BHHS Boys Hoops Finishes Strong

There was a lot on the line for the boys basketball team heading into Thursday's regular season finale at the swim gym. A victory over archrival Culver City would move the Normans into sole possession of third place in the Ocean League.

Coach Jarvis Turner must have dialed up the right defense, as the Normans (17-9 overall, 6-4 league) prevailed 63-53 to drop Culver City (13-13, 4-6) into a tie for fourth place with Morningside. The game was even at 11-11 after the first quarter, but BHHS controlled the second quarter and took a 28-21 advantage into halftime. The Normans increased their lead to 13 points going into the fourth quarter and held on for the win.

Mike Lanier had 16 points, fellow senior Austin Mills had 14, sophomore Siavache Yoktafar had nine, sophomore Ronin Massana had eight, senior Rohit Manocha had four, Frank Brown had three, Willie Green, Topaz Levi, Tyler Hensley and Broderick Smith each added two, and Daniel Dayan scored one point for BHHS. 

Two days earlier, the Normans pulled off one of their biggest wins of the season, upsetting defending champion Inglewood 55-46 on the road, a loss that dropped the Sentinels into second place behind Santa Monica. BHHS now waits to find out where it is seeded in the CIF Southern Section Division 3AA playoffs.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

The Centaurs raced to an 11-0 lead in the opening moments and never looked back, routing host Beverly Hills 47-22 Thursday to finish undefeated in league play, three games in front of second place Santa Monica.

Culver City (19-7, 10-0) will get a home game in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division 2A playoffs, which start next week. Beverly Hills (10-18, 2-8) finished in fifth place, two games in front of winless Morningside. 

Sophomore guard Jazz Anderson led the Normans with six points while Debbie Reyhan, Megan Yee and Serena Shlomof all added four points. Dorsa Mehrannia had three points and six rebounds, and Natasha Allen didn't score but had four blocks and seven rebounds.

BOYS SOCCER

Beverly Hills got two goals and one assist from junior midfielder Elijah Lichtenberg, and solo goals from Gefen Laredo and Rod Shayan to edge Culver City 4-3 in its league finale Thursday at Nickoll Field.

Matthew Davidov and Adrian Spitz each played half the game in goal and both had three saves. The score was 2-2 at intermission. BHHS (12-5-7, 6-1-3) finished second in the Ocean League behind Santa Monica and will surely qualify for the postseason.

Laredo and Angel Jaramillo each scored while Nicholas Marmureanu tallied an assist in the Normans' 2-1 victory against Inglewood on Tuesday at Coleman Stadium. 

GIRLS SOCCER

Having already , BHHS traveled to Culver City for its season finale Thursday looking to stay unbeaten in league play.

Instead, the Centaurs took second place in the Ocean League with a 3-0 triumph, avenging their 1-0 loss at Nickoll Field earlier in the season. It was Beverly Hills' first loss in 11 games. 

As the league champion, the Normans (13-6-3, 8-1-1), rated seventh in Division 4, earn an automatic berth to the CIF playoffs. 

BHHS junior Ashley Aviram finished the regular season with a league-best 24 goals and 16 assists. Striker Tylor Fields had 13 goals, midfielder Kayla Reisfelt had 10 goals, and co-captain Tiffany Moore had four goals and seven assists.

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