AROUND THE LEAGUES : Playoffs Leave Contreras Feeling Like an Outsider

Forced to watch the playoffs from the bleachers, Westlake High Coach George Contreras objects to the selection of Glendale High as the at-large team in the Southern Section’s Coastal Conference playoffs. Westlake, like Glendale, is 5-5 and the fourth-place team in its league.

Westlake and Glendale did not play each other this season, nor did they face a common opponent. So how did Glendale get the berth? The list of determining criteria is long, but Glendale’s strong finish in the Pacific League--wins over Hoover and Crescenta Valley--apparently gave it the edge. Westlake lost its last two games to playoff teams Channel Islands and Newbury Park.

“I’m sure they have a good team,” Contreras said of Glendale. “But when you look at the criteria, I thought we were ahead.” Eight teams Westlake played were ranked in the top 10 by the Southern Section on game night. Westlake scored fewer than 12 points only once and was not shut out. Glendale was shut out twice and did not score a touchdown in four of its games.

Add playoff blues: Chatsworth Coach Myron Gibford is angry because Birmingham received a wild-card berth to the playoffs instead of his team, even though Chatsworth defeated the Braves, 21-20, in Sunset League play. The reason for the decision? Birmingham has a record of 6-3, and Chatsworth is 5-4. “In principle, I think it stinks,” said Gibford, who feels no better when he looks at Birmingham’s nonleague schedule. The Braves were 3-1 against three 2-A teams and a 3-A team. Chatsworth was 2-2 in nonleague play, but its losses were to 4-A playoff teams Granada Hills and Cleveland. Said Gibford: “I think the method of determining who goes to the playoffs is wrong, and I think they’ll change it.”

More funk: Cleveland is in the City Section 4-A playoffs but Coach Steve Landress is as disappointed as coaches whose teams were left out. Video equipment worth $6,100 was stolen from the football office, three offensive starters are academically ineligible for the playoffs and Cleveland must visit Carson, the City’s No. 2-ranked team. “It’s been a down week,” Landress said. Mike Aranzullo, the Cavaliers’ leading receiver, is ineligible along with quarterback Mario Hull and Randy West, who started at tight end and linebacker. . . . Kennedy, which plays Dorsey, has lost two starters to grades: guard/linebacker Eric Miles and offensive tackle Albert Richardson. . . . Moorpark Coach Bob Noel said none of his players set school records this year. But he did. “Our season set a personal record for me,” he said. “I’ve never been involved with a team that didn’t win a game. I’ve been doing this since 1948. And I’m not going to do it again.”

Two, two, two points, not one: Canyon attempted two-point conversions after each touchdown last week against Palmdale because kicker Tom Gahry broke his left knee against Antelope Valley. The Cowboys made three of six conversions, giving them the same number of points they would have had with six successful kicks. Although Juan Soria, a junior kicker who was recruited last week off the soccer team, is eligible this week, Canyon will continue to go for two.

“We have different things we can do from our PAT formation,” Coach Harry Welch. “Chad Zeigler can go one-on-one, we have a flood pass and I can always go back to my infamous option.” Welch referred to the option call on the failed conversion attempt two weeks ago in Canyon’s 21-20 loss to Antelope Valley.

Injury report: Crespi defensive lineman Quinn Fauria is expected to play against Edison after missing the second half of the season with a broken hand and sprained ankle. . . . Bell-Jeff quarterback Keith FitzGerald, who fractured his index finger on his throwing hand last week, will probably start in this week’s first-round playoff game against Woodbridge at Irvine High.

Basketball: Chatsworth High’s Kendell McDaniels signed a letter of intent last week with St. Mary’s College in Moraga, Calif. “I signed early because I wanted to get all of that stuff out of the way,” he said. “I think it will be an advantage.” McDaniels, a 6-5 senior, transferred to Chatsworth from Kennedy after the first week of classes because his mother moved. McDaniels could have remained at Kennedy, but said he did not have transportation to the school. . . . Alemany basketball Coach Melissa Melton announced Tuesday that Jennifer Kroll, a 5-10 forward, has signed a letter of intent with Northwestern University. . . . Demetrius Jones, a 6-6 transfer from Chicago, will miss six to eight weeks, Calabasas coach Bill Bellatty said. Jones tore ligaments in both knees last Thursday during practice.

Department of Corrections--It was reported Saturday that University’s Pac 8 championship was the first football title in school history, dating back 64 years. University, however, won consecutive Western League titles in 1958 and ‘59, according to Jerry Haile, who played on both teams.