Sports Shorts : 49ERS’ SEARCH

Coach Candidates--The scramble is on to determine who will be the next basketball coach at Cal State Long Beach. Some of the names that have been published include Bill Mulligan of UC Irvine, Paul Landreaux of El Camino College and 49er assistant Ed Ratleff. Mulligan, a former coach at Poly High School, is said to be frustrated with Irvine’s stiff academic entry requirements, which have crimped his ability to recruit some top athletes. Mulligan’s name has cropped up for every 49er coaching vacancy since Dwight Jones resigned in 1978. Last week it was announced that 49er officials would talk with Mulligan, but that may not come to pass now that John Kasser has resigned as athletic director. Landreaux was a finalist four years ago for the 49er job, but lost out to Dave Buss, who lasted a season. Landreaux, who reportedly turned down several job offers last year, may be content where he is, although most basketball experts believe he would have instant success at Long Beach because of his history of recruiting talented players. Several Long Beach-area coaches indicated that Ratleff is the local choice.

Ron Palmer--Now that Palmer has resigned as men’s basketball coach at Cal State Long Beach, there is speculation that he will return to coach at Poly High School. But principal Wayne Piercy said, “I haven’t talked to Ron or anyone about that. We’re planning on Coach (Chris) Kinder returning here next year.” Piercy said that presently there are no coaching vacancies in the city because the Long Beach Unified School District has an excess of physical education teachers, and that makes it difficult to hire a coach who is not credentialed in academic fields. CAMPUS SHOOTING

Valley Christian High School--Two Crusader football players were wounded by gunfire March 2 while working out in the campus weight room. Neither fullback Russ Poelstra nor reserve linebacker Randy Talsma was seriously injured, although a bullet remains in Poelstra’s right calf, according to Coach Mike Wunderley. Two juveniles, who school officials say are students at Whitney High School in Cerritos, were arrested in La Palma that evening after sheriff’s deputies shot at a getaway vehicle that attempted to rundown the officers. The juveniles were charged with two counts of attempted murder, said a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The suspects entered the Valley Christian campus about noon and argued with the two athletes, according to police, then returned about 4 p.m. and fired three shots into the weight room, hitting Poelstra and Talsma in the legs. PREP RE-LEAGUING CRITICIZED

Dave Newell, Bell Gardens High School--The veteran football coach has charged that a new re-leaguing proposal removing Bell Gardens from the Whitmont League has “racial overtones.” The proposal, adopted by an 11-10 vote of principals from the Suburban, Whitmont and San Gabriel Valley leagues, would create a fourth league from the 21 schools involved. Dominguez, Bell Gardens, Paramount, Lynwood and El Rancho high schools would form a new league. The eight-team Whitmont League would be cut to six teams. The Suburban League would be reduced to five teams with Artesia leaving to join Warren, Downey, Cerritos and Gahr in a new alignment. Newell said the proposal, which must receive approval from the CIF Southern Section, uses ethnic boundaries rather than comparable competitiveness to draw up the new leagues. “We’re reverting to the 1960s,” Newell said. Bell Gardens, El Rancho and Paramount have predominantly Latino enrollments, while Lynwood and Dominguez are predominantly black. Newell said that scheduling non-conference games in a five-team league would be difficult, particularly in football. TV FAUX PAS

KABC-TV (Channel 7)--The station misnamed one of the participants in the CIF Southern Section boys basketball 5-A Division semifinals on its sportscast at 11 p.m. March 4. After Ted Dawson showed tape of Santa Ana Mater Dei’s 48-47 win over St. Monica of Santa Monica, he reported correctly that Millikan had defeated Lakewood, 67-57. But the scoreboard graphic that appeared on the screen said that Millikan had defeated Long Beach, 67-57.

KCBS-TV (Channel 2)--While showing highlights of Nevada Las Vegas’ 99-65 win Friday over Cal State Fullerton, sports anchor Jim Hill reported on his 11 p.m. show that UNLV had defeated “the 49ers of Long Beach State.” UNLV beat Cal State Long Beach the day before, 105-70. JOB OFFER REFUSED

Larry Anderson, Lynwood High School--The Knight football coach was offered the coaching job at Anaheim High School but refused it, then withdrew his name from consideration for the vacant position at San Clemente High. Anderson, a resident of Placentia, said he is seeking a position closer to his home. SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT

Downey High School--The first Downey Classic Prep Softball Tournament gets under way Friday. Fourteen of the 24 teams involved in the event are from the Southeast / Long Beach area. Four parks will be utilized over a two-week period for the tournament. According to tournament consultant Al Valdes, organizers hope to expand the field to 32 teams next season, which would make it one of the largest in the Southern Section. BENEFIT FOR 49ERS FOOTBALL

Buddy Ebsen--The entertainer has agreed to perform in a song-and-dance show as part of a fund-raiser for the Cal State Long Beach football program. Ebsen, a resident of Long Beach, will perform with the Chicago Six on May 9 at the Elks Lodge. The event has been arranged by alumni association President Gary Ellis. PERFECT RECORD

Dave Demarest, La Quinta High School--The head baseball coach at the Westminster school set a college record during his playing days at Cal State Long Beach. It is a mark that cannot be broken. In three seasons as a starting center fielder (1970-72), he never committed an error. In fact, Demarest, who attended Palos Verdes High School, never made an error after he let a ball go through his legs on his first try in his junior year in high school. “I had something like 500 tries in college,” he said.

The perfect fielding record almost never made it into the books. On the final road trip of his college career, Demarest was forced to play third base after the entire 49er infield was suspended for curfew violations prior to a game with San Jose State. In the first inning of the game, Demarest booted a ground ball in the hole, then threw it in the dirt to first base, but the first baseman made the play. “From that moment on I played the line and never got close to another ball,” Demarest said. CENTURY CLUB

Julie Curtis, Whittier College--In 100 college basketball games, the senior forward scored 2,433 points and grabbed 1,040 rebounds. She is the first woman in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference to score more than 2,000 points. ALL-LEAGUE BASKETBALL

Don Brotz, Wilson High School--The senior forward was voted the Most Valuable Player of the Moore League for the second consecutive year. He was The Times’ All-South Coast Player of the Year last season.

Rachel Daugherty, Whittier High School--She was named the Most Valuable Player of the Whitmont League. QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Bill Fraser, Long Beach City College--The dean of Long Beach basketball coaches had this to say about the vacant coaching job at Cal State Long Beach: “I’d like to see Ed (Ratleff) get it. He’s paid his dues under several coaches. I think most of the high school coaches in the city would support him. The time is right for Ed to get the chance.”