Winter Notebook / Sam Farmer : Even Dream Games Will Keep Goffredo Awake

The Crescenta Valley High basketball team, which trailed Pasadena throughout a Pacific League match-up Friday, cut the deficit to 4 points with 3 minutes to play before losing, 82-70. But Coach John Goffredo wasn’t disappointed with his team’s effort against the Bulldogs, ranked No. 1 in the Southern Section 5-A division basketball poll.

“It was a great high school game,” Goffredo said. “If I would have paid to see it, I would have enjoyed it. It had that playoff feel.”

The Falcons’ toughest time was trying to stop Pasadena’s 6-foot, 4-inch guard Idris Jones, who has signed a letter of intent to attend UC Santa Barbara next fall.

“Their superstar came through when the game was on the line,” Goffredo said of Jones, who scored 27 points. “I thought he was a penetrator but he was pulling up and hitting some legitimate 20-footers.”

No doz: Regardless of whether his team is winning or losing, Goffredo has problems with insomnia during the basketball season. On a good night, he’ll make it to 4 a.m. before he gets up in frustration.

“It’s tough to unwind,” said Goffredo, adding he rarely has a sleepless night in the off-season. “You don’t want to give in. You try to sleep but you just can’t.”

There’s some reprieve, however.

“They’ve got good movies on in the middle of the night and the newspaper comes around 4,” he said.

Brick brigade: The St. Francis High basketball team has not had a problem shooting, but in last Friday’s 68-59 loss to Crespi, the Golden Knights tossed up enough bricks to build a new gym.

St. Francis made 20 of 67 field-goal attempts and 9 of 21 free throws.

And the Knights took plenty of high-percentage shots. They missed 15 of 20 shots in the key.

Could this be a trend?

“I don’t think it’s a pattern,” said Coach John Jordan, whose team came into the game averaging nearly 80 points a game. “They are high school kids and those things happen.”

Batter-ball: The Hoover High basketball team is small and quick, but it has taken its lumps against bigger teams. A 73-71 loss to Muir on Friday was no exception. Still, Coach Kirt Kohlmeier was surprised when he went to John Hillman’s house Saturday.

Hillman, a Hoover guard whose family owns a satellite dish, invited Kohlmeier over to watch Indiana play Northwestern. Hillman was too bruised to enjoy the game, however, and had to retreat to bed.

“Physically, it really took a toll on him,” Kohlmeier said. “At Muir the officials let it get physical and with my guys that hurts us. We are just not big enough to pound it out with a 6-5, 6-6 team. It just wore us out.”

Tech time: Kohlmeier, who prides himself on his cool-headed approach to games, has earned a career-high 2 technical fouls this season, 1 of which came against Muir. Still, he says both were unwarranted and were charged when he voiced mild complaints about the officiating.

“I’m not a Bobby Knight,” Kohlmeier said. “But I’m not Paul Westhead, either.”