DOWNEY – The Warren High School girls' cross country team finished third last Saturday at C.I.F. Finals at Mt. SAC and have advanced to the state meet. 

The Lady Bears finished behind Great Oak and Vista Murrieta. Great Oak finished with 37 points and Vista Murrieta finished with 161 points. The Warren Lady Bears narrowly missed second place by finishing with 163 points. 

Long Beach Poly finished fourth with 171 points, Ventura finished fifth with 176 points, Yucaipa finished sixth with 176 points (on criteria) and Arcadia finished seventh with 183 points, respectively. The top seven team finishers all qualified for the state meet this Saturday.

Warren's top five scoring runners finished 12th, 13th, 36th, 39th and 63rd. The Lady Bears were led by senior Gwendolyn Hurtado (18:37), senior Samantha Tabares (18:46), senior Janeane Hernandez (19:31), junior Trinity Gomez (19:33) and junior Carlota Conant (20:13). The sixth Lady Bear to cross the finish line was junior Blanca Robles (20:15) and the seventh Lady Bear to finish was junior Jessica Egizii (21:47). 

The 2015 C.I.F. State Cross Country championships will be held tomorrow at Woodward Park in Fresno. The Division One race will start at 12:50 p.m. Coach Waldron, his staff and Lady Bear runners are looking forward to the opportunity of competing at the highest level in the state and bringing home some hardware in the process. 

The future looks bright for the Lady Bear cross country program because four of their top seven runners are underclassmen and will return next season.

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The Downey High School football team saw their season come to an end last Friday night at home to Cathedral, 22-20. 

The Vikings finished their season with an overall record of 7-5 and a S.G.V.L. record of 4-1. Downey was a league tri-champion, with Dominguez and Warren, and advanced to the second round of the C.I.F. Southeast Division playoffs.

In the Downey/Cathedral game, the Vikings jumped out to a 7-0 lead and led 7-3 at the end of the first quarter. Cathedral took a 9-7 lead with two minutes remaining in the second quarter on a 68 yard punt return by Jamire Calvin. The two point conversion failed but the Phantoms took that 9-7 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Cathedral extended their lead to 16-7 in the first minute of the third quarter on a 37 yard pass play from Phantom quarterback Andrew Tovar to Calvin and successful PAT attempt. Downey answered back with five minutes remaining in the third quarter on an 11 yard touchdown run by Daevon Vigilant. The PAT was good and the Vikings pulled to within 16-14. 

Cathedral scored their third touchdown of the game with one minute left to play in the third quarter on a Tovar to Arex Flemings 2 yard touchdown pass. The PAT was missed and the third quarter ended with Cathedral leading 22-14.

Downey scored their third touchdown of the game two minutes into the fourth quarter on an Asfunso Elam 13 yard touchdown run. The two point conversion was unsuccessful and Cathedral led 22-20. The two teams exchanged the ball and field position for the next four minutes when Downey took over with six minutes to play. 

The Vikings started a final drive on their own 26 yard line. Downey moved the ball down to the Phantom 12 yard line. The Vikings lined up for a 29-yard field goal with two seconds remaining. 

Just before the snap, Phantom head coach Kevin Pearson called a timeout to freeze Downey freshman kicker Noah Skobis. Skobis made the kick but the Phantom timeout preceded the snap. A second field goal attempt was blocked and Cathedral stormed the field. 

Cathedral will now play La Mirada in the semifinal round. The Matadores defeated Dominguez 38-13 in their second round game to advance.

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The Downey High School girls' basketball team will kick off their 2015-16 basketball season in the 38th annual Downey Varsity Classic against Hawthorne later Friday. 

The winner of that game will play the winner of the Lakewood vs. El Segundo game. South Torrance, JSerra, Cantwell, Westchester and Kennedy will all be in attendance.

Coach Harris is excited about this season. He believes the strength of his team will be his guard play. The Lady Vikings are returning eight players from last season, including all of their guards. Last year's captain, Lynette Garcia, returns as do four year starters seniors Isabel Coss and Ayla Pruneda. Center Dalia Makhlouf will be a defensive presence inside with her shot blocking ability.

Incoming freshmen Surie Camacho will be the starting point guard. According to Harris, "Camacho is easily the best freshmen we have had in the 12 years I have been at Downey including the seven that I have been head coach." Harris went on to say that "Surie is an exceptional leader with extremely advanced ball handling skills and court sense. With Camacho running the point, Lynette can return to her natural shooting guard position." 
Coach Harris believes that Danise Herrington will also be a breakout performer this year. Herrington was a defensive role player last year but is now asserting herself as a primary player who can score. 

After the Downey Tournament, the Lady Vikings will play in the Arroyo Tournament and the Maxpreps Holiday Classic in Palm Desert. Other non-league preseason games include Garfield on December 8, La Serna on December 22, Mater Dei on January 5 and Schurr on January 7.

The S.G.V.L. will be tough once again with Lynwood and cross-town rival Warren returning strong teams. The Lady Vikings will play Lynwood at home on Jan. 15 and will play Warren at Warren on Jan. 20 and will host the Lady Bears on Feb. 5. All league games will start at 5:15 p.m. and should be exciting to watch.

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The Warren High School boys' basketball team kicks off their 2015-16 season on Nov. 30 against Cerritos at the Cerritos/Gahr Varsity Tip-Off Tournament. 

The Bears will follow that up with games against Long Beach Millikan on Dec. 2 and Bell on Dec. 4. The Bears will play in one additional game at the Cerritos/Gahr Tournament on Dec. 5 depending on how well they play in the tournament.

Warren will be competing in two more tournaments in December. The Bears will be playing in the Fairmont Prep Tournament Dec. 8-12 and in the MaxPreps Holiday Classic Tournament Dec. 26-30. 

In the Fairmont Prep Tournament, the Bears will play Fairmont Prep of Anaheim and Aquinas of San Bernardino. In the MaxPreps Tournament, the Bears will play Rancho Cucamonga in Rancho Mirage on December 26 in the Ford Dealers Division. 

Warren will also be playing in the 2nd Annual Ron Massey Tip-Off Classic January 2 against Cabrillo and Jan. 4 against Wilson of Long Beach . Other non-league preseason games include La Salle of Pasadena at La Salle on January 6 and Renaissance Academy of Altadena on Jan. 9.

The S.G.V.L. season will begin on Jan. 13 when the Bears host Paramount. The first Downey/Warren game will be at Warren on January 20 and the rematch of the cross-town rivalry will be held Feb. 5 at Downey.  

Warren finished last season with an overall record of 6-17 and a S.G.V.L. record of 2-8. Coach Chris Morrison, his staff and players are looking forward to the start of the 2015-16 basketball season.