Lancaster football headed to championship
EL MONTE — The Lancaster High School football team pulled out a gritty, come-from-behind, 20-17 victory over host Arroyo on Friday in the CIF-Southern Section Division 12 semifinals at Arroyo High School.
With the win, the Eagles punched a ticket into their first championship game after winning their first playoff game since 2007 earlier this month.
Lancaster will host Valley Christian in the championship game next week.
The Eagles (8-5) trailed 14-0 at halftime, but they went straight to work when they got back from the break.
Quarterback Cedric SaMarion put Lancaster on the board with a 60-yard touchdown run and Ashtin Mitchell followed with a two-point conversion run to put the score at 14-8.
Later in the third quarter, SaMarion connected with Kelvin Blackman for a 56yard touchdown to tie the game at 14. The two-point conversion attempt failed.
In the fourth quarter, Arroyo went up 17-14 on a 38-yard field goal.
The Eagles had the ball with under four minutes remaining and marched down the field. After a lengthy injury timeout, play resumed and Lancaster scored on Mitchell’s 3-yard run to go up 20-17. SaMarion was sacked as he looked for a receiver on the conversion attempt.
On the ensuing kickoff, Arroyo returned the ball to their own 34-yard line. The Eagles’ defense held strong as Arroyo’s four pass attempts failed. Lancaster took over on downs at the 34 and took a knee to seal the victory.
Salesian 42, Palmdale 7
LOS ANGELES — The Palmdale football team’s long run in the playoffs came to an end in the CIF-Southern Section Division 10 semifinals where the Falcons lost to Salesian, 42-7.
Palmdale got out to a solid start as Amir Bastine opened the game with an 80-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to quickly put the Falcons up 7-0 after the PAT.
But Salesian answered with a 60-yard touchdown run on their first possession to make it 7-7.
Salesian went ahead 14-7 on a 4-yard rush with five minutes to go in the first half.
The Mustangs added a 40-yard passing touchdown with under a minute left in the first half to go up 21-7.
Salesian added 21 more points in the second half.
Salesian (10-3) will play in the championship game at Muir next week.
Palmdale finishes the season at 8-5.
Girls Basketball Paraclete 31, Highland (B) 30, OT
BAKERSFIELD — The Paraclete girls basketball team defeated Highland (Bakersfield) on 31-30 in overtime on Friday in the Frontier Thanksgiving Hoopfest Tournament.
Parunior Jasmine Hernandez knocked down the winning free throw in overtime and finished with nine points and two assists.
Junior Aniste Hyde led the Spirits (2-1) with 10 points, adding two rebounds and two steals.
Paraclete junior Marina Arredondo put in a layup with just over a minute left in regulation to pull the Spirits within one, 30-29. With 23 seconds remaining, Arredondo converted one of two free throws to tie the game, forcing overtime. She finished with eight points and nine rebounds.
The Spirits are now 1-1 in the tournament after losing to Bakersfield 60-12 on Wednesday.
They continue in the tournament today against Justin Garza High School.
Paraclete won its season opener against Littlerock, 51-28, on Tuesday at Paraclete High School.
Senior Jasmine Hernandez led the Spirits (1-0) with 26 points, adding four rebounds and five assists, and junior Marina Arredondo recorded a double-double of 18 points and 14 rebounds.
Junior Maiasia Prescott led the Lobos (0-1) with 15 points.