Sports
Prep basketball roundup: King/Drew rises in fourth quarter to rout Crenshaw
With 22 seconds left, junior guard Donald Thompson delivered a dunk that brought the King/Drew home crowd full of football players to their feet. It was the exclamation point on a dominant fourth-quarter performance by the Golden Eagles that led to a 63-45 Coliseum League win over Crenshaw.
King/Drew (9-7, 3-0) went into the final quarter trailing by a point. The Golden Eagles then outscored the Cougars 26-7. Thompson and Josahn Webster, the son of head coach Lloyd Webster, led the way. Josahn Webster scored nine of his team’s first 10 points in the quarter and finished with 18. Thompson also scored 18 points.
Crenshaw (9-9, 2-1) might have gotten a little tired in the fourth quarter after surviving a four-overtime thriller Wednesday when it defeated Washington Prep 113-112.
It was a breakthrough performance for King/Drew. Lloyd Webster has been trying to get his players to stop worrying about statistics and start focusing on finishing games.
“Guys stopped taking hero shots,” he said.
Freshman Semaj Howard of King/Drew goes up for shot against Crenshaw.
(Robert S. Helfman)
His son agreed. “We stopped taking selfish shots,” Josahn said.
Like father, like son.
King Peterson scored 12 points for Crenshaw.
In a City Section season that has been unpredictable with no favorite emerging for the Open Division championship, King/Drew is hoping to win the league title and earn a strong playoff seeding. Standing in the way, though, is probably the league’s most talented team, Washington Prep, which plays at King/Drew on Wednesday. The expectation is King/Drew, Crenshaw and Washington Prep might take turns defeating one another.
As for Thompson’s dunk, the coach wouldn’t comment, but Thompson said, “It was a good dunk.”
Palisades 51, Fairfax 42: The Dolphins improved to 3-2 in the Western League. Jordan Farhadian scored 12 points. Jaden Depina had 17 points for Fairfax.
LACES 51, University 36: Back at full strength, LACES picked up a Western League win. Donovan Cornelius scored 14 points and Joshua Sangster had 13 points for LACES.
Chatsworth 57, Granada Hills 52: The Chancellors picked up a key West Valley League victory. Marc Cherfan scored 22 points for Granada Hills.
Cleveland 80, Taft 33: The Cavaliers improved to 2-0 in the West Valley League.
Birmingham 56, El Camino Real 42: Alex Dupre finished with 29 points for Birmingham.
Sun Valley Poly 52, North Hollywood 50: JD Wyatt had 25 points and 10 rebounds for the Parrots.
Grant 71, Arleta 66: William Overton contributed 24 points for the Lancers.
Harvard-Westlake 71, Loyola 34: The Wolverines improved to 19-1 and set up a Mission League showdown next week with games against Sherman Oaks Notre Dame and Sierra Canyon. Robert Hinton had 10 points.
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 90, Bishop Alemany 72: Mercy Miller had 38 points, Lino Mark 22 points and Zach White 16 for the unbeaten Knights.
St. Francis 74, Chaminade 71: Mazi Mosley had 26 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists in St. Francis’ overtime win.
Sierra Canyon 82, Crespi 56: The Trailblazers (18-1) rolled to a Mission League win. Bryce Cofield scored 17 points.
St. John Bosco 69, Edmond North 61: The Braves advanced to the championship game of the Bass Pro tournament in Missouri. Elzie Harrington scored 28 points.
JSerra 47, Santa Margarita 39: Aidan Fowler led the Lions with 17 points.
Mater Dei 87, Boston Catholic Memorial 69: The Monarchs improved to 19-1 with the win at the Hoophall Classic. Brannon Martinsen scored 21 points, Brandon Benjamin had 14 and Blake Davidson finished with 13.
Simi Valley 84, Hillcrest Christian 43: Ryder Mjoen had 26 points for Simi Valley.
Calabasas 68, Newbury Park 48: Tidiane Sy led the Coyotes with 18 points.
West Ranch 84, Castaic 41: Darrell Morris scored 23 points for West Ranch, which won its 43rd consecutive Foothill League game.
St. Bonaventure 67, Cate 42: Dylan Benner finished with 26 points for St. Bonaventure.
Redondo Union 74, Peninsula 32: SJ Madison scored 20 points for Redondo Union.
Mira Costa 65, Santa Monica 40: Eneasi Piuleini and James Reach each scored 15 points for Mira Costa, which has a showdown against Redondo Union on Tuesday.
Crescenta Valley 73, Arcadia 55: Derek Najarian had 28 points in the Pacific League victory for the Falcons.
Eastvale Roosevelt 90, King 59: Brayden Burries scored 31 points for Roosevelt.
Edison 65, Newport Harbor 63: Kaz Hampton made a shot just before the buzzer to give the Chargers the victory. Dane Johnson had 20 points.
Los Alamitos 73, Fountain Valley 66: Trent Minter had 25 points for Los Alamitos.
Foothill 70, Yorba Linda 47: Isaiah Bernard scored 14 points for Foothill.
Oaks Christian 52, Agoura 49: Troy McGovern led Oaks Christian with 15 points.
Thousand Oaks 72, Westlake 59: The Lancers handed Westlake its first defeat in Marmonte League play.
Lynwood 89, Mayfair 69: Jason Crowe Jr. scored 42 points for Lynwood.
St.. Pius X-St. Matthias 74, Bishop Montgomery 62: Tyrone Riley had 24 points for the Warriors.
Gardena Serra 60, St. Anthony 59: The Cavaliers won the Del Rey League showdown.
Girls’ basketball
Denville (N.J.) Morris Catholic 64, Mater Dei 48: At the Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Mass., the Monarchs were defeated. Jenessa Cotton finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds for Mater Dei.
Sports
Four more Dodgers players selected as National League All-Stars
The Dodgers have four more 2026 All-Stars joining Shohei Ohtani on the National League squad.
Center fielder Andy Pages claimed the first All-Star nod of his career. And third baseman Max Muncy (three) first baseman Freddie Freeman (10) and pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto (two) added to their Midsummer Classic honors.
Ohtani (six) bypassed phase two of All-Star voting by earning the most fan votes of any player in the first phase.
All of the Dodgers position players were elected as starters, marking the first time since 1980 that the team has had four All-Star starters.
The MLB All-Star Game will be played in Philadelphia on July 14.
Sports
Chris Johnson’s former teammate reflects on ex-star’s surprise ALS diagnosis, tight-knit bond after milestone
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The NFL world was stunned on Monday when it became public that Chris Johnson, one of just nine players ever to rush for 2,000 yards in a season, is suffering from ALS.
The news hit close to home for Ryan Fitzpatrick, who played for Johnson’s Tennessee Titans for a season. And despite it being just one year, the two have a special connection.
“He was a great teammate when I got to play with him for the one year, and obviously a super talented guy on the football field. We texted about a year ago. I was just looking back at our text messages, and one of the things that I had sent him — the 100th touchdown pass that I threw in the NFL was to CJ2K, and he signed the football for me and gave it to me. It says, ‘To my cool white boy. Congrats on number 100,’” Fitzpatrick recalled in an interview with Fox News Digital. “So the amount of street credit I have from Chris Johnson calling me a cool white boy has always been awesome to me.”
Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, No. 4 of the Tennessee Titans, hands off to running back Chris Johnson, No. 28, against the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field on October 13, 2013 in Seattle, Washington. (Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)
But ALS is just such a tough thing to have to deal with, obviously for Chris and for everybody around him. You can just imagine the frustrations of his mind being there but his body starting to fail him and how difficult that is. We’re obviously all hoping for the best for him, and all our love and support goes to him and his wife and his family.”
In a lengthy social media post, Johnson said that there is growing research that shows a link between repetitive head trauma and ALS, and studies have shown that NFL players are four times as likely to develop ALS as the general population.
Fitzpatrick, personally, said that when it comes to football, he would do it all over again, even as the risks are more prevalent now than ever before. However, what comes with age is more grim reality.
Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson runs against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C., on Aug. 28, 2010. (Sam Sharpe/USA TODAY Sports)
FORMER NFL STAR CHRIS JOHNSON SAYS HE’S BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH ALS
“I do think guys playing football understand at least the broad scope of what the risks are. I think a lot of guys would tell you, and I would be the same way, football has given me so much in my life that it’s something I would do again in a heartbeat. And for my kids that want to pursue it, I’m happy for them to pursue it,” Fitzpatrick said.
“But as you get older, I’m 43, as you get older, and your parents get older, I lost my mom five years ago, there’s just more stuff that seems to happen. It’s really sad. One of my best friends from high school was diagnosed with ALS. So seeing that firsthand, and the difficulties that come with it, not just for him but everybody that is around him, it’s really hard. As you get older, stuff happens, and there are things that you have to deal with and figure out. So unfortunately, it’s a tough part about aging.”
There is no known cure for ALS – known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. It’s a progressive disease in which the brain loses connection with the muscles, according to the ALS Association. The afflicted slowly lose their ability to walk, talk, eat, dress, write, swallow and, eventually, breathe.
Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson breaks free for a long run against the San Francisco 49ers in the fourth quarter at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Nov. 8, 2009. The Titans defeated the 49ers 34-27. (Cary Edmondson/USA TODAY Sports)
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The former running back played in the NFL from 2008 to 2017 with the Titans, New York Jets and Arizona Cardinals.
Fox News’ Ryan Gaydos and Angelica Stabile contributed to this report.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Sports
Letters to Sports: Mixed emotions over LeBron James leaving Lakers
I will miss watching the greatest maestro and savant in the history of basketball, LeBron James. He is to basketball what Van Gogh was to painting, Coltrane to music, Hemingway to literature. He came from poverty and rose to a global hero and gave back. His after-game interviews were always intelligent and sometimes humorous. To all his detractors and haters? Eat your hearts out, he is a happy man.
Dell Franklin
Cayucos
I have always been in awe of LeBron’s athleticism and basketball IQ. And I greatly admire his dedication to maintaining his physical abilities throughout the years and his philanthropic pursuits.
But, as a lifelong Lakers fan, I will not miss LeBron. He was never a true Laker. He made it clear when he announced that he was taking his talents to South Beach that he cared only about LeBron, not the team.
So, as he closes out his career elsewhere, I will enjoy watching his superior playing prowess from afar. But I will be grateful that I can now cheer for my Lakers without the drama LeBron brings to every team he’s been on.
Linda Salzman
Rancho Palos Verdes
I agree that it was probably time to move on from LeBron simply in the interest to pursue a long-term player versus one more year from the King. But Bill Plaschke’s argument that he was tired of the mind games LeBron supposedly was playing is a terrible take. Losing 27-7-7 is not replaceable overnight, if ever.
George Metalsky
Redondo Beach
While acknowledging LeBron James as one of the greatest basketball players of all time, it never really felt as if he was selflessly committed to the Purple and Gold team concept like so many of the legendary players that preceded him.
During his eight years as a Laker there seemed to be countless occasions when Lakers brass capitulated to his “demands.” Year after year we endured a mishmash roster with his hand-picked players, just to appease LeBron.
During the Lakers’ dynasty we had championship teams. With LeBron we had a king shaping his fiefdom to first and foremost best serve him.
He’s a great player but a horrible GM. The Lakers will be a better team without him.
David Griffin
Westwood
I only have one question regarding LeBron James: What happens to Bronny now?
David Waldowski
Laguna Woods
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