THE COLLEGES : Valley’s Best Would Leave Foes Seeing Stars

A Valley-area junior college basketball dream team would be a nightmare for opposing coaches.

Put these guys in Cal Lutheran uniforms, and the Kingsmen would skywalk over the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Send them to Newhall, and The Master’s College would be known as the Masters of the Universe, or at least of NAIA District 3.

Enroll them at Cal State Northridge, and the Matadors might quickly make a ripple in Division I.

This hypothetical junior college dream team begins with Moorpark’s freshman point guard, Sam Crawford.

Crawford’s passing probably will send more of his teammates to four-year colleges than th Army G.I. Bill, and he’s a blue-chip Division I prospect. He led the Western State Conference with 12 assists per game--nearly twice as many as his closest pursuer--and inside players such as Jerry Markray and Greg Taylor flourished with Crawford setting them up.

Crawford (5-foot-8, 160 pounds) can score too; he averaged 22.2 points in WSC games, best in the conference.

Valley shooting guard Andre Harrell (6-1, 155) did all the little things and many of the big things in leading his team to the WSC title. Coach Jim Stephens reports that the sophomore draws more interest from college recruiters than any other member of a star-studded squad.

Harrell, the team’s third-leading scorer at 15.4 points per game, also averages 5.8 rebounds and 4.1 assists, but his intangible qualities make him Valley’s standout. A tireless defender, he is always there to take the charge and take charge.

Aaron Clark (6-3, 208), who played center for Canyons and will probably play off guard at a four-year school, would play forward for this mythical team. Despite being out of position, Clark (21.3 ppg) finished in a tie as the second-leading scorer in WSC play.

He made 40.4 percent of his three-point shots (not bad for a center) and 78.4 percent of his free throws. Any college scout who sees a tape of his spectacular 37-point performance in a 108-87 upset of Moorpark could not help but be impressed.

Glendale sophomores Gary Fowler (6-5, 200) and Dave Swanson (6-5, 190) were bookend front-liners, averaging a remarkably similar 16.8 and 16.7 points a game.

Fowler gets the nod here because his inside play filled a greater need for Glendale. Fowler averaged eight rebounds and showed his will to win by scoring 26 second-half points in a comeback victory over Canyons.

However, opponents found Swanson nearly as devastating. He grabbed 7.5 rebounds per game and made 51 three-point shots.

No player was more out of position than Moorpark center Taylor, who should be playing tight end or linebacker. The 6-6, 220-pound Taylor makes Moorpark All-American linebacker Tom Briggs look as if he hasn’t been eating his Wheaties.

Not a great shooter despite his 60.2 field-goal percentage, Taylor is a ferocious rebounder; he led the WSC with 11.4 rebounds per contest. The sophomore, who plays with a don’t-mess-with-me gleam in his eyes, had a season high of 21 rebounds and averaged 12 points a game.

The designated scorer would be Valley sophomore Steve Ward (6-4, 205), who never met a shot he didn’t like and led Valley with a 17.7-point average. How about Antelope Valley’s Tony Madison for designated shooter? Madison, a freshman, led the high-scoring Marauders with 16.2 points per game and set school records with eight three-point baskets in one game and 107 in a season.

Put Glendale freshman Chris Cooke (6-8, 190) at designated shot blocker, and Canyons freshman Nick Sanderson (6-4, 180) at designated dunker.

Coach of the year? Suffice it to say that the Foothill Conference already has chosen Antelope Valley’s Newton Chelette and something would be seriously amiss in the WSC if it did not select Valley’s Stephens.

Taking a dive: For the first time, Cal State Northridge came back from the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. swimming championships without a team title.

The CSUN women’s team placed second at Bakersfield last week behind Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, while the men’s squad finished a distant third behind Cal State Bakersfield and San Luis Obispo.

So was Coach Pete Accardy upset? On the contrary. He predicted it.

“We got our heads beat, as usual,” Accardy said of the men’s competition. “And our women’s team just didn’t have the numbers this year. That, and SLO swam really well.”

Bakersfield, three-time defending Division II champion, scored 892 points in the men’s division, easily outdistancing San Luis Obispo (449) and CSUN (400). In the women’s meet, San Luis Obispo had 779 points to CSUN’s 601.5.

However, a key factor is that Northridge actually trained through the CCAA meet in preparation for the Division II nationals March 7-10 in Buffalo, N.Y. Swimmers from Bakersfield and San Luis Obispo were rested and shaved for the conference meet.

Yet, even in defeat, there was good news for the Matadors. Despite near freezing temperatures at Bakersfield’s outdoor pool, the CSUN men added four more qualifiers for the nationals: Dave Lowham (51.11 seconds in the 100-yard butterfly), Dave Ruttenburg (16:09.50 in the 1,650 freestyle), Jesse Kelly (2:07.80 in the 200 breaststroke), and Andy Waldron (1:41.20 in the 200 freestyle).

CSUN’s contingent for the nationals is now set with 10 men and nine women.

Accardy is predicting a third-place finish for the men’s team. The women’s team, meanwhile, seems poised to challenge for its fourth consecutive national title.

Doing swimmingly: Ed Bedford and Scott Holdsworth of Occidental have qualified for the Division III swimming championships, beginning March 12 at Wheaton College in Norton, Mass.

Bedford, a sophomore, qualified in the 100-yard butterfly by clocking 51.73 seconds at the SCIAC meet in Cerritos last week.

Holdsworth, a senior, met the standard in the 200 freestyle, finishing in 1:43.18.

For the record: The basketball season already has been one of record for the Antelope Valley men’s team, which is seeded fourth in the Southern California regional of the state tournament.

The Marauders, the Foothill League conference champions, have 302 three-point baskets--al-most double the previous school record of 156.

Antelope Valley (27-6, 13-1 in conference play) also has amassed a record total in wins, points scored (3,157), points per game (95.7) and assists (730).

Despite missing 11 games because of arthroscopic knee surgery, freshman guard Dedan Thomas set the assist record with 210, averaging 9.5 a game--another school record.