Westchester High School

A venerable, ailing school got the official word this week on a long-awaited cure to its high dropout rate and low test scores: Crenshaw High will fix itself. That is the reform concept approved by parents and teachers at Crenshaw and also at Westchester High when they voted their schools into the new Innovation Division of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

In a surprising move that figures to change the course of the City Section boys' basketball playoffs and dilute the state Division I tournament, Westchester has been seeded fourth in the 16-team Championship Division behind Woodland Hills Taft, Los Angeles Fremont and top-seeded L.

It happened with lightning speed in the third quarter, a 17-0 blitz by Westchester that was delivered with pressure man-to-man defense and symbolized how the Comets have risen to the top in California high school basketball.

Westchester's bid to win a third consecutive state Division I boys' basketball championship suffered a blow Friday when a Los Angeles Superior Court judge refused to issue a temporary restraining order that would have prevented the City Section from enforcing a postseason ban for an alleged recruiting violation.

Westchester High is down to its last strike in an effort to overturn sanctions against its state-champion boys' basketball team. The City Section announced Monday that a three-person appeal panel had upheld penalties that include Westchester's being banned from the playoffs this season for allegedly recruiting 6-foot-9 junior center Amir Johnson from Los Angeles Verbum Dei.

It was a beautiful, sunny day in Los Angeles on Friday, perfect for riding a bike, taking a walk in the park, shooting some hoops or playing a round of golf.

Westchester High sought to overturn sanctions against its state-champion boys' basketball program Friday during an emotional appeal hearing in which conflicting evidence was presented.

The time has come for two-time defending state Division I boys' basketball champion Westchester High to unleash its most ferocious full-court press of the season on Friday, when the Comets' postseason fate is decided on the 25th floor of a downtown office building.