AROUND THE LEAGUES : Short Team Meeting Goes a Long Way for El Camino Real in Upset

A long court and a short meeting helped El Camino Real pull the City Section upset of the season over San Pedro, 79-78, last Friday. The game was played on a NCAA-regulation court at Harbor College--which reduced the effectiveness of San Pedro’s press--and followed a players-only meeting.

“I couldn’t believe San Pedro chose to play at Harbor,” ECR Coach Mike McNulty said. “They live and die by the press. We just had more room to maneuver the ball up court.”

The victory came on the heels of losses to Cleveland and Taft in which ECR, the Valley League’s fifth-place team, was outscored by 87 points. McNulty called off practice Thursday and allowed the players to meet in private. That’s when Sean Davis, senior forward and captain, took over.

“I wrote down what everybody had to do to win,” Davis said. “I told the fellows that the last two games were terrible and that we had to define everyone’s role.” Davis’ role was production. He had 30 points and 18 rebounds against the Marine League champions. . . . Cleveland Coach Bob Braswell was nearly as happy as McNulty with ECR’s win. The Cavaliers play host to ECR (8-13) tonight rather than travel to San Pedro. “I’m happy we don’t have to take that long bus ride,” said Braswell, whose team beat ECR, 89-42, last Wednesday. “We won’t look past El Camino because the first time we met, they led going into the fourth quarter.” Cleveland (18-3), the Valley League’s second-place team, won the first meeting, 72-58. . . . Junior guard Michael Gray continued his scoring tear with 22 points in Cleveland’s 78-66 first-round win over Carson. He is averaging 19 points over the past nine games. “He’s the best pure shooter we’ve had at Cleveland in seven or eight years,” Braswell said.

R and R week: Following the Southern Section-mandated “R and R week,” which calls for a one-week period between sports seasons when all practice must cease, schools began baseball practice Monday. Several coaches are displeased with the late start for two reasons: There is less time to evaluate players before cuts have to be made, and good weather has been wasted. As Crespi Athletic Director Paul Muff said, “Watch, it’ll rain as soon as we’re allowed to practice.” Southern Section Commissioner Stan Thomas, however, stands by the rule, which was implemented last fall. “People are generally pleased with it,” Thomas said. “Kids and coaches need a break between sports and this provides it.”

Gray matter: When North Hollywood faces Granada Hills tonight, Coach Steve Miller’s team will try to find a way to stop Gary Gray. But just how North Hollywood will handle the 6-9 senior center remains a gray area. Said Miller: “I’ve got a couple of ideas, but I’m not going to say exactly what. When I was coaching at Santa Monica College, we had to play against Mark Eaton when he was at Cypress College, and we did some interesting things to to try to stop him.” . . . Grant’s 40-37 win over Lincoln in the 3-A playoffs Friday ranks as one of the City Section’s bigger upsets, but the halftime score was as upsetting to Lincoln as the final score. The scoreboard indicated a 22-22 tie at intermission, but the Lincoln scorekeeper had totaled just 20 points for the team in the score book. Officials at the game subtracted a basket from the Lincoln total, prompting the school to protest the game. However, because the protest was not filed until after the game, the victory will stand. “The protest needed to be made before the second live ball after the discrepancy,” City Commissioner Hal Harkness said.

Deja vu time?: Earlier in the season, Birmingham played Venice and University back to back and defeated each team by identical scores of 77-56. After beating Venice on Friday, Birmingham’s opponent in tonight’s quarterfinals is University. Does Birmingham Coach Jeff Halpern, who admits he’s superstitious, view it as an omen? “It’s nothing bad,” he said, “but the only good omen is that we’re still playing. Not too many teams can say that.” . . . Provided they win their respective quarterfinal games tonight, San Fernando and Granada Hills are on a collision course to meet Friday in a 3-A semifinal. The Northwest Valley League rivals split their two games earlier and San Fernando Coach Dick Crowell believes Friday’s game will determine the eventual City champion. But what about Birmingham, which is 20-2, won the league and is seeded first? Said Crowell: “I’ve always felt Granada Hills is better than Birmingham and I’ve always felt we’re better than Birmingham.” Birmingham split league games with Granada Hills and swept San Fernando.

New coach: After five unsuccessful tries to land a head coaching position, Canyon assistant Coach Dick Flaherty was named head football coach at Saugus on Monday. He took the good news in stride. “When you’re 0 for 5, you don’t really expect it. But I wasn’t really super ecstatic or jumping up and down.” Flaherty inherits a Saugus team that was 0-10 last season.

Track and field: Agoura’s Bryan Dameworth set a national freshman indoor record Sunday in the two-mile run at the Michelob Invitational at the San Diego Sports Arena. Dameworth, who finished third at the 1986 Southern Section 2-A cross-country championships, placed fifth with a 9:22.0 effort. Alan Scharsu of Fitch High in Austintown, Ohio, set the previous best of 9:31.2 in 1975. Marc Davis of San Diego High, the Kinney national cross-country champion, won the race in 9:01.0. . . . Notre Dame juniors Tommy Parker and Mike Glaze also made good showings. Parker finished second in the pole vault, increased his personal best to 15-6 and Glaze won the rated mile in 4:29.9.