El Camino and Harbor to Have New Look : Marymount Palos Verdes Cagers Hope to Improve Last Year’s 14-14

The defending state champion El Camino Warriors have a new coach, new players and a new ranking. The Junior College Athletic Bureau gave El Camino a No. 18 state preseason ranking, but first year Coach Ron McClurkin is confident his team will have a good year.

McClurkin was Paul Landreaux’s assistant for nine years and was named interim head coach when Landreaux, who led the Warriors to three state titles, became an assistant at UCLA in May.

“They’ve already written us off,” McClurkin said. “I don’t think anyone is going to be looking at us. Just look at the poll! We’re right off the top and almost out of the top 20.”

While the Warriors don’t have a player from last year’s 33-3 club, they do have experience. Four starters are sophomores with substantial game experience.

They include Kevin Mixon, who has signed with the University of Oregon next season, Zlatko Josic, Kelvin Harris and Jermal Ross.

Mixon is a 6-3 guard who played for El Camino two years ago but sat out last year for academic reasons. His greatest asset is consistent shooting.

Josic is a 6-5 forward who played for El Camino two years ago and sat out last year for academic reasons. McClurkin calls him the “everything man” because he can rebound, score and play defense extremely well.

“Two years ago he was the best defensive player in the conference,” McClurkin said. “He’ll score 28 points if he has to. He’ll do whatever it takes for us to win.”

Harris is a 6-6 forward from Santa Monica High who played for one year at a junior college in Kansas and is expected to score in double digits. His brother Keith played for the NCAA champion Kansas Jayhawks.

And Ross is a 6-6 forward who will compete against freshman Charles Evans for the post spot. Ross played at Westchester High and competed for a junior college in Texas last year. Experience separates him from Evans, a 6-7, 200 pound freshman who spent two and a half years in the Army.

“Charles is the greatest physical specimen I’ve seen,” McClurkin said. “He is the biggest, strongest and most aggressive player we have.”

El Camino is also blessed with talented freshmen who give it depth.

“We’ve got a good team,” McClurkin said. “Nobody knows anything about us, but once we get everybody to come together and play as a team, we’re going to surprise a lot of people.”

The Harbor College Seahawks lost every starter from last year’s team that reached the second round of the state playoffs, but they have four experienced sophomores and a crop of talented freshman.

Ron Lewis, a key backup forward last year, will start at that position. The 6-5 sophomore averaged 5.5 points and 3.7 rebounds a game.

Harbor’s other sophomore starter is Keith Billingslea, a transfer from Fresno State. The 6-3 Billingslea will play off guard or small forward.

Roneil Powers will start at center. Coach Ken Curry says the 6-5 freshman is a strong rebounder and great outside shooter.

“He can shoot from up to 15 feet,” Curry said, “and he’s an extremely hard worker who’s very willing to learn.”

A pair of freshmen will start at guard. Earnest White, a 5-11 point guard from Pius X High School, and Charles Perry, a 6-foot freshman from Washington High, will complete the starting lineup.

“Our strengths right now,” Curry said, “are defense and quickness. If we can rebound we should be able to do quite well.”

Another of Harbor’s strengths is its bench, which includes sophomores Jerome Hendrix, a strong forward who played a lot last year, and Ruthford Westby.

The 6-5 Hendrix was the team’s third scorer last year with an average of 11 points a game and averaged 5.4 rebounds. Westby is a 6-3 guard.

“I tell the kids all the time that I just want to do better than we did last year,” Curry said. “We want to get 20 wins, win league and when we go to the state playoffs we want to be able to compete with the better teams.”

Marymount Palos Verdes Coach Jim Masterson is looking forward to the Mariners’ third basketball season with hope of improving last year’s 14-14 overall record, 7-5 in the Southern California Athletic Conference.

Marymount has three sophomores and two freshman starting.

The Mariners will be led by sophomore James Anderson, who led the team in scoring last year. The 6-3 forward averaged 15.6 points and 6.4 rebounds a game.

Earnie Woods and William Hailey are the other sophomores. Woods is a 6-3 guard who averaged 9.2 points and 3.9 assists last year and is said to be the team’s best defensive player.

Hailey is a 5-11 guard who averaged 8.7 points and 3.7 assists.

“We have a pretty short team,” Masterson said. “But we have good defense and we’re very quick. It’s going to be a track meet out there this year.”

A pair of freshmen will complete the starting lineup. Bryon Flournoy will start at point guard and Bryan Martin will play guard/forward.

Flournoy, a 5-10 player from Gardena High, is quick and a solid ball handler. Martin, 6-3, from St. Bernard’s High, is battling for a starting spot with 6-5 redshirt Leon Young out of Wilson High in Long Beach.