Greetings From Inglewood High School,
Our Coach Patrick Roy took the CIF Southern Section Division IIAA Championship on Saturday at the Anaheim Convention center. They did an awesome job . It was so exciting!!!!!
Come join us Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. at home against Garfield High School for State Championship
Sentinels beat Royal to earn first title since 1994, in eighth championship game appearance since.Inglewood played the highlight reel of its season on Saturday, and the reviews were simple.
It’s no longer “Wait ’til next year” for the Sentinels, it’s “What can we do for an encore?”
Struggling mightily over the course of the game, Inglewood pulled itself together when it mattered — when it absolutely had to be done — and scored a 60-57 victory over Royal on Saturday to capture the CIF Southern Section Division II-AA championship at the Anaheim Convention Center.
“It was like destiny for us,” coach Patrick Roy said. “It was meant for us to win.”
The Sentinels (21-11) trailed for virtually the entire game until the deficit was five points with 2:35 left. Suddenly, they found the basket, they defended well enough to force four missed shots and a turnover, and a junior-laden team walked out of the arena with the title.
Guard Randy Onwausor converted a three-point play and made two free throws, and Charles Lockwood’s only shot of the game turned into a three-point play as Inglewood scored the game’s final seven points after trialing by 57-53 with with 1<MD+,%30,%55,%70>1/<MD-,%0,%55,%70>2 minutes left.
Lockwood’s three-point play, off an assist from Onwausor, gave Inglewood a 58-57 lead with 51.6 seconds left. Onwausor added two free throws with 32.7 seconds to go and Royal’s Nick Creber missed two foul shots with 15.4 left.
But the rebound went to Royal’s Scott Woods, who kicked it out to Max McCoy
for a 3-point try that missed.After two missed foul shots by Nicholas Smiley, Royal had nine seconds to find a way to hit a tying shot, but J.R. Powell’s off-balance 3-pointer bounced off the rim at the buzzer.
“We were lucky to come out with the win,” Roy said.
Inglewood celebrated its first CIF title since the Paul Pierce-led team won in 1994. Since then, the Sentinels fell in seven consecutive finals, including last year’s 47-45 loss to Harvard-Westlake.
“This one is especially sweet for me,” Roy said. “It’s really great to come in here and talk about being on the winning side of the coin this time.”
Smiley struggled at the free-throw line but was the main man in the middle with 15 points and 14 rebounds. Inglewood’s shooters, Edward Scott Jr. (10 points) and Kristopher Randall (15 points), combined to make only eight of 24 shots but both hit big 3-pointers in the second half.
Onwausor made only four of 16 shots, but constantly attacked the paint in the face of the 6-foot-9 Woods and finished with 13 points.
Inglewood made only 33.3 percent of its shots and missed 13 of 31 free-throw attempts, yet the juniors committed only five turnovers in their first championship appearance. They have averaged 14 turnovers per game this season.
Onwausor played all but 1:07 of the game and didn’t leave in the second half.
“We run a lot in practice; we get in shape,” Onwausor said. “That’s the first thing we do. Soon as we get in the gym, stretch, run. It doesn’t really bother me. When I’m on the court, I just keep going, keep pushing.”
And his teammates fed off it.
Scott hit both of his 3-pointers in the third quarter, each time tying the score as Inglewood struggled to stay close.
“I was just thinking we’ve got to get back in this and Randy came down and passed me the ball and that’s how we got back in it,” Scott said. “I give it to Randy. Randy was the man.”
Randall’s 3-pointer gave Inglewood a brief 49-48 lead with 6:35 left before Royal regained control.
“I tried to just keep my confidence rolling even though my shots weren’t knocking down,” said Randall, who was 2 for 9 from distance. “I did my best to get my teammates involved and get everything going.”
Powell, who scored a game-high 16 points, hit a 3-pointer from the corner with 5:14 left as the Highlanders regained the lead at 51-50, and Powelll added a backdoor layup on a pass from Austin Carr to make it 53-50 with 4:34 to go.
With 2:15 left, Woods (14 points, 14 rebounds, six blocked shots) hit a jumper from the elbow of the key to give Royal a 57-53 lead, but Royal couldn’t make a shot after that.
“We had good shots but they’re a long, lengthy team,” Powell said. “Every shot’s going to be tough.”
“I thought I made my shot,” said McCoy, who scored 15 points.
But Inglewood was relentless in its second-half chase. Royal held a five-rebound advantage in the first half, but Inglewood had 10 more rebounds than the Highlanders in the second half.
And Onwausor kept the pressure on.
“Randy did a great job attacking and penetrating the gaps and Edward Scott got on and started hitting some big threes,” Roy said. “He told me all along, `Coach, I’m going to win you a championship.’ And he just told me that again and thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Scott replied with a smile.
The highlight reel continues with the CIF Southern California Division II Regionals.
Debbie Tate Awarded the “Principal of the Month” at “Los Angeles Laker Land”
Debbie Tate was honored as “Principal of the Month” in February by the Los Angeles Lakers. She was selected from all the high schools in Southern California for this prestigious award. Debbie has been a Principal of Inglewood High School for 11 years. She has been employed in Inglewood Unified School District for over 30 years. She is a tireless worker and has been a familiar face around the city of Inglewood.
She has committed her career to IUSD servicing the students and parents with an incredible work ethic, enthusiasm and energy to drive Inglewood High School to greatness. Ms. Tate has tremendous support for all of her staff, and continues to develop strategies of collaboration amongst staff. She strives for academic excellence as well as supporting all extracurricular activities throughout the year.
Ms. Tate is driven to continue to improve Inglewood High School and take the school to the next level.
Debbie Tate is a mentor to all of her administrators as well as spending countless hours working with each assistant principal to learn the entire operations of running a school.
Student achievement is what Ms. Tate cherishes most. Many students come back on a daily basis to see how their school is doing and revisits Ms. Tate to thank her for the directional talks she has had with them. Many alumni give back to Inglewood High School as a result of the positive experiences they had while attending as a student. Ms. Tate is truly an outstanding human being who has dedicated her professional life to giving back to helping others!
