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THOUSAND OAKS — In only their third year back in 11-man football, Grace School routed Santa Paula 48-16 in the CIF-SS Division 12 Championship. Landon Cooper had four touchdowns and an interception on defense to help lead the Lancers to the blowout victory Friday night and their fifth section title in school history. “We come from such a small school, we’re underdogs, and we’ve come into every game and performed,” Cooper said. “We’ve had so much adversity this year and so much loss and we’ve still been able to push through it.” Grace running back Jake Williams ran the ball 33 times for 159 yards and had two touchdowns, to give him 142 carries for 800 yards and eight touchdowns in Grace’s four playoff games this season. His brother and Grace quarterback Riley Williams was 14 of 18 for 208 yards with four total touchdowns and an interception. “I did it for my brothers and my family. I’m just happy that it turned out this way.” Jake Williams said. “I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get that ring. If it weren’t for my line and my coaches, I wouldn’t be here today.” Cooper finished the game with eight catches for 144 yards to go with the four scores. Jaadin Weyandt finished the game with four catches for 54 yards and had a strong effort on defense for Grace. On the opening kickoff, Imari Carveth returned it 80 yards to give Santa Paula the ball at the Grace 11 for its opening drive. But in what felt like a sign of things to come, the Cardinals were not able to move the ball and were forced into a field goal, which they missed. The Grace defense was stout throughout the game, only allowing 20 total rushing yards. Santa Paula quarterback Rene Vega had a tough time getting going in the foggy weather, as he completed just 9 of his first 25 passes. “We played on their side of the field most of the night because of our defense.” Grace coach Tom Coate said. “Our boys were just fired up and executed on defense.” Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and Coate’s hiring, Grace had reached three straight section finals in 2017-2019 and won two of them, along with a state championship under former coach Josh Henderson. After a change in school leadership, the football program was canceled in the spring of 2021 and Henderson resigned. School leadership had felt the program needed to be “scaled down.” In Coate’s first practice after getting hired in May of 2021, only six kids showed up and Coate was left to pick up the pieces of a once proud program. Coate has done just that, as he has compiled a 40-18 record since being hired and has now led the Lancers to a championship. “It’s all credit to God. We wouldn’t be able to do it without him.” Coate said. “And credit goes to these boys. They believed and went to work every day and they kept building this program from when I got here in 2021 and it’s all credit to them.” Grace improved to 11-3 with the win and will now advance to the State Regional Championship next week. Santa Paula (8-6) was making its first championship appearance since 1963. Related Articles Santa Margarita football dominates Centennial to win Division 1 title San Fernando football holds off Cleveland to win City Division II crown High school football championships: Friday’s scores, Saturday’s schedule Photos: Top images from Friday’s exciting high school football finals High school football: Friday’s championships — previews, updates, scores

LOS ANGELES — The familiar faces on the court at Crypto.com Arena, and what will be a long-lasting connection between the Lakers and Dallas Mavericks, didn’t take away from the spirit of competition. Because even with Anthony Davis playing his first road game against his former team since the trade that sent him to Dallas and brought Luka Doncic to Los Angeles, with the fans cheering for Davis as he was introduced during the Mavericks’ starting lineup introductions, it didn’t take the Lakers’ eyes off of the prize for what was at stake on Friday night. And with their 129-119 victory over the Mavericks, the Lakers secured home-court advantage for their NBA Cup quarterfinal matchup after finishing 4-0 atop West Group B. They will host the San Antonio Spurs in the knockout round on Dec. 10 with top-seeded Oklahoma City to face Phoenix in the other Western Conference game. “Really pleased that we were able to go undefeated in our group,” Coach JJ Redick said. “More importantly we’ve got a back-to-back coming up and a really hard road trip. We’ve gotta take care of business in the next two games, and then we’ve gotta go be great on the road like we’ve been for most of the year outside of two games. And the Cup is in some ways, a distant memory for the next 12 days or whatever it is. “ The Lakers (14-4) also extended their winning streak to six games, their season-best mark after topping their five-game win streak that ran from Oct. 29-Nov. 5. “We’re just happy we continue to win ball games and win them the way the game plan is supposed to be executed,” LeBron James said. “That’s what’s most important for us right now.” Austin Reaves (38 points, eight rebounds and three assists) and Luka Doncic (35 points, 11 assists and five rebounds) led the Lakers on Friday night, balancing each other’s strong offensive quarters to help their team secure the victory. James added 13 points, seven assists and five rebounds in a game in which all five Lakers starters scored in double figures. Deandre Ayton finished with 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting to go with eight rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. Rui Hachimura had 14 points and four rebounds, knocking down four second-half 3-pointers. Reaves shot 12 of 15 from the field, including 6 of 8 on 3-pointers, during a game the Lakers shot a season-high 51.4% (18 of 35) from beyond the 3-point arc. “I finally made the threes, so that was nice,” Reaves said. “Luka draws so much attention. Bron’s obviously Bron, and they are gonna get the majority of attention. I kind of run around out there and find open spots and make shots, hopefully big shots, and sort of done [that].” Friday was Reaves’ fifth game scoring at least 30 points this season. Fourteen of Reaves’ 18 games scoring at least 30 points have come in 2025. “Nothing,” James responded when asked about impressed him about Reaves. “I told y’all. How long ago did I tell you all, AR can [expletive] play ball? When was this? When was he a rookie? I don’t even remember. I’ve been told you all, he can ball. It’s nothing [new]. AR, he’s great.” Doncic shot 10-of-18 from the field (4 of 9 on 3s) in his third regular-season game against his former team. “I would say it’s a little bit easier now,” he said. “Games against Dallas [will] always have some special meaning to me. I still have a lot of friends there. It’ll always be special for me.” Davis finished with 12 points, five rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots in 28 minutes against his former team. PJ Washington had 22 points and nine rebounds to lead the Mavericks. Ryan Nembhard scored 17 for Dallas, while Max Christie added 13 points against his former team. Rookie Cooper Flagg, who was the No. 1 pick in June’s draft, l had 13 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds, but the Mavericks lost for the fifth time in six games. “He’s a good player,” Doncic said of Flagg. “Obviously, there’s a lot of pressure that comes with the first pick. So he has a lot on his [shoulders], but I think he will be…

Support our high school sports coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribe now PASADENA — A long quest by Santa Margarita to rejuvenate its football program under one of its most revered former players arrived Friday at one of the most celebrated venues in the sport. With the Eagles in the CIF-SS Division 1 championship game for the first time since 2011, the night felt close to a victory for the Trinity League school even before kickoff against Centennial at the Rose Bowl. But first-year coach Carson Palmer, a former Heisman Trophy winner and NFL star, guided his alma mater further. A lot further. Trent Mosley racked up 292 yards receiving and four touchdowns, and Isaia Vandermade recorded three sacks as Santa Margarita sprinted past top-ranked Centennial 42-7 to win its first section title since 2011. Santa Margarita Eagles Head coach Carson Palmer holds up the championship plaque after defeating the Centennial Huskies 42-7 to win the CIF-SS Division 1 championship game at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Friday, November 28, 2025. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG) Santa Margarita Eagles Head coach Carson Palmer celebrates with his team after defeating the Centennial Huskies 42-7 to win the CIF-SS Division 1 championship game at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Friday, November 28, 2025. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG) Santa Margarita Eagles Trent Mosley (4) holds up the championship plaque after defeating the Centennial Huskies 42-7 to win the CIF-SS Division 1 championship game at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Friday, November 28, 2025. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG) Santa Margarita Eagles Trent Mosley (4) holds up the championship plaque after defeating the Centennial Huskies 42-7 to win the CIF-SS Division 1 championship game at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Friday, November 28, 2025. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG) Santa Margarita Eagles Head coach Carson Palmer celebrates with his team after defeating the Centennial Huskies 42-7 to win the CIF-SS Division 1 championship game at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Friday, November 28, 2025. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG) Santa Margarita Eagles Trent Mosley (4) catches a pass and runs for a 90 plus yard touchdown against Centennial Huskies in the second half of a CIF-SS Division 1 championship game at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Friday, November 28, 2025. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG) Santa Margarita Eagles Trent Mosley (4) runs for a touchdown against the Centennial Huskies in the second half of a CIF-SS Division 1 championship game at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Friday, November 28, 2025. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG) Santa Margarita Eagles defensive back Siua Holani (14) reacts after sacking Centennial Huskies quarterback Dominick Catalano (not pictured) in the second half of a CIF-SS Division 1 championship game at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Friday, November 28, 2025. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG) Santa Margarita Eagles defensive end Kingston Jimmerson (99) sacks Centennial Huskies quarterback Dominick Catalano (8) in the second half of a CIF-SS Division 1 championship game at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Friday, November 28, 2025. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG) Santa Margarita Eagles Trent Mosley (4) holds up the championship plaque after defeating the Centennial Huskies 42-7 to win the CIF-SS Division 1 championship game at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Friday, November 28, 2025. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG) Santa Margarita Eagles Head coach Carson Palmer holds up the championship plaque after defeating the Centennial Huskies 42-7 to win the CIF-SS Division 1 championship game at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Friday, November 28, 2025. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG) Santa Margarita Eagles defensive back Siua Holani (14)…

INGLEWOOD — Ivica Zubac slumped in his chair, disappointment hanging on every “I don’t know.” Frustration marking any attempt to explain why the Clippers are stuck in a funk. The 6-foot-10 center couldn’t say why the team missed another opportunity to win after losing to the Memphis Grizzlies, 112-107, on Friday night in their first game back at the Intuit Dome after a seven-game trip. Zubac has no idea how he and his teammates can pull themselves out of their current tailspin, in which they have lost 12 of their past 14 games or how they can avoid fading in the second half of any future games. He did know one thing, though. “We have to stick together and try to do the right thing. Man, we know what it is. We know we got to be better with,” said Zubac, whose team lost its sixth consecutive home game despite a 39-point game from star forward Kawhi Leonard. “We know what it is. We just got to execute it on the court, stick together and know that no one’s feeling sorry for us. No one’s coming to help. That’s all we got. So, we got to figure it out, play harder and go out there and do it.” And for a half, the Clippers were playing the right way. They played aggressive defense, disrupting more than a dozen layups and tip-ins. They got double-digit scoring from each of their top two stars and limited their opponents to five fast-break points while building a 16-point lead. Their inspired play, however, lasted for all of 24 minutes, as the Clippers faded in the second half again, repeating familiar mistakes that eliminated them from NBA Cup play. They could have potentially qualified for the knockout round with a win and other favorable results around the league. After a solid first half, the Clippers (5-14) let up, which allowed the Grizzlies, who struggled with the easiest of shots early on, to take their first lead at 87-85, less than two minutes into the fourth quarter. Memphis (8-12) had trailed, 63-50, at halftime. Vince Williams Jr. gave the Grizzlies an 89-85 lead moments later on a 9-foot floater, setting up the Clippers for what appeared to be another letdown. Leonard, however, scored six consecutive points that shook the Clippers out of their doldrums and into a brief two-point (91-89) lead with 8:10 to play. The Grizzlies (8-12) then went on a tear, scoring 10 consecutive points to open a 103-95 lead and the momentum to close out the game. “Every second half, we don’t come out right,” Zubac said. “We’re not playing the right way. It feels a little bit mental. The second half we got to string some wins, man. We got to string some wins.” Still, there were positive signs. Leonard shook off the fogginess that marked his first two games after a 10-game absence because of ankle and foot injuries and shot 15 for 24 from the field on the way to his team-high point total, including his third 3-pointer with seven seconds left that could have set the Clippers up for a last-second victory. But Memphis tacked on two free throws by Jaylen Wells that secured the victory. James Harden added 23 points, seven rebounds and 10 assists for the Clippers (5-14), and Zubac had nine points and 11 rebounds. Coach Tyronn Lue chalked up their second-half letdowns to fatigue and sloppy play; the Clippers are averaging seven turnovers in the third quarters. “Some guys can be running out of gas at times,” Lue said before the game. “I think (they are) getting tired, taking shortcuts or just mentally fatigued, I don’t know. But like I said, we are prepared.” Leonard said the team needs to get tougher, play with more effort in the second half. “That’s a challenge you got to face and I’m up for it and we just got to go out there and tuck in our jerseys and get ready to scrap if we really want to win,” Leonard said. “It can’t be two players, can’t be three. It has to be the whole 15, the unit, even guys on the bench that’s not playing.” The Clippers gave themselves a chance to win in the first half, building a 63-50 lead at the intermission behind…

ANAHEIM — After working overtime on Black Friday, the Kings will be right back to it on Saturday, hosting the Vancouver Canucks. They let a two-goal lead filter through their fingers on Friday afternoon, falling to the Ducks, 5-4 in a shootout, and will now face a Vancouver club that also played on Friday, losing to the Sharks, 3-2, in San Jose. Of the Kings’ 24 games this season, 19 have been decided either by one goal (17 instances) or a goal plus an empty-netter. “Games are [decided by] one goal, I just think it’s a product of everybody being pretty tight and everybody feeling like they’ve got a chance to win,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said. Gone are the days when teams like the Ducks, Sharks or Chicago Blackhawks were viewed as light work on the schedule, and here is an NHL in which only six of its 32 teams are below a .500 points percentage. “This year, every team’s got some pretty dangerous players, so they feel like, ‘hey, we’re still in this,’ so you get a pretty good push from the other team,” Hiller said after squandering a lead against his crosstown rivals. While the Kings came up empty on their only power play on Friday – they are five for their past 52 opportunities with the extra man – they scored four even-strength goals for the fifth time this season. “We did a good job of creating some chances and trying to stay patient,” defenseman Brian Dumoulin said. He added: “I thought we did a good job of defending them off the rush and transitioning off of that.” The Kings scored once off a counterattack and another time while capitalizing off a poor line change, with their other two goals coming off point shots into traffic. Yet they couldn’t cash in late in regulation, in overtime or the shootout, losing for the second time this season in the six games that have seen them score four or more goals. “They finished, and we had our chances, too, but we couldn’t finish,” Hiller said. While the Kings have very much tightened up defensively since their faceplant out of the starting blocks, Vancouver has struggled in its own end all season. That’s thanks in no small part to injuries to its top two goalies, starter Thatcher Demko and backup Kevin Lankinen, who often struggled when he was available. Their absences have contributed heavily to the Canucks being tied with the Edmonton Oilers for the league’s highest goals-against average and owning exclusively its worst penalty-kill percentage. Defenseman Quinn Hughes, who won the Norris Trophy two seasons ago, leads the Canucks in scoring on a per-game basis in the penultimate season of his contract. His 22 points in 20 games equal the output of center Elias Pettersson in 25 appearances. CANUCKS AT KINGS When: Saturday, 7 p.m. Where: Crypto.com Arena TV: FDSN West, KCAL (Ch. 9) Related Articles Alexander: The Ducks-Kings rivalry has meaning in the standings again Ducks rally to beat Kings on Mason McTavish’s shootout goal Kings-Ducks matchup brings renewed rivalry to Freeway Faceoff Brandt Clarke’s power-play goal helps Kings end 3-game skid Kings searching for answers to home-ice struggles