THE HIGH SCHOOLS : Trip Gives Westlake a New View

Westlake High Coach Greg Hess wasn’t satisfied with the third-place trophy the Warriors brought home from the Calgary Classic in Alberta, Canada, last week, but he was pleased with the learning experience.

Hess, who graduated from the University of Calgary in 1978, spent four years as a college player and 10 years as a high school coach in Canada. Each Westlake player spent about $400 in air fare, food, and lodging. Hess said that the expenses were worth the experience of the five-day trip.

“It was great to get up there and see what it was all about,” Hess said. “We toured all the sites.”

The players enjoyed throwing snowballs on the Canadian Rockies as well as throwing picks in the key.

“We took the gondola up to the mountains and they had a great time playing around in the snow,” Hess said.

The tournament was played under international rules, which include a 30-second shot clock, a smaller key and a three-point line 21 feet from the basket instead of the high school regulation 19 feet 9 inches.

Transition game: Imagine spending weeks drilling a team in running a specific offense, gearing your practices around the orchestration of the up-tempo game and having players run hours of full-court presses to key the attack.

And just like that, your guards are gone.

El Camino Real (3-5) is still trying to recover from the loss of four guards, which forced the team to scale back its emphasis on a wide-open game.

First, the Conquistadores lost Lamont Johnson to academic ineligibility. “He was probably the steadiest guy I have,” Coach Mike McNulty said.

And since then, there’s been a steady decline in healthy bodies, and it’s been ankles that rankle McNulty most.

Kenard Durr blew out an ankle playing on the football team, sustaining ligament damage, and still has not played for McNulty. Current starters Todd Orlando and Stephen Lipscomb also have been hampered by bum ankles.

“When you teach a team to run a certain style and that’s taken away from you, it’s a difficult transition to make,” McNulty said. “I can’t wait until we finally get everybody out there.”

Flu crew: Four Glendale starters were sidelined at times during the holidays and the Dynamiters (6-8) dropped three games. Scott Tillman is out with a broken thumb and Jason Harper, Brian Porter and Dex Puno had bouts with the flu.

“I’m about ready to send the curse to somebody else,” Coach Bob Davidson said.

Davidson said his teams have sustained more injuries during the past two seasons than any other squads in his 14-year career.

He had better send the curse by express mail--Glendale’s first Pacific League games are against Muir and Pasadena, both tough teams.

As deep as the ocean: You want depth? Consider the breadth of talent that North Hollywood Coach Steve Miller is enjoying.

The team has played in three tournaments and five Huskies’ have made various all-tournament teams. Center Dana Jones has been honored at the Crescenta Valley, Bell-Jeff and North Hollywood tournaments, and was named MVP at the first two.

In the Crescenta Valley tournament, guard Tommy Byrdsong joined Jones on the all-tournament team.

In the North Hollywood tournament, point guard Robert Hill made it. And last week in the Bell-Jeff tournament, Eric Jackson and Duane Braxton received similar honors.

What does Miller, who has parlayed this talent into a 12-1 record, think of all this? “I think we haven’t peaked yet,” he said.

What about me?: Another valuable Husky, sixth-man Ray Fisher, can’t be forgotten, according to Miller.

Fisher, who was slowed early by a bad ankle, is now averaging 10 points. And while Fisher hasn’t received any all-tournament plaques, he does have some nice memories.

Fisher made a jump shot in the waning seconds of the Crescenta Valley tournament against the host to give North Hollywood the title.

“Certain guys are starting to appear in big situations for us,” Miller said. “And Ray Fisher is certainly one of them.”

Staff writers Steve Elling, Sam Farmer, Brian Murphy and Jeff Riley contributed to this notebook.