Division Ii

On the bright side for the Cal State Northridge basketball team, at least not many people were there to see what the Matadors did Tuesday night. "This is embarrassing," point guard Trenton Cross said after Northridge lost, 63-59, before 139 in a nonconference game against the Colorado School of Mines. "They came to our house, a Division II school, and beat us."

Los Alamitos running back Marchant Wright rushed for 98 of his 101 yards and scored two touchdowns in the Griffins' 48-16 victory over Fountain Valley. RECORD BOOK Los Alamitos' Tim Carey threw for 213 yards, moving into fifth on Orange County's single-season passing yardage chart with 2,921, and needs only 172 next week to surpass Newport Harbor's Shane Foley (3,092).

In other Division II games: La Mirada 5, Loara 3--Visiting Loara (14-11-1) took a 2-1 lead, but a three-run second inning provided the margin of victory for La Mirada (21-7). Billy Chavez had a single and two RBIs and David Ortiz hit a pair of singles and scored a run for the Saxons. Woodbridge 11, Glendora 4--Trailing, 4-1, the Warriors (13-11-1) scored 10 runs in the fifth, including Chris Pearson's grand slam.

Tustin swept past another opponent in the Southern Section Division II volleyball playoffs, defeating fourth-seeded Lakewood, 15-2, 15-9, 15-6, in a semifinal match Wednesday night. The top-seeded Tillers (19-1) have not dropped a game on their road to the final, where they will face third-seeded Calvary Chapel at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Cerritos College. Lakewood (15-3) was unable to stop Donnie Rafter and Curtis Jackson, who combined for 38 kills, 14 more than the entire Lakewood team combined.

About half the fans who attended the grand opening of Cal State Fullerton's Titan Sports Complex Sept. 5 didn't return for Fullerton's game against Cal State Sacramento Saturday night. The Titans should be glad. Those who weren't among the 4,154 who witnessed Fullerton's 29-3 loss to the Hornets were the lucky ones--they were spared a defeat that was embarrassing by even the Titans' recent dismal standards.

Torrey Pines 89, Serra 56--Torrey Pines' Eddie Montalvo hit five of six from behind the three-point arc in the first half and compiled 17 points in the first two quarters, 19 overall. Torrey Pines outrebounded Serra, 40-21. Scot Pollard and Craig Brown each pulled down seven to lead the No. 1-seeded Falcons (25-3). Montalvo finished with 19 points. Teammate Peter Bates scored 21 and Craig Brown added 18. Tony Etheridge led Serra (14-8) with 15 and teammate Barry Vancleave added 14.

In other Division II games: El Dorado 4, Corona Centennial 0--El Dorado scored all of its goals in the second half. Senior Chad Bowman had two goals to lead the Golden Hawks (20-5), who will play Foothill Tuesday in the second round. Foothill 3, Norco 2 (OT)--Matt Ledford scored the winner for Foothill (13-7-6) in the eighth minute of overtime. The Knights led, 2-0, at halftime on goals by Steven Adams and Darren Crume.

El Dorado, which won its first league title since 1976, and two-time defending Southern Section champion Pacifica are the county's top-seeded teams in the Southern Section softball playoffs. Foothill (Division I) and Orange Lutheran (Division V) are seeded second, and Woodbridge (Division II) is seeded fourth. Wild-card games begin Wednesday. Division I Defending champion: Mater Dei, a 4-1 winner over Chino Hills Ayala.

Marina 14, Saddleback 5--Marina, seeded second, started off slow with a one-point first quarter but picked up momentum to score six goals in the second quarter and five in the third. Senior Justin Fassnacht had four goals and four steals for the Vikings. Senior Jeff Larson had four assists and two goals and sophomore David Wagner had three goals for Marina (24-4). Julian Gonzalez scored four goals for Saddleback (20-8).

In the other Division II semifinal: Torrey Pines 58, Helix 40--The top-seeded Falcons (30-1) scored the first 11 points at San Dieguito High, and Helix never got closer than eight the rest of the way. Courtie Miller scored 20 points for Torrey Pines, and Kyle Armstrong added 12. Helix, which held the ball and played patiently even after falling behind, 11-0, got 21 points from John Pressler. The Highlanders (19-7) also hit five of 11 shots from three-point range.