THE HIGH SCHOOLS : San Fernando Carries Enough Firepower in Arsenal to Win a Title

After his team had defeated El Camino Real High on Friday night to win its second league title in three years, San Fernando basketball Coach Dick Crowell was being needled by Tiger football Coach Tom Hernandez.

“Lethal weapon,” Hernandez teased, poking Crowell. “ Lethal weapon, baby .”

And what, pray tell, was all that about?

As Crowell tells it, on game day, the morning’s announcements to the student body broadcast over the public-address system included an item regarding the district’s policy on weapons.

Crowell, never one to miss a cue, grabbed the mike.

“Hey,” Crowell barked to the students. “If you people want to see some real weapons, come out to the gym today and see the inside weaponry of (center) Lance Whitaker and (forward) Russell Baldwin. See the outside shooting of (guards) Michael Wynn and Marco Renteria. See the deadly defense of Errol Garnett.”

So the whole bit got big laughs?

“Well,” Crowell’s wife said sympathetically, standing nearby. “You got their attention .”

Wily Woodard: It has not been a particularly enjoyable season for Taft Coach Jim Woodard, the Wizard of Woodland Hills. Taft finished 4-6 in North Valley League play, losing two games by one point, two by four points and another by seven points in overtime.

Woodard’s refrain this season has been an apologetic, “Good teams win close games.”

Yet, a good coach can win one, too.

In Friday’s 55-53 victory over host Kennedy, Woodard showed his court savvy. After a timeout, with Taft holding a two-point lead in the waning moments, Woodard instructed his team to inbound the ball to 6-foot-7 Jason Deyoe, a senior. “I told Jason to hold the ball as high as he could and wait to be fouled,” Woodard said.

Kennedy obliged. Deyoe, who has made 28 of 34 free throws in league play (82.3%), made both attempts with four seconds left to seal the win. But what if Deyoe had been tied up by a defender or whistled for a five-second count?

“I looked at the possession arrow (during the timeout) and it was going our way,” Woodard said. “So the worst thing that happens is that we get the ball out of bounds again.”

However, Woodard’s best call came a few minutes later when Taft won a tiebreaking coin toss with Kennedy (4-6 in league play) to decide which team would be the league’s fourth-seeded team in the City Section 4-A Division playoffs. Kennedy will visit second-seeded Crenshaw, the defending 4-A and state Division I champion.

Red alert: Harvard Coach Barclay Mackinnon feared the worst when striker Andrew Weiss, the Saracens’ leading scorer, was ejected from a San Fernando Valley League finale at La Salle last week after receiving consecutive yellow cards. When a player is ejected, he automatically is suspended from his team’s next match.

His team’s diminished chances in the Small Schools Division playoffs flashed across his mind when he saw the senior walking off the field late in the second half.

Mackinnon, though, heaved a sigh of relief later when he remembered that he had scheduled a nonleague match against Buckley, which was played last Friday. Weiss sat out that match, freeing him to participate in Harvard’s playoff opener at home against Cabrillo on Friday.

“Thank God I scheduled that Buckley game,” said Mackinnon, whose team prevailed, 2-0.

Nail biters: Four of the past five Westside League titles won by Highland Hall have been clinched on the last day of the regular season in overtime or in extra innings.

The boys’ and girls’ basketball teams beat South Bay Lutheran last week in championship games. The baseball team won titles in 1988 and ’89 in eight-inning games.

As baseball and girls’ basketball coach, Dave Desmond has been involved in three of the four heart-stoppers.

“Our school concentrates on the arts,” Desmond said. “And they certainly take that to heart in athletics, because everything is so dramatic.”

Forward march: Jon Civita has spent three years leading the Canyon basketball team, another two leading the student body.

Civita, a 6-6 forward who led the second-place Cowboys with 16 points in their 72-57 Golden League finale against Saugus on Friday night, has accepted a scholarship to attend Brigham Young.

A leadership scholarship.

Civita, student body president, member of the honor roll and debating team, hospital volunteer and all-around good guy, will have four more years to develop his leadership skills--especially since he is giving up basketball.

Civita, averaging 10 points and nine rebounds, has drawn interest from Baylor and Santa Clara, among other schools, but a basketball offer has not materialized.

“I really don’t want to give up basketball, but the offers don’t seem as prominent,” said Civita, who is of the Mormon faith. “I don’t feel I’m Division I material, so I’d rather attend a school that I like.”

Mike Glaze and staff writers Steve Elling, Sam Farmer, Vince Kowalick, Brian Murphy and Jeff Riley contributed to this notebook.