Many of Last Year’s Seniors Are Still Hitting the Hoop in College

Many of the players from the 1986 Times All-Westside boys and girls high school basketball teams are still playing, some at NCAA Division I colleges.

Kathleen and Marianne Dixon, the twins from Santa Monica High School who shared honors as Westside player of the year last year, were both on the Cal State Northridge varsity this year.

The Lady Matadors finished second to national Division II power Cal Poly Pomona in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn., and Kathleen received honorable mention for the all-conference team. Kathleen started 20 games and averaged 12.1 points and 6.7 rebounds, while Marianne started 17 games and averaged 8.5 points and 6.3 rebounds.

Sean Higgins of Fairfax, the boys Westside player of the year last season, was still at Fairfax this season, along with teammate Chris Mills. They were both repeaters on this year’s all-star team. Jason Matthews of St. Monica also was a repeater.

Keith Harris of Santa Monica High played in 33 games for Kansas, which finished 25-11 overall and advanced to the final 16 teams in the NCAA Tournament before being eliminated by Georgetown.

As a part-time player, Harris averaged 4.9 points and 3.4 rebounds and helped win at least a couple of games for the Jayhawks. His free throws at the end of the game gave his team a victory over St. John’s, and he was the team’s leading scorer with 15 points against Louisville.

A Kansas team spokesman said that Harris, a 6-5 small forward, should play an important role for Coach Larry Brown next year. According to the the spokesman, Brown has indicated that Harris “can be one of the best players he has had here. He thinks he was the best defender this year at times, and it is just a matter of his being more consistent.”

Carrick DeHart, also from Santa Monica High, was a starter for 27 of 29 games at UC Santa Barbara and was named the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. freshman of the year.

DeHart was the second-best three-point shooter for the Gauchos, hitting 35 of 93 shot attempts from long range (37%). He averaged 11.5 points in a balanced attack and also 3.5 rebounds and 2 assists a game.

Marc Rudolph from Crossroads was playing with the junior varsity at Brown but was brought up to the varsity after three games. He didn’t see much varsity action, averaging just 1.7 points a game, but is expected to have a good chance of starting at point guard for the varsity next year.

Cathy McNamee from Marymount High played Division I basketball for Loyola Marymount. As a part-time player, she averaged 5 points and 1.3 rebounds, but she hit 78.7% of her foul shots and connected on the only three-point shot she attempted.

Jennifer Blinderman from Crossroads played for the junior varsity at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Ore. She missed part of the season with a sprained ankle but still averaged 7 points and 5 rebounds a game. In a telephone interview, Blinderman said she thinks she has a good chance of starting for the varsity next season.

Marvin Nelson from Culver City was the second-string point guard for Southwest Oregon Junior College in Coos Bay. The starter ahead of him was Jerome Jenkins, a former All-Westside player from Fairfax High, and another starter was Tony Thomas from Fairfax, the 1985 Westside player of the year, who led the conference in scoring with a 23-point average.

Nelson said that he averaged about 9 points and 5 assists a game. He added that another former Fairfax player, Eric Epps, also was on the team.

Stacie Washington, who was twice named to All-Westside teams, including last year, was the first player off the bench for Central Arizona Junior College in Coolidge. She averaged 7 points and 5 rebounds for a team that finished 33-3 overall and took fifth place in the national junior college tournament.

Nina Revoyr from Culver City was a repeater on this year’s team.

Missy Kurt, an All-CIF Southern Section volleyball player and a top junior player in that sport, was a senior at Notre Dame Academy, where she again starred in basketball this year. Twice named to All-Westside basketball teams, Kurt has signed a letter of intent to play volleyball for USC next year.

Andre Gougis from Daniel Murphy High was a freshman at the University of Rochester, where he was in the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps. and did not play college basketball.

Derek Drain from University High was a star center at San Diego City College.

Earl Duncan was a freshman at Syracuse University but did not play basketball there because he failed to meet minimum standards in college entrance examinations.

Krystall Cade from Hamilton High was a redshirt at Cal State Los Angeles. Demetrice (Dee Dee) Davis from Fairfax redshirted at San Diego State.

Emilza Tielemans from Hollywood High was a senior at that school this year but did not play basketball because she had turned 19 and was, therefore, ineligible. Tielemans, an immigrant from Guatemala, got a late start in an American high school.