Panel Seeks Mercy Rule for Basketball

The state CIF basketball advisory committee has recommended a mercy rule that calls for a running clock if a basketball team is ahead by 40 points at the start of the fourth quarter or anytime thereafter.

The clock would continue to run even if the trailing team cuts the deficit to fewer than 40 points.

Southern Section assistant commissioner Paul Castillo said the section’s advisory committee had not had time to study the proposal. However, he said it was overwhelmingly against another state proposal that suggested the use of a running clock at the start of the third quarter if a team held a lead of 30 points or more and would have required its use at the start of the fourth quarter if a team was ahead by 30 points or more.

City Section Commissioner Barbara Fiege said that she had not seen the new proposal and that her governing board does not intend to take up the matter until it comes up for a first reading at the state level early next year.

-- Paul McLeod

Chino Hills Ayala, the No. 4-ranked girls’ cross-country team in the Southland by The Times, will be without its No. 3 runner, Alyssa Doniak, on Saturday when the Bulldogs compete in the Division I-II team sweepstakes race of the Mt. San Antonio College Invitational.

Doniak, a sophomore who is running cross-country for the first time this season, was recently diagnosed with exertional compartment syndrome. The condition frequently occurs when the fibrous tissue surrounding the calf muscle restricts the expansion of the muscle during exercise, leading to intense pain.

The condition, which could require surgery, has limited Doniak’s running workouts. But she has supplemented her training by swimming and riding a stationary bike.

“We’re hoping we can get four more races out of her,� Coach Dawn Staab said.

Ideally, those four races would be the Sierra League finals Nov. 4, the Southern Section preliminaries Nov. 15, the section championships Nov. 22 and the state championships a week later.

-- John Ortega