LOS ALAMITOS >> Eugene Mitter is probably one of the last guys who will show up on a scouting report for the Los Alamitos basketball team. The junior plays sparingly as the seventh or eighth guy on the Los Al bench and goes about his business quietly, averaging 2.4 points per game in his 29 appearan...

LONG BEACH >> The gym was half-empty and both the crowd and team started off flat for Long Beach Poly and El Camino Real’s second-round CIF State Division II playoff game on Saturday night in the Ron Palmer Pavilion. However Jackrabbits junior Zafir Williams provided the perfect shot of caffeine to ...

LA MIRADA >> La Mirada girls soccer coach Dave Christensen admitted that before last season, a state championship wasn’t even on his team’s radar. After the Matadores made their first-ever appearance in the CIF Division IV State Regional Playoffs a season ago and was defeated on penalty kicks in the...

Two wise old heads rolled out of the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas. One belonged to Ben Howland, whose UCLA career was chopped off when the Bruins lost by 20 points in the first round of the 2013 NCAA Tou ament. The other belonged to Tubby Smith, who coached the Mi esota team that whipped UCLA...

Well before his team practiced, Phil Jackson arrived at the Lakers’ facility one day at 8:30 a.m., believing his early film preparation would provide a sturdy foundation in the long march toward an NBA championship. But the former Lakers coach discovered he was wrong as soon as he pulled into the pa...

Some people spit criticism of “the media” – one of those meaningless pejorative-sounding phrases – for its supposed bias. I wish I had grown more in my emotional maturity, but I still get defensive, followed immediately by the compulsion to understand this sentiment. Were they misquoted by a reporte...

Now we pull back to look at the big picture, leading up to the thrilling Finals matchup between.... Oops. Never mind. If we’re four months out and there are more possibilities in life than we ever imagine, something will have to change for there to be a thrilling Finals. Right now you’d figure all-c...

March Madness has arrived, with Selection Sunday tomorrow, and the first round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tou ament begi ing Thursday. Who will make the tou ament? The 68 teams will be finalized tomorrow begi ing at 2:30 p.m. on CBS. Which teams in Southe Califo ia will make the tou ament? • After...

Mark it down as another shining moment in the evolution — if that’s the correct word — of mode televised sports. Sunday, a college basketball studio show once intended to simply reveal the NCAA men’s tou ament bracket has been expanded into in a two-hour banterfest. By the way, that’s about as long ...

ANAHEIM >> Long Beach State men’s basketball used a true team effort at Honda Center on Friday night to hold off UC Irvine, 77-72, in the Big West Conference semifinal as six different 49ers scored in double figures for the first time since 2007. Top-seeded Hawaii awaits Long Beach State (20-13) in ...

It’s supposed to be difficult to beat the same team two times during one season. What about twice in eight days? La Mirada, seeking its first CIF State Southe Califo ia Regional girls soccer championship, will give it a try. The host Matadores, who have won the past two CIF Southe Section Division 4...

Forward Jeff Green on Friday played in his 10th game with the Clippers after coming over from Memphis in a trade. If Green performs to his potential, he could play a big role in the upcoming playoffs, which begin in just more than a month. At times, he’s been terrific on offense. Other times, he’s b...

Today’s Santa Anita Handicap could have been a dream race. Imagine Califo ia Chrome, Dortmund and Beholder loading into the starting gate at about 4:30 p.m. If tragedy hadn’t struck late last year, the ill-fated Shared Belief could have joined them. But with Califo ia Chrome in Dubai for the $10 mil...

The Edmonton Oilers couldn’t keep up and were done before Christmas. The Arizona Coyotes, Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks stuck around a while longer, but faded, too. Only the Kings, Ducks and Sharks remain in contention for the Pacific Division title. The Kings awoke Friday in first place, wit...

PHOENIX >> When the Dodgers hired former Toronto Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos to be their vice president of player perso el in January, it was met with more confusion than celebration: How many current or former GMs does it take to run a baseball team? While others publicly pondered th...

The anxiety overwhelmed Carmelo Anthony during a time when he should have felt relaxed. But just as NBA All-Star weekend started in Los Angeles in 2011, Anthony lea ed his private hopes for the Denver Nuggets to trade him morphed into a real possibility he would land with the former New Jersey Nets....

The warmer climate appeals to Knicks president Phil Jackson. So does the proximity to Jeanie Buss, the Lakers president and his longtime companion. All of which has sparked one question that has never gone away. With the Knicks likely to miss the NBA playoffs for the second consecutive season under ...

Midseason injuries and inte ational call-ups decimated the L.A. Galaxy’s roster last season. This year, Bruce Arena won’t have to wait until the summer to test his team’s depth. Just one game into the season, the Galaxy are down a starting goalkeeper and superstar forward as Dan Ke edy and Giovani d...

Promoters aren’t happy unless they’re exaggerating. But Fe ando Beltran wasn’t far off when he said this week that Francisco Vargas and Orlando Salido are “two of the best warriors that we have from Mexico.” The are the epitome of a Mexican fighter, and area fans got some good news this week when it...

No matter the Santa Anita Handicap is being run for the 79th time or the San Felipe Stakes is the most intriguing race for 3-year-olds offered so far in 2016. Anything that happens Saturday at Santa Anita — which will feature three other stakes races in addition to the Big ’Cap and San Felipe — will...