Prep Basketball : Crenshaw Heading South After Winning City Title

Crenshaw High, which defeated Manual Arts, 73-62, Friday night at the Sports Arena for its second straight City 4-A basketball championship and eighth title overall for Coach Willie West, will meet Poway in the Southern California Regionals Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at Mira Mesa High School in San Diego.

Crenshaw, the top-ranked team in the state with a 21-0 record, trailed Manual Arts at halftime, 34-33, before junior Stevie Thompson (3 of 6 from the field at that point) found his form.

Thompson, who finished with 30 points on 10-of-16 shooting, led the way as the Cougars’ full-court press forced Manual Arts into four quick turnovers early in the third quarter to trigger a 13-4 scoring run and a 46-38 lead.

Manual Arts (20-6) led for most of the first half and matched Crenshaw step for step for most of the rest of the game, with the exception of the big third-quarter run. It didn’t hurt the Toilers that two Crenshaw starters, forward Stanley Brundy and center Paul Weakley, fouled out. Marco Fleming led Manual with 20 points (13 in the first half) and 14 rebounds.

The game, which started 46 minutes later than the scheduled 9:15 p.m. tipoff, did not end until 11:42, but few people, if any, left early. Not the way the teams were playing.

Poway, the San Diego Section 3-A champion, has a 21-1 record, including a two-point win over St. Bernard of Playa del Rey.

The Crenshaw girls team, which won the City 3-A title Friday, will also head south for its next game. The Cougars will meet two-time defending State Division II champion Point Loma Tuesday night.

In other games Tuesday night, the Fairfax boys team will meet Edison of Fresno, winner of 15 straight games, at McLane High School in Fresno, and Delano hosts Locke in a girls game. Both start at 7:30.

The winners in this round advance to the regional championships Saturday at the Sports Arena, and the champion in each of the three divisions competes for the State title against the Northern California representatives March 16 at the Oakland Coliseum. The Southern Section is not taking part in the State tournament this year.