Boys, Girls Basketball Stars to Compete in Optimist Classic

A large contingent of South Bay high school seniors will participate in the ninth annual Optimist All-Star Basketball Classic on Friday night at Santa Monica College.

The girls game will begin at 6 p.m., preceding the boys game, scheduled to start at 8. Teams are designated North and South.

The South boys team consists of 16 area players, including three each from Palos Verdes, Leuzinger and Morningside.

Palos Verdes will be represented by John Mika, Mike Matteoni and Jeff Whitley; from Leuzinger are Keith Pullen, Roger Thomas and Ben Stokes, and from Morningside are Kevin Lilley, Dwayne Lucas and Marvin Franklin.

Rounding out the squad are Brian Sabunas of Torrance, Charlton Jackson of Chadwick, Dewey Dominguez of Mary Star, Damon Estell and Stephen Smith of Carson and Terry Newman and Keith Tieuel of Banning.

The South will be coached by former USC assistant Jerry Frietas and former USC guard Jacque Hill.

The North team will include Inglewood guard Bobby Sears and three players from Hawthorne, Randy Lavander, Hayden Eligon and Tony Hillard.

Morningside standout Shaunda Greene and four players from Redondo head the South girls team. Greene, who led Morningside to the CIF Southern Section 4-A title and the state Division I finals, is joined by teammate Carla Gladden.

Redondo’s players are Krishna Christensen, Janeen Guinn, Marlo Correa and Karen Horger.

The remainder of the squad consists of Rani Reado and Jeanine Hobbs of Banning, Liz Acevedo of Torrance, Tonya Kong and Stephanie Abe of West Torrance, Kimberly Skaife of South Torrance, Laura Dox of Rolling Hills, Anglesey Thomas of Palos Verdes, Genevieve Wilkinson of Bishop Montgomery and Sharon Hargrove of Compton.

Playing for the North will be Kim Bly and Naiesha Williams of Hawthorne and Tammy Booker and Erin Banks of St. Mary’s Academy.