Woodland Hills Taft

Endings don't get more dramatic than what transpired at the conclusion of Thursday's Southern California regional playoff game between Woodland Hills Taft and Lawndale Leuzinger. With the score tied and 8.9 seconds left, Taft inbounded the ball to Bryce Jones, the 6-foot-5 senior who signed with USC and has become a top candidate for City Section player of the year. Full of confidence and wanting the ball, Jones dribbled to the right wing and connected on a three-pointer at the buzzer, giving the Toreadors a 66-63 victory in the Division I quarterfinals and sending them to a semifinal matchup against Santa Ana Mater Dei on Saturday.

Anthony January finished with 24 points and 19 rebounds and had six dunks in the second half alone as Woodland Hills Taft won its second consecutive City Section Division I boys' championship and third in five years Saturday night with a 58-42 victory over L.A. Dorsey at Cal State Dominguez Hills. "Yeah, I had big shoes to fill — my own," said Taft's first-year coach, Jason Hart, who played 10 years in the NBA and replaced the highly successful Derrick Taylor, who is now at Bellflower St. John Bosco.

Give Woodland Hills Taft Coach Derrick Taylor a top point guard and he'll usually put together a team to contend for a City Section basketball championship. In 2004, the Toreadors won behind Jordan Farmar. In 2008, they won with Larry Drew Jr. leading the way. And in 2011, they could be celebrating another City title with Colorado-bound Spencer Dinwiddie at the controls. The 6-foot-4 Dinwiddie has a calming effect on his teammates. His team struggled Friday night against Reseda Cleveland when he went to the bench in the first quarter with two fouls.

At the start of each practice, the No. 1-seeded high school basketball team in the City Section, Woodland Hills Taft, plays hopscotch under the guidance of its coach, former NBA guard Jason Hart. I didn't know whether to laugh or ask Hart whether his two young sons had put him up to it. "These kids are traveling at an alarming rate in high school," Hart said. "They can't dribble with their left hand. So I sacrifice a day of coaching for a day of teaching them how to play basketball.

Kevin Pearson, who guided Los Angeles Cathedral to six league championships in eight years as football coach, has been selected to replace Troy Starr as coach at Woodland Hills Taft. Pearson, 37, will take over a Taft team that has lost in the City Championship game each of the last two seasons. "The name of Taft speaks for itself," Pearson said. "We're in a situation where we can contend for the City title every year."

Troy Starr turns 50 in February. How quickly the years have gone by. He was a fiery 25-year-old assistant coach at Carson High in 1987 when the team was upset by Granada Hills in the City Section football championship game. In 1992, he became head coach at Woodland Hills Taft, taking over a program that had a 0-8-1 record the previous season. He lasted 14 seasons and built the Toreadors into a City Section power. He resigned in 2007 to become the director of football operations for Urban Meyer at the University of Florida.

Since 2000, either Westchester, Woodland Hills Taft or Los Angeles Fairfax has won every City Section upper-division boys' basketball championship. "It's a rare fraternity," Taft Coach Derrick Taylor said. "To get into it is difficult." But that's what Crenshaw and Washington want to do this weekend. On Friday in the Division I semifinals at USC's Galen Center, No. 4 Washington (22-6) will play No. 1 Westchester (25-3) at 6 p.m., followed by No. 2 Taft (23-4) taking on Crenshaw (21-3)

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)

Woodland Hills Taft 20, Chatsworth 14--Linebacker Leo Robateau intercepted a pass to seal the victory for the Toreadors (9-4) over Chatsworth (8-5) in the 3-A semifinal game at Taft.

Too much experience. Too much talent. Too much Woodland Hills Taft. The Toreadors defeated Van Nuys Grant, 7-15, 15-13, 15-12, 15-8, and earned a spot among the top City Section boys' volleyball teams of all-time by winning their third consecutive City Championship Friday at Cal State Northridge.

Bedlam. Jubilation. Pandemonium. That was the scene at Palisades High on Wednesday night after the final buzzer sounded and Crenshaw players were running around the basketball court celebrating a dramatic 68-66 City Section Division I quarterfinal victory. With 11 seconds left, Palisades' Tyler Duke gave the Dolphins a 66-65 lead by making two free throws. Then Crenshaw's Micah Winn caught a long pass from Brandon Baker, took one dribble and drained a three-point shot from the right side with five seconds left, sending the Cougars (24-4)

Former NBA guard Jason Hart, in his first season coaching high school basketball, has his Woodland Hills Taft team seeded No. 1 in the City Section Division I playoff pairings released Saturday. The Toreadors (24-3) will open at home Friday night against No. 16 West Adams. Fairfax (19-9) received the No. 2 seeding, followed by No. 3 Westchester (20-6), No. 4 Palisades (16-10) and No. 5 Crenshaw (22-4). "I'm using the knowledge I learned from many coaches," the 33-year-old Hart said.

There has been so much talk about the supposed demise of City Section basketball this season that some people actually believed it. What happened Saturday at the Nike Extravaganza at Santa Ana Mater Dei will put an end to such nonsense. Woodland Hills Taft, emerging as the City Section Division I title favorite, routed Southern Section power Los Angeles Loyola, 73-57. Fairfax defeated Rialto Eisenhower, 73-67. And Westchester defeated Mission Viejo Capistrano Valley, 45-42. "I think it means the City is still strong and can still compete with the big dogs," Taft guard Steven Jones said.

Kris Yanku, a 6-foot-3 junior guard at Woodland Hills Taft, is known as a defensive whiz. He wants to be the player assigned to come up with the big stop with the game on the line. And he delivered on Wednesday in a tension-filled West Valley League basketball opener against neighborhood rival El Camino Real. Taft hadn't lost a league game on the court since 2005, but El Camino Real had the Toreadors right where it wanted them. The Conquistadores had possession of the ball with 10.9 seconds left, down by a point.

Troy Starr turns 50 in February. How quickly the years have gone by. He was a fiery 25-year-old assistant coach at Carson High in 1987 when the team was upset by Granada Hills in the City Section football championship game. In 1992, he became head coach at Woodland Hills Taft, taking over a program that had a 0-8-1 record the previous season. He lasted 14 seasons and built the Toreadors into a City Section power. He resigned in 2007 to become the director of football operations for Urban Meyer at the University of Florida.

As in poker, where cards eventually must be shown, it is finally time for athletes rumored to be transferring to unveil their true intentions. After weeks and even months of speculation, a new school year has begun across Southern California, enabling coaches to see who's staying and who's leaving. No sport has become more consumed by the transfer game than high school basketball, where the maneuvering has been going on almost nonstop since the season ended. Among the big winners are Sun Valley Village Christian, which picked up sophomores Bryan Alberts and Marsalis Johnson from Chatsworth Sierra Canyon, and Bellflower St. John Bosco, which gained brothers Isaac and Daniel Hamilton from Crenshaw and sophomore Kameron Murrell from Santa Ana Mater Dei. Sophomore Namon Wright enrolled at Palmdale Highland after attending Sierra Canyon, Los Angeles Price and Pacific Hills last school year.

The Dorsey boys and the Van Nuys Birmingham girls are the teams to beat and Andre Young of Marshall is perhaps the top individual performer to watch in City track and field this season. The Dorsey boys, under coach Ralph Tilley, have won three consecutive titles. The Dons are led by hurdlers Greg Lee, the defending City champion in the 110 highs and 300 intermediate events, and Terry Ellis, the runner-up in both events.

As in poker, where cards eventually must be shown, it is finally time for athletes rumored to be transferring to unveil their true intentions. After weeks and even months of speculation, a new school year has begun across Southern California, enabling coaches to see who's staying and who's leaving. No sport has become more consumed by the transfer game than high school basketball, where the maneuvering has been going on almost nonstop since the season ended. Among the big winners are Sun Valley Village Christian, which picked up sophomores Bryan Alberts and Marsalis Johnson from Chatsworth Sierra Canyon, and Bellflower St. John Bosco, which gained brothers Isaac and Daniel Hamilton from Crenshaw and sophomore Kameron Murrell from Santa Ana Mater Dei. Sophomore Namon Wright enrolled at Palmdale Highland after attending Sierra Canyon, Los Angeles Price and Pacific Hills last school year.

It's the time of year in high school basketball when players are banged up but still find a way to play, and that's what is happening with standout point guard Michael Caffey of Corona Centennial. He injured his ankle Tuesday night during the Southern California Division I regionals. His coach, Josh Giles, didn't expect him to play Thursday, but Caffey did his best, and now he'll try to keep playing on Saturday in a semifinal showdown with Woodland Hills Taft at 5 p.m. at Corona Roosevelt.

Players who won basketball championships Saturday probably got a good night of sleep, and they are going to need it because March Madness enters a more challenging phase for high school teams this week. The state playoff pairings were released Sunday, and there is little time for rest or basking in the glory of winning a section title. The regional playoffs begin Tuesday, and if teams want to earn a trip to Sacramento to play for a state championship the weekend of March 25-26, they will need immediate focus and energy.