Morningside guard Kenny Jones averaged 5.5 steals...

Morningside guard Kenny Jones averaged 5.5 steals a game in the first round of Ocean League basketball play, helping the defensive-minded Monarchs get off to a 7-0 start and move closer to their fifth league title in six years.

Rolling Hills beat visiting Torrance, 85-76, last week to maintain sole possession of first place in the Bay League basketball race and improve its home record to 31-1 in four years under Coach Cliff Warren.

Carson’s girls basketball team, 0-10 in league play two years ago, improved to 13-3 overall by defeating highly rated Washington and Crenshaw.

Serra guard Alex Mendenhall has made 22 of 24 free throws (92%) in the last four games, including a stretch of 19 in a row that ended last week.

Who’s Not

Banning’s basketball team suffered its eighth loss in the last nine games Friday night, falling to rival Carson, 75-56, in a Pacific League match-up.

West Torrance, hoping to stay in contention for a playoff spot in the Ocean League, fell two games off the pace by committing 26 turnovers in a 62-57 loss to Culver City. It dropped the Warriors into a tie for fourth at 3-4.

Palos Verdes, a semifinalist last season in the Southern Section 3-A basketball playoffs, lost all three of its Bay League games last week to fall to 1-6 and 3-12 overall.

Hit hard by academic ineligibility, Marymount College’s basketball team fielded a squad of five players in 98-83 loss to Harbor, falling to 0-6 in conference play.