The High Schools / Steve Elling : No. 2 Taft Soars in Polls Despite Dunk Drought

As soon as the ball left his hand, he started to regret what he had done.

Or rather, what he had not done.

Taft center Jason Deyoe had a chance to slam dunk on a fast break 2 weeks ago in a Northwest Valley Conference game against San Fernando. He had the trajectory. He lacked the will.

“I was above the rim and everything,” said Deyoe, a 6-foot, 8-inch junior. “I just laid it in. I was kicking myself afterward for not doing it.”

No big deal, you say?

Think again. It is 1989. Imagine that you are the coach of a City Section 4-A Division team that is ranked No. 2 in the Valley and has a record of 15-2.

On your team is All-American Dedan Thomas, a point guard who set team records last year for assists, averaging 10 a game. Yet for all of his generosity, Thomas has not been able to set up any Taft player for the big one, the roof-rattler, the slam dunk.

No dunks in 17 games?

“I think that’s amazing,” Taft Coach Jim Woodard said. “We have not had a dunk this season. A 4-A team with that kind of record? Hard to believe.”

It gets worse.

“Last season, we had seven different guys who dunked,” Woodard said. “We’ve had two JVs dunk this year.”

Deyoe said at least 2 other players--forwards Tony Middleton and Jamal Thompson--are capable of dunking but have not had the chance because of the team’s conservative offense.

“We’re not really that style of team,” Deyoe said. “We just don’t fast break as much as in the past.”

Deyoe said the voice inside his head that sounded when he failed to attempt the slam against San Fernando was followed by another. San Fernando center Lance Whitaker, who has knocked down a jam or 2 when given the chance, wondered aloud why anyone in his right mind would pass up the opportunity.

“Whitaker asked me when we were running back up the court why I didn’t slam it,” Deyoe said. “I told him I’d get one the next time.”

Good thing Deyoe has another year of eligibility.

Style council: Team T-shirts have become a hot item at Cleveland. Not the flashy shirts bearing the team mascot and not the ones emblazoned with the unofficial team motto, “Our Mission is Transition.”

The latest in red-hot haute couture? Two styles of shirts featuring Coach Bob Braswell’s latest motivational tactic.

They read: “Board Member.”

The idea? To improve the play of Cleveland forwards by leaps and bounds--rebounds, to be precise.

Each forward already has received a white Board Member T-shirt. The week’s leading rebounder additionally earns a red T-shirt that reads “Chairman of the Boards.” If the team exceeds 1-game quotas set by the coaching staff, Braswell takes the forwards out to dinner.

“No little guys,” Braswell said. “Just the forwards.”

Lucious Harris and Warren Harrell are tied for the team lead with 2 red shirts each. The seasonal winner will earn a surprise gift.

Even graduates are after the novelties. “Trevor (Wilson) even came by and picked one up,” Braswell said.

But perhaps Wilson, a starting forward at UCLA, didn’t grasp the intent of the shirt. He took an XL but was far from excellent last Saturday as UCLA was outrebounded, 38-19, in an 82-79 loss to Notre Dame. Wilson had 2 rebounds in 34 minutes.

In reserve: Senior guard Brooklyn McLinn came off the bench to make 3 3-point shots and score 11 points in the second quarter of Taft’s 76-57 win over El Camino Real on Wednesday.

“He’s capable of doing that,” Woodard said. “He does pretty good for a guy who doesn’t have a muscle in his entire body.”

Last season, McLinn played for the junior varsity. In the past few months, however, Woodard said that McLinn grew 6 inches to his current height of 5-9.

McLinn’s mother, Sylvia, said doctors told her that Brooklyn, a 16-year-old who was born in Inglewood and is the youngest of 4 sons, “should grow to be about 6-2.”

Brooklyn’s brothers--Britton, Brandon and Brian--are all in the 6-foot range.

And what about the name? Sylvia McLinn said that her husband, Lloyd, came up with Brooklyn because “he was in a rut.”

Sweet nickname: Jacinda Sweet, a sophomore guard at North Hollywood, is averaging 14 points and 5 assists a game. For the past few weeks, Coach Rich Allen has been calling Sweet by her nickname, “G. G.”

Sweet, however, corrected Allen on his spelling. She prefers “JiJi,” a nickname Sweet’s mother gave her.

To smooth over any confusion, the 2 recently reached an agreement: Go with Jacinda when the name appears in print.

By any name, Sweet has been trouble for North Hollywood opponents.

Allen said that he almost did not allow Sweet to try out for the team.

“She came out for the team real, real late,” he said. “I told her we didn’t need her. She said, ‘Coach, I’m pretty good.’ She really is.”

Sweet, who lives a few blocks from Crenshaw High, is bused to North Hollywood. Allen said that she didn’t hear of North Hollywood’s basketball team--a City Section 3-A Division finalist last year--until well after preseason drills had started.

“Where she went to junior high, I guess they didn’t have a girls’ team,” Allen said. “She’d never played against girls before, always against the guys. She didn’t know we even had a team here.”

Sweet (5-9) learned the offense quickly, Allen said, and it was no surprise: On her last report card, Sweet received 5 As and a B, he said.

“I’m gonna have to keep a real close eye on her over the summer,” Allen cracked. “Somebody might try to steal her.”

Sweet might even be tempted to stay at home: Crenshaw is the top-rated girls’ team in the City by The Times.

Calling all players: Grant baseball Coach Tom Lucero is seeking former Lancer players for an alumni game against the 1989 varsity on Feb. 11 at 11 a.m.

Information: 818-781-1400 or 213-827-1057.