Simi’s Boys of Summer Set Marmonte League Standard

The Simi Valley High boys basketball team will not be able to sneak up on anyone this season. That’s for sure.

The Pioneers have been touted as one of the Valley area’s top teams since June, when they were beating up on some pretty tough competition in summer basketball leagues and tournaments.

Simi finished in the final 16 at the prestigious 128-team Los Angeles Games. The Pioneers did it even though two of their top players, both incoming sophomores, hadn’t attended their first high school class.

For Simi Coach Bob Hawking, the recognition is as much a nuisance as it is a compliment.

“We haven’t accomplished a thing yet,” he said. “We take any type of preseason ratings with a grain of salt.

“What happens down the line remains to be seen.”

True. But the notion that the Pioneers may be the class of Valley teams in the Southern Section persists, primarily because of the potential the team showed during the summer.

Whether he likes it or not, Hawking is in the spotlight.

He has a 6-8 sophomore center, Don MacLean, who is considered a future All-American. The other prize sophomore, 6-4 Sean DeLaittre, is battling for a starting position.

In the back court, Simi will start seniors Mike Hankins and Todd Johnson. Gus Gates, a transfer from Palo Alto, is an outstanding athlete who could also make an immediate impact.

Other top players include Steve Jenner and Doug Irwin, a pair of 6-2 senior forwards who provide intensity on defense, and Travis Bice, a good outside shooter and the backup point guard.

Certainly Simi has the potential to improve upon last year’s 14-9 record and second-place finish in the Marmonte League.

But Hawking isn’t making any predictions.

“We’re not going to take anything for granted,” he said. “It all has to be done on the floor, otherwise we could call this thing in right now without playing any games.”

Although Simi would have to be the preseason favorite in the Marmonte League, at least two other teams have title aspirations.

Defending champion Camarillo returns Mitch Parrot, who two weeks ago signed a national letter of intent to attend UC Irvine.

Westlake, with four starters back from a 15-9 team, tied for second place with Simi last year, but has been all but overlooked in the preseason.

Warriors Coach Roy Gilmore doesn’t seem to mind.

“If nobody says anything about you, then you don’t have to prove yourself as much,” he said. “But if I don’t screw ‘em up, we should be right there.”

Forward Steve Zeiss and point guard Greg Smith, both all-league choices last season, return to the starting lineup, as do Paul Kennan and Jim Robertson.

With seven juniors and five seniors, Gilmore has two goals for the season: to break the school record for wins in a season (16) and to make it to the second round of the playoffs for the first time.

The route to postseason play might not be as easy at Royal. The Highlanders haven’t advanced to the playoffs since 1971, and are coming of a 10-13 season.

Brent Tapia, a second-team all-league selection last season, will lead Royal. Tapia will be joined in the starting lineup by Louis Velasquez and Steve Noone, who are both in their third year on the varsity team.

At Thousand Oaks, Coach Ed Chevalier will have to replace 10 players lost to graduation. Tom Newmauyr returns at forward. Mike Duda, a 6-1 forward, moves up from top reserve and into the starting lineup.

Newbury Park returns four seniors and should improve last season’s 3-9 record in league.

The Santa Fe League would probably be a Valley area shootout if not for the presence of defending champion Murphy and its 6-9 center Arthur Phillips, who has signed a letter of intent with UC Irvine.

Bell-Jeff, Chaminade and St. Genevieve will battle for the two other playoff positions.

Bell-Jeff lost league MVP Steve Dontanville, who averaged 19.5 points a game last season, but the Guards are an experienced team with nine seniors on the roster.

Forward Jeff Miljanich and guards Fernando Guana and Petar Vucurevic will all be playing their fourth varsity season.

At Chaminade, Coach Mike Lynn has four starters back from last season’s team that finished third. Chaminade lost to eventual 2-A champion Santa Clara in the first round of the playoffs.

Center Kevin Black, guard Joe Chandler and forwards Scott Stuber and Terry Siciliano are the Eagles’ top players.

St. Genevieve may be the surprise team of the league. The Valiants finished fifth last season, but all players return, including all-league forward Moe Guardado, who averaged 16.2 points and 7.3 rebounds last season.

Forward Arnold Durazo, who averaged 12 points a game and guard Nate Obispo, who averaged nine, give Coach Mike Denison the nucleus for a competitive team.

In the Frontier League, Santa Clara is a heavy favorite to repeat as champion, although Agoura could challenge if it plays enough games with a full team.

Chargers Coach Bob LaBelle will be without four of his top seven players until the end of football season. He doesn’t expect them back for some time.

Second-team all-league forward Donnie Rea and Brock Hoffman, along with reserves Martin Williams and Rich Dobrowski, have yet to practice because they are busy trying to defend Agoura’s Desert-Mountain Conference football championship.

Last year, the group missed 11 of 19 regular-season games because of football. The Chargers lost in the semifinals of the 2-A playoffs and ended the season with a 14-11 record.

Agoura won’t be alone in its bid to unseat Santa Clara as league champion. Calabasas Coach Bill Bellatty will also field a challenger.

The Coyotes will be led by three-year starter Steve Ward, a 6-1 junior guard. Also back is Jon Perlstein, a 6-3 center who played tight end on the football team.

At Rio Mesa, Coach Steve Wolf said his team will be much improved over last season’s 7-15 finish.

Unfortunately, he expects that the rest of the Channel League will also be better.

The preseason favorite is Santa Barbara, where Coach Larry Knapp will start a front line of 6-7 juniors that includes his son, Jon. The Dons have another coach’s son in the back court. Chad Kammerer’s father, Chet, coaches at Westmont College in nearby Montecito.

Santa Barbara has four starters back from last season’s 15-7 team, and has added four more players from the junior varsity team, which won 16 games last season. Knapp said he will play 10 players to take advantage of “the deepest team I’ve had since I’ve been here. The top 10 can all play.”

Wolf doesn’t think the Dons will run away with the title, saying the league has good balance with Buena and Rio Mesa supplying a challenge.

The Spartans return eight players from last season, giving Wolf good experience to go along with what he expects will be a good perimeter shooting team.

Forward-center Jerry Dawson and Aaron Nordquist, Garrett Worden and Sean Luft are Rio Mesa’s top returning players.

Said Wolf: “I think we could be a dark horse, but a lot will depend on what kind of start we got off to. I don’t think any one team will dominate the league, not even Santa Barbara.”

In the Tri-Valley League it seems as if every team is a contender.

“It will be a tough battle between five teams for sure, and maybe all six,” said Rick Kent, coach at Moorpark.

Moorpark, which started 0-5 last season, finished in second place with an overall record of 13-10. The Mustkateers lost to L.A. Baptist in the first round of the playoffs.

Three seniors--Willie Gutierrez, Al Gomez and Danny Cronk--along with junior varsity graduates Kelly Kira, Randy Wagner and Scott D’Angelo will form the team’s nucleus.

“We don’t have much height, but we have a lot of quickness and speed,” Kent said. “We’ll push the ball up on offense and look for the quick score.”

At Oak Park, all but one player returns, and the Eagles may contend with Santa Ynez, Moorpark and St. Bonaventure for the league title. Oak Park was fourth in league last year.

Center Drew Friedman, a 6-6 senior, is Oak Park’s top player and only experienced starter.

Buckley Coach Ron Cooper says there is only one thing between his team and a Delphic League title: Crossroads.

The Roadrunners won the league last year and made it to the 1-A finals, where they were defeated by Chadwick. Crossroads is a consensus choice to repeat as league champion thanks to the return of six players who played in summer all-star tournaments.

Buckley won 19 games last season and has its top three players back. Center Steve Kadenacy, a 6-6 senior, and Steve Beckman and Bill So will provide Cooper with leadership for a talented group of underclassmen who are up from the junior varsity team.

With an enrollment of 220, Buckley was the smallest school to qualify for the 1-A playoffs last season.

Faith Baptist returns two starters in Fernando McLean and Allan Moreau, giving the Contenders an experienced back court. McLean, who is 6-4, is one of the team’s biggest players, but he will play point guard to prepare for a potential college career, Coach Stuart Mason said.

Jason Henderson, a 6-8 freshman, could develop into a top player.

Providence has all its starters back and could also challenge.

Campbell Hall of North Hollywood, a new entry into the league, will have no seniors on its team.

The Del Rey League figures to be controlled by Loyola, with Crespi, Alemany and Notre Dame battling for the other two playoff positions.

Loyola’s top players are 6-8 center Mark Boken, who signed a letter of intent last week with Montana, and 6-4 forward Mark Tilson.

Crespi has won three league titles in the last four seasons, including last season when the Celts advanced to the 5-A playoff quarterfinals before losing, 57-56, to Serra. Gone from that team are league MVP Brian Capp, Joe Campanella and Alfie Basili.

Crespi Coach Paul Muff hopes that returning forward Steve Tanin can lead a group of newcomers that includes Dave Smith, the MVP from last season’s league champion junior varsity team.

Alemany must replace four of five starters from a team that finished second in league last season and lost to St. Anthony’s in the first round of the playoffs.

David Djolakian, who averaged 19 points a game, has graduated. James Moses, who averaged 17, has transferred to Serra.

Alemany Coach Joe Anlauf will rely on point guard Travis Bargeman to rally the Indians this season.

At Notre Dame, Coach Matt Vickers is hoping that a strong nucleus of returning players can help the Knights improve their 5-16 finish last season.

“We’re not going to be world-beaters,” Vickers said. “But, if this group develops, we have a chance to beat some people at the end of the year.”

Notre Dame is lead by 6-6 center John Perak, who was a second-team all-league selection last season.

Josh Oppenheimer and Scott Brewster will be the guards.

Burbank is the defending champion in the Foothill League, but the Bulldogs lost four starters, including all-leaguers Gary Lotka, David Nielsen and Orlando Cepeda Jr.

“I may have overscheduled against 5-A and 4-A teams in the preseason,” said Burbank Coach Russ Keith, “but, that should work to our advantage in the long run.”

Keith is counting on returning guard Tom Clausen and swing man Tyson Manning to help give Burbank it’s third championship in four years. The teams to beat should be Hart and Schurr.

Hart has been to the playoffs three years in a row, and Indians’ Coach Doug Michelson is hoping this team, with nine juniors, can keep the streak intact.

Forward Jim Baroni, who was honorable mention all-league last season, is the only returning starter. Newcomers David Lee and Jim Bonds should help out once they exchange their football cleats for basketball shoes.

“We’re young and not very big,” Michelson said. “But we have a good collection of intelligent, medium-sized athletes, so we can do lots of things that give us a different look.”

Things don’t figure to be much different for Burroughs this season than they were last season when the Indians finished 4-6 in league.

Bob Tebbe is the only player back from last season’s team, so Coach Jesse Mason is hoping newcomers Rob Harris, Tom Kelly and Max Casal can help the team into contention for a playoff spot.

Burroughs-Ridgecrest has won the Golden League championship seven years in a row, and there are two reasons why that streak should continue this season.

Their names are Allan Celestine and Jimmy Hill.

Celestine, who averaged 13 points a game last year, and Hill, who averaged 16, are two of the best players in the league.

Canyon figures to make a strong bid for second with all-leaguers Darin Moloznik and Butch Mettinger returning. Moloznik, a senior guard, averaged 13.6 points a game last season and Mettinger, a senior forward, averaged 15.1 points and 7.5 rebounds a game.

Saugus finished fourth last season, and Coach John Clark is counting on a trio of seniors--forward George Aliano and guards Vince Tellez and John Meyers--to lead the Centurions into the playoffs.

The Alpha League is The Land of the Bowz.

Montclair Prep center Todd Bowser is back for his senior year after averaging 19.8 points and 12 rebounds a game last season.

Montclair Prep made it to the 1-A semifinals last season before losing to Crossroads. This season, the Mounties will be attempting to make their 11th straight playoff appearance. Joining Bowser in the front court will be forwards Brian Moss and Jeff Light.

“Our front line is as strong as last year,” Montclair Prep Coach Howard Abrams said. “Bowser is bigger and better than ever. He’s the key for us.”

L.A. Baptist lost its starting five off a team that finished second last season.

Only two players return from the team that recorded a 19-6 overall and 11-3 league record, but lost to Chadwick in the 1-A playoff quarterfinals.

Forward Robert Dodson and point guard Gary Kim will join newcomers Paul Leudke, Mark Williamson and Mike Wise.

L.A. Lutheran is another team that will be rebuilding. Derrick Booth, a senior forward, is the only player left from last season’s team that finished third in league.

Harvard Coach Greg Hilliard is already looking forward to next year. That’s when his junior-dominated team will have a real opportunity to show what they’ve learned.

This season will be Hilliard’s first at Harvard after coaching for 10 years at Catlin Gabel High School in Portland, Ore.

Hilliard coached his team into the state finals in 1982, but he isn’t expecting the same success at Harvard just yet.

The Saracens were 1-19 overall and did not win a game in league last season.

Hilliard is counting on guards Joel Farkas and Andy Bell and center Dave Reiner to put the team on the road to respectability.