HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL PREVIEWS : FRONTIER LEAGUE : Santa Clara Bolsters Position as Favorite

It was suggested to Lou Cvijanovich that in the Frontier League the rich do, indeed, seem to get richer.

“That would be a good expression, yeah,” said Cvijanovich, Santa Clara’s basketball coach of 32 years.

Santa Clara, remember, is a program that has 9 Southern Section championships and 5 Southern Section players of the year. It has pocketed 8 of the past 9 league titles. How much wealthier could the Saints get?

This much: Already considered to be perhaps the best team in the 2-A Division, Santa Clara added 6-5 transfer forward Shon Tarver to its roster. Tarver, a junior, was All-Southern Section at Rim of the World last season. Four starters also return from the Saints’ playoff semifinalist of 1987-88.

Tarver was the most valuable player in last weekend’s Simi Valley tournament, which Santa Clara won going away. He joins center Bubba Burrage, forward John McGill and guards Kasha Clemens and Art Santana to make the Saints heavy league favorites. Cvijanovich has led the Saints to 32 consecutive league victories, but he will hear no talk of extending that streak or comparisons to teams gone by.

“I was just talking to one of my assistant coaches about that,” Cvijanovich said. “People say they’re a better team than in 1985 (Santa Clara’s last Southern Section champion), but they haven’t won anything yet. That team won 27 games. This one has won 5.

“That’s the criteria I’m going by, and I’m not saying we’re going to reach it, but the potential is there.”

Cvijanovich is not looking that far ahead.

“I think it’s going to be a pretty doggone good league,” he said.

Perhaps, but if Santa Clara plays as well as it has early in the season, the rest of the league once again will be left in its wake.

“Santa Clara is head and shoulders above the rest of us,” Agoura Coach Kevin Pasky said. “But the rest of the league should be pretty competitive.”

Santa Paula will likely improve on its winless league season of a year ago, and Nordhoff should challenge for the playoffs. New member Santa Ynez is dubbed by league coaches as the sleeper.

Agoura

COACH: Kevin Pasky, second season

LAST SEASON: 10-14 overall; third place in league at 3-5

PLAYERS TO WATCH: No starters return for the Chargers, but that does not mean they lack talent. Jeff Ingalls and Zac Miller were given considerable playing time last season. Pasky called senior Ingalls, a 6-1 off-guard or small forward, perhaps his best all-around athlete. His shooting touch can be inconsistent, but he is a good penetrator and leaper who can play defense. Miller, a 5-9 senior who played running back on Agoura’s semifinalist football team, is another streak shooter with defensive and leadership abilities. Sophomore Sean Martin, who last season was the junior varsity’s leading scorer, will start at point guard or on the wing. “He knows the game better than anyone on the team,” Pasky said. In the frontcourt, Agoura has 4 players who stand 6-5, and 3 are juniors. The senior is Eric Fuller, who has good quickness and jumping ability. Juniors Tim Nanson, Tony Marko and Brian Smith also should help the inside game. Off the bench are 5-9 guard John Thoe, 5-10 Mark Kelly, 6-0 senior Gabe Bennett, 5-11 junior Ken Teasley and 5-11 senior Jay Hubbard.

OUTLOOK: Agoura lacks experience, and Pasky believes that the team’s success will depend on its ability to adjust to the varsity level. “I think they’re starting to realize how physical and aggressive the game gets from junior varsity to varsity,” he said.

Calabasas

COACH: David Hoffman, first season

LAST SEASON: 12-12 overall; second place in league at 6-2

PLAYERS TO WATCH: If you’re going to start fresh, it might as well be done all the way. In his first season since replacing Bill Bellatty, Hoffman does not have a returning player. He is toying with the lineup but is considering starting 3 sophomores, a junior and a senior. The senior is Guy Hamilton (6-2, 185), one of the stronger Calabasas players. At the other forward is 6-1 junior Jim Friedlander. Sophomores Tom Hoover, a 6-0 guard, Jason Young, a 5-10 guard, and Greg Waugh, a 6-5 center, will start at one time or another. Hoover will share time with 6-0 senior Jamie Boyce. Hoffman said Waugh is “an outstanding player” still growing into his body. From the bench, defensive specialist Derrick Woods will contribute, as will junior Dan Feldman, a transfer from New York, and senior Andrew Strauss.

OUTLOOK: Hoffman is aware of Santa Clara’s dominance, but he will not back down in a challenge for a league title. “It’s going to be difficult,” he said, “but I’ve never entered a game as a player or a coach where I haven’t thought I could win.”