Coaches Use Bendable Bylaws to Select 17 All-County Players

There are laws, and then there are bylaws, which, when it is appropriate, can always be bent or broken.

The large number of talented basketball players in the County left members of the Ventura County Coaches Assn. in a quandary when it came to selecting an 11-man County all-star team this season, so they took the easy way out. They changed the rules. And, low and behold, 17 boys’ basketball players can claim All-County status.

Leading the list is center Don MacLean of Simi Valley, a unanimous Player of the Year pick for the second consecutive season. The 6-foot, 10-inch senior averaged 31.5 points and 12.3 rebounds a game.

Joining MacLean are Simi Valley teammates Shawn DeLaittre and Butch Hawking. DeLaittre, another three-time selection, averaged 21.6 points and 8.8 rebounds. Hawking, the son of Simi Valley Coach Bob Hawking, averaged 12.4 points, 8.5 assists and made 83 of 191 shots from three-point range.

Buena, Ventura and Santa Clara each had two players selected to the team.

Center Shawn Kirkeby and guard Mike Sandoval led a Buena team that was picked in the preseason to finish no better than third to the Channel League championship. Kirkeby, a 6-10 senior, averaged 18.8 points and 10.5 rebounds. Sandoval, a 6-1 point guard, averaged 11.9 points and led the County with 10.3 assists per game.

Ventura, which finished third in the Channel League, placed Chris Hantgin and Joe Paul on the team for the second consecutive season. Hantgin averaged 19.1 points and Paul averaged 12.3.

Santa Clara placed Kwame Joyner and Bubba Burrage to the team. Joyner, the Co-Player of the Year in the Frontier League, averaged 10.5 points. Burrage, the only junior on the team, averaged 12.8 points.

Eric Thomas, who averaged 17.7 points for Rio Mesa, was the only sophomore on the squad.

Other members of the team were Andy Beltowski of Channel Islands; Larry Carlton of Nordhoff; Tom Carrillo of Camarillo; Jon Drezner of Calabasas; Kevin Logan of Westlake; Kevin Martin of Thousand Oaks; and Andy Wagoner of St. Bonaventure.

Wagoner, who averaged 15 points and 9.8 rebounds in leading St. Bonaventure to its first Tri-Valley League championship, is the first Seraph selected to the coaches’ All-County team.

Girls’ all-stars: Mary Klemm of Buena was selected to the coaches’ All-County team for the third consecutive season--this time as Player of the Year.

The 5-7 senior was not a dominant offensive player--she averaged only 10.6 points a game--but was selected for her ball-handling ability and tenacity on defense. Buena teams were 76-6 with her at the controls.

“She has taken her place among the finest players ever at Buena,” Coach Joe Vaughan said.

Klemm averaged 10.1 assists and 5.5 rebounds this season. She is only the second three-time selection to the coaches’ team. The other is Teresa Palmisano, a 1987 Buena graduate.

Joining Klemm on the team were Buena teammates Stephanie Rainwater and Joannie Weinerth. Rainwater led Buena in scoring, averaging 13.9. Weinerth averaged 11.8.

Finishing behind Klemm in player of the year voting was Tami Adkins, a 5-5 guard from Santa Clara. Adkins, a junior, averaged 11 points, 5.8 rebounds and 5.1 assists for a Santa Clara team that was 23-8 and advanced to the final of the Southern California regional.

Barbara Tanner of Thousand Oaks, at 6-2 the County’s tallest player, was third in player-of-the-year voting. She averaged 15.8 points and 10.2 rebounds. Guard Lina Mascarenas of Thousand Oaks also made the team. She averaged 11.3 points.

Other members of the team are Marlo Cormier of Newbury Park; Nichole Victoria of Camarillo; Loni Larson of Fillmore; Simone Cain of Hueneme; and Ytteb Bowls of Channel Islands.

All-Star coaches: Glen Hannah of Buena and Chris Taylor of Ventura, adversaries as players and coaches, are co-coaches of the North team in the Ventura County boys’ basketball all-star game scheduled for June 24 at Ventura High. Hannah played at Ventura and coached Buena to this season’s Channel League championship. Taylor, who played at Buena, guided Ventura to a third-place finish. Kevin Pasky and Jim Hall of Agoura will coach the South team.

Joe Vaughan and Lane Jackson of Buena will coach the girls’ North team. Nori Parvin of Newbury Park and Chuck Brown of Thousand Oaks will coach the South team.

The girls’ game will start at 6:30 p.m. with boys to follow at 8:15.

Times awards: The Times’ All-County boys’ and girls’ basketball teams will appear in April 14 editions of the paper. There will be 10 first-team selections and 10 players who receive honorable mention on each team.

Coach Paul Westhead of Loyola Marymount, who led the Lions to Western Collegiate Athletic Conference championship, will be the guest speaker at a banquet honoring players from 11 of the Times’ circulation areas. The banquet is May 1 at 9 a.m. at the Anaheim Hilton Hotel.

Coach quits: Rex Kochel has resigned as girls’ basketball coach at Ventura High, citing personal reasons. Kochel, 43, a former All-Southern Section basketball player at Ventura, had a 39-33 record in three seasons as coach.

Ventura was 16-10 this season and advanced to the Southern Section 4-A Division quarterfinals before losing to Morningside, the eventual champion.

Poll patrol: Simi Valley, champion of the Southern Section 4-A Division in basketball, was ranked fourth among the state’s large schools by Cal-Hi Sports. The Pioneers (28-4), lost to Manual Arts, the eventual state champion, in the semifinals of the Southern California regional. Santa Clara (19-9), was No. 4 among Division IV schools.

In the girls’ Division I, Buena (24-3), which finished second in the Channel League and lost to Morningside in the Southern Section 4-A semifinals, was No. 5. Thousand Oaks (25-4), champion of the Marmonte League, was No. 8. Santa Clara (23-8) was No. 8 in Division IV.

Give ‘em a break: Channel League baseball players never get a respite from baseball and school over the spring break. The league consists of schools from the Oxnard, Ventura and Santa Barbara school districts--all of which take vacation at different times.

As a result, Ventura and Buena played in tournaments the first part of this week while class was in session. During the week of April 11-15--when school is out--they will play two league games.