Three Teams Choose Tougher Playoff Divisions

There was some shuffling of the deck, but most of the CIF Southern Section basketball teams decided to stand pat last week as the deadline passed for requesting a move up in enrollment classification for the playoffs.

In the South Bay, two boys teams (St. Bernard and El Segundo) and one girls team (Morningside) changed divisions. Schools had until Friday to submit a form to the Southern Section office indicating they would prefer to move up in the new playoff grouping based on enrollment.

St. Bernard, which moved from 3-A to the 5-AA Division, came to its decision the democratic way: The Vikings took a vote.

“I pretty much left it up to the team,” said Coach Jim McClune. “All the old lettermen wanted to go up, and all the new kids wanted to stay in 3-A. I didn’t see any logic to it either way. I think the people who wanted to stay believed that the 3-A might be an easier opportunity to win a championship, but I don’t believe that’s necessarily true.”

McClune said most of the seniors, including center Ed Stokes and guard Mark Raveling, wanted to move up to the section’s top division because that’s where they are accustomed to competing in the playoffs. St. Bernard was ranked No. 3 in this week’s 5-AA poll by sportswriters, behind Saddleback of Santa Ana and old nemesis Mater Dei of Santa Ana, which jumped from the 5-A Division.

“That’s the playoff level that the school has been participating at since (the seniors) have been here,” McClune said. “Our program hasn’t gotten any worse in that time. They wanted to continue to play at the highest level.”

El Segundo jumped from 2-A to 2-AA, thus leaving a division that includes five strong parochial schools that have enjoyed success in other divisions. Santa Clara, Serra, Cantwell, St. Anthony and Verbum Dei are ranked among the top 8 teams in 2-A.

El Segundo’s move presumably will make it easier for the Eagles to compete in the playoffs. Ranked No. 10 in 2-AA, El Segundo improved to 6-8 overall and 2-1 in the Santa Fe League on Tuesday with a 77-72 win over Mary Star.

Rolling Hills, ranked No. 1 in 3-A, remained in one of the toughest boys divisions, as did Morningside, ranked No. 9. The division lost two powerhouse teams when St. Bernard moved to 5-AA and St. Paul jumped to 4-A, but the 3-A gained a strong school in Compton, which had not been classified.

Morningside’s girls, ranked No. 1 in the state, moved from 3-A to 5-AA so they can compete at the state’s Division I level.

Palos Verdes’ girls remained in 4-A where they are ranked No. 1. The Sea Kings are classified in state Division II.

The Morningside girls basketball team has won by margins of 43, 66 and 29 points in its Ocean League games, but one of the Lady Monarchs victims says they shouldn’t be blamed for running up the score.

Redondo Coach Tim Ammentorp, whose team suffered a 77-11 loss to the Lady Monarchs last Friday, said he feels sorry for Morningside Coach Frank Scott because of the lack of local competition.

“I know a lot of the other coaches in the past have complained about the fact that he runs up the score,” Ammentorp said. “I don’t think he runs up the score. If he wanted to run up the score, they could come up and press all over the floor and they’d score 120 points every time.

“They have to work on some things at some point to get them ready for the playoffs. They’re just on a different level.”

Morningside improved to 13-1 and 3-0 in league play Tuesday with a 79-45 victory over West Torrance. Center Lisa Leslie and guard Jo Jo Witherspoon led the way with 23 and 21 points.

Mike Sakurai, the Gardena baseball coach, will add football head coaching responsibilities to his duties this spring. Sakurai replaces Dale Hirayama, who resigned after coaching the Mohicans to a 12-18 record over the last three years.

Redondo offensive coordinator Don Morrow reportedly is the leading candidate to replace Joe Austin as head football coach at South Torrance. Austin, a veteran of 16 seasons, stepped down to go into business with his brother.

Who’s the fastest prep football player in Southern California?

That question will be unofficially answered Jan. 20 when six of the Southland’s swiftest backs compete in the football 60-yard dash in the Sunkist Invitational indoor track meet at the Sports Arena.

Hawthorne quarterback Curtis Conway, The Times’ South Bay Back of the Year for the past two seasons and one of the top sprinters in the state, will be challenged by running backs Larry Billoups of Carson, Tommie Smith of Antelope Valley, Andre Green of Long Beach Poly, Russell White of Crespi and Beno Bryant of Dorsey.

One of the major reasons for the success of Palos Verdes’ soccer team is that most of the players have been teammates on Palos Verdes Raiders club teams coached by Fritz Furer. Some have played as long as six years on the Raiders.

Palos Verdes, getting goals from Doug Key and Lance Haworth, improved its record to 18-0 Tuesday with a 2-1 Bay League win over Torrance. The Sea Kings (2-0 in league play) visit Leuzinger (2-0) today at 3 p.m. with first place on the line.

PREP NOTES--St. Bernard defensive back Darryl Brown became the first South Bay football player to commit to a college, announcing he will sign with UC Berkeley when the signing period begins in February . . . West Torrance, led by 175-pounder Mike Ramirez, placed fourth Saturday at the El Camino College Prep Wrestling Tournament, the highest finish among South Bay schools and the second-highest finish among Southern Section schools. Perry High of Oklahoma won the team title, followed by Mt. Carmel of San Diego and Esperanza of Anaheim . . . Morningside center Jeff Crowe will be sidelined at least two weeks after spraining his ankle in the Monarchs’ 69-61 Ocean League basketball victory over Redondo last Friday . . . Ashley Black of Palos Verdes will run the mile in the Sunkist Invitational indoor track meet. Black led the Sea Kings to the state Division I cross-country title and has a 1,600-meter best of five minutes . . . This week’s Southern Section 4-A girls soccer poll ranks Hawthorne 6th, West Torrance 7th and South Torrance 10th (tie) . . . The Redondo Beach Chamber of Commerce, hoping to attract high school and college teams to the Super Bowl 10-K on Jan. 22, is offering $500 prizes to centipede teams of 10 or more runners and to six-pack teams of six runners. Winning teams will have their money donated to their school. More information can be obtained by calling 376-6913.

South Bay’s Basketball Top 10

Selected by Times Sportswriters

Records Through Tuesday’s Games

Rank, School, League: Record

1 Westchester (Westn.): 8-3

2 St. Bernard (Camino Real): 13-2

3 Rolling Hills (Bay): 11-3

4 Morningside (Ocean): 9-4

5 Inglewood (Bay): 7-4

6 Gardena (Southern): 10-4

7 Carson (Pacific): 7-5

8 Redondo (Ocean): 9-5

9 Torrance (Bay): 7-5

10 Banning (Pacific): 7-7