THE HIGH SCHOOLS : Shaky Finales in Marmonte Exact a Price

Those who control their own destiny, as was learned from Friday night’s make-or-break Marmonte League showdowns, often lose control.

For openers, Royal High and high-scoring forward Russell Myers, a victory away from an outright league title, lost to visiting Simi Valley, 58-48. The Highlanders earned a co-championship--Royal’s first title since 1971--but allowed Simi Valley to lay claim to a share of its fifth consecutive league title. Both teams had 9-3 league records.

More importantly, based on its season sweep of Royal, Simi Valley grabbed the league’s top playoff berth.

Royal never led Friday, and Myers, averaging 24 points, registered a season-low seven points.

Then there’s Westlake and Coach Greg Hess. On Wednesday, the Warriors still had a mathematical chance to win the league title. But after consecutive losses, including a puzzling 76-59 loss to last-place Channel Islands on Friday night, it is now a “mathematical mystery tour,” Hess said.

Westlake (7-5) finished in a three-way tie for third with Thousand Oaks and Camarillo. Hess, sharpened pencil in hand, turned to the league’s confusing tiebreaker point system to discover which of the three had earned an automatic berth in the playoffs as the third-place Marmonte representative.

Without belaboring the point system: Westlake, with a one-point advantage over Camarillo, earns the automatic berth. Camarillo, two points ahead of Thousand Oaks, is fourth. Both are seeking at-large entries in Tuesday’s first round of the Southern Section playoffs.

Add playoffs: Kennedy might have sealed its fate in the City Section 4-A Division playoffs by falling to Taft, 55-53, Friday at home.

The defeat dropped the Golden Cougars (11-11, 4-6) into a third-place tie with Taft (14-10, 4-6) in the North Valley League. But because Kennedy lost a coin flip with Taft, the Golden Cougars will enter the playoffs as the league’s fourth-place entry and draw Crenshaw, the defending City 4-A and state Division I champion.

Taft will play Dorsey in a match-up of unseeded teams.

Trivia question: What do Valley-area basketball coaches Skip Adams (Antelope Valley), Howard Levine (Grant), Mike Lynn (Chaminade), Joe Malkinson (Royal), Ed Marek (Crespi), Mike McNulty (El Camino Real), Steve Miller (North Hollywood), Scott Smith (St. Genevieve) and Ira Sollod (Burroughs) have in common? Answer below.

Ladies of the court: The Palmdale girls’ basketball team won its fifth Golden League title in seven years, smashing Antelope Valley, 68-45, Friday night.

For the Falcons (20-3, 10-0), ranked 10th in the state and third in the Southern Section 5-AA Division, the entire season has been a smashing success.

They were undefeated in league play for the fifth time in seven seasons. And consider these lopsided victories: 73-37 over Thousand Oaks, 74-18 over Victor Valley, 60-26 over Canyon, 62-25 over Ridgecrest Burroughs and 100-12 over Saugus.

“We’ve worked real hard the past eight years,” 10th-year Coach George Corisis said.

And it shows. Several Palmdale alumnae--including Linda Staley (UNLV), Rae Spears and Tracy Preter (Northern Arizona), and Michelle Jennings (Cal State Dominguez Hills)--are playing for Division I colleges.

Trivia answer: All are coaching at their high school alma mater.