PALOMAR LEAGUE BASKETBALL PREVIEW : Mt. Carmel Expected to Take Leading Role From Torrey Pines

The usual is out in the Palomar League this season. The unusual is in.

Torrey Pines, league champion the past two seasons, isn’t the favorite this winter. Mt. Carmel is the talk of the league--even from Mt. Carmel Coach John Marincovich. That is another unusual thing; the coach of a favorite usually downplays his team’s chances.

But not Marincovich: “I think we’re the team to beat,” he said. “We’re a very good team--barring injuries, ineligibilities and other things that can happen.”

Mt. Carmel is definitely the best team you haven’t seen this year: The Sundevils don’t play a game in San Diego until Dec. 27. They opened in a tournament in Alaska and play next in the Las Vegas Holiday Classic Dec. 19-22.

As for the rest of the league, you can see most of it in San Dieguito’s Lt. James Mitchell Tournament beginning tonight. All but Mt. Carmel and Poway are participating.

THE RACE Top contenders: Mt. Carmel (18-9 in 1988-89), Poway (23-5), Torrey Pines (32-2).

Surprise potential: Rancho Buena Vista (14-14), Vista (7-19), Fallbrook (12-13), San Dieguito (8-18).

Hoping for improvement: Orange Glen (6-18).

Game of the year: Poway at Mt. Carmel, Feb. 2. Should be an important step on the road to the league title; if not, this is a rivalry worth catching anyway.

THE PLAYERS The man: He’s big, he’s with the league favorite, and he’s headed for Brigham Young next season. He’s Shane Knight, a 6-foot-9 forward who led the Sundevils in scoring (14-point average), rebounding (nine), blocked shots (four), assists (three) and steals (2 1/2) last season.

“I like everything about him,” Marincovich said. “He’s very unselfish, he has really improved his shooting, and it’s hard to keep him off the offensive boards. He’s very agile.”

Besides a good Knight, Rancho Buena Vista’s Darryl Parker will command some of the league’s attention. Parker, a 6-6 forward, averaged 17.1 points and 9.3 rebounds a game last season. He can handle the ball and shoot, and he’s quick enough to play tough defense.

Torrey Pines lost 80% of last year’s team, but Kyle Armstrong (10 points, nine assists a game) returns and will be one of the league’s best point guards. He broke the San Diego Section record for three-point shots earlier this season when he made 11 of 15 against Mountain View (Tucson).

Who will fill Courtie Miller’s and Kevin Flanagan’s shoes? The Twin Towers from Torrey Pines have gone off to San Diego State and Arizona, leaving a gaping hole in the middle of Coach John Farrell’s team. “Nobody will fill those guys’ shoes,” Farrell said. “It will take five guys instead of one. We’ll be looking for our own identity this season.” Chris Stevens (6-7 1/2) will fill Flanagan’s center position. Mark Roe, a 6-6 1/2, 235-pound sophomore, will also get some playing time. Two sophomores--Craig Brown and John Allred--will get a crack at Miller’s forward spot.

As for other newcomers, Vista point guard Jason Barnes, a 5-11 sophomore, is averaging 24 points a game. Orange Glen sophomore John Burns (6-9) is another to watch.

THE INTANGIBLES The Wizards of North County--Above all, the Palomar League is a coaches’ league. Marincovich, Farrell and Poway’s Neville Saner can put their career records up against anybody in the county. Marincovich and Saner are the Palomar deans--Marincovich has been at Mt. Carmel since the school fielded its first varsity team in 1975-76, and Saner is in his seventh year.

RBV’s John O’Neill, Fallbrook’s Russ Keith and San Dieguito’s Mark Embree are in their third years. First-year Palomar coaches this season are Vista’s Greg Lanthier and Orange Glen’s Joe Liebentritt.

“Almost every school has a superior coach,” Farrell said. “That’s what makes it so competitive. If you take a night off, you will get burned. Marincovich is one of the most respected coaches around, and Keith and O’Neill don’t make it any easier on the rest of us.”

Tin Men: There are a few injuries league-wide that could have an impact on the race. RBV’s John Lewis, called by O’Neill the best point guard in the league, has a broken clavicle and likely won’t be back until after Christmas. San Dieguito, a middle-of-the-pack team, nearly lost two of its best players: Brian Malewicz suffered a separated shoulder during a football playoff game (Embree is unsure when to expect him back), and Matt de La Pena split his head open in a scrimmage against Mira Mesa and took 10 stitches but has returned. Orange Glen, already expected to finish last, suffered a blow when small forward Darrin Wilkinson (6-2) hyper-extended his right elbow (non-shooting arm) in the Patriots’ second game.

Big men = fast games?: Coaches think the league is a bit smaller this year, but five of the eight teams still have a dominant player 6-6 or taller: Torrey Pines’ Stevens (6-7 1/2), Mt. Carmel’s Knight (6-9), RBV’s Parker (6-6), Orange Glen’s Burns (6-9), and Fallbrook’s Travis Teagle (6-6). Poway, San Dieguito and Vista are the three teams lacking a big player. So what does this mean? “I think a lot more teams are trying to run the ball up and down the court,” San Dieguito Coach Mark Embree said. “If we tried to set it up against a Fallbrook, we’d get destroyed. They have big kids. People saw the problems RBV caused last year by constantly putting pressure on its opponent.” San Dieguito, Orange Glen, RBV, Vista, and Torrey Pines will play up-tempo. Poway, Mt. Carmel and Fallbrook will run more patterned offenses.