THE HIGH SCHOOLS : Radio Days in Santa Clarita Force Delays in the Action

Been standing around at a Canyon High football game lately? Found yourself with some extra time during a timeout at a Hart game at College of the Canyons?

That’s probably because you’re smack in the middle of a radio timeout. That’s right, KBET (1220 AM), a Canyon Country-based station that broadcasts selected games involving Canyon, Hart and Saugus, has arranged for two breaks in the action each quarter in order to accommodate local advertisers.

The results are similar to Sunday games in the Coliseum: Players standing around on the field waiting for a play to begin.

“We have to have the permission of both coaches (for a timeout),” said Mike Levine, KBET program director. “If not, it’s just catch as catch can. We try and signal for a radio timeout at the eight- and four-minute marks and whenever there is a score.

“We’ve had no complaints from any coaches. We try to repay them by giving them tapes of the games.”

Game change: Montclair Prep’s Alpha League opener against Marshall Fundamental has been re-scheduled, Coach George Giannini said. The game will be played Thursday night at 7:30 at La Canada High. It was originally scheduled for Saturday night at Glendale High.

A revolutionary player: It seems that Aaronn Castro, believed to be the first freshman to play on the varsity at Cleveland, looks a little old for his age.

“We call him the man-child,” Cleveland Coach Steve Landress said. “He’s more mature than most of these guys.

“He came in with a full beard over the summer. He looked like Che Guevara.”

Add Cleveland: Maybe senior running back Pat Bryant is lobbying for his old job.

In last week’s 14-7 win over Chatsworth, Bryant was utilized on occasion at flanker; playing that position in 1988 he caught a team-high 20 passes for six touchdowns.

Against Chatsworth, Bryant caught three passes for 46 yards and scored the game-winning touchdown on a 30-yard pass from quarterback Steve Bryant.

A class act: Camarillo High cross-country runners Chad Malesich, Abe Valdez and Derek Kite tied for first in the Scorpions’ Marmonte League tri-meet victory over Channel Islands and Royal last week, but it was Kite who opted to be the third-place finisher of record.

When a runner completes a race, he is given a stick indicating his place. The first-, second- and third-place sticks were handed to Kite when he, Malesich and Valdez simultaneously crossed the finish line.

Kite, a senior transfer from Agoura, selected the third-place stick and handed the Nos. 1 and 2 sticks to Malesich and Valdez.

“He has to stop being so polite,” Coach Mike Smith said facetiously.

No revenge: When the Thousand Oaks girls’ volleyball team advanced to the playoff round at the San Marcos Invitational on Saturday, the Lancers met a familiar opponent. Across the net was Gahr, which defeated Thousand Oaks in the Southern Section 4-A Division final last year in three game, a loss not easily forgotten by seven Lancer seniors.

Nearly a year later, the Lancers had no better luck, losing, 15-6, to the Gladiators, who played with more emotion than the Lancers, according to Thousand Oaks Coach Ron Beick.

“We are ranked No. 1 this year and Gahr is No. 8,” Beick said of last week’s poll. “That might be why they played more emotionally than us.”

Thousand Oaks finished 10th and Gahr in the 25-team tournament, which included five nationally ranked teams and was called the best girls’ high school tournament field of the season by Volleyball Monthly. Thousand Oaks has been ranked 13th in the nation by Volleyball Monthly.

Mike Glaze and staff writers Scot Butwell, Steve Elling, Brian Murphy and Vince Kowalick contributed to this notebook.