Magnolia cheerleader Adonia Williams delivered a blazing rendition of the National Anthem, a capaella. I don’t think I’d ever heard it sung so somber.

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My Magnolia-Muir Southern Regional Finals blog in its entirety…

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Muir’s Cherrish Wallace might have pulled off maybe the best move of the day when she faked a crossover and threw up one of those off-balance layup with her off hand. The refs called traveling. They also called an offensive foul after Wallace might have pulled off the second best move, a crossover to break the ankles of a Magnolia player.

I’m not sure I could pull off the name Cherrish. Maybe.

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Jhakia McDonald has game. She’s taking it to the basket at freewill here. A layup is followed by another drive and foul.

Carlos says Magnolia doesn’t really have a point guard. That might be, but McDonald has point guard sensibilities.

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We’ve just tipped off and Frank Burlison of the Long Beach Press Telegram is crying about how he paid $5 for a diet coke. Our very own Carlos Arias only paid $4 for a regular. This is why I bring my own water, although Carlos is talking about how we get a $40 travel stipend if we’re working at one location all day. Since I’m here for the 10 a.m. game and will work through the Mater Dei game at 4 p.m., I should at least get a 20 spot, right?

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The Sports Arena. The last time I worked here Errick Craven decided to try, and he lit up Oregon State for a career-high 32 points in his last game as a Trojan. I just read his name recently in an article about the D-League. Craven was my favorite player when I attended USC. It can be hard to have favorite players once you cover them, but Craven earned that status when I was just a sudent.

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The CIF state girls basketball tournament pairings were announced on Sunday and five county teams got invited.

Laguna Hills, the two-time defending CIF-SS Division IV-A champion, was the lone county team to get a home game in the first round of the Southern California Division III regionals. The Hawks (24-6) play host to Mt. Miguel (20-5) of Spring Valley, a CIF San Diego Section Division III finalist, on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

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My Laguna Hills-University blog in its entirety…

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All Carlos talked about during halftime was how Engels’ 3 would “change the whole game.” He might be right.

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Uni is playing quite well for a team that was beaten twice by Laguna Hills by more thna 20 points.

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