihalovich scored 18 and Brandon Williams contributed 12...

The team's next stop is the College of the Desert Tournament Dec. 28-30. The next home game is against Oxnard on Tuesday, Jan. 8...

http://www.samohi.org http://www.nba.com/
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Crossroads Looks Good Again Even Though Star Graduated

By Mitch Chortkoff

After 6-foot-11 Isaih Fox graduated from Crossroads School and became an immediate starter at the University of Arizona, a rebuilding year could have taken place.

But that isn't how it will be. Coach Daryl Roper showed off another talented, focused group in a 79-50 non-league victory over St. Monica Tuesday night.

It was a meeting of two Santa Monica schools in Crossroads' two-year old Grisanti Gym, a local happening that drew the attendance of Santa Monica High head coach James Hecht, enjoying an off-night by watching from the stands.

The evening began with a terrific girls' game, St. Monica building a big lead and holding on for a 56-55 victory despite a pair of three-point baskets by Christine Smith in the final minute.

For those interested in Santa Monica prep basketball, this was the place to be.

Crossroads has a 4-4 record, the losses coming against quality competition as Roper prepares his team for league play. The next test will come in Las Vegas, where the team will play in a tournament starting the day after Christmas.

Troy Brown is the Crossroads point guard and meshes well with backcourt partner Robert Locke and athletic inside players Doug Hall and Jordan Rush.

Roper has a productive bench led by Miles Tanter and Nick Wong.

St. Monica, which has beaten Santa Monica but has a 2-8 record, had trouble with an aggressive press, fell behind and couldn't get back into the game. Guard Hampton Nunley, who has a college future, scored 30 points and football quarterback Ben Agatep battled hard but the deficit was too much to overcome.

I like the fact Roper continually shouts instructions and tries to improve his players regardless of the score. The Roadrunners could have been trailing by 20 instead of leading by that much the way he was correcting their performances.

I don't know if Crossroads can duplicate its playoff success, which included Southern California championships with Fox. But anyone who thought the Roadrunners would be down for a year or two is wrong.

At the least the team should be a strong contender in its league.

As for the girls, St. Monica has more size and strength than Crossroads, which must overcome deficiencies with shooting.

St. Monica is 3-5 as it adjusts to new coaching, but should be a factor in its league. Michelle Rice, last season's coach, is concentrating on administrative duties and is now assistant coach. Danielle Adefeso, the 6-foot-4 center who starred last season, has gone on to the University of Arizona.

Shirese Smith, the former Crossroads and University of California star who coached the Crossroads girls last season, is not back. Her younger sister, Christine, is now a senior and the team's star.
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