Tustin football shuts out Crean Lutheran to stay unbeaten

• October 14, 2023

IRVINE — Tim Ioane had seen that Wildcat formation before.

The sophomore outside linebacker for Tustin sprung out of his defensive stance against Crean Lutheran on Friday night and took two strides into the backfield before realizing what was coming next.

He stopped in his tracks after the ball was pitched out wide to Crean Lutheran quarterback Jeremiah Finaly, who then tried to throw a screen pass to his running back on the opposite side.

Ioane leaped up, however, tipped the pass in the air and then wrapped it in his arms as he sprinted into the end zone for a 45-yard interception return, the key defensive play in the 21-0 Empire League victory at Crean Lutheran.

“I seen the toss to the quarterback and as I seen the toss, I seen the running back flare out, so that was the key,” Ioane said. “I was like ‘Oh yeah, I know that’s a setup.’ “

The Tillers (8-0, 3-0) made it difficult for the Saints (6-2, 2-1) to gain momentum all night.

The closest Crean Lutheran came to scoring was a 45-yard field goal attempt as time expired in the first half, but it fell short.

“They played out of their mind,” Tustin coach Anthony Lopez said of his defense. “They did a great job. To hold that team to zero points, that’s something special.”

Tustin took a 7-0 lead on its first drive of the game. Facing a fourth-and-10 from the 20-yard line, Jack Stupin connected with Marques Guzman in the end zone with 6:38 left in the opening quarter.

Crean Lutheran kept the game close thanks to interceptions by Troy Hill and Ben Byszewski on back-to-back possessions in the second quarter.

Crean Lutheran reached midfield following Byszewski’s fourth interception of the season. Facing a third-and-4, the Saints tried a trick play out of the Wildcat formation and Ioane made them pay.

“We always work on retracing a lot of screens and trick plays and everything,” Ioane said. “Shout out to my coaches for doing those drills. … If we didn’t do that, if we didn’t have the right preparation, it might not have been the same.”

The Tillers took the 14-0 lead into the half after holding Crean Lutheran to 48 total yards.

Tustin leaned on running back Eimesse Essis in the second half as the junior rushed for 103 of his 161 yards after halftime, giving him 1,186 rushing yards on the season.

Tustin’s success on the ground opened up for another big play in the air, as Stupin hit MacKenzie Alleyne on a deep post and he broke several tackles before completing the 55-yard touchdown reception, stretching the lead to 21-0 with 7:18 left in the game.

All that was left was securing the shutout and the Tillers stopped Crean Lutheran on downs at the Tustin 25 with just under two minutes left to fulfill that goal.

The Tillers have allowed a combined seven points in their past three games.

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​ Orange County Register 

Santa Anita horse racing consensus picks for Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023

• October 14, 2023

The consensus box of Santa Anita horse racing picks comes from handicappers Bob Mieszerski, Art Wilson, Terry Turrell and Eddie Wilson. Here are the picks for thoroughbred races on Saturday, October 13, 2023.

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​ Orange County Register 

Photos: High school football action at SoFi Stadium and other big games Friday, Oct. 13

• October 14, 2023

The Southern California News Group has photos from the biggest high school football games Friday, Oct. 13, including Mater Dei vs. St. John Bosco and Warren vs. Downey at SoFi Stadium.

Take a look at the great plays and exciting moments from the Week 8 games.

​ Orange County Register 

Lakers get another look at potential starting lineup in loss to Warriors

• October 14, 2023

LOS ANGELES — Lakers coach Darvin Ham still hasn’t revealed who the team’s fifth starter will be when the regular season starts in 1½ weeks, but Friday night’s 129-125 preseason home loss to the Golden State Warriors provided another look at two potential groups.

LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Austin Reaves, who were back in the lineup after sitting out Wednesday’s victory over the Sacramento Kings, started alongside D’Angelo Russell and Taurean Prince.

James, Davis, Reaves and Russell are already known starters, with the final spot remaining a mystery. But Prince was once again the fifth starter like he was in Monday’s win against the Brooklyn Nets in Las Vegas – the only other time all four known starters have been available, with Friday being James’ second preseason game.

Prince had a team-high 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting, including a 4-for-5 showing from 3-point range in 20 minutes.

The plan is for James (12 points, five assists in 18 first-half minutes) to play in at least half of the team’s preseason games – so he’ll likely play in either Sunday night’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks at Crypto.com Arena or Thursday’s preseason finale against the Phoenix Suns at Acrisure Arena near Palm Springs.

When asked pregame if he planned to use any of the preseason games as an actual dress rehearsal, Ham responded “somewhat.”

“I mean, we came in with an initial plan before any of these games got started and we’re trying to stick to it,” Ham added. “It’s been kind of difficult to get everyone there at the same time. But we’ve been able to get some great stuff done at practice and our scrimmaging and doing different breakdown work with our main guys.

“We feel like we’re in a good place continuity-wise and so just sticking to a plan that was already set up before we got into the actual preseason gameplay. I feel good about where it’s headed. Probably by the last one, we’ll be able to get close to seeing – well, we’ll be able to see what we plan to do as we go forward into the regular season.”

Davis had 13 points, six rebounds and four assists in a preseason-high 22 minutes. Russell finished with 12 points, six assists and four rebounds in 26 minutes. Christian Wood added 13 points and seven rebounds in 13 minutes off the bench.

Either Prince, Rui Hachimura or Jarred Vanderbilt is expected to claim the last starting spot. The Lakers also got a look at Hachimura alongside the other four starters to close the second quarter.

Vanderbilt, a starter during the Lakers’ run to the Western Conference finals last spring, was sidelined for the third consecutive game because of left heel soreness. Ham previously said he doesn’t expect the injury to force Vanderbilt to miss the start of the regular season.

Cam Reddish also missed his third consecutive game because of right ankle soreness. Gabe Vincent sat because of back tightness, with Ham saying “it’s just precautionary.”

“We just wanted to let it calm down a little bit,” Ham added. “When you play deep into June, those things are going to happen a little bit – those soft tissue issues. But he’s good. It’s just something we wanted to be proactive about and allow him to rest it for the night.”

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Friday was also Reaves’ second preseason game. The Lakers have been easing Reaves into the group after he played for Team USA in the FIBA World Cup, with the Americans’ last game being on Sept. 10.

“I feel great,” Reaves said. “Anytime I can get out there and play I’m happy. But I’ll stick to the script and I know I had a long summer playing with the USA team and had to trust the process of sitting down and relaxing a little bit.”

Reaves said he wasn’t completely sure how many more preseason games he’ll play in after Friday.

“We’ll just sit down every day and talk as a collective group,” he added. “We have a plan, but there are obviously, depending on how I feel and what we’re doing as a team, we’ll make those decisions. But we have a plan right now and we’ll see if stick to that, if we do a little more, a little less. It just depends on a lot of stuff that happens in-game, whatever, minutes, et cetera.”

​ Orange County Register 

Southern California News Group Boys Athlete of the Week: Jason Hong, San Marino

• October 14, 2023

San Marino football player Jason Hong is the Southern California News Group’s High School Boys Athlete of the Week for Oct. 2-8 after he received 66.88% of the vote at the deadline Thursday.

Edison’s Julius Gillick (football) finished second with 26.11% of the vote, and Aguinas’ Jusyis Solis (football) finished third (2.55%).

Congratulations to all of the candidates for this week’s honor.

To read more about Jason, click here.

The SCNG Athlete of the Week winners are announced online each Friday morning during the school year.

About the poll: The Southern California News Group includes the Orange County Register, L.A. Daily News, Press-Enterprise, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Whittier Daily News, Pasadena-Star News, Long Beach Press-Telegram, The Daily Breeze, San Bernardino Sun, Daily Bulletin and Redlands Daily Facts.

​ Orange County Register 

Southern California News Group Girls Athlete of the Week: Julia Klenk, St. Anthony

• October 14, 2023

St. Anthony golfer Julia Klenk is the Southern California News Group’s High School Girls Athlete of the Week for Oct. 2-8 after she received 62.03% of the vote at the deadline Thursday.

Glendora’s Hailey Heflin (volleyball) received 27.94% of the vote to finish in second place. Sierra Canyon’s Lauren Lynch (volleyball) finished third at 5.61%.

Congratulations to all of the candidates for this week’s honor.

To read more about Julia, click here.

The SCNG Athlete of the Week winners are announced online each Friday morning during the school year.

About the poll: The Southern California News Group includes the Orange County Register, L.A. Daily News, Press-Enterprise, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Whittier Daily News, Pasadena-Star News, Long Beach Press-Telegram, The Daily Breeze, San Bernardino Sun, Daily Bulletin and Redlands Daily Facts.

​ Orange County Register 

High school football: Early list of scores from Friday’s games

• October 14, 2023

Take a look at the early list of scores from the high school football games played Friday, Oct. 13.

A complete list of scores for the CIF Southern Section and L.A. City Section will be published at the end of the night.

FRIDAY’S SCORES

St. John Bosco 28, Mater Dei 0

San Clemente 20, Mission Viejo 10

Tesoro 37, Capistrano Valley 22

Orange Lutheran 36, Servite 33

Santa Margarita 34, JSerra 31

Tustin 21, Crean Lutheran 0

Sonora 43, Fullerton 36

Dana Hills 21, Laguna Hills 20

Los Alamitos 69, Corona del Mar 14

Yorba Linda 58, Brea Olinda 7

La Habra 45, Sunny Hills 0

Diamond Ranch 14, Los Altos 7

Serra 48, Bishop Amat 28

Chino 38, Covina 25

Ayala 29, Bonita 26

Rancho Cucamonga 49, Chino Hills 0

Glendora 32, Los Osos 25

Upland 42, Etiwanda 28

St. Paul 40, Paraclete 28

La Serna 42, Newbury Park 14

St. Francis 41, Cathedral 25

Chaminade 35, Notre Dame 28

Thousand Oaks 36, Moorpark 23

Hart 41, Canyon 7

Oaks Christian 45, Westlake 14

San Fernando 35, Panorama 15

Granada Hills Kennedy 36, Sylmar 28

Granada Hills Charter 64, Taft 22

Warren 28, Downey 21

Long Beach Jordan 49, Wilson 43

Bellflower 32, Paramount 14

Mayfair 28, Dominguez 14

La Mirada 34, Norwalk 13

Palos Verdes 42, Redondo 0

Banning 27, Gardena 26

North Torrance 20, Torrance 10

Mira Costa 28, Santa Monica 21

Hawthorne at Inglewood

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​ Orange County Register 

Car crashes into Huntington Beach Kohl’s store; 3 people hospitalized

• October 14, 2023

A car crashed into a Kohl’s store in Huntington Beach late Friday, sending three people to a hospital, authorities said.

The Huntington Beach Police Department responded to the Kohl’s store inside the Bella Terra shopping center, located in the 7700 block of Edinger Avenue, at around 8 p.m. after reports of a car crashing into the store, according to HBPD representative Jessica Cuchilla.

Officers found three people with non-life-threatening injuries, who were all transported to a hospital. The store was open at the time of the crash, according to its posted hours. It is unclear if those injured were shoppers, employees, or bystanders outside.

The suspect fled the scene and was apprehended by officers at the 16000 block of Beach Boulevard after a short pursuit.

The suspect, described as a 54-year-old Asian man, is in custody. He was transported to a hospital as a precautionary measure but is not severely injured.

Police believe that drugs or alcohol may have been a factor in the crash.

Social media footage recorded at the scene shows a completely shattered storefront and a large police presence.

An investigation is underway.

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​ Orange County Register