La Mirada, Valley Christian advance in boys basketball playoffs; LBCC women secure league title

LA MIRADA >> The La Mirada boys basketball team is glad to have that guy “Vitto” back.

The Matadores needed every bit of Vittorio Reynoso-Avila’s length, ability and basketball IQ in its CIF-SS Division 2A first-round matchup with Norco on Wednesday night.

“Without him we probably lose that game by 15-plus,” Matadores coach Bryce Jones said. “He has more desire to win and make wiing plays than anyone I’ve ever been around.”

The Princeton-bound senior, who is playing his second game since injuring his foot in late November, scored a game-high 23 points and pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds as La Mirada edged Norco, 66-56, on its home floor.

The Matadores advance to the second round Friday where they will be on the road against Agoura.

The most significant “wiing play” that Jones alluded to when speaking of Reynoso-Avila’s performance was his decision to switch defensive assignments and check Norco point guard Cesar Mesa — the team’s leading scorer — in the second half. Mesa, who is listed at 5-feet-10, but stands closer to 5-feet-8, had trouble maneuvering around Reynoso-Avila’s length.

After Mesa put up eight points in the first half, Reynoso-Avila held him to two points in the last two quarters.

“I saw that he was making more of an impact than we expected,” Reynoso-Avila said. “It was my responsibility to step up and take control of the situation.”

The situation was out of La Mirada’s control for a majority of the game. Norco (11-17) jumped out to a quick 11-2 lead in the first quarter before the Matadores (22-7) closed the period on a 9-2 run to trail by two after the first.

La Mirada was down 26-23 at halftime.

“It was a pathetic opening effort from an inexperienced team,” Jones said of the early deficit. “There was a clear lack of intensity that was pretty embarrassing to watch. We were very lucky to get out of here.”

The Matadores picked up the intensity in the third as Reynoso-Avila scored the first six points of the quarter.

Anthony Newman then added a 3-pointer to that quick spurt out of the break to give La Mirada a 32-29 advantage at the 5:27 mark of the quarter, but Norco’s scrappy play led to a 46-all tie after three.

The Matadores pulled away in the fourth as Ian Carter scored eight points in the quarter and Reynoso-Avila pitched in seven along with a couple of clutch blocks.

Newman added 17 points and Carter had 14 points for La Mirada.

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— Devin Ugland

LYNWOOD 75, RAMONA 32 >> The Knights had no trouble in their Div. 2A first-round matchup at home. Joe Tate led the way with 15 points and eight rebounds.

MAYFAIR 62, WESTERN 57 (OT) >> The Monsoons needed extra time at home, but got the job done in the Div. 2A bracket and will advance to Friday’s second round.

VALLEY CHRISTIAN 60, RIVERSIDE PREP 47 >> The Crusaders picked up a road win in the first round of the CIF-SS Div. 4A playoffs behind 15 points from Ronald Massey and 10 each from Stedmon Bryant and Jordan Mitchell.

V.C. will host Oaks Christian in the second round on Friday at 7 p.m.

Men’s volleyball

LBSU 3, UC SAN DIEGO 0 >> The top-ranked 49ers (12-2, 9-2 MPSF) rolled to a 25-19, 25-12, 25-14 win at home as TJ DeFalco delivered 11 kills, nine digs and three aces.

As a group, LBSU totaled 12 aces on the night.

The team retus to action Friday when it hosts UC Irvine at 7 p.m.

JUCO women’s basketball

LBCC 107, L.A. HARBOR 21 >> LBCC locked down at least a share of the SCC South title with a blowout against L.A. Harbor at home.

Sophomore Lupe Cruz tued in a monster performance for the Vikings (23-4, 7-0) with 20 points, 12 rebounds, eight steals, and five blocks.

The contest was relatively close as LBCC led by 10 after the first quarter, but a 29-3 spurt in the second put the game well in-hand by halftime.

Sopavy Seng (18 points), Imani Johnson (14), Taylor Smith (13), Destynee Jones (11) and Kayla Sii (10) joined Cruz in double figures.

Long Beach retus to the court Friday at 5 p.m. for its regular season finale at Cerritos (19-10, 5-2).

Today’s CIF playoff schedule

Girls Basketball, 7 p.m.

Division 1AA

Warren at No. 3 Millikan

Wilson at Lynwood

JSerra at Los Alamitos

Lakewood at Bishop Montgomery

Jordan at West Torrance

Rancho Cucamonga at Downey

Division 2A

Hawthoe at Cerritos

La Mirada at Whittier

Suy Hills at Mayfair

Division 4A

Whitney at No. 1 St. Anthony

Notre Dame at CAMS

Division 4AA

St. Joseph at Pomona

Girls Water Polo, 5 p.m.

Division 2

Dana Hills at Wilson

Poly at Los Osos

Division 4

St. Joseph at Trabuco Hills

Cerritos at Ayala

Warren vs. Wild Card Wier

Girls Soccer, 3 p.m.

Division 1

Rosary at LB Poly

JSerra at Millikan

Wilson at Chaminade

Los Alamitos at Villa Park

Lakewood at Harvard-Westlake

Division 2

MLK at St. Joseph

Division 3

Keedy at Warren

Downey at Yorba Linda

Paramount at Barstow

Division 4

Burroughs at La Mirada

Immaculate Heart at Mayfair

Bellflower at Poly Riverside

Artesia at Arcadia

Division 6

Valley Christian at Santa Clarita

Division 7

St. Anthony vs. Wild Card Wier (Southlands Christian/Ganesha)

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