Warmth of Home Keeps Westchester Cage Star in L.A.

The allure of television exposure was one of the reasons Westchester High forward Zan Mason considered attending an Eastern college.

In the final analysis, though, Mason discovered all of his needs could be met in Southern California.

The 6-7 senior, considered among the top basketball prospects on the West Coast, signed a letter of intent Monday night with UCLA. He chose the Bruins over Louisville, Notre Dame and USC.

“I wanted to stay close to home,” he said. “UCLA offered me the best combination of academics, athletics and social life.”

The area where Notre Dame and Louisville had the edge, Mason said, was in the number of nationally televised games. “A lot of West Coast schools don’t get a lot of TV exposure,” he said. “Usually the players who have the exposure have a better chance of going to the pros.”

Mason said he didn’t think that was enough to leave the area.

“If I could find a school close to home that filled my needs, I’d rather stay here than go back East,” he said.

Mason, twice an All-L.A. City selection, averaged 19 points and 9 rebounds last season as the Comets advanced to the 4-A semifinals, where they lost to eventual state champion Manual Arts. He earned Most Valuable Player honors in the prestigious Las Vegas Holiday Classic last December.

Mason, a strong player around the basket who has worked hard at improving his perimeter skills, said UCLA recruited him as a small forward.

The South Bay has the top-ranked boys and girls basketball teams in the state, according to Cal-Hi Sports.

The publication rates Westchester the No. 1 boys team and Morningside, last year’s state Division I runner-up, the top girls team in preseason polls.

Westchester, which opens the season Dec. 2 at home against Cleveland of Reseda, returns four players considered among the top seniors in the state: Mason, 5-8 point guard Sam Crawford and 6-5 forwards Renaud Gordon and Booker Waugh.

“It can be a fun season for us,” said Comets Coach Ed Azzam, whose team was 20-6 last year. “It all depends on how hard the kids want to work.”

St. Bernard was ranked No. 7 among boys teams in the state top 20.

Morningside, which is host to its own 16-team girls tournament starting Dec. 3, is led by 6-5 junior center Lisa Leslie and 5-8 guard Jo Jo Witherspoon, the only returning starters from last season’s 33-2 club.

Palos Verdes, featuring 6-5 twins Heather and Heidi Burge, is ranked No. 7 in the state.

A mix-up in traveling directions forced postponement of Tuesday’s CIF 4-A girls quarterfinal tennis match between Palos Verdes and Westlake High of Los Angeles.

The match, with Westlake the scheduled host, was changed to Palos Verdes because Westlake could not reserve its home courts, a CIF spokesman said.

However, Palos Verdes never got the word. The Sea Kings, confused about the indentity of their opponent, traveled to Westlake High in Ventura County while Westlake of L.A. drove to Palos Verdes.

“Both teams were quite upset,” said a CIF spokesman.

Because of the Thanksgiving holiday, second-round games in the L.A. City football playoffs will be played Wednesday instead of Friday.

While that will not be a problem for the four 4-A Division league champions who have byes this week, including Pacific League titlist Carson, it means the winners of Friday’s first-round games will have to come back on only four days of rest.

Strange as it may seem, Banning (8-2) opens the City 4-A playoffs Friday night against a team that has won only one game. Manual Arts, the third-place team from the Metro League, brings a 1-7-1 record into the 7:30 contest at Gardena High.

Banning Coach Joe Dominguez isn’t thrilled about the match-up.

“When you get in the playoffs, every week should be a challenge,” he said. “It should be an honor or reward for a team’s hard work. But when a team can win one game and make the playoffs, it makes a farce of it.”

Carson Coach Gene Vollnogle can relate to what Dominguez is going through. The Colts opened the playoffs last season against El Camino Real, which had a record of 0-7-2.

Mira Costa girls volleyball Coach Daelea Aldrich was concerned that the Mustangs’ weak Ocean League schedule could hurt her team against the tougher competition in the CIF 5-A playoffs.

So far, it hasn’t been a problem. Mira Costa (22-0) advanced to tonight’s semifinals with a 15-9, 9-15, 15-7, 15-3 win over Mater Dei in a second-round match Tuesday night. The third-seeded Mustangs play No. 2 Santa Barbara (18-0) at 7:30 at Redondo High.

Mira Costa won all 14 of its league matches in three-game sweeps. On three occasions, Aldrich scheduled practices after home matches.

“Our practices have been our best source of competition,” Aldrich said before the playoffs. “I split our starters and had them play against each other in the front court. I tried to make situations comparable to what they might face on the final road to CIF.”

The Mustangs, who start an all-underclass lineup headed by setter Piper Hahn and middle blockers Kristal Attwood and Heidi Eick, all juniors, will advance to Saturday night’s finals if they win tonight.

Top-seeded Irvine (17-0) faces Laguna Beach in the other 5-A semifinal at Woodbridge High in Irvine.

In a rematch of last year’s CIF Eight-Man Small Conference football final, top-seeded Coast Christian (10-0) will face St. Margaret’s (6-4) of San Juan Capistrano at 7:30 Friday night at Mira Costa High.

Coast Christian Coach Dan Pride is hoping for a repeat. The Saints won last year’s championship game, 52-7.

PREP NOTES--Palos Verdes will defend its CIF 4-A girls cross-country title Saturday morning in the 43rd running of the Southern Section championships at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut. The Sea Kings’ race starts at 9:20 a.m. Ashley Black, Palos Verdes’ top runner, has been named Cal-Hi Sports/Reebok state girls athlete of month for October. Black paced the Sea Kings to team titles in three invitational runs last month at Palos Verdes, Los Angeles and Mt. Sac . . . Top-seeded Miraleste, defending CIF 4-A girls tennis champion, will play host to No. 4 Santa Barbara today in the semifinals. Chadwick, seeded No. 4 in the 1-A playoffs, faces top-ranked Corona at home . . . Chadwick’s girls volleyball team will travel to San Luis Obispo today to face Mission College Prep in the semifinals of the CIF Small Schools playoffs at Cuesta College . . . Second-seeded Mira Costa (23-8) advanced to the semifinals of the CIF 2-A water polo playoffs with an 18-13 win over Santa Ynez on Tuesday. The Mustangs meet La Serna of Whittier (9-3) Saturday at a site to be determined.