THE HIGH SCHOOLS : Washington Gives Brantley a Physical Exam in Loss

Although his team suffered an 87-85 overtime loss to Washington High on Friday, Jermoine Brantley might have established a new Granada Hills rebounding record. Make that a rebounding, ricocheting, rib-rattling, roughhousing record.

Brantley was crashing the boards all night--unfortunately, those boards were underfoot. After scoring 16 points in the first half, Brantley was a marked man.

“They were really after him,” Highlander Coach Bob Johnson said. “They were pushing, holding, double-teaming him, knocking him down. . . We are not the type of team that goes after you like football players. Washington was somewhat that way.”

Brantley, held to six points in the second half and overtime, pleaded with referees to take heed.

“I remember one incident where I tried to go back door and they pulled me all the way back,” he said. “They were grabbing on my shorts, jersey, body, arm, leg, anything.”

Fond farewell: The nerve-grating buzzer that sounded at the conclusion of Hoover’s final basketball game took on a more ominous tone for Tornado Coach Kirt Kohlmeier--it marked the end of the school’s illustrious Hillman era.

Senior John Hillman finished third on Hoover’s all-time scoring list with 1,125 points. His brother Joe, who played at Indiana University and was the final player cut by the Utah Jazz this season, attended Hoover from 1980-84 and holds the school scoring record with 2,213 career points.

Kohlmeier said he never pressured John to keep pace with his brother’s dizzying scoring clip.

“The one thing that I’ve done is never compared the two,” he said. “I’ve kept them as separate entities, and I think I’ve done a good job of that.

“It was a great ride. Where could you find two better people, just great kids? It was a great time to live through.”

Pipeline of winners: It is no secret that Grant Coach Howard Levine has molded consistent winners in his brief tenure by instituting a demanding, disciplined style of play.

Lesser known, however, is the work of junior varsity Coach Steve Mann, who in three years has produced a dynasty of his own.

Last week, Mann’s team won its third league title in as many years. In addition, under Mann, the junior varsity has won 41 of its past 42 games and lost only five games in three years. And Levine is happy to pick up players accustomed to winning.

“It’s no coincidence that this program has upped its quality since he came in,” Levine said.

Also among the JV coaching elite is Crescenta Valley’s Gene Murphy, who has led the Falcons to consecutive 20-2 seasons.

Said Crescenta Valley varsity Coach John Goffredo of Murphy: “He’d be a good varsity coach anywhere.”

Long time, no see: Roger Salkeld has returned.

The 6-foot-5, 210-pound right-hander is firing fastballs nearly every day at Saugus High.

Actually, Salkeld, the third pick in last year’s amateur draft, is not back--although Coach Doug Worley probably wishes he were.

Salkeld, the most famous pitcher in Saugus High history and now a member of the Seattle Mariners organization, is just keeping in shape with the Centurions before reporting for spring training March 9 in Tempe, Ariz.

“I miss high school,” said Salkeld, who was 30-7 with 404 strikeouts in 266 1/3 innings in his three-year career. “That’s why I go out there every day.”

Salkeld, who received a $225,000 signing bonus last July, was 2-2 with 55 strikeouts and a 1.29 earned-run average in 42 innings last season with the Mariners’ Class-A affiliate in Bellingham, Wash. This season, he is expected to report to the Mariners’ Carolina League Class-A affiliate.

Add Saugus: Chad Hankinson, a co-most valuable player of the Westside League last season, has transferred to Saugus after Grace Community closed.

The 6-foot, 170-pound Hankinson batted .500 with four home runs and 35 runs batted in.

Passed up: Rob Westervelt, who passed for 2,064 yards and 24 touchdowns while leading Hart to the second round of the Southern Section Division III playoffs last season, remains unsigned after 18 Valley-area seniors signed national letters of intent with universities on Wednesday.

Westervelt, a two-time All-Southern Section selection, has made recruiting visits to San Diego State and Cal State Fullerton. But he said both schools lost interest after signing other quarterbacks.

Wyoming and Illinois are still interested, he said, but a scholarship offer has not materialized.

“I can’t understand it,” Hart Coach Mike Herrington said about the lack of interest. “He’s a quality quarterback. Some schools will say he’s got a good arm but his feet aren’t that good, and some schools will say he has good feet but that his arm isn’t that good.”

Westervelt said he will consider attending a junior college or joining a Division I school as a walk-on.