Sports
Column: Time to celebrate history being made in City Section basketball
There’s a historic inflection point taking place in high school basketball this weekend that has been more than 50 years in the making.
Since Marques Johnson led Crenshaw to the 1973 City Section championship, a group of powerhouse teams, coaches and players have dominated for decades.
The legendary coaches such as Willie West (Crenshaw), Dave Yanai (Fremont), Reggie Morris (Manual Arts), Ed Azzam (Westchester), Harvey Kitani (Fairfax) and Derrick Taylor (Taft) were fortunate to be part of programs that produced such standout players as Johnson, John Williams (Crenshaw), Ivory Ward (Fremont), Kevin Ollie (Crenshaw), Dwayne Polee (Manual Arts), Chris Mills (Fairfax), Jordan Farmar (Taft), Larry Drew Jr. (Taft), Trevor Ariza (Westchester) and many more.
From 2000 through last season, only five schools won upper division titles — Westchester, Fairfax, Taft, Birmingham and El Camino Real.
That will change Saturday, when King/Drew plays Los Angeles CES for the Open Division title at Pasadena City College. Their sports programs hardly existed until the 1990s. Call it the rise of the magnet schools that once were only good enough to compete in the old Magnet League and compete for small school titles.
It has been called a season of parity in the City Section and one of the weakest in terms of overall team talent, but history will be made. The powerhouse programs are nowhere to be found. King/Drew and LACES are the last teams standing, and one will win its first upper division title.
One of the players on LACES is star point guard Donovan Cornelius, a four-year standout. His father, Trent, is in charge of the Los Angeles Unified School District athletics programs. He played for Cleveland High in 1990 when his teammate was Sierra Canyon coach Andre Chevalier. They lost to Crenshaw and Ollie in the semifinals.
His takeaway from this historic meeting in which No. 8-seeded LACES meets No. 2 King/Drew is that filling rosters with transfer students doesn’t have to happen. Many of the players for LACES have been together since sixth grade. King/Drew has a long waiting list because of its strong academics. Neither team has a transfer. The head coaches, David Trujeque of LACES and Lloyd Webster of King/Drew, have reached this point by building from within.
LACES point guard Donovan Cornelius has been a four-year varsity player.
(Nick Koza)
“It’s good, old-fashioned coaching and teaching and nurturing teams,” Cornelius said. “You don’t have to rely on transfers and breaking a bunch of rules. People need to develop their JV kids and do it the old-fashioned way, building up your program and teaching kids to play.”
South Pasadena coach Ernest Baskerville graduated from LACES in 1992. One of his classmates was Leonardo DiCaprio. Baskerville became coach in 1997 and ran the program for 12 years.
“This is historic, two Magnet League schools playing for an Open Division title,” he said. “I never would have dreamt it. We’d lose players to Westchester, Fairfax and Hamilton.”
Harvard-Westlake great Alex Stepheson lived across the street from LACES. The three Shipp brothers from Fairfax— Joe, Josh and Jerren — went to middle school at LACES. The former center at Colorado, Evan Battey, was at LACES until transferring.
“We always had players, but people would leave,” Baskerville said. “It shows growth. It shows parents do value the education.”
No one is expecting the eventual City champion to be placed in the Open Division or Division I for the state playoffs. Division III would be appropriate, which would be a first. But this could be the future. Top players have left LAUSD, lured by promises of exposure or whatever their private coaches are telling them. Hall of Fame coaches have retired or moved on to the Southern Section, such as Kitani, who has Rolling Hills Prep playing for a 2AA championship.
Ryan Conner made two clutch shots, one to tie game and one to win in final seconds of LACES 52-49 win over Chatsworth in City Section Open Division semifinal.
(Nick Koza)
There’s still good City players. For two years, one of the best young players in Southern California has been Alijah Arenas of Chatsworth. His father, Gilbert, played at Grant, then Arizona and in the NBA. Whether Alijah stays for a third year remains to be seen. He came close to getting Chatsworth into the Open Division final until Ryan Conner of LACES made consecutive three-point shots in a matter of two seconds to snatch victory from defeat.
There are still good coaches and good academics in the City Section too.
“They’re great people,” Baskerville said of Webster and Trujeque. “It’s great to see those guys. I’m proud of them.”
It’s time to celebrate history being made in the City Section.
Sports
Recent UFC champion Carlos Ulberg says he lost title belt while celebrating the win
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UFC champion Carlos Ulberg says he lost his championship belt that he just won after capturing the light heavyweight title at UCF 327.
He told Fox Sports Australia Monday he misplaced his golden title belt while celebrating his victory.
“I’ve lost the belt, bro,” Ulberg told FOX Sports. “Initially after winning, the plan was to not have a drink. But you know how these things go, right?” he said.
“First, someone gives you a champagne to celebrate. Then one thing leads to another, and you’re doing shots.”
Carlos Ulberg of New Zealand celebrates his knockout victory over Jiri Prochazka in a light heavyweight title bout at UFC 327 in Miami, Fla., April 11, 2026. (Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
The 35-year-old from New Zealand fought through a knee injury to defeat Jiri Prochazka in the main event at UFC 327 by knockout this weekend in Miami to become the new champion of the light heavyweight division.
His injury could keep him sidelined for a year, meaning he will have to give up his champion status anyway, with UCF holding an interim title fight to take his place.
Carlos Ulberg of New Zealand celebrates his knockout victory over Jiri Prochazka in a light heavyweight title bout during UFC 327 at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Fla., April 11, 2026. (Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
But Ulberg said he’s fairly confident his belt will be found before he heads to Las Vegas to get further evaluation from doctors on his knee. He then plans to spend time at the UFC Performance Institute before returning to New Zealand to be with family.
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“I didn’t want to be carrying the belt around, so I think it’s still there at the apartment somewhere. One of the boys probably has it in bed with him,” Ulberg said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Sports
Lakers ‘elevate’ work for playoffs with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves injured
The elephant in the room for the Lakers as they enter the playoffs has been, and will continue to be, the status of their starting backcourt, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.
Both are out because of injuries — Doncic with a grade 2 left hamstring strain and Reaves with a grade 2 left oblique strain — and neither is expected to play in the best-of-seven, first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets that begins Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at Crypto.com Arena.
After practice Friday, coach JJ Redick was quick to say “there’s not” when asked about an update on Doncic and Reaves.
After Doncic and Reaves were injured on April 2 at Oklahoma City, the Lakers said both would be out until the end of the regular season. According to people not authorized to speak on the matter, both are expected to be out four to six weeks.
Doncic went to Spain to get treatment, and Reaves has been working diligently in L.A., with the hope that they can return sooner.
The Lakers miss their combined output of 56.8 points, 13.8 assists and 12.4 rebounds per game. Doncic led the NBA in scoring (33.5) and was third in assists (8.3); he was second on the Lakers in rebounding (7.7).
During the week of practice, Reaves was around his teammates and seen shooting after a few practices. He appeared to be in good spirits. Doncic was supposed to be back by Friday.
“We love having Austin here and we’re glad he is in a position to do his return-to-play [work], however long it takes with us,” Redick said. “Excited to get Luka back and be around the group. Austin and I talk just about every day about different things. So he’s … just being a part of this. …
“The mindset for our team and for those two guys, like we’re gonna try to make this season as long as possible so that we can get those guys back at some point. We don’t know what that is, and that’s just our job. And their job is to do everything they can to be in a position to come back at some point. It may not work, but that’s what we’re trying to do.”
The theme of the Lakers’ week at practice was to “elevate” their work.
Yes, they won’t have Doncic and Reaves, but that didn’t mean the Lakers couldn’t work harder.
When they worked on box-out drills in preparation for the way the Rockets attack the offensive boards, the Lakers went hard. When they watched film and had practice sessions, the Lakers worked with a purpose.
“The word we’ve used all week is ‘elevate.’ I think that’s what it is,” Redick said. “We all know the playoffs are different. They’re harder. There’s no easy matchups, and you have to be able to elevate your play. But beyond that, it’s elevating your recovery, your attention to detail, your preparation.
“I talked about that with my coaches as we started this week on Monday morning. It was an off day for the guys, but we were in there for six hours and we’ve all collectively gotta elevate. And particularly when you’re missing two of your top guys, part of elevating is elevating each other and the belief that the group as a whole can be great.”
The Rockets are a tough and rugged team that is good on defense and at rebounding.
They ranked fourth in the NBA in points given up (110.0) and sixth in opponents’ field-goal percentage (46.0). They were tops in rebounding (48.1) and offensive rebounds (15.0).
That has the Lakers’ attention and is why they worked so hard during practice.
“It’s been great. The level of focus and attention to detail, the communication, everything has been elevated,” forward Jarred Vanderbilt said. “We’ve got a lot of guys that’s been to the playoffs and know what it takes.
“Like you said, everything elevates around this time and having a veteran group that’s kind of been there and had a taste of the playoffs, we all know what it takes to win games in the playoffs. It’s everybody going out and doing their job and paying attention to the game plan.”
Sports
WWE star Chelsea Green should be WrestleMania ‘headliner,’ Alba Fyre says
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LAS VEGAS – Chelsea Green has been one of the hardest working pro wrestlers in WWE since she returned to the company in 2023 and has put together history-making moments.
Green was the first women’s United States champion in the belt’s history and the first to have multiple reigns. She’s been knocked off ladders and thrown in dumpsters, and yet, strings of bad luck have kept her off the WrestleMania card for the last three years.
Chelsea Green and Alba Fyre enter the ring during SmackDown at Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, on Jan. 23, 2026. (Rich Wade/WWE)
WWE star Alba Fyre, who is a part of Green’s Secret Hervice, told Fox News Digital she would have liked to have seen the Canadian star on the card.
“You know, we’re always rooting for Chelsea,” Fyre said. “Obviously, I’m a big fan of Chelsea, but I think it’s a shame that she’s not on the card this year. She should be the headliner.”
This year, it was a bit out of her hands.
Chelsea Green and Alba Fyre enter the ring during SmackDown at KFC YUM! Center in Louisville, Ky., on Feb. 27, 2026. (Craig Melvin/WWE)
WWE CHAMP JADE CARGILL VERY HOPEFUL TO MEET ‘STONE COLD’ STEVE AUSTIN AT HALL OF FAME CEREMONY
Green suffered an ankle injury in the months leading up to WrestleMania 42. She hasn’t been in the ring in a few weeks, but still remained on screen. She was seen on “Friday Night SmackDown” as of late trying to be in the corner of Tiffany Stratton, who is eyeing the United States Championship herself in a battle with Giulia.
Green was off the card for WrestleMania 40 and 41. She last appeared at the event in a fatal four-way tag team match with Sonya Deville at WrestleMania 39.
Chelsea Green looks on during SmackDown at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Fla., on Feb. 20, 2026. (Craig Ambrosio/WWE)
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Pro wrestling fans will be interested to see how the next 12 months go for Green. She may work herself back up the ladder and get into contention for the women’s title once again. If so, she’ll either have to contend with Jade Cargill or Rhea Ripley.
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