The High Schools : Mom’s Cooking Fuels Lofton for Return to Court

In the span of 4 days, Brent Lofton has learned, albeit after bouncing off a bathroom floor, to make the distinction between a sole meal and soul food.

Lofton, a senior forward at El Camino Real, fainted in the bathroom of his mother’s Los Angeles apartment Sunday morning because of dehydration and vitamin deficiencies. Lofton spent 10 hours in an Inglewood hospital for tests and evaluation. Doctors also determined that he had an irregular heartbeat.

Physicians ordered the All-City Section and Times All-Valley player to miss 3 days of school and get plenty of bed rest. The best prescription, however, came when Lofton was ordered to load up on vitamin-rich foods to help make up for what had admittedly been a horrific teen-age diet.

“Oh, man, I’ve been eating like a king,” Lofton said. “Pork chops, greens, corn . . . We’re talking soul food.”

Pumped full of fuel by his mother Bertha, Lofton was given the green light to play against Cleveland at 7 tonight. Lofton, who will attend Utah State on a basketball scholarship in the fall, was given final authorization Thursday by a cardiologist.

Earlier, a nutritionist would have been useful. Lofton, a senior who turned 17 a month ago, formerly had the kind of food intake that at best could be described as erratic.

His regimen?

Lofton, who lives with his father in Los Angeles and rides the bus to school at dawn, would leave home without eating breakfast.

“I never eat in the morning,” he said, “I get up, get dressed and leave. I try to maybe get something at nutrition break at around 10.”

His nutrition-break doughnut having been inhaled, Lofton would regularly skip lunch, then participate in the team’s 2-hour practice. Sometimes he would not eat until he returned home about 6 p.m., and that usually consisted of fast-food fare. One meal a day?

“When you haven’t eaten, McDonald’s isn’t going to do too much for you, either,” he cracked.

Lofton said nurses told him that they were amazed he had not had trouble before.

“After they tested me, they said they were surprised I hadn’t fainted earlier,” he said.

El Camino Real Coach Mike McNulty was relieved to hear that Lofton’s trouble was not serious and predicted that Lofton would soon shake his lethargy. Lofton is averaging 21.9 points and 10.3 rebounds a game but often has seemed sluggish and out of sync, McNulty said.

“All year, we’ve been wondering why he was only scoring 20 a game,” McNulty said. “Now we’re asking ourselves how he managed to score that many.”

Send help, fast: While Lofton watched from the sidelines Wednesday, El Camino Real surprised Granada Hills, 62-57. The Highlanders are ranked No. 4 in the Times Valley Poll. Senior forward Charlie Crow scored a career-high 24 points to pick up the scoring slack.

“I went up to him after and asked why he didn’t do that when I’m there,” Lofton said. “He said, ‘Uh, I don’t know.’ ”

Crow, who transferred to El Camino Real from Crespi 2 years ago, finally provided what El Camino Real coaches had been seeking for several games--production from someone other than Lofton.

“They all seem to stand around and wait for Brent to do something,” said assistant Jeff Davis, who coaches the junior varsity. “These guys were all decent scorers on the JV team, they just don’t shoot when (Brent) is in the game.”

Missing in action:: Granada Hills played Wednesday without senior point guard John Johnson, who was ill. The Highlanders managed to defeat Chatsworth, 81-66, last Friday without Johnson but were unable to handle El Camino Real.

Lofton said that Granada Hills is an entirely different team without Johnson.

“He’s their Dedan Thomas,” said Lofton, in reference to Taft’s All-American point guard. “He makes everything happen. He runs their whole offense.”

One shot only: The City Section’s releaguing structure has yielded an unexpected result in at least one case: It has short-circuited revenge.

In seasons past, Grant had the opportunity to avenge a loss to rival North Hollywood, but the Lancers must live with last week’s 67-57 defeat to the Huskies in a Valley Pac-8 Conference opener. The schools are no longer in the same league and will not meet again this season unless they draw each other in the 3-A Division playoffs.

Even North Hollywood Coach Steve Miller, whose Huskies shared the East Valley League title with the Lancers last season, wants a rematch.

“I don’t understand the releaguing scheme,” Miller said. “Supposedly, it was done to promote neighborhood rivalries, but when they put us in the Mid-Valley League, it hurt our rivalry with Grant and Poly.”

No return: The Chatsworth High baseball team, which cruised to the championship of the Colonial Baseball Classic in Orlando, Fla., last April, will not return to defend its title in the nation’s most prestigious high school tournament.

“It’s a shame,” Chatsworth Coach Bob Lofrano said. “But we no longer have an Easter vacation. We have a spring vacation.”

And, consequently, no Florida vacation. Because the L. A. Unified School District slated April 10-14 for its weeklong spring break, Chatsworth, along with all other City Section schools, will be in session during the week of March 27-31, the week of the Colonial tournament.

Colonial Coach George Kirchgassner, the tournament’s director, said that he will be disappointed by the absence of Chatsworth, which he labeled “a class act” after the Chancellors’ 5-2 championship win over Kaiser of Hawaii. It marks the first time in the tournament’s 10-year history that the champion will not defend its title.

“We would love to have had them,” Kirchgassner said. “It takes a little bit of credibility away from the tournament, but we can’t do anything about it.”

Chatsworth (25-2 last season) spent most of the season ranked No. 1 in the nation by USA Today and Collegiate Baseball magazine. The Chancellors recorded 4 consecutive tournament wins over teams from Florida, California and Hawaii.