STATWATCH : Shutout String Broken, but Holt Begins Another

Karl Holt had stopped every ball kicked his way since Jan. 5--until last Thursday.

Holt, the goalkeeper for the Marmonte League champion Royal soccer team, had surrendered only three goals the entire season and had a goals-against average of 0.25.

“I go into every game thinking all we need is one goal,” Holt said.

Against Alta Loma, the Highlanders needed four--and quickly. Alta Loma shocked Holt and the Highlanders, scoring three early goals to take a 3-0 halftime lead.

Royal rebounded to win, 4-3, in double overtime. But Holt’s shutout streak of 13 games and more than 1,040 minutes of play had been snapped.

Tuesday he picked up where he left off, shutting out Palos Verdes, 2-0. Royal, which will play Newbury Park for the 4-A Division championship Friday night at Gahr High in Cerritos, has outscored opponents, 78-10. Holt has a Southern Section-record 22 shutouts.

“He has made some tremendous saves to preserve some key shutouts,” Royal Coach Peter Schraml said.

Scoring: San Fernando guard Tory Stephens averaged 26 points a game to lead players on City Section teams in the Valley. Stephens, a 6-2 senior, also averaged 7 rebounds and 4 assists and was selected MVP of the Northwest Valley League.

Craig Handschu of Montclair Prep ended his junior season with 610 points in 24 games for a 25.4 average. In two seasons, the 6-0 guard has scored 921 points in 43 games, a 21.4 point average.

Balanced scoring has been Bell-Jeff’s trademark. The Guards did nothing to tarnish their image in a 59-51 victory over No. 1-seeded St. Bonaventure on Friday in the quarterfinal round of the Southern Section 1-A Division playoffs. Three Bell-Jeff players scored 15 or more points.

Extra points: Taft junior Dedan Thomas finished behind only Chris Mills, Fairfax’s All-American, in Valley League voting for the player of the year. Thomas, a 5-11 point guard, set a school record for assists with 230 (10 a game), and also averaged 13.9 points and 4.6 steals.