Preps: J.J. Pavia
LA South: Division 3A, No. 4 Damien 52, No. 5 Bonita 44
LA VERNE -- The tight-knit community had to pick a side Tuesday night.
Whom to cheer for? The No. 4-seeded Damien Spartans? The No. 5-seeded Bonita Bearcats? And, perhaps most important, what to wear? Both schools use green as a primary color.
La Verne residents couldn't dodge this one. Damien's campus sits on the corner of Damien Avenue and -- you guessed it -- Bonita Avenue. Turn right on Bonita and take it for a mile until you hit D Street. Make a left and, poof, you've made the quick jump, er, trip from one campus to the other.
Calling this a battle for city bragging rights wouldn't do it justice.
When the dust settled, Sierra League champion Damien (26-3) emerged victorious, 52-44, and advanced to next week's CIF Southern Section Division 3A semifinals. With Hacienda League champion Bonita (26-4) eliminated, the small town of 30,000 figures to follow the Spartans wherever they go next.
"It's a really respectful rivalry," Damien coach Matt Dunn said. "I know we have the utmost respect for them and as a community, it's a lot of fun. We both play with the kids that come to our schools and I think that's what makes it special. This year we both happened to be very good."
On this night, Damien was just a tad bit better.
Bonita had the game's two leading scorers -- Jordan Butler had 15 and James Northup had 11 -- but Dunn had balance with seven of his players scoring at least six points. Clayton White and Gian Demano led the Spartans with nine each, J.P. Chakbazof and J.J. Pavia scored eight apiece.
Dunn's biggest player, though, left his mark late. Damien led by two with less than a minute to go when leading scorer Chris Reyes tipped in a miss. Half of the crowd went wild. You could finally distinguish who was rooting for the home team and who wasn't.
"That tip-in was big," Reyes said. "We needed to get a score right there."
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Blair Angulo
Blair Angulo is a general contributor for ESPNLA.com, is a co-author of the UCLA blog and also has covered the Angels, Dodgers, Sparks and soccer, among other things. He also was an intern at the L.A. Daily News.
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Dan Arritt
Dan Arritt has covered preps in SoCal for 17 of the last 19 seasons, beginning with the L.A. Times Orange County edition in 1993 and moving downtown from 2001-2008. A graduate of Long Beach State, he also covers the Kings for ESPNLA and Clippers home games for NBA.com. Follow him on Twitter.
Sean Ceglinsky
Sean Ceglinsky has covered sports in Southern California the past 15-plus years, including preps and colleges for the Los Angeles Times and L.A. Daily News, among others. Follow him on Twitter.
Tim Haddock
Tim Haddock is a writer and radio broadcaster who has covered preps, college sports and motor sports for the Los Angeles Times, L.A. Daily News and Long Beach Press-Telegram. Follow him on Twitter.
Martin Henderson
Martin Henderson is a local editor for Patch.com. He was a reporter for 18 years with the Los Angeles Times, and wrote on preps for the Orange County Register as well.
Jim Barrero
Jim Barrero is an editor for ESPNLA.com. He began covering preps in 1989 for the Pasadena Star-News, where he later became prep editor. He also worked for the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, covered soccer for The Sporting News and was an editor-writer at the Los Angeles Times for 10 years.