Santa Clarita Sports Report: November 17, 2015

Santa Clarita High School Volleyball

It’s the biggest night of the year in high school volleyball for the Santa Clarita Valley, with two massive CIF-SS Semi-Final matches at home.

No. 5 Valencia was awarded home court advantage tonight against No. 1 Rancho Cucamonga due to home/away rules in CIF (Valencia was on the road in the Quarter-Finals while Rancho had a home match), and what an advantage it should be.

The Vikings have been simply dominant at home. They hold an 8-0 record and have not dropped a single game. The Cougars are no slouch on the road, however, with a perfect 8-0 record of their own away from Rancho.

Excitement and hype should be at an all-time high tonight, as the Vikings have never reached the Semi-Finals in volleyball. Emily Burns, Rachel Perez and Co hit the court at 7 PM.

On the other side of the Valley, we’ve got the No.1 team in Division 5AA involved in an opportunity to etch themselves in school history with a trip to the Final. But first, they’ll have to get through No. 3 La Sierra Academy at SCCS tonight at 7 PM.

The Santa Clarita Christian Cardinals have made three straight playoff appearances and advanced further each year, building to tonight’s moment. The Cards have been rolling since late September, winners of 14 of their last 15 matches.

La Sierra Academy comes into the game on their own nine-game winning streak; sandwiched in the middle of it was a win against San Gabriel Academy, whom went the distance with SCCS in the Quarters.

Two excellent Semi-Final matches against evenly matched teams should equal two five-game thrillers. Best of luck to our hometown teams.

Santa Clarita High School Soccer

Winter sports will soon enter the preseason stage, and CIF has released its first soccer poll. One school remains head and shoulders above the rest after great 2014/15 seasons that came up just short of glory.

Hart High School opens as the No. 2 boys team in Division 4 and the No. 3 girls team in Division 2.

Los Angeles Lakers

Back-to-back’s have not been kind to the Lakers to this point in the season. And a major part of that has been guard play.

In a guard-driven league, the Lakers have young players at the position that are just not competing at the level the rest of the league is.

The Phoenix Suns’ starting backcourt outscored the Lakers starting guards 51-33, highlighted by Brandon Knight’s huge triple-double (30 points, 15 assists, 10 rebounds). Knight is a solid NBA player, but he is by no means a great player. The Lakers made him look great last night.

Jordan Clarkson again led the Lakers in scoring in the 120-101 loss, but was -11 in +/- differential. They’ll get a few days off to regroup before welcoming the Toronto Raptors to Staples Center, Friday night. Kobe is expected to play in that game.