South, Morningside Players Honored at Times’ Ceremony

Basketball players Jimmy Williamson of South Torrance High and Tina Thompson of Morningside and coaches Dwan Hurt of Serra and Glenn Kaminishi of Narbonne were the South Bay award winners Sunday at The Times’ All-Star breakfast at the Guest Quarters Hotel in Santa Monica.

Williamson, a 5-foot-10 point guard who committed last week to playing for Loyola Marymount, was named boys’ player of the year. Thompson, a 6-2 center bound for USC, was girls’ player of the year.

Hurt, who guided Serra to its first state championship, was named boys’ coach of the year. Kaminishi, whose team reached the City Section 3-A Division final, was girls’ coach of the year.

Former UCLA standout Mitchell Butler was the guest speaker and handed out certificates and plaques to the players selected to the South Bay and Westside All-Star teams.

Williamson led South (28-4) to the best season in school history. He averaged 19.5 points and an area-leading 10.3 assists, helping the Spartans reach the finals of the Southern Section Division III-AA and State Division III regional playoffs. They lost in both finals to Morningside. South’s two other losses were against Peninsula in nonleague games.

Williamson was the high scorer in his team’s four most important games of the season--the semifinals and finals of the section and regional playoffs. He finished his prep career March 13 with 33 points and nine assists in a 91-82 loss to Morningside in the regional final at the Sports Arena.

Thompson was a dominating post player for Morningside (28-3) and led the Lady Monarchs by averaging 18.8 points and 13.2 rebounds. Morningside won the Southern Section Division III-AA title and lost in the regional final to Costa Mesa, 49-46, at the Sports Arena.

Under Hurt’s guidance, Serra (26-7) finished the season with an 18-game winning streak capped by a 67-44 victory over Palma of Salinas in the State Division IV final at Oakland. The Cavaliers also won the Camino Real League title, the Southern Section Division IV-A title and the State Division IV regional championship.

Kaminishi coached the Narbonne girls’ team (16-11) to the Pacific League title and a run through the playoffs that ended with a 60-53 loss to Jefferson in the City 3-A championship game at the Sports Arena. The Gauchos, in perhaps their most impressive performance, handed Morningside one of its three losses in a nonleague game.

Coach Lori Pawinski and 6-2 junior center Olympia Scott of State Division IV champion St. Bernard were named Westside coach and player of the year, respectively. It was the second year in a row Pawinski received the award.