Freeway League : This May Finally Be Buena Park’s Banner Year

If you look closely, you’ll find a banner hanging in the far corner of Buena Park High School’s gymnasium that represents the school’s last league basketball championship.

The black banner is almost hidden among a string of badminton, softball and cross-country titles. It’s a little worn and ragged, but then it should be. The Coyotes last won a title in 1960, or about seven years before the current players were born.

Consider the plight of Coyote Coach Ken Bell. In 23 years at Buena Park, the personable coach has never won a league championship.

But it appears the drought is about to end. The Coyotes stunned Freeway League favorite Fullerton, 60-45, Friday night to gain sole possession of first place with only four games remaining.

The Coyotes led from start to finish despite shooting only 26% through three quarters of play. Buena Park boosted its league record to 5-1 and is 11-7 overall. Fullerton is 4-2, 13-7.

Fullerton managed to tie the score at 14 with 5:48 left in the first half on a jump shot by Brett Harrill, but that was as close as the Indians came. Buena Park had the game wrapped up early in the fourth quarter after guard Reggie Brown made two jump shots and Auerlio Solis added a baseline shot for a 45-27 lead.

“The game resembled our first two shots we took,” Indian Coach Randy Forgette said. “We talked about playing as a team and then took two shots like that to open the game and went downhill from there.

“We never got into an offensive flow and they outhustled us and killed us on the boards. I still think an 8-2 record will win the league, and I’m just hoping they slip up once in the next two weeks.” Of course Bell has other ideas.

“If we’re fortunate enough to win the league, I’m getting a banner that’s twice as big as the other ones and hanging it right in the middle of the gym,” he said. “But we know we’ll have to fight for our lives in every game from here on out.”

Friday night’s game was expected to be a close one. Fullerton won the first meeting, 69-65, and the outcome wasn’t decided until the final five seconds of play. But the rematch was no contest, despite Buena Park’s miserable shooting.

Brown, the Coyotes’ best player, had a forgettable first half, missing all 12 shots from the field. The Coyotes managed to stay in the lead thanks to some fine rebounding by forward Joel Masinsin and centers Tony Toscano and Mike Kotzin.

Freeway League

League Overall School W L W L Buena Park 5 i 11 7 Fullerton 4 2 13 7 Sunny Hills 3 3 9 11 Sonora 3 3 6 11 Troy 2 4 6 12 La Habra 1 5 5 13

Toscano and Kotzin, a pair of 6-foot 8-inch juniors, played their best games of the season. Toscano finished with eight points and six rebounds and Kotzin added eight points and eight rebounds.

Brown even snapped out of his shooting slump, making five of six shots in the second half and finished with 12 points, 5 assists and 3 steals.

“You can’t stop a shooter from shooting so the only thing I told Reggie at halftime was to put a little more arch on the ball.”

Brown wasn’t the only guard who had shooting problems. Fullerton’s fine guard tandem--Richard Carnesi and Ralph Tallent--combined for only 13 points. Carnesi was 2-for-10 from the floor and Tallent was 2-for-7.

“We knew we had to do a better job on those two if we wanted to win the rematch,” Bell said. “We picked them up at midcourt and got a hand in their face every time they shot.

“Now, it’s up to the kids. The championship is ours if we can come through in the last four games.”

FULLERTON (45)--Boone 10, Harrill 12, Tallent 7, Carnesi 6, Hetland 4, Perez 4, Wilber 2.

BUENA PARK (60)--Masinsin 10, Solis 11, Toscano 8, Brown 12, Ybarra 2, Markham 3, Kotzin 8, Badal 4, Glahan 2.