SportsScope : Top Prep Cagers Will Hit Tournament Trail

Many of the top boys basketball teams in the San Gabriel Valley will play in Christmas tournaments that start Friday.

The best may be the Covina tournament with Muir, defending CIF 4-A Division champion; Diamond Bar, one of the 4-A favorites; Morningside, a contender for the 3-A title, and Blair, a 2-A title contender.

Muir and Diamond Bar have tall front lines. Muir is led by 6-7 forwards Kirk Wagner and Wayne Womack and Diamond Bar by 6-9 center Pat McMann and forwards Brian Hendrick (6-7) and Bill Miller (6-5). Morningside’s top player is 6-4 guard Tarron Wiley, and Blair is headed by center Dion Smith (6-6) and guard Darren Gipson (6-0).

Other valley teams in the tournament are Arcadia, Bishop Amat, Duarte, Northview, South Hills, West Covina, Workman and Covina.

The Nogales and Chino tournaments also start Friday.

One of the favorites at Nogales is the host. Nogales features the outside shooting of 5-11 senior guard Faris Manning. Other top teams are Bosco Tech, San Gabriel, Walnut and Edgewood. The other teams are Arroyo, El Monte, Bassett, Azusa, Monrovia and La Puente.

The Chino tournament is headed by Baseline League powers Damien and Don Lugo and Hacienda League title contenders Ganesha and Bonita. Other entrants are Claremont, Los Altos, Garey, Montclair, Temple City and La Canada.

Cal Poly Pomona, which finished fifth in men’s soccer in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn., has three players on the conference all-star team.

The Broncos, 2-7-1 in the CCAA and 6-12-3 overall, placed goaltender Tony Rieger and forwards Johnny Lima and Ken Coffey on the first team. All are sophomores.

Lima, a former La Salle High standout who tied with Joey Kirk of Cal State Northridge for the conference scoring championship, had 16 goals and six assists. Rieger, an All-CIF performer at Claremont High, broke the Cal Poly record for saves in a season with 125.

Two players from the University of La Verne women’s volleyball team have been named to the Russell Athletic Division III All-American team.

Michele Galager, a 5-4 senior setter, was selected to the first team and Julie Jeffers, a 5-10 junior middle hitter, made the second team. The pair led the Leopards to a 20-15 record and a berth in the Division III playoffs.

Baseball School--The seventh annual John Scolinos Christmas Session Baseball School for boys and girls ages 7 to 17 will be conducted from 9 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Monday through Wednesday at Cal Poly Pomona. The school is directed by Scolinos, Pomona coach, and Dennis Rogers, a minor league manager for the Pittsburgh Pirates. The fee is $55. Registration forms are with Scolinos at (714) 869-2774.