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The Preps / Pat Cannon : A Number of People Miss Lewis’ Intent and Get Indigestion

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USC landed Tom Lewis over the weekend. It was a coup of some magnitude, since everyone expected the Mater Dei All-American basketball player to sign with either Nevada Las Vegas or Syracuse.

I myself am digesting a very tough 24-pound crow and trying to remove a size 8 1/2 shoe from my mouth, since I was convinced Las Vegas was the final choice.

But congratulations to USC Coach Stan Morrison for pulling off the biggest heist since the Brink’s job. After a disastrous season two years ago, Morrison’s job was rumored to be about as safe as jumping from an airplane without a parachute.

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Not only did he come back to tie for the Pacific 10 Conference championship with Washington last season, but he recruited two of the best players in California, Lewis and Glendale guard Rich Grande. Morrison also appears to have landed two talented Philadelphia preps--Eric Gathers and Greg Kimble, both of Dobbins Tech. The announcement is expected to come out of Philadelphia any day, possibly today.

Add Lewis: Las Vegas Coach Jerry Tarkanian was still flabbergasted by the news Monday morning.

“I’m shocked,” he said. “I talked to the kid last week and he never mentioned USC once. In fact, for the last month, it was us, Syracuse, Arizona State and UCLA. In the last two weeks, it was down to us and Syracuse. This was a real surprise.

“But hey, these things happen. I think Tommy is a great kid, a good player and will be a fine addition to their program. I wish him luck.”

Last add Lewis: Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim was still scratching his head about Lewis’ choice Monday morning.

“I told myself a long time ago, ‘Never be shocked by anything that happens in recruiting,’ ” he said. “But this was definitely a surprise. OK, I’ll even call it a shock.

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“SC was never mentioned. He told me he liked Stan but would never go there because no one came to the games.

“I also read that he wanted to stay close to home. He always knew where Syracuse was; we just didn’t move the school here two weeks ago. Distance was never a problem. But you never know with kids.”

Banning’s Lisa Bautista, who threw seven straight no-hitters earlier this season, had a second string of hitless innings going until it was snapped by Narbonne in a Harbor League softball game last Wednesday.

Bautista established a national record with her seven-game streak that started with a 4-0 victory against Bell March 1 and ended after 50-hitless innings March 23, when Carson’s Andrea Kaono reached her for a double.

“That hit came in the second inning,” Banning softball Coach Carol Cox said. “She never gave up another hit in that one. Then she no-hit Venice. I only pitched her four innings against Birmingham and then she threw a no-hitter against San Pedro.”

Bautista gave up two hits against Narbonne, stopping the streak at 25 innings, but she still struck out 15 batters.

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“Last year she was outstanding,” said Carson Coach Teresa Biano, whose team will play Bautista and company Wednesday at Dolphin Park. “But this year, she is awesome.”

With Bautista on the mound, Banning is favored to end El Camino Real’s reign as the City Section’s 4-A champion.

Indio, rapidly becoming a Southern California tennis power, is the odds-on favorite to win its second Southern Section 2-A title in the last three years. Coach George Areu’s team is as deep as the Salton Sea and features the talented Garza brothers, senior twins Ernesto and Arturo, and sophomore Ricardo.

All three Garzas are ranked nationally in their native Mexico.

“We were lucky to get them,” Areu said. “They played last year in San Diego, but their guardian (David Colton) got a job out here in the desert and enrolled them.”

Even without the Garzas, Indio would be impressive. In a dual match against No. 2-ranked Diamond Bar, Areu left Ernesto and Arturo at home and still won, 23-5. Only 4-A power Miraleste has beaten Indio. The score was 14-14, Miraleste winning on games, 108-107.

Los Altos’ Richard Slosek coaches Bob May, one of the finest prep golfers in the state. May played as an amateur in the L.A. Open. Slosek rates the best golfers in the area in this order--May, Ken Tanagawa of Loyola, Roger Miraglia of Dana Hills, Paul Holtby of Simi Valley, Tim Wilcox of Palm Springs and Ted Krieder of Nogales.

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“But all of them are good,” Slosek said. “Anyone can beat anyone else, depending on what kind of day they’re having. And don’t forget Pearl Sinn of Bellflower. She might beat them all.”

Prep Notes Open competition in the Mt. San Antonio Relays will begin Friday at 3 p.m., and invitational events will start Saturday at 8:30 a.m. Hawthorne’s sprint medley relay team will be attempting to lower its own national record of 3:21.15, and Muir’s girls’ low hurdle shuttle team will be aiming at the national record of 59.2 seconds set by Newport News Menchville in 1982. . . . Mission Viejo won 14 of 20 events in winning both the boys’ and girls’ championships of the Mission Viejo Swim meet Saturday at the Marguerite Recreation Center. University junior Amy White, a silver medalist in the 1984 Olympics, broke through the Mission Viejo blockade, winning the 200 individual medley and the 100 backstroke. . . . Update: St. Bernard Coach Ben Lefebvre, who turned all his players into switch-hitters at the start of the season, is sticking with his experiment. St. Bernard is 9-3 overall, 6-2 in the Camino Real league. The team batting average is a lofty .395. “I’m staying with it,” said Lefebvre, whose team plays host to St. Monica Wednesday. “We’ve lost some games, but even in those games, we’ve outhit the opposition.”

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