Prep Wrapup /Rob Fernas : Rolling Hills’ Hardy Gives Scouts an Eyeful at Las Vegas Tourney

The early signing period came and went in November with Rolling Hills forward John Hardy on the outside looking in. Colleges passed on the 6-4 senior, even though he enjoyed a fine junior season and summer.

“A few schools told me they want to see me play my senior year,” he explained.

If colleges have adopted a wait-and-see attitude toward Hardy, they definitely got an eyeful this week at the Las Vegas Holiday Basketball Tournament at UNLV.

Playing against a competitive field that included 30 teams from nine states, Hardy led the tournament in scoring and rebounding while helping Rolling Hills win two of four games.

His 38 points in the Titans’ last game Wednesday, an 88-71 loss to Clark High of Las Vegas, established him as the No. 2 scorer in the history of the 12-year tournament. He finished with a 32.8 scoring average, second only to former La Crescenta guard Greg Goorjian, who averaged 39.3 points in 1977.

Hardy averaged 12.3 rebounds in four games to lead the tournament in that category, too.

“He just keeps improving every week,” Rolling Hills Coach Cliff Warren said. “He’s taking on more leadership and playing harder for longer periods. And he’s going to get better. I just hope he starts getting recruited.”

That remains to be seen for a 6-4 player whose strength is working inside. But Warren believes Hardy could make the transition to guard in college, and his fine showing in Las Vegas certainly won’t hurt his chances of getting a scholarship when the post-season signing period begins in April.

On the season, Hardy is averaging 29 points and 13 rebounds a game.

Rolling Hills (9-3) won its first two games in the Las Vegas tournament to reach the quarterfinals before losing to eventual champion Reseda Cleveland, 85-67, Tuesday night. Warren said the Titans succumbed to Cleveland’s pressure defense.

“We got rattled in the first half. We really lost our composure,” he said. “In the second half we regrouped and played a solid game. It was a learning experience.”

Rolling Hills also had trouble against the press in its loss to Clark, but Warren said another factor hurt the Titans in that game.

“Once we got out of the championship bracket, we didn’t have quite the intensity we had in our earlier games,” he said. “We got worn down.”

The Titans opened the tournament with wins over Lincoln of Brooklyn, N.Y., 83-79, and Eldorado of Las Vegas, 83-75, as Hardy poured in 31 and 27 points, respectively, and guards Steve Clover and Mark Tesar combined for 11 3-point shots in each game.

Warren hopes the experience of playing top-notch competition will help Rolling Hills when it opens Bay League play Wednesday night at 7:30 with a home game against Beverly Hills.

“It’s going to help us,” he said. “We saw some of our shortcomings and worked on them. Hopefully when we see teams of that caliber again, we will be able to handle it.”

Inglewood Coach Vince Combs, whose team won three of five games to take ninth place in the Las Vegas tournament, said the Sentinels (5-4) would have finished fifth if forward Harold Miner had not missed the team’s last game because of a sprained ankle.

“With Harold in it, we would have won,” he said of Inglewood’s 66-55 loss to Eldorado of Las Vegas on Thursday.

Miner, who averaged 29.8 points and 12 rebounds in four tournament games, turned his ankle in Wednesday’s 75-58 win over Archbishop Mitty of San Jose. The injury to the 6-5 senior is not considered serious.

“He was just outstanding,” Combs said. “I was really disappointed that he wasn’t able to go in that last game, but his health is more important than a basketball game.”

Miner became a fan favorite in the tournament with a series of impressive performances. The USC recruit had 27 points and 16 rebounds in a first-round win over Garfield of Seattle, 64-59, he scored 38 in a 84-55 loss to Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas and he had 30 points and 13 rebounds against Mitty.

More importantly, Combs said, Inglewood was able to play five games after going 16 days without a game.

“That was invaluable,” he said. “We needed to play together as a unit and get our timing down. Once everybody learns their roles, we’re going to be tough.”

Guard Tommy Holland averaged 12.5 points in the tournament, 6-5 forward Steve King continued to play well coming off the bench and 6-10 center Cory Johnson showed signs of playing more aggressively.

Rolling Hills’ Warren noticed a change in the Sentinels since the Pacific Shores Tournament early in December.

“I saw a definite improvement in their game,” he said.

That, of course, didn’t make Warren especially happy. Rolling Hills plays host to Inglewood on Jan. 11 in the third Bay League game for both teams.

When a basketball team shoots below 40% from the floor, it’s difficult to win a game. Against a good team, it’s nearly impossible.

Westchester found that out this week at the King Cotton Classic in Pine Bluff, Ark., where the Comets shot 32% Wednesday and lost to Flint Hill Prep of Oakton, Va., 69-49, and shot 35% Thursday and lost to Westwood of Memphis, 52-51, to finish the tournament with a 1-2 record.

“We’re not that bad,” said Westchester Coach Ed Azzam, whose team dropped to 6-3. “We just had two off games. You can’t have off games against the good teams.”

Flint Hill entered the tournament ranked No. 2 in the nation by USA Today and suffered its first loss in the final to St. Anthony of Jersey City, N.J., the country’s top-ranked prep team.

Azzam said the Comets should be prepared for anything after playing Flint Hill.

“We’re not going to play anybody better than that,” he said. “While the competition in our league will be good, nobody is going to be better than the teams we saw in this tournament.”

Azzam might have a point. After all, Westchester opened the season with a decisive win over Reseda Cleveland, which won the 30-team Las Vegas Holiday Tournament this week.

The Palos Verdes soccer team, led by the outstanding play of goaltender Mark Antrobius, recorded its 12th and 13th shutouts of the year Thursday to win the championship of the Fountain Valley Tournament, its third tournament title this season.

The Sea Kings (15-0), missing four starters because of injuries, blanked previously unbeaten Mission Viejo and Santa Ana by 1-0 scores to complete a grueling tournament that saw the team play six games in three days.

“It was a matter of which team would survive,” said Palos Verdes Coach Alan King. “Every team was sore.”

In the final against Santa Ana, Lance Haworth scored the game’s only goal on a breakaway with 10 minutes left in the first half. Antrobius then helped preserve the lead with several diving saves in the second half.

“He really grew mentally in the tournament,” King said of Antrobius, a junior who now has 12 shutouts in his first season on the varsity. “He has taken charge out there.”

Palos Verdes has outscored the opposition, 44-3, entering its Bay League opener Wednesday afternoon at Hawthorne.

King hopes to have starters Paul Kaemmerer (groin pull), Doug Kay (ankle sprain) and Jeff Bauers (thigh bruise) back for the Hawthorne game, but he isn’t optimistic concerning All-CIF midfielder Jim Miller. The senior, who suffered a knee injury earlier this season in a 4-1 win over Hawthorne, is most likely out for the year, King said.

Redondo tuned up for the start of Ocean League play by taking second in the 16-team Nogales Basketball Tournament, losing in the final Friday night to the host school, 56-55.

The Sea Hawks (7-4) won three games to reach the title game, including a 60-53 quarterfinal victory over Tustin, last year’s Southern Section 3-A runner-up. Redondo Forward Mike Houck averaged a team-leading 22 points a game and made the all-tournament team with center Steve Cottey.

“That may be a real key for us,” Coach Steve Shaw said of Cottey’s improved play. “When he’s played well, we’ve played well.”

Shaw was also pleased with the play of point guard Ian Martin, who scored a team-high 20 points in the win over Tustin when Houck and guard David Dinnel, Redondo’s top scorers, both had poor shooting games.

Redondo opens league play Wednesday afternoon at South Torrance before playing host Friday night to Morningside in a pivotal meeting between the two Ocean favorites. Morningside holds the edge based on its win over the Sea Hawks in the Pacific Shores Tournament.

Gardena’s basketball team ran into a one-man gang Thursday night, losing to Artesia and its exceptional forward, Ed O’Bannon, in the final of the Artesia Tournament.

The 6-8 O’Bannon, considered among the top juniors in the nation, scored 29 points to lead Artesia to a 63-51 win over the Mohicans.

The loss snapped a three-game winning streak in the tournament for Gardena (9-3), which edged Carson, 70-69, in the semifinals. Guard Darryl McMillan led the Mohicans with 24 points.

Twins Heather and Heidi Burge led Palos Verdes’ girls basketball team to a fifth-place finish in the Christ the King Tournament in Queens, N.Y., by combining for 50 points and 32 rebounds Friday in a 70-47 win over Cony High of Maine.

The 6-5 Burges were both named to the all-tournament team, as Palos Verdes (8-3) won two of three games in the tournament. The Sea Kings lost to St. Peter’s of Staten Island, N.Y.