Presenting the 1986 Basketball All-Stars : 2 Hotshots Lead Boys; ‘85’s Top Girl Sparkles Again

Jerry Simon and Harvey Mason, leading scorers in the City and CIF Southern Section, and Tina Epps, last year’s area player of the year, highlight the 1986 Times All-Glendale-area boys and girls high school basketball teams.

Simon, who led Marshall to the City 3-A title, averaged 33.2 points a game for the Barristers, including a City-record 69 against Belmont. Mason, from Crescenta Valley, averaged 28.6 and scored 56 against La Canada.

Epps, who missed five games with a sprained ankle, still led Eagle Rock to the City 3-A quarterfinals, averaging 21 points and 17.8 rebounds.

The 10-member boys squad, in addition to Simon and Mason, has Walt Bakly (La Canada), Bryan Duffy and Greg Forrest (St. Francis), Geoff Foote (Glendale), Luis Gonzalez and David Lopez (Marshall), Mark Potter (Crescenta Valley) and Greg Sanford (Eagle Rock).

The girls team, along with Epps, has Millie Abich (Eagle Rock), Silvia Antanaitis (Hoover), Sarah Banales (Flintridge Sacred Heart), Lisa Erickson (Crescenta Valley), Bettina Granger (Franklin), Kimi Kondo and Dollie Lucero (Marshall), Leiani Osugi (Holy Family) and Jill Young-Sailors (Flintridge Prep).

The team was selected by area coaches and sportswriters.

The players, their parents and coaches will attend the Times All-Star Basketball Awards Breakfast at 9 a.m. Saturday at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim.

Each player will receive a trophy and certificate, and the player and coach of the year for each of The Times’ 10 circulation areas will be announced. Pepperdine University basketball Coach Jim Harrick will speak.

Simon, a 6-5, 170-pound senior, had the ability to play any position for the Barristers.

“I think that is what’s so incredible about him,” Marshall Coach Sandy Greentree said. “He’s definitely the best player I’ve ever coached.”

A unanimous choice as the City 3-A player of the year, Simon plans to attend the University of Pennsylvania.

As well as Simon played, he could not win the title all by himself. He got lots of help from the 5-3 Lopez.

“David was the heart and soul of the team,” Greentree said. Lopez, the point guard, averaged 9 points and 5.6 assists.

Gonzalez was another who contributed greatly to Marshall’s title. The 5-6 senior averaged 11 points for the season and 17.5 in the playoffs, including 16 in the 62-47 championship triumph against University.

Mason, a 6-3 senior point guard, was bothered for much of the season by an ankle injury but still had a tremendous year.

“I’ve been a coach for eight years,” Crescenta Valley’s John Goffredo said, “and he’s probably the finest player I’ve had.” Mason will attend Arizona.

When Mason wasn’t carrying the scoring load, teammate Potter was. A 6-3 guard/forward, Potter averaged 15.3 points and earned All-Pacific League honors.

Foote made All-Pacific League after leading Glendale into the playoffs. The 6-5 senior center, the only veteran from Glendale’s 1985 Southern Section 4-A championship team, averaged 13.3 points and 7.6 rebounds.

“He really expanded his role this year,” Coach Steve Keith said. “He did a little bit of everything.”

La Canada senior Bakly, a 6-5, 190-pound forward, is a repeater on The Times’ Glendale-area team. He averaged 24 points and 7 rebounds.

Sanford, from Eagle Rock, earned All-City 3-A honors by averaging 17.3 points and 8.4 rebounds. The 6-3 forward led Eagle Rock to a 14-7 record and an 8-2 mark in league, second only to Marshall.

Duffy and Forrest, both from St. Francis, are the only juniors on the team. Both received All-Del Rey League honors after guiding the Golden Knights into the playoffs.

Duffy, a 6-6 center, averaged 15.6 points and 11.5 rebounds. Forrest, a 6-0 guard, was the team’s leading scorer at 16 points a game.

Had Epps been healthy all season, Eagle Rock Coach Ivan Simon believes his team could have won the City 3-A title. Eagle Rock lost in the quarterfinals to Garfield.

Epps, a 5-10 senior center, perhaps was the area’s most dominant player, earning co-MVP honors of the Northern League with Franklin’s Granger.

Abich, a 5-7 senior point guard for Eagle Rock, made the Times team for the second straight year. A four-year varsity starter, she averaged 18.5 points, helping to ease the double-teaming that Epps saw most of the season.

“Millie was probably the best outside shooter I saw all year,” said Coach Ivan Simon, brother of Marshall’s Jerry Simon. “She was our outside threat while Tina was our inside threat.”

The Marshall girls also had a superb season, advancing to the City 3-A semifinals. They were led by Kondo, a 5-3 senior point guard, and Lucero, a 5-8 junior center. Kondo averaged 15 points and 8 rebounds while Lucero averaged 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Kondo, who made the Times All-Glendale-area team last season, was described by Coach Beth Jacobs Ercek as the “most intelligent player I’ve coached.”

Antanaitis, a 5-9 senior forward, sparked Hoover to the playoffs, averaging 18 points. Another member of last season’s All-Glendale-area team, she also grabbed eight rebounds a game.

“I think she had the best outside shot in the area,” Hoover Coach Bob Henry said of his All-Pacific League performer.

Granger, from Franklin, is the fifth girl to repeat on the Times All-Glendale-area team from last season. A 5-3 senior point guard, Granger holds nearly all Franklin career scoring records. She averaged 18.8 points this season, including a career-high 33 against Eagle Rock.

Banales, a 5-11 senior center, directed Flintridge Sacred Heart into the playoff semifinals, averaging 13.1 points and 11.6 rebounds.

Erickson, a senior, was the unquestioned leader of Crescenta Valley. The 5-5 guard averaged 17 points, 4 assists and 6 rebounds for her 10-12 team.

“She knew that, being a senior, she had to lead the pace,” Coach Bill Richards said.

Young-Sailors, a 5-6 senior, led Flintridge Prep to its first league title and playoff appearance. Young-Sailors, the Prep League MVP, averaged 9 points and 5 assists for her 15-4 team.

Osugi, from Holy Family, was named the Horizon League’s MVP after averaging 16.8 points. The 5-5 senior guard collected 7 rebounds and 4 steals a game. BOYS ALL-STAR PREP TEAM

NAME, SCHOOL YEAR HT. AVG. WALT BAKLY, La Canada Senior 6-5 24.0 BRYAN DUFFY, St. Francis Junior 6-6 15.6 GEOFF FOOTE, Glendale Senior 6-5 13.3 GREG FORREST, St. Francis Junior 6-0 16.0 LUIS GONZALES, Marshall Senior 5-6 11.0 DAVID LOPEZ, Marshall Senior 5-3 9.0 HARVEY MASON, Crescenta Valley Senior 6-3 28.6 MARK POTTER, Crescenta Valley Senior 6-3 15.3 GREG SANFORD, Eagle Rock Senior 6-3 17.3 JERRY SIMON, Marshall Senior 6-5 34.7

GIRLS ALL-STAR PREP TEAM

NAME, SCHOOL YEAR HT. AVG. MILLIE ALBICH, Eagle Rock Senior 5-7 18.5 SILVIA ANTANAITIS, Hoover Senior 5-9 18.0 SARAH BANALES, Flintridge Sacred Heart Senior 5-11 13.1 TINA EPPS, Eagle Rock Senior 5-10 21.0 LISA ERICKSON, Crescenta Valley Senior 5-5 17.0 BETTINA GRANGER, Franklin Senior 5-3 18.8 KIMI KONDO, Marshall Senior 5-3 15.0 DOLLIE LUCERO, Marshall Junior 5-8 16.0 LEIANI OSUGI, Holy Family Senior 5-5 16.8 JILL YOUNG-SAILORS, Flintridge Prep. Senior 5-6 9.0