Orange County Prep Review : Georgeson Survives Rough 3 Weeks, Ready to Lead Marina

Until Friday night, Marina High School center Mark Georgeson was probably glad there are only 28 days in February. The sooner this miserable month ends, the better.

Georgeson, a 6-foot 10-inch senior, came down with bronchitis three weeks ago and coughed his way through the Vikings’ Feb. 4 game against Ocean View.

An X-ray then revealed that Georgeson had pneumonia in his left lung, so he was forced to sit out Marina’s final three regular-season games.

The Vikings held on to win two of their last three games and the Sunset League title, and they were seeded third in the Southern Section 5-A playoffs. But there was Georgeson last weekend, faced with the prospect of having to watch helplessly as Marina entered the tournament without its top scorer and second-leading rebounder.

Georgeson is not one to give in to adversity. He played this season and last season knowing that his father, Dick, is suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a progressive weakening of the muscles due to nerve degeneration that is commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

A little pneumonia, Georgeson figured, was nothing compared to deadly ALS.

So, Georgeson played Friday night, despite feeling some lingering effects of his illness, and responded with what Marina Coach Steve Popovich called one of his best games of the season.

Georgeson scored 19 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to lead the Vikings to a 62-57 victory over Loyola in the first round.

He began to tire late in the game and was starting to cough, but Georgeson said Saturday that he was feeling better and should be closer to 100% for Marina’s quarterfinal game against Lakewood Friday night.

As always, Dick Georgeson was in the bleachers Friday night, cheering his son on and providing him with inspiration.

Mark found out 2 1/2 years ago that his father had Lou Gehrig’s disease and, with time, has learned to accept that Dick is dying.

“It has made me mature,” said Georgeson, who is headed for the University of Arizona next fall. “I’m able to accept things that happen off the court and put everything in perspective. It made me realize that basketball is not my whole world.”

Georgeson has also come to grips with the fact that there is no cure for ALS. Doctors aren’t even sure what causes it.

“There’s not much I can say,” Georgeson said. “It has happened, and there’s nothing I can do about it. It’s in the hands of other people, so I just have to wait.”

More Marina sick bay: Georgeson wasn’t the only Marina player to come back from an illness and help the Vikings to Friday night’s victory.

Forward Steve Guild, who averages 16 points and 10 rebounds a game, missed the final two regular-season games and a week of school with the flu. He returned to score 16 points and pull down 10 rebounds against Loyola.

But this wasn’t an average performance for Guild.

He began practicing with the team only Wednesday but had to sit out Thursday’s practice because he was so sore from Wednesday’s workout. He had a good game Friday, but his eyes were still slightly swollen and his shins extremely sore Saturday.

Georgeson and Popovich feel that the absence of Marina’s two best players for a week will help the team in the long run. Players such as Dan Floyd, normally a reserve center, and Todd Sanders, a reserve forward, were able to emerge as starters for the Vikings and contribute to victories over Westminster and Huntington Beach.

Starters Matt Hattabaugh, David Yamate and Mike Meyers had to increase their offensive output to make up for the loss of Georgeson and Guild. Floyd returned to his backup role Friday night but still had nine points and nine rebounds against Loyola.

All in the family: Janu Juarez, Estancia boys’ soccer coach, has had to dismiss 10 players, including six starters, from the team for disciplinary problems in the past two weeks, but the Eagles, thanks to some strong blood lines, have kept their team--and their season--intact.

Bolstered by four sets of brothers, Estancia (15-8-1) won a wild-card game in the Southern Section 2-A playoffs last Tuesday and a first-round game Friday to advance to Tuesday’s second round against La Salle.

“After I booted those players, no one expected us to qualify for the playoffs, let alone win a wild-card and first-round game,” Juarez said. “But blood is thicker than mud. We had a few disciplinary problems, but the brothers are coming through.”

Those brothers are Erik and Mark Kirsch, Fernando and Miguel Millan, Mark and David Tyssee, and Marco and Alex Vasquez. Six are starters. Mark Tyssee is the team’s captain, and Erik Kirsch is its best defensive player.

Cross-country update: About 60 cross-country coaches from throughout Southern California attended a Southern Section Coaches Assn. meeting at Buena Park High Wednesday night to drum up support for a CIF State meet next fall.

The state meet is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 28 at Fresno’s Woodward Park and is awaiting approval by the CIF State Executive Council, which meets in late March.

A proposal for the state meet was submitted to the CIF by the Golden League in March, 1986. In an informal September, 1986, vote of the 10 section commissioners, eight voted in favor of a state meet, with the Southern Section and Los Angeles City Section dissenting.

Even if the state meet is passed by the State CIF Executive Council, the Southern Section still must approve the meet for its schools to participate. It was supposed to vote on the matter at last month’s Executive Council meeting, but the item was tabled until the next meeting, on March 19.

Prep Notes

The ninth annual Orange County Football Coaches’ Clinic, featuring University of Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne, will be held Saturday at Anaheim’s Rams Park beginning at 8 a.m. Other speakers in the one-day program will be Ray Pelfrey, former National Football League punter who is president of Professional Kicking Services Inc.; Sam Gruneisen, San Jose State defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach, and Dick Haines, San Diego Vista High coach. Registration begins at 8 a.m. and will be followed by an update on rule changes by Darol Roundy, Orange County Coordinator of Officials, at 8:30.