STATWATCH : White Dethroned as Rushing King

Crespi junior tailback Russell White, the leading rusher in the state and the California player of the year in 1986, fell 448 yards shy of leading the state again this season, and several other Valley-area players finished among CIF leaders in a variety of offensive categories, according to statistics compiled by Cal-Hi Sports of Sacramento.

White, who had 2,339 rushing yards as a sophomore, was second this year with 2,270 yards in 12 games. Santa Monica’s Glyn Milburn was first with 2,718 yards in 11 games. White, a junior, was also a close second to Milburn in scoring (234 points to 228) and total touchdowns (39 to 38).

White, Milburn and Hart tackle Brian Jacobs were named Monday to the All-Southern Section team, which comprises players from nine conferences.

Running back Chip Grant of North Hollywood was fourth in touchdowns with 28 in nine games.

Among quarterbacks, Darren Renfro of Hart finished third in passing with 2,807 yards in 13 games. Jeremy Leach of Granada Hills was fifth (2,674 yards in 12 games). Leach, a senior who was named the City Section 4-A Division player of the year Monday, was also third in touchdown passes with 35.

Leach’s primary target, senior receiver Kyle Jan, finished second with 15 touchdown catches in 12 games. Desmond Clayton of Sacramento Grant had 17 in 12 games.

In Cal-Hi’s final state 4-A rankings, Crespi (10-2-1) finished fourth and Thousand Oaks (12-1-1) was seventh. In the 3-A Division, Hart (11-2) was ranked No. 8. Chaminade (11-3) finished No. 8 in the 2-A Division. Crespi and Thousand Oaks finished Nos. 3 and 4, respectively, in Cal-Hi’s final Southern California rankings.

Cal-Hi’s all-state football team will be announced Jan. 4.

Basketball: Oakwood’s Mitch Butler is averaging 36 points and 16.8 rebounds a game and his 324 points account for 54.5% of his team’s total offensive output. Oakwood (8-1) has outscored opponents, 594-412, an average margin of 20.2 points.

St. Genevieve (2-3) easily could have a 4-1 record if not for its weak free-throw shooting percentage in its first five games. St. Genevieve, which is shooting 49.7% from the line, lost two close games because of poor foul shooting. In a 71-67 loss to Marshall Fundamental, St. Genevieve made only 5 of 20 attempts and in last week’s 54-53 loss to Palmdale, the Valiants made only 11 of 20.

With Danny Klein’s assistance, North Hollywood routed Paraclete, 110-36. Klein had 14 assists and is averaging eight a game.

Saugus’ Rick Bilek leads the Centurions in both scoring and assists. Bilek a senior guard is averaging 12 points and 5.3 assists a game. Teammate Vladimir Bilik (no relation) leads Saugus with 6.5 rebounds a game.