SPORTS NOTEBOOK : Girls Coach at Brethren Suspended for Pulling Team; Lack of Two Referees Cited

Denise Fairbanks, girls basketball coach at Brethren High School in Paramount, was suspended for the season recently for pulling her team off the court during a game at Capistrano Valley Christian High School on Jan. 11.

Fairbanks was assessed a second technical foul for arguing with the official and ejected with two minutes left in the third quarter of the game, which was refereed by only one official, according to Dean Crowley, associate commissioner of athletics for the CIF Southern Section.

Crowley said Fairbanks was allowed to stay in the gym to tend to an injured player. He said a Brethren administrator took over the team but that after the third quarter, with Capistrano Valley leading, 37-19, Fairbanks and the team left. Capistrano Valley was awarded a forfeit.

Crowley said the CIF cannot take disciplinary action against coaches because “we don’t hire them.”

“When the coach took it upon herself to remove the team from the court, it was a violation of our code of ethics,” Crowley said.

In compliance with CIF rules, Brethren Principal Barrett Luketic notified the CIF office and a written report was filed.

CIF rules state that when a coach pulls a team off the floor, the CIF expects the principal to suspend the coach for the rest of the season.

“They filed the report and complied fully,” Crowley said.

Fairbanks could not be reached for comment, but Linda Weightman, the Brethren girls athletic director, said Fairbanks pulled the team because “she was protecting her players because the official wasn’t keeping control of the game.”

Joseph A. Ventresca was the only official at the game; his partner did not show up, Crowley said.

“There have been a lot of problems assigning referees in Orange County,” Crowley said. “There have been a lot of no-shows.”

Crowley said Ventresca had told the coaches before the game that he needed their cooperation because he was likely to miss some calls.

Brethren, 1-14 this season after a 40-27 loss to Whitney on Tuesday night, is now being coached by Steve Beasley, a teacher at the school.

Fairbanks, also a Brethren teacher, will be permitted to coach softball this spring, Crowley said.

Quote: When asked for his team’s rebounding statistics this week, Warren High School basketball Coach Jay Young said: “I don’t have anybody over 6 feet so rebounding’s not a part of our game.”

Allen’s First Game: George Allen will make his debut as football coach at Cal State Long Beach when the 49ers play at Clemson University in South Carolina on Sept. 1. The 49ers’ guarantee for the game is $250,000, according to Athletic Director Corey Johnson.

In recent years, a number of Big West Conference football teams have played road games with national powers, exchanging lopsided defeats for lucrative guarantees.

The last three seasons, Long Beach played for big paydays at UCLA and Michigan and twice at Oregon. The 49ers lost those games by a combined score of 196-13.

Clemson, of the Atlantic Coast Conference, plays in an 80,000-seat stadium. The Tigers were ranked 12th in the country in 1989.

Also on the 49ers’ 1990 schedule are road games with Utah State, San Diego State, Boise State, San Jose State and Fresno State and home games at Veterans Stadium with Pacific, New Mexico State, Cal State Fullerton, Nevada Las Vegas and Cal State Northridge.

String of Victories: The Brethren High School boys basketball team continued its domination of Valley Christian with a 61-50 win last week. It was the second victory for the Warriors over the Crusaders this season and their fifth in a row since January, 1988.

“Our guys mentally prepare for them,” Brethren Coach Rich Thomas said. “We have been inspired to play well against them.”

Valley Christian Coach Harold DeBie, downplaying any rivalry, said: “It’s just another game for us. We have not shot well both times we played them.”

Brethren is 13-6 overall and 6-4 in the Olympic League. Valley Christian is 15-5 and 8-2.

Changing Schools: Brian Jones, a 6-foot-4 sophomore guard who quit the Cal State Long Beach basketball team two weeks ago, said he is transfering to Cal State Dominguez Hills, and will be eligible to play next December.

Jones, a graduate of Fremont High School in Los Angeles, started three games as a freshman for Long Beach last season. But this season he played in only six games as a reserve.

Award Winner: Kathy Goggin, formerly of Wilson High School in Long Beach, was named the NCAA Division II recipient of the Woody Hayes Memorial Scholarship Award.

The Ohio State University Sertoma Club presents the annual award to one male and one female athlete at all three levels of NCAA competition.

Goggin, a star on the Cal State Dominguez Hills basketball team from 1985 to 1989, is enrolled in the joint doctoral program in psychology at UC San Diego and San Diego State University. She graduated from CSUDH with a 3.88 grade-point average.