Thomas Includes Few Turnovers With Favorite Dishes

Coaches at Nevada Las Vegas have compared Taft High’s Dedan Thomas to former Runnin’ Rebel star Mark Wade, who set school records for assists. Wade’s hallmark as a point guard was that no matter what kind of defensive pressure he faced, he dished the ball to the right man at the right place at the right time.

Thomas, a 5-foot-10 senior who will attend UNLV in the fall, did likewise all season.

Thomas averaged 9.1 assists despite playing for a team that played a slow-paced, halfcourt offense. And despite being Taft’s only solid ballhandler, Thomas turned the ball over only 63 times in 22 games (2.9 a game).

Thomas also averaged 5.3 steals and carried the team scoring load, averaging 18.5 points. He made 146 of 300 field-goal attempts (48.6%).

Final countdown: El Camino Real senior forward Brent Lofton is arguably the best basketball player in school history. Last year, he was named All-City and appears a cinch to repeat after averaging 23.7 points and 12.2 rebounds this season. In his 2 1/2-year, 50-game varsity career, Lofton scored 1,009 points (20.2 average) and had 556 rebounds (11.1). This season, he made 184 of 315 field-goal attempts (58.4%) and 83 of 116 free throws (71.5%). Lofton’s career point total is a school record and only 1987 graduate Sean Davis (651) has more career rebounds.

Mr. All-around: Oakwood senior swingman Mitchell Butler averaged 29.6 points, 16.2 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 4.5 steals and 2.0 blocks, team highs in all categories.

Iron man: Crespi guard Chris McGee played every minute of the Celts’ last 16 games and all but a combined 16 minutes of 22 games. The last time McGee watched from the bench was against Glendale in the Beverly Hills tournament Dec. 15.

Shooting percentages: Hart’s Brett Wilson shot a team-high 55% (172 of 313) from the field. Wilson also made 69% (195 of 282) of his free throws.

Notre Dame’s Brian Jones shot 52% from the field, 47% from three-point range, and 77% from the free-throw line. Teammate Ken Hicks shot 49% from the field, 48% from three-point range, and 76% from the free-throw line.

Three Birmingham starters shot better than 50% from the field: Tyrone Craig (54.8), Glenn Sucich (53.9) and Jason Wallace (52.9). Sucich made 79.3% of his free throws.

Harvard’s Brian Domyan shot 54% (116 of 214) from the field and teammate Mike Beckwith shot 53% (128 of 240). Harvard’s Rick Osterloh made 100 of 123 (81%) free throws. Crescenta Valley’s Raffie Eskandarian made 140 of 183 free throws (77%).

Soccer: Matt Freedman leads the Agoura boys’ team with 26 goals and Dominic Zapata has 22 goals and 19 assists. Heidi Walters leads the Agoura girls’ team’ with 29 goals.