Lisa Leslie and the Burges Twins Sparkle

On the high school level, 6-foot-5 Lisa Leslie of Morningside and 6-4 twins Heidi and Heather Burge of Palos Verdes are dominant basketball players. Their size and athletic ability set them apart from most of their peers.

But what would happen if Leslie and the Burges had to face college players who are older, more physically mature and, in some cases, equal in size?

The three prep stars found out last weekend when they were among 70 college and 28 high school players who tried out for 10 spots on the 20-and-under U.S. Olympic Festival West team at Chapman College in Orange.

When it was over, Leslie and the Burges proved themselves equal to the task during a demanding three days of tryouts.

Heidi Burge was the only high school player selected to the West team by a panel of college coaches, sister Heather was named one of three alternates and Leslie earned a shot at making the elite Junior National team.

Leslie, assured of making one of the four Olympic Festival teams, was one of three players--the others were Penny Moore of Cal State Long Beach and Julie Zeilstra of Stanford--chosen to try out for the Junior National team June 4-7 at Colorado Springs. If she makes that cut, she will participate in the World Junior Games in Spain this summer.

Not bad for an Inglewood schoolgirl who, as a junior this season, led the Lady Monarchs to the state Division I championship and received enough awards to fill a trophy case. She was named the state Player of the Year by Cal-Hi Sports, The Times South Bay Player of the Year and the Southern Section 5-AA Player of the Year.

“For Lisa Leslie to be invited to try out for the Junior National team as a junior in high school is just outstanding,” said Palos Verdes Coach Wendell Yoshida, who conducted some of the drills at the Olympic Festival tryouts.

“The trials were brutal. They brought out the best in all of the kids.”

They also brought out a few bruises.

Morningside Coach Frank Scott, who assisted at the trials, said the rough play caught Leslie by surprise.

“They pushed her around in the early going,” he said. “I told her she had to bang right back. And she did, especially on the last day. Now she knows what to expect in college.

“It was a war out there. Every time they took the ball inside, I was afraid someone was going to lose an arm. Nothing came cheap.”

Yoshida said the Virginia-bound Burges also took their lumps.

“Heidi had ice packs on her face by the end of Saturday night from all the elbows being thrown,” he said. “It was cutthroat.”

Because of the competition, many outstanding players failed to survive all four cuts. All-Southern Section guard JoJo Witherspoon of Morningside and University of Washington forward Shaunda Greene, the 1988 Southern Section 4-A Division Co-Player of the Year at Morningside, were eliminated after the third cut.

Those who made it will compete in the Olympic Festival in July at Oklahoma City.

To say that Bishop Montgomery pitcher Armando Cervantes has been a pleasant surprise for Coach Bob Anderson would be an understatement.

The sophomore right-hander, considered a promising newcomer before the season, has emerged as the ace of a balanced staff with a 5-0 record, one save, a 1.30 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 48 1/3 innings.

“I thought he would be a dominant pitcher in the South Bay by the time he was a senior, possibly by the end of his junior year, but I never expected him to be doing as well as he is now,” Anderson said. “He wants the ball in the big games. His poise and mound presence are just amazing for his age.”

The 15-year-old Cervantes was at his best Saturday, tossing a two-hitter and striking out 10 in a 2-1 victory over St. Paul. The win moved Bishop Montgomery closer to clinching third place and qualifying for the playoffs from the Angelus League for the first time in school history.

Anderson said the Knights have never qualified for the playoffs from the competitive Angelus League in baseball, basketball or football. The Torrance school has been in the league for 14 years of its 31-year existence, he said.

Senior right-hander Erik Russell was expected to be Bishop Montgomery’s top pitcher, but he’s now considered more of an offensive threat.

Entering this week, Russell led the Knights with a .393 batting average (22 for 56) and two home runs. He delivered the game-winning single in the seventh inning Saturday against St. Paul.

Russell’s impressive hitting has helped compensate for an unimpressive year of pitching. The 6-foot-3, 190-pounder, who was an All-Angelus League pitching selection last year, is 2-3 with a 2.55 ERA and has fallen out of the Knights’ regular rotation. He starts in left field.

Anderson says Russell’s problems have been twofold: a lack of confidence and trouble making the transition from reliever to starter.

“Every time he pitches well, he has confidence,” the coach said. “When he’s uneasy about himself, he never throws well. That’s going to be the biggest hurdle for him. When he walks out there every time with confidence, I sure don’t want to be facing him.”

Anderson said the hard-throwing Russell is being recruited as a pitcher by Arizona State and Long Beach State.

“I still think his future is as a pitcher,” he said. “The kid’s got a great arm. He just needs confidence when he’s on the mound.”

Hawthorne continued to roll toward the Bay League softball title Tuesday with a 10-1 victory over Rolling Hills as senior pitcher Tricia Waayers threw a one-hitter, struck out nine and batted three for four with an RBI.

Waayers (13-2) and the Cougars’ other pitcher, Lisa Smith (6-0), have been nearly unhittable this season. In 97 innings, Waayers has 11 complete games, 149 strikeouts and has allowed six earned runs for an 0.43 ERA. Smith, the No. 2 starter, has given up only one earned run in 43 innings for an 0.16 ERA.

Erica Henderson leads four teammates hitting over .300 with a .429 average. Hawthorne, ranked No. 9 in the Southern Section 4-A Division coaches’ poll, is 20-2 overall and 10-1 in the Bay League.

How’s this for parity:

One game separates the top six teams in the Bay League baseball race, and seven of the eight teams have a chance to earn a berth in the Southern Section 5-A playoffs with three games remaining.

Rolling Hills, Palos Verdes and Beverly Hills are tied for first place with 7-4 records, while Torrance, Hawthorne and Santa Monica are one game back in a three-way tie for fourth with 6-5 marks. Leuzinger is three games off the pace at 4-7 and has only a slim chance of finishing among the top three.

Torrance, winner of eight of its last 10 games, maintained its hot streak Tuesday by handing Rolling Hills its third straight league defeat, 8-4, behind the hitting and pitching of Mike Kendall, who homered and went the distance.

Beverly Hills did its part to tighten the race by handing Palos Verdes a 15-4 defeat.

In pivotal rematches today, Beverly Hills plays at Palos Verdes and Rolling Hills visits Torrance in 3 p.m. games.

PREP NOTES--Despite losing in the quarterfinals of the Redondo/Mira Costa Varsity Classic on Saturday, Mira Costa’s volleyball team retained its No. 1 ranking in the Southern Section 4-A coaches’ poll. Tournament champion Corona del Mar jumped from fourth to third in the poll and runner-up Loyola went from seventh to fifth. Previously unranked Newport Harbor, which handed Mira Costa a 16-14 loss, cracked the top 10 at No. 9. Mira Costa rebounded from the loss by clinching the Ocean League title Tuesday with a 15-1, 15-2 sweep over West Torrance. The Mustangs are 17-1 overall and 13-0 in league play. . . . Mary Star’s baseball team extended its winning streak to 13 games Tuesday with a 10-4 triumph over Pater Noster to improve to 8-0 in the Santa Fe League and 16-5 overall. Rich Negrete, Miguel Galaz and George Pisano each drove in two runs. . . . San Pedro and Banning kept pace with each other for the Pacific League baseball lead with victories Tuesday. Dale Johnson and Arnold Madrid each drove in two runs to lead San Pedro past Narbonne, 8-2, and right-hander Chico Limas struck out 13 in Banning’s 12-4 win over Washington. The rivals, who tied for the Pacific League crown last year, meet May 16 in a regular-season finale at Banning. . . . Banning softball pitcher Kricket Kern shut out San Pedro, 2-0, Tuesday to force a tie between the teams for first place in the Pacific League with one game remaining, each with an 8-1 record. Since the teams split their head-to-head meetings, if both win their league finales today, a tie-breaker would be played Monday to decide first place and a bye in the first round of the L.A. City playoffs.