Highschool

Ariel Marsh didn't cry when the ligament in her left knee tore. She was used to physical pain. In training, the Chino Ayala High basketball player would often run in sand dunes until she could no longer feel her legs, then workout some more before running another two miles over the sand. But she sobbed when the tear was diagnosed -- it meant she'd be away from basketball for six to nine months. "Everything I'd done and everything I'd worked for had been taken away from me," said Marsh, who dreamed of earning a college scholarship.

Every March, I get to meet a group of teenagers that, in 10 years, might include the doctor, firefighter or policeman who saves my life. Every March, I get to speak with a group of teenagers that might include the future soldier, fighter pilot or Marine who volunteers to protect our country. Every March, I get to read the resumes of a group of teenagers whose academic and athletic achievements leave little doubt that they will be the community leaders of tomorrow. It's so meaningful to tell the stories of the football scholar-athlete award winners who will be honored this month at banquets in Orange County, San Bernardino County, Riverside County, Pasadena, Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley as part of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame awards program.

Their voices could be heard halfway across the Coliseum field. As the Crenshaw Cougars walked into the stadium's storied tunnel, they broke into a hearty chant, repeating the same phrase until their lungs ached. The waiting is over. That's all I can say. Take the loser away. Crenshaw is on the verge of history after defeating Harbor City Narbonne, 34-14, Saturday afternoon in the Los Angeles City Section Division I championship game. The top-seeded Cougars (14-0)

It seemed as if Bryce Jones of Woodland Hills Taft couldn't miss at USC's Galen Center on Friday night. His future college coach, USC's Kevin O'Neill, was sitting courtside, and if there weren't a few thousand people in the stands, O'Neill might have been willing to do a somersault to show his excitement. Whether shooting from outside or driving for layups and dunks, the 6-foot-5 Jones was magnificent in almost every aspect of his game in helping the No. 2-seeded Toreadors (24-3)

Ask any youth or high school football player from South Los Angeles, "Who's Black Mamba?" and he'll know the answer. It's the nickname of De'Anthony Thomas from Los Angeles Crenshaw, the fastest, most recognizable teenage athlete to come out of the area in years. And now the rest of California is about to see what all the fuss is about because Crenshaw, the City Section Division I champion, was chosen Sunday to be in the prime-time televised CIF state championship Open Division bowl game Saturday night at the Home Depot Center in Carson.

Mike Christensen, who successfully rebuilt football programs at Lakewood and Carson, has been named coach at Los Angeles Loyola. He takes over a team that endured highs and lows last season after Jeff Kearin resigned as coach one month into the season. Christensen has long coveted the Loyola job. His son, Bryan, is a sophomore football player for the Cubs, and he has admired the school's academic and athletic philosophy. "From the start, I thought it was a great fit," he said.

At tiny Los Angeles Price, a school of kindergarten through 12th grade in the sprawling Crenshaw Christian Center, Allen Crabbe is the boy everyone has seen grow up before their eyes. His grandfather, the Rev. Frederick K.C. Price, is the founder of the school. Crabbe has been a Price ball boy or student seemingly forever. When Price was winning five state Division V basketball championships in the last decade, he was preparing for his chance to join in the fun. Now he has grown to 6 feet 6, makes three-point baskets as if they were free throws and has the skills to win any dunk contest.

Rankings and comments by Ben Bolch: Rk. Team (Rec., Sec.-Div.) Comment 1 SERVITE (14-1, SS-Pac-5) Reality TV producers should execute rarely used common-sense clause and admit they erred in cutting Cody Fajardo. 2 CRENSHAW (14-1, City-Division I) Whose house? Rankings committee really doesn't care as long as it doesn't have to hear that tired chant again. 3 EDISON (13-1, SS-Pac 5) Raindrops were falling on Chargers' heads -- and hands -- during fumble-plagued loss to Servite.

There are teenagers who don't know what they'll be doing tomorrow, let alone next week or next year, which makes Angel Santiago's attempt to map out his life through 2020 so extraordinary. It comes with the territory after his decision last week to play quarterback for Army. A senior at Etiwanda, Santiago didn't just commit to playing college football. He committed to a minimum five-year military career. "I'm looking forward to serving my country as an officer and a leader," he said.

After nearly five years of talking, tinkering and debating, Los Angeles high schools finally have their own sports hall of fame, with 55 of the best athletes and coaches Southern California has produced inducted into the inaugural class. Included are hall of famers from the NBA, NFL and Major League Baseball, Olympic gold medalists and a Heisman Trophy winner. Barbara Fiege, who as athletics commissioner of the City Section spearheaded the project, said the depth of talent that came through Los Angeles schools during the 20th century "certainly opens your eyes."

Deonte Burton scored 24 points and teammates Kevin Smith and Thomas Hammock each added 15 as host Compton Centennial upset defending champion Harvard-Westlake, 78-70, in a semifinal game of the Southern Section Division 3A boys' basketball playoffs Friday night at Lynwood High. The third-seeded Apaches (25-5) trailed, 39-34 at halftime and 56-52 after three quarters, but rallied to take a 65-63 lead on a layup by Kurt Davis with 3:18 remaining. Davis finished with 11 points and put the game out of reach when he rebounded a desperation three-pointer from the corner by Harvard-Westlake guard Austin Kelly and dribbled the length of the court for a dunk to put Centennial ahead, 76-68, with 15 seconds left.

Before she entered preschool, Nicole Hung's family had picked out her university. It would be Stanford, her father's alma mater. To get her ready, they took her to watch Stanford's Rose Bowl appearance against Wisconsin in 2000. And she saw Stanford star Casey Jacobsen's buzzer-beater against top-ranked Duke later that year at the Pete Newell Challenge. Hung, 17, a Harvard-Westlake senior, has certainly excelled in the classroom and on the court. She has a 4.2 grade-point average, plays the bassoon in the school symphony and her tennis game is strong enough to play on a Division I team, her coach says.

Three-point fever was spreading in the gym at Los Angeles Washington, where the host Generals and Los Angeles Fairfax were engaged in a long-range shooting competition during a City Section Division I quarterfinal playoff game. Fairfax Coach Harvey Kitani liked what he saw early on, with his team making seven three-pointers in the first quarter. Washington players got caught up in the challenge and started launching their own flurry of threes, including five made by Stephen Dafney.

Aaron Crockett of Etiwanda was invisible for the first three quarters of Tuesday night's Southern Section Division 1AA quarterfinal playoff game against No. 3-seeded Corona Centennial. He had a mere two points. "They probably thought, 'Shoot, he can't score,' " the 6-foot-4 senior said. "I shot when I was open." Then came the fourth quarter. He contributed two offensive-rebound baskets, plus a 15-footer that glanced off the rim and somehow fell in, to ignite the Eagles to a 78-72 victory and earn them a semifinal berth against No. 2 Long Beach Poly on Friday.

Mike Christensen, who successfully rebuilt football programs at Lakewood and Carson, has been named coach at Los Angeles Loyola. He takes over a team that endured highs and lows last season after Jeff Kearin resigned as coach one month into the season. Christensen has long coveted the Loyola job. His son, Bryan, is a sophomore football player for the Cubs, and he has admired the school's academic and athletic philosophy. "From the start, I thought it was a great fit," he said.

When it comes to teaching basketball fundamentals to guards, Coach Leonard Johnson of Los Angeles Washington said, "That's my specialty." He was the City Section 3-A player of the year in 1978 at Los Angeles Fairfax, where he played point guard. And now, in his second year of coaching the Generals, he has two talented junior guards in Michaelyn Scott and Chris Brown, who have taken Washington (21-6) to within one victory of advancing to the City Division I semifinals for the first time since the early 1990s.

An honor roll of athletics Los Angeles High School Sports Hall of Fame Inaugural Class AQUATICS Sammy Lee, Franklin Esther Williams, Washington BASEBALL Ozzie Smith, Locke Bret Saberhagen, Cleveland BASKETBALL Gail Goodrich, Poly...

When Francisco Olloqui booted the conversion kick in pouring rain late Friday night to give Gardena Serra a 42-41 win over Westlake Village Oaks Christian in overtime, bedlam erupted. Serra players charged onto the field, and its fans were not far behind. The Cavaliers had pulled off a feat no team had accomplished since 2002 -- beating Oaks Christian in a playoff game. Conner Preston's one-yard touchdown plunge gave Olloqui the chance to end it in a classic game between two 13-0 teams for the Northwest Division championship.

Everybody knows how good top-seeded Santa Ana Mater Dei is, but it might be time to start paying attention to the team in the Southern Section Division 1AA playoffs with an even better record than the Monarchs -- the unsung Montebello Oilers (28-1). If the playoffs are the time to show what a team has learned over the course of the season, then Montebello passed its first test Wednesday in impressive fashion, executing the fundamentals and making few mistakes in a 64-41 rout of Corona Santiago.