Times Honors Top Prep Cagers and Two Coaches

Bel-Air Prep Coach Mike Whiting, Crossroads Coach Larry Weiner, Valerie Agee of Palisades High and Zan Mason of Westchester High received top honors for the Westside at The Times’ annual basketball awards program.

The ceremony at a breakfast Sunday at the Anaheim Hilton saluted 240 prep all-star boys and girls from 12 Southern California areas.

Whiting, 29, was named boys Coach of the Year and Weiner, the top girls coach. Agee and Mason were players of the year.

Whiting’s team won the Southern California Regional Division V championship and went to the state final, where the Bruins lost to Menlo School of Menlo Park. Bel-Air Prep finished with a 23-9 record.

Weiner, 33, won his second Coach of the Year award after his team captured its sixth straight Delphic League title, each time with an undefeated league record. His other award came in 1986.

His 1989 team finished with a 20-3 record, best on the Westside. In seven years, his Crossroads teams are 119-40, a .748 winning percentage.

Agee played every position for the Dolphins and excelled wherever she played. The 5-8 senior was named All-Westside for the second straight year after she led Palisades with averages of 24 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists a game.

Agee’s coach, Richard Ruiz, said: “When push comes to shove, she does want the ball and wants to shoot. She is really a pressure player.” Her coach last year, Kenneth Seidel, said she is “really a superstar who is at her best when crunch time comes.”

Mason, a 6-7 senior who is headed for UCLA, has won honors at the local, state and national levels.

For three straight years he was named to the All-Los Angeles City 4-A and All-Westside teams, and he was selected as the state’s outstanding junior last year by Cal-Hi Sports. This year he was named a third-team All-American by Parade Magazine and to the all-state second team of California Basketball magazine. This season Mason averaged 22 points and 11 rebounds. Westchester Coach Ed Azzam has called him “a great offensive player who cannot be stopped inside.”

George Yardley, a former Stanford All-American and National Basketball Assn. star, was the speaker at the breakfast. All-star players and their guests were welcomed by Will Kern, Times director of special events.

Besides Agee, members of the All-Westside girls team are Jamila Banks of Crossroads, Tamara Battle of Palisades, Lisa Cohen of Westlake, Terry Ginoza of University, Nicole Harper of Marlborough, Princess Murray of Fairfax, Judy R. Nakashima of Venice, Melissa Punch of Culver City and Faye Stapleton of Crossroads.

In addition to Mason, members of the boys team are Eric Clark of University, Ahmad Clayton of Bel-Air Prep, Chris Cotton of St. Monica, Sam Crawford of Westchester, Fred Dardashti of Beverly Hills, Jason Edwards of Palisades, Norman Francis Jr. of Fairfax, Cleveland Jackson of St. Monica and Michael Moore of Beverly Hills.