Sports

PREPS

Practice makes perfect.

And for the Artesia High boys’ basketball team, the quest for its ninth consecutive league title has turned into little more than extracurricular practice sessions.

The Pioneers have won their six Suburban League games by an average of 45.2 points. Only Norwalk has come closer than 20 points in an 85-67 defeat to Artesia.

“You can’t really do much for your offense in games like this,” Artesia Coach Wayne Merino said. “You’re going to score points no matter what. So all we can do is emphasize defense and set up little goals like trying to keep teams below 35 points.”

Artesia (18-3) achieved that goal against Glenn, 117-33, on Friday to begin the second round of league play and stretch its winning streak to nine games. The Pioneers also beat the Eagles, 111-24, in the teams’ first meeting.

Freshman DeAndre Moore notched a triple-double with 18 points, 13 assists and 10 steals for the visiting Pioneers. Demetrius Robertson led four players in double figures with 21 points, connecting on 10 of 10 shots from the field. Corey Jones and James Lee added 18 and 16 points each.

“These games are just like practice,” Lee said. “That’s how we treat them. All we can do is work hard in practice and work on the things we need to get better at.”

* Charles O’Bannon was honored Wednesday night at Artesia’s Suburban League game against Bellflower and Avondre Jones will be recognized Feb. 9 during the Pioneers’ home game against Norwalk.

O’Bannon, a sophomore at UCLA, and Jones, who played at USC last season before transferring to Chaffey College, were members of three State Division II champion teams at Artesia.

O’Bannon’s No. 30 jersey was retired at the halftime ceremony in the Artesia gym. Older brother Ed O’Bannon, whose number had already been retired by the school and is a teammate of Charles at UCLA, and Bruins Coach Jim Harrick also attended the ceremony. Jones’ No. 00 will be also be retired during a halftime ceremony.

* The Pyramid at Long Beach State will serve as the site of six Southern Section girls’ basketball finals next month.

The Division I-AA, I-A, II-AA, II-A, III-AA and III-A girls’ championships will be played at the $22-million campus arena March 3-4. The boys’ finals in those divisions will be played at the Anaheim Arena.

* James Sherman of Whittier High, The Times’ Southeast lineman of the year, will attend Nebraska.

The 6-foot-4, 290-pound Sherman, who is expected to play defensive tackle in college, was recruited by more than 30 schools before narrowing his list to the Cornhuskers and USC.

COMMUNITY COLLEGES

Classical music lovers apparently carry more clout than athletic teams when it comes to use of the Compton College gym.

All Compton basketball games were either postponed or moved to other venues to accommodate a performance by the Los Angeles Philharmonic last week.

A women’s game against Mt. San Antonio on Jan. 25 was postponed and men’s and women’s home games Friday night were changed to road games. The Tartars lost both games.

The Compton women (10-8, 2-4) lost at Harbor, the defending state champion, in a South Coast Conference game. The Tartar men (9-3, 1-3) lost a Southern California Athletic Conference game at East L.A., 81-69, despite 21 points, seven rebounds and five assists from Joe Austin and a 17-point effort by Donald Silas.

* The Cerritos College men’s basketball team, ranked fourth in the state and third in Southern California, plays host Saturday to Mt. San Antonio College.

Cerritos (24-1) defeated Harbor, 94-60, and El Camino, 98-81, last week to complete the first half of South Coast play in first place at 5-0.

Darius Rutledge had 24 points and David Henry added 21 points, 13 rebounds and six assists against El Camino. Wayne Allen and Monty Owens had four steals each for the Falcons, who registered a season-high 22 steals.

Allen scored 19 points against Harbor, connecting on six of seven shots from the field, and Rutledge had 17 points and 14 rebounds. Derrick Barnes contributed 16 points off the bench.

* The Cerritos College women’s basketball team will try to avenge its only South Coast defeat in a road game Friday night against Harbor. The Falcons, who lost to the Seahawks, 88-76, in the first meeting last month, trail Harbor by half a game.

Michelle Coleman had 28 points in a 64-49 victory over El Camino and 17 in a 61-45 win over Pasadena City last week. Liz Espinosa contributed eight assists in both victories.

* The Cerritos College baseball team opens the season with four home games in two days in the Fullerton/Cerritos tournament this weekend. On Saturday, the Falcons will play College of the Canyons at 10 a.m. and Pierce at 2 p.m. On Sunday, Cerritos will tangle with Southwestern and Chaffey.

Catcher Rod Barajas and third baseman Norm Padilla are returning All-South Coast Conference selections for the Falcons, who finished 27-15 last season. Barajas, a Santa Fe High graduate, batted .387 and drove in 28 runs and Padilla, who attended El Rancho, batted .380 with 12 stolen bases.