Basketball Notebook : Playoff Foes Decided in--Not on--Court

When a judge issued a temporary restraining order allowing Muir High back into the Southern Section playoffs last week, it effected more teams than just Crescenta Valley, which was knocked out of the playoffs.

Muir was Pacific League champion, but had been forced to forfeit all its wins when an ineligible player was discovered. Temporarily, that made Glendale the league’s No. 1 representative, Hoover No. 2 and Crescenta Valley No. 3.

But with Muir back in the playoff picture, Glendale and Hoover moved back a notch and Crescenta Valley was ousted.

Muir defeated Irvine, which would have been Glendale’s opponent, 59-55. Glendale (21-4) defeated Ramona, 78-56. Hoover (14-11), which would have played Ramona, instead was matched against top-ranked Simi Valley and lost, 82-54.

“We had worked four days to prepare for Ramona,” said Hoover Coach Kirt Kohlmeier. “I only had one day to prepare for Simi.

“I’m upset--not because of who we had to play--but I’m upset that something like that can happen. If a school has a player that’s been there for five years and they get back into the playoffs because of a judge’s decision . . . I can’t believe that can happen. Basically what it says is that its OK to cheat and that the CIF rules don’t mean anything.”

Doing what’s best: Guard Jeff Sofro scored a game-high 25 points and Justin Lord and Dan Johnson added 18 and 15, respectively, in Glendale’s first-round victory over Ramona. The Dynamiters led, 13-12, entering the second quarter and pulled away behind solid defense and sharp shooting.

“It was one of our best performances of the year,” Coach Bob Davidson said. “We had great intensity. And we did the things that we do best, which is to get the ball to Sofro, Johnson and Lord.”

Statistical leaders: Brad Adam of Crescenta Valley ranked 23rd among Southern Section regular-season scoring leaders with an average of 23 points a game.

Chad Givens of La Canada finished 28th at 22.4 and Sofro of Glendale was 34th at 21.9.

Sofro also was the Glendale area’s best three-point shooter and he was fourth in the Southern Section with 63.

Cary Kwasizur of La Canada was 26th in assists with an average of 6.1 a game.

Melinda O’Brien of the La Canada girls’ team was 25th in rebounding with an average of 13.5 a game.

The combined records of the La Canada boys (23-2) and girls (13-10) was 36-12, which tied for the 25th among Southern Section schools.

A game short: The Glendale College men’s basketball team (12-16 overall and 6-7 in the Western State Conference) was eliminated from playoff contention Monday.

Glendale, which last week kept its postseason hopes alive by defeating Canyons, 77-75, lost to Santa Monica in its regular season finale, 92-57.

“They have great athletes and we don’t,” Glendale Coach Brian Beauchemin said of Santa Monica. “Their quickness was far too much for us.”

Glendale, which returned only two players, missed the playoffs for the first time in eight seasons. It finished under .500 in conference play for the first time under Beauchemin.

Matt Dyrek, a freshman, finished as Glendale’s leading scorer with an average of 13 points a game.