Warren High tennis and cross-country advance in CIF playoffs
Victoria Recinos and Clara Kim. Photo courtesy coach Mary Starkson.
DOWNEY — The Warren High School girls’ tennis team finished their season in the second round of C.I.F. postseason play. Warren’s season was capped with an undefeated league season record of 12-0 and an impressive 15-game win streak after starting the season 0-3.
Kailyn Lorberter and Ximena Ramos. Photo courtesy coach Mary Starksen.
Warren took first and second place in singles individuals as Clara Kim defeated her teammate Victoria Recinos in the finals to become league champion.
Kailyn Lorberter and Ximena Ramos took first place as the number one doubles in the tournament as well. All four players will be competing in the C.I.F. individual tournament at a site to be determined on November 19.
Coach Starksen and her staff are extremely proud of their athletes and how consistent they have played throughout the season.
WARREN CROSS COUNTRY: The Warren High School girls’ cross country team has advanced to the C.I.F. Division 1 Finals after their 6th place finish on Saturday in Riverside.
Nadine Gomez was the first Lady Bear to finish in a time of 18:25. Alicia Liera finished second for the Lady Bears in a time of 18:49, Valeria Guerra finished third for the Lady Bears in a time of 19:04, Arianna Cervantes finished fourth for the Lady Bears in a time of 19:07 and Skye Gutierrez finished fifth for the Lady Bears in a time of 19:51.
Top Row: Arianna Cervantes, Bryanna Garcia, Leeann Gonzalez, Nadine Gomez, Valeria Guerra, Alicia Liera
Bottom Row: Priscilla Gomez, Karen Chaves, Skye Gutierrez, Brianna Cruz.
Photo courtesy coach Jay Waldron.
Coach Waldron, his staff and runners are all extremely pleased with their efforts and finish. Powerhouse Division One ranked teams such as San Clemente and Los Alamitos did not qualify for the Final and have been eliminated.
C.I.F. Finals are scheduled for this weekend and will be here before you know it. Time will certainly tell if the Lady Bears can continue their “run” in postseason competition.
WARREN FOOTBALL: The Warren High School football team hosted Northview last Friday night in the quarterfinal round of the C.I.F. Division 7 playoffs. Warren was defeated, 21-7, and as a result of this loss the Bears’ season has come to an end.
Coach Lara, his staff and underclassmen will now turn their attention towards the 2019 season.
Warren finished their football season with an overall record of 8-4 and a San Gabriel Valley League record of 4-1. The Bears finished league play in second place behind eventual league champion Paramount (7-5, 5-0), respectively.
In the Warren/Northview game Northview led 7-0 after the first quarter of play. The Vikings added two touchdowns and two extra points in the second quarter and took a 21-0 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The two teams exchanged the ball and field position in the third quarter with neither team being able to score. The score remained 21-0 Northview going into the fourth quarter. The Bears did manage to score a touchdown and extra point in the fourth quarter but could only pull to within 21-7.
Unfortunately, there were no passing, rushing, receiving or defensive stats for Warren available at press time.
Northview (12-0, 5-0) is the Valle Vista league champion and will now travel to Culver City for their semi-final playoff game against Culver City. The Centaurs are currently 10-2 and were 4-1 in Ocean League play.
DOWNEY FOOTBALL: The Downey High School football team saw their season come to an end last Friday night with a 35-28 loss to Citrus Hill in the quarterfinal round of the C.I.F. Division 3 playoffs.
Downey finished their season with an overall record of 6-6 and a San Gabriel Valley League record of 3-2. Citrus Hill will now play Sierra Canyon (9-3) in the semi-final round.
In the Downey/Citrus Hill game the Hawks raced out to an early lead and never trailed. The Hawks were leading at the end of the first quarter 7-0 and outscored the Vikings 14-7 in the second quarter. Citrus Hill led 21-7 going into the locker room at halftime.
The Hawks outscored the Vikings 7-0 in the third quarter and extended their lead to 28-7 entering the fourth quarter. Downey outscored Citrus Hill 21-7 in the fourth quarter but the rally fell short and Downey lost 35-28.
Viking quarterback Kijjon Foots completed 14/27 pass attempts for 377 yards and three touchdowns. Foots also had four interceptions.
The Downey ground game struggled to move the ball. Jaden Allen carried the ball five times for 24 yards and Malcolm Perry carried the ball five times for seven yards. Downey’s top two rushers combined to carry the ball ten times for 31 yards. Citrus Hill was determined to slow down the Downey run game.
The Downey receiving corps were led by Danny Ruiz’s five catches for 142 yards, Noah Skobis’ three catches for 203 yards and Brenden Hodge’s three catches for 21 yards.
The Viking defense was led by tackling machine Isaiah Burton’s nine solo and 11 assisted tackles, Anthony Lopez’s eight solo and eight assisted tackles, Brennan Field’s seven solo and four assisted tackles and Lawrence Joseph’s five solo and six assisted tackles.
Coach Williams, his staff and underclassmen will now turn their attention towards the 2019 season.
MIDDLE SCHOOLS: The city of Downey middle school sports program is now concluding its second rotation of boys’ volleyball and girls’ soccer. Several championships have been claimed and one more championship is still up for grabs.
The Griffiths 8th grade boys’ volleyball team is currently 5-0 and have clinched the city title. Doty is 3-2 and Stauffer and Sussman are both 1-4. The Griffiths 7th grade boys’ volleyball team is currently 5-0 and have also clinched the city title.
Sussman is 3-2, Doty is 2-3 and Stauffer is 0-5. The Doty 6th grade boys’ volleyball team is currently 5-0 and have clinched the city title. Griffiths and Stauffer are both 2-3 and Sussman is 1-4.
The Doty and Griffiths girls’ varsity soccer teams are both 4-1 and are tied with one game to play. The teams will tie for the city championship if Doty defeated Sussman at Doty and Griffiths defeated Stauffer at Griffiths on Wednesday (scores unavailable at press time).
Stauffer is 2-3 and Sussman is 0-5. The Doty junior varsity soccer team is currently 5-0 and have clinched the city title. Sussman is 3-2, Stauffer is 2-3 and Griffiths is 0-5.
Griffiths currently has three overall championships, Doty has 1.5, Stauffer has 1.5 and Sussman is still looking to get on the board. The Champions Cup is up for grabs with eight more city championships at stake as the third rotation starts in January with basketball for boys and girls at each grade level as well as boys’ varsity and junior varsity soccer.
Things are certainly starting to heat up on the courts and fields in middle school sports.