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Boys’ basketball: Sonora suffers big loss

Los Angeles Times staff writer Ben Bolch
By Ben Bolch
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Sonora has won 18 consecutive games on the court but suffered a big loss off it earlier this week when standout center Marcus Farrand learned he would be lost for at least the next two weeks because of a knee injury.

Farrand, a 6-foot-6 junior who was averaging 19 points and 16 rebounds per game, suffered the injury last week against Sunny Hills but didn’t report it to his coaches until after the game.

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‘He felt something pop,’ Sonora Coach Mike Murphy said.

Murphy said there was an outside chance Farrand could return for the playoffs. Sonora, ranked No. 12 in the Southland by The Times, plays at Freeway League rival La Habra tonight. The Raiders won the first meeting by 14 points but could have a tougher time without Farrand.

--Ben Bolch

Varsity Times Insider
Ben Bolch

Ben Bolch has been a Los Angeles Times staff writer since 1999. He is serving his second stint as the UCLA beat writer, which seems fitting since he has covered almost every sports beat except hockey and horse racing. Bolch is also the author of the recently released book “100 Things UCLA Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die.” He previously covered UCLA basketball from 2010-11 before going on to cover the NBA and the Clippers for five years. He happily traded in gobs of hotel points and airline miles to return to cover UCLA basketball and football in the summer of 2016. Bolch was once selected by NBA TV’s “The Starters” as the “Worst of the Week” after questioning their celebrity journalism-style questions at an NBA All-Star game and considers it one of his finer moments.

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