PREPS / Rod Fernas : Morningside and Palos Verdes Favored to Wear Girls Cage Crowns

The rich get richer and the poor must be getting envious.

Such is the state of girls basketball in the South Bay where Morningside and Palos Verdes are expected to dominate the 1988-89 season as they did a year ago when both won CIF Southern Section titles and reached the state finals.

Morningside graduated Shaunda Greene, 4-A Division co-player of the year, and all-CIF point guard Carla Gladden, but that hardly kept the Lady Monarchs from enjoying a successful summer. They completed an 18-3 off-season by winning the Bell-Jeff tournament in Burbank last week.

With returning starters Lisa Leslie and Jo Jo Witherspoon each scoring 22 points, Morningside rolled past Katella of Anaheim, 50-35, in the title game to garner its third consecutive Bell-Jeff championship.

Coach Frank Scott realizes it won’t be easy to duplicate last year’s 33-2 record, which included the CIF 4-A title and a one-point loss in the Division I state finals, but he says the Lady Monarchs are capable.

“I’m pretty confident,” he said. “Having Lisa and Jo Jo back helps us a lot. I feel Lisa is the best player in the area. She was almost unstoppable in the tournament.”

The 6-5 Leslie, considered among the top juniors in the nation, averaged 25 points during the summer and was at her best in big games, Scott said. She scored 28 points in the Lady Monarchs’ closest outing of the Bell-Jeff tournament, a 52-48 semifinal win over Brea-Olinda.

“She scores, she plays good defense and she runs the court well,” Scott said. “She’s just an intimidating force.”

As could be expected, colleges are showing interest in Leslie. Coaches Linda Sharp of USC and Joan Bonvicini of Long Beach State were in the stands for the Morningside-Katella game.

“She’s going to be great,” said Palos Verdes Coach Wendell Yoshida, whose team lost to Leslie and Morningside in the semifinals of the St. Mary’s summer league. “She could play right now for a lot of colleges.”

Leslie and Witherspoon, a 5-8 senior guard who averaged 15 points and 12 assists this summer, form Morningside’s nucleus, but Scott says talented young players will make their presence felt. They include sophomore guards Tyesha Whiting and Bridgette Williams and 5-9 junior forward Denesha Carnel.

“I think we’ll have more depth,” Scott said. “I can count on more girls coming off the bench. Last year I could count on only one girl off the bench. We will be able to go eight, nine deep.”

Yoshida enjoys the same luxury at Palos Verdes.

He lost only one player from last year’s 27-8 team that won the CIF 3-A title and was the Division II state runner-up. Moreover, the Sea Kings added transfer Lisa Humphreys, a 5-10 junior forward who earned all-Rio Hondo League honors at Temple City High last season.

“We’re excited,” Yoshida said. “We have some good young players.”

That was evident on Friday as Palos Verdes posted an impressive 45-16 win over Muir in the fifth-place final of the Bell-Jeff tournament. It was the first time in the tournament that the Sea Kings were at full strength.

The majority of Palos Verdes’ players are underclassmen. The exceptions are senior twins Heather and Heidi Burge, the team’s 6-5 all-CIF bookends. Yoshida says the twins are being highly recruited and plan to decide on a college during the one-week early signing period in November.

“They’ll go big time,” he said. “They’ve improved a lot over last year. All the big schools--Louisiana Tech, Long Beach State, Stanford--are interested in them.”

The Burges were named AAU All-Americans this summer (as was Leslie of Morningside) and helped their 16-and-under team to a fourth-place finish at the AAU national tournament in Miami and the title of the Basketball Congress International tournament in Phoenix.

Heading the Burges’ supporting cast next season are junior point guard Susan Wilhite, 6-0 junior Mary Maloney, 5-8 sophomore Kaaren Iverson, 6-0 junior Kristen Jaconi and Humphreys. Of that group, only Jaconi lacks varsity experience.

Under the state’s new playoff groupings based on enrollment, Palos Verdes and Morningside are considered Division III schools. But Scott says that schools have the option of playing at a higher level.

“I’ll have to get together with Wendell and see what we want to do,” he said. “Maybe we can bring two (state) championships back to the area.”

As is the custom for highly regarded basketball teams, both Palos Verdes and Morningside will play in several prestigious tournaments next winter.

Topping Palos Verdes’ list is the Christ the King Tournament in New York City on Dec. 26-31. Last year’s tournament attracted the top three teams in the nation. The Sea Kings will also play in the Artesia Tournament and the Tournament of Champions in Santa Barbara.

Morningside will travel north to compete in the Miramonte Tournament near Oakland. Among the teams entered is Fremont of Oakland, which beat the Lady Monarchs, 53-52, in last year’s Division I state final. Morningside will also play in the Tournament of Champions in Santa Barbara.

Imagine attending classes at one high school but playing sports for a rival school. Sound ridiculous?

CIF Southern Section Commissioner Stan Thomas thinks so, but he says the idea has been discussed as a possible solution to Miraleste’s scheduling problems in football and basketball.

Because Miraleste is without league affiliation or free-lance schedules in those sports, Thomas said athletes might be allowed to play at another in-district high school, either Rolling Hills or Palos Verdes.

“It’s the worst of all solutions, but it was discussed,” Thomas said. “It would be a last resort to allow kids to participate.”

The Santa Fe League has accepted Miraleste in baseball, soccer and cross-country, but the CIF executive committee ruled against placing Miraleste in the league in football and basketball because of the “disruption it would cause to many schools and schedules,” Thomas said.

Thomas and members of the CIF executive committee are scheduled to meet with Miraleste officials next Thursday. Thomas believes it is unlikely the school will be placed in a league for football and basketball, however.

“From listening to our officers, they are somewhat reluctant to mandate that at this late date,” he said.

As for Miraleste competing on a free-lance level, Thomas said the school will be hard-pressed to come up with adequate schedules.

“They have two or three (football) games lined up,” he said. “If that’s their season, it’s sad. It’s a tough situation for a bunch of good kids.”

Most South Bay high schools were realigned into two leagues (Bay and Ocean) after the Palos Verdes school board voted to close Miraleste last June because of decreasing enrollment in the district. A subsequent court ruling overturned that decision, allowing Miraleste to remain open.

Street & Smith’s has named Hawthorne quarterback Curtis Conway and Banning offensive lineman Bob Whitfield among the top 50 senior football players in the nation.

The magazine rated Conway one of the country’s top four utility backs, players who excel at more than one position. The 6-2, 180-pound Conway has also played running back, wide receiver and defensive back.

The 6-7, 275-pound Whitfield was one of nine offensive lineman named to Street & Smith’s high school all-American team.

The only other Southern Californians selected were Crespi running back Russell White, Loyola kicker Paul Stonehouse and Long Beach Poly defensive lineman Marcellous Elder.

Under the heading “Other prep seniors to watch,” the magazine listed quarterback Perry Klein and offensive lineman Morris Unutoa of Carson.

Pitchers Jamie Sibley of Torrance High and Jennifer Mortensen of Bishop Montgomery are two of the main reasons the Canyon Country Shilos are playing in the American Softball Assn. national fast-pitch tournament this week at Marrietta, Ga.

The South Bay preps combined for five straight wins on July 30-31 to lead the Shilos to the state championship at Lodi. Sibley pitched a no-hitter in the semifinals, 3-0, and Mortensen threw a one-hitter in the title game, 2-0.

The national tournament began Wednesday and runs through Sunday.

PREP NOTES--In case you missed it, the San Diego Section edged the L.A. City Section, 17-14, in the College Prep All-Star Football Classic on July 30 at Mesa Community College in San Diego. Tim Walker of Torrey Pines kicked a 39-yard field goal with eight seconds left for San Diego, which mounted its winning drive after recovering a fumble by Gardena running back Derrick Duren with 1:06 remaining. Carson wide receiver Bryan Reeves scored L.A.’s first touchdown on a pass from Granada Hills quarterback Jeremy Leach, who had two TD tosses. . . . Curtis Garner, an assistant coach at El Segundo High the past seven years, is the new head football coach at Fillmore High in Ventura County. . . . The 1988 CIF Southern Section football press guide/master schedule is available to the public. The publication can be purchased at the Southern Section office, 11011 E. Artesia Blvd., Cerritos, for $8 or through the mail, CIF Southern Section, PO Box 488, Cerritos, 90702, for $10.