Section Tourney Site Is Changed to Golden Hall

Some details still must be worked out, but it’s official: The 1990 San Diego Section basketball championships will be played at Golden Hall March 1-3.

Game times have not been set. Section Commissioner Kendall Webb said that all of Thursday and Friday is available, but because U.S. International is scheduled to play its final game of the season at Golden Hall on Saturday, March 3, at 7:30 p.m., hours that day must be worked out with the college.

Further complicating the scheduling is Golden Hall’s capacity: 4,100. The San Diego Sports Arena, site of the playoffs for the past 14 years but unavailable this year because of scheduling conflicts, seats 12,000.

Attendance for six games on the final day last year was 6,801.

“Because of limited seating capacity we have to choose when we put what game,” Webb said. “We may need to spread the big attendance games out--or it might be we’ll have to clear out after each game. We have 2 1/2 days to work with.”

Knee injuries are taking their toll on the Point Loma High girls’ basketball team.

During the championship game of the Point Loma/Ben Fischer Tournament Dec. 30, Point Loma’s leading scorer, Tyeast Brown, went up for a layup and jammed her knee when landing. She suffered a torn ligament but should be back in the lineup in two to three weeks, Point Loma Coach Lee Trepanier said.

Brown, a 6-foot-0 senior center, was averaging 25.6 points a game.

Point Loma lost the Ben Fischer final to Bakersfield North, 40-35, and the next two games to San Pasqual and Oceanside. Not since 1978 had the Pointers (12-3) suffered three consecutive losses.

“The kids have to suck it up and play well,” Trepanier said.

Senior forward Erica Crittenden and junior guard Stacy Wainwright--both crucial to Point Loma’s scoring--have also missed time with knee injuries but are back in the lineup.

Trepanier has a “pleasant surprise” in senior forward Robin Rabello (6-1), who is averaging 10.3 rebounds a game. Rabello, an all-league soccer, volleyball and softball player, had never played basketball until this year. Trepanier said she was unhappy that Point Loma had switched soccer coaches three times during her time there and decided to switch.

An ESPN crew was at Christian High Thursday interviewing and filming Tony Clark for a segment about his basketball and baseball accomplishments. The segment will air on Scholastic Sports America in early February.

ESPN took footage of Clark pitching and taped some of Christian’s game against Prince Rupert (Canada) that night.

It was a result of something that began last spring, said Tony’s father, Art Clark. An El Cajon woman wrote a letter to the cable network, describing Tony’s athletic successes.

“Then this year, unknown to me, some other people had written letters,” Art Clark said. “Then I provided them (ESPN) with some stats.”

ESPN then contacted Tony.

“We usually hear about athletes through word of mouth--either by calls from fans, parents or writers,” said Craig Muckle, a publicist for ESPN. “And we have (our own) people around the country who provide us with stories and footage.”

Clark, who transfered from Valhalla to Christian this year, is averaging 43.9 points a game in basketball, leading the county.

Last year, as a member of the Valhalla baseball team, Clark led the county with 11 home runs. He finished seventh with 31 RBIs and struck out 45 batters.

Other county athletes are getting national press.

A picture of three high school athletes wearing red-and-gold varsity letterman jackets with initials “MC” in this week’s issue of Sports Illustrated should catch your attention if you’re familiar with county basketball.

It’s a picture of Mt. Carmel players Dana Pope, Matt Castillo and Tom LaBuda walking down a Las Vegas street. The picture accompanied a story on high school basketball tournaments, TV and recruiting and was taken while the team was participating in the Holiday Prep tournament there a couple of weeks ago.

Mt. Carmel (10-3), ranked No. 1 in the county, placed sixth in the tournament.