Boys and Girls Are Getting Ready for Basketball Playoffs : Westchester Best Hope of South Bay

Only one South Bay boys high school basketball team is ranked in The Times L. A. City Section poll, so it’s hardly a surprise that no area team opens with an easy match-up when the City playoffs begin tonight at 7:30.

Sixth-ranked Westchester, the Central League’s No. 2 seed, is the South Bay’s best bet to win the City crown at the Sports Arena. The Comets (18-5 overall, 6-4 in the Central League) play host to unranked Locke (9-10, 5-5) in a 4-A lower bracket game.

Locke finished behind Manual Arts, San Pedro and Carson in the Marine League, but Westchester will face formidable foes in Saint starters Leo Toliver, Damon Thompson and Alfonzo Allen.

Westchester Coach Ed Azzam is cautiously optimistic. “I wouldn’t bet against us,” Azzam said.

Westchester is clearly the favorite.

The Comets collected titles in the Tournament of Champions at Cal Poly Pomona and the Las Vegas Holiday Prep Classic this season. They’re familiar with the pressure of tournament play and they’ve surmounted it.

But familiarity, Azzam said, isn’t good enough.

“No team scares me, but we have a tendency to lose concentration for periods of the game, especially against teams that aren’t that familiar,” he said, “and that could happen with Locke. If we don’t get up for unknown teams, we might be in trouble.”

Juniors Zan Mason (averaging 19.6 points and 8.4 rebounds per game), Sam Crawford (17.4 points and 8.6 assists) and Michael Brown (14.3 points, 10.5 rebounds) will have to be motivated to hold off Locke’s Toliver (26 points, 5 assists), Thompson (13 points, 9 rebounds) and Allen (15 points, 12 rebounds).

Locke Coach Michael Jackson expects Toliver (5-9) to upstage Crawford (5-9), the flashy point guard who usually plays havoc with opponents’ full-court press. “I think Leo is head and shoulders above Crawford,” Toliver said. “Leo is definitely as quick, he’s a better shooter and he just may have better court sense. Don’t forget him.”

Stopping Mason, one of the most recruited players in the nation, is next to impossible, Jackson said, so the Saints must concentrate on limiting Crawford, Brown and the other Comets.

Westchester cannot earn a rematch with first-ranked Crenshaw, ranked No. 1 in the nation by USA Today, unless the Comets win the lower bracket. The Cougars (22-0, 10-0), who edged Westchester twice during Central league play, are paired in the upper bracket and seeded first among Central league teams.

Other City playoff openers involving South Bay teams, all at 7:30 tonight:

Banning (8-13) at Fairfax (17-4)--No. 2-ranked Cleveland was planning to jump all over Banning at home in the first round of the playoffs. But after Cleveland suffered a 69-68 upset loss to Taft and No. 4 Fairfax dumped El Camino Real on Wednesday, the Cavs are jumping only in frustration. Now Cleveland must battle Fremont, a team that upset Westchester, 70-67, in early Central League play, and the Cavs have to play in Crenshaw’s bracket.

Banning, meanwhile, doesn’t get much of a reprieve despite the upset. Instead of facing the powerhouse Cavs, the Pilots have to find a way to stop Chris Mills, Fairfax’s all-everything senior who will play next year at Kentucky.

Mills, the City 4-A player of the year, scored 22 points and grabbed 13 points in Wednesday’s 74-59 Fairfax victory.

Banning Coach Gary Cain let out a bellowing laugh when asked if he considered the Pilots an underdog against Cleveland. It’s likely he is still laughing after learning of Banning’s new opponent.

A small, slow Banning team will try to throw a wrench into Fairfax’s high-gear running game, but it won’t be easy.

Six-foot-3 Terry Neuman, who averages 17 points and 10 rebounds, 6-3 Gaylan Jackson (11 points) and 6-2 Troy Leonard (9 points, 8 rebounds) lead the Pilots.

Washington (11-9) at Carson (16-6)--The Colts will need the home-court advantage in this 4-A upper-bracket game against Washington, which dominated Westchester for a half before the Comets woke up.

Carson Coach Rich Masson said only excellent play from his guards, better than 60% shooting from the charity stripe and keeping Washington’s Agee Ward away from the basket will beat the Generals.

Ward, the son of New York Yankees designated hitter Gary Ward, is 6-5 and averages 15 points and 9 rebounds. The three-year varsity starter, who signed a letter of intent with Cal State Fullerton, will face pressure from a contingent of smaller Carson players who will collapse toward the middle when Ward gets the ball.

Slowing Ward will be difficult without Vincent Washington (7.3 points, 4 rebounds), the Colts’ second-leading free-throw shooter at 70%, who did not practice most of the week because of respiratory problems.

Handling the full-court press will be a key for both teams.

Damon Estell (15 points, 9 rebounds), Steve Smith (11.8 points, 6.6 rebounds), Rodney Brown (11.2 points, 6.2 rebounds) and Greg Lindsey (9.7 points, 3.3 assists) should lead Carson.

Masson stressed that free-throw shooting could be the difference for Carson since the Colts shot below 50% at the line in every loss.

Washington Coach David Spirlin, who played at Lawndale High, doesn’t consider his Generals favored. Playing at Carson worries him as does the play of his guards, 6-1 Jeff Delton (8 points, 4 assists) and 6-2 Sean Keys (15 points, 3 assists), the nephew of Sacramento Kings guard Reggie Theus.

“We put a lot of pressure on our guards to do everything,” Spirlin said, “and I know any mistakes at the guard spot will kill you.”

Taft (15-6) vs. San Pedro (9-10) at Gardena High--After five consecutive seasons of finishing first in the Marine League, San Pedro finished second this year. Many thought it would be a down year and were surprised by the Pirates finish. Others were disappointed.

“It’s not us going down; it’s just that the City Section is so outstanding,” countered San Pedro assistant coach Jeff Delling.

The City is also quirky. With four Valley League teams, including No. 9 Taft, ranked in The Times poll balanced against one ranked Marine League team (Manual Arts), the Valley clearly is the dominant league and Taft the favorite against San Pedro in this 4-A upper-bracket game. But because San Pedro finished second in the Marine League while Taft finished fourth in the Valley, San Pedro gets to play in the South Bay.

The Pirates should hope travel time counteracts height. Taft’s front line has 6-6 center Lamont Koonce (9 rebounds) and 6-5 forwards Tony Moten (15.9 points) and Tony Middleton. Sprinter Quincy Watts (6-3) is averaging 19.8 points at guard. San Pedro center John Wells (7 rebounds) is just 6 feet and center-forward Willie Sanchez (13.5 points, 6.5 rebounds) is only 6-2 1/2.

Without size, Delling said, San Pedro will turn to scrappiness. “We’re not big, we’re not fast, but we’re intelligent,” Delling said, “and we have a tendency to rise up. Usually we have talent and savvy. Now it’s just savvy.”

Add some defense and San Pedro could hold its own. “I don’t know if we can beat anybody, but we can compete with anybody if we want to play defense,” Delling said.

Narbonne (7-9) at San Fernando (14-4)--These two 3-A teams paired in the lower bracket scrimmaged early in the season. Tenth-ranked San Fernando edged Narbonne after dominating early. Narbonne Coach Bob Hoppes said San Fernando probably is the best team the Gauchos have faced.

“We won’t be embarrassed if we lose,” Hoppes added. “We just want to play well.”

The game should be physical. San Fernando, the Northwest Valley League’s first seed, has several players from its football team, which lost to Carson in the City semifinals. Narbonne, the third seed in the Eastern League, will have to contain the Tigers on the boards.

Motivation is the least of Hoppes’ problems. The Gauchos have nine seniors. “They know it’s do or die,” Hoppes said.