Now Her Boys’ Team Is a Big Deal

Time can fly and stand still at Oakwood High School in North Hollywood, where Roz Goldenberg has seen things change and, unfortunately, stay the same in her four years as boys’ basketball coach.

Two players who were seventh graders in her basketball class, a year before she took over, are now seniors and starting guards. She has become much more calm with each season, although she says, “I’m still tough on the kids and demand a lot.”

Most notably, she has the Gorillas in the Southern Section playoffs as the favorite to win the Small Schools division. Last season they lost to eventual champion Whitney of Cerritos by one point in overtime in the semifinals.

How far hasn’t she come as the only woman to coach boys’ high school basketball in California? The actions of others have answered that.

“The only time it’s still a big deal is when I’m introduced to the officials before the game and they laugh,” Goldenberg said. “That has happened a few times this year.”

But this is a team of big deals.

Oakwood, No. 1 in the Small Schools since the start of the season, is the top-seeded team in the division at 20-2, heading into Friday night’s first-round game against North County Christian of Atascadero (12-5).

Moreover, it has Mitchell Butler, a big-time player in what is perceived as small-time competition, a 6-foot 5-inch junior starting forward and sometime guard who is well known to most college recruiters. He was the division player of the year last season and followed that up this season by averaging 31 points and 16 rebounds while being triple-teamed in most games.

So when you ask Goldenberg, who played at Cal State Northridge from 1975-79, the key to her acceptance as a coach, officials aside, she points right to the Gorillas’ top player.

“Having Mitchell has helped me get respect,” she said.

“I’ve been so lucky to have him in the program. He’s perfect. So modest, so sincere, such a team player. And so talented. . . . He creates shots with his athletic ability when he has to, and then he makes them.”

Four of the top seven players returned from last year’s team, which was 19-6. Guard Eric Leddel, a four-year starter averaging seven assists a game, and David Fond, a center averaging 10 points a game, lead the team along with Butler.

The Mustangs of Muir High School in Pasadena last week forfeited all 14 wins of their basketball season when an unnamed player was declared ineligible for being in his fifth year of high school. These are the same Mustangs, you may recall, who were forced to give up all their wins going into the last week of the football season because of a clerical error.

Both teams had to give up Pacific League titles. Both teams found out days before the Southern Section playoff pairings were to be announced. After rebounding from a 2-6 start to win 12 of the last 15, the basketball team suddenly became 0-23, and Glendale suddenly became the league champion by beating cross-town rival Hoover.

Prep Notes

Beverly Hills won the Ocean League and has a 22-3 record despite having no player taller than 6 feet 2 inches. The Normans open the Southern Section 4-A playoffs Friday at home against Ventura (20-5) in a matchup of 20-game winners. . . . Ron Jansen, a 6-2 senior forward for Pius X of Downey, hit 36 of 50 (72%) three-point shots during Camino Real League play. The Warriors (9-13) play at second-seeded Millikan of Long Beach (20-4) in a first-round 5-A game Thursday. . . . Burroughs of Ridgecrest, which plays host to West Torrance (17-7) in a 3-A game Friday, is 60-1 at home in the last 9 years. The Burros of Burroughs are 14-6 this season and won the Golden League title.

Don’t be so sure that the City 4-A will be a Crenshaw cakewalk. Anyone who saw Westchester stay with the Cougars in the Central League finale last Thursday knows better. Crenshaw swept the Comets during league play, but the scores were 88-83 and 99-96.

Santa Fe, which meets Antelope Valley (10-11) in a 3-A game Friday, is making its first playoff appearance in 19 years after winning its first league title in 21 seasons. The Chiefs are 17-6.

Steve Keith, who developed Glendale into one of the top programs in the Southern Section before moving to Irvine this season, did another great coaching job to get the Vaqueros into the playoffs for the first time in the 14-year school history. Irvine (12-13) plays host to Charter Oak of Covina (16-7) in a 4-A wild-card game today. The winner gets Glendale.

Going into the final week of the regular season, Rolling Hills’ starting guards, junior Mark Tesar and sophomore Steve Clover, had more three-point baskets than two-pointers. Forty-seven of Tesar’s 91 field goals and 39 of Clover’s 75 were from three-point range.

When the Titans beat West Torrance, 80-76, in a Feb. 3 showdown for the Bay League lead, the team combined to hit 13 of 23 three-point attempts. Rolling Hills, the surprise champion of the Bay, is 18-6 and the fourth-seeded team in 3-A going into Friday’s game at home against the winner of the Wednesday wild-card game between Montclair (11-12) and La Serna of Whittier (14-9).

St. Bonaventure of Ventura won the first league title in any sport in the 22-year history of the school and meets the winner of the Chadwick-Brethren wild-card game as the top-seeded team in the 1-A. Andy Wagoner hit two free throws with one second in the 41-39 win over Santa Ynez Feb. 5.

More on the playoffs: Tom Roanhaus, who coached St. Anthony of Long Beach, the third-seeded team in the 5-A, to a 21-4 record and the Camino Real League title, has been suspended by the school for the playoffs and next season for inviting elementary school coaches to bring their teams to games. The sanction, a violation of California Interscholastic Federation rule 5.10 against “undue influence,” came “at the recommendation of the Southern Section,” St. Anthony administrators said in a prepared statement last week.