Times Honors Players, Coaches of Year

With the graduation of all-time state scoring leader Tracy Murray, this was expected to be a rebuilding year for the boys basketball team at Glendora High School.

Only the Tartans scarcely resembled a team that was rebuilding.

With no player in their starting lineup taller than 6-3, Glendora still won its first CIF Southern Section championship on a 64-58 decision over Compton in the 4-AA Division final.

Glendora couldn’t win a title the previous three seasons with the talented Murray, a 6-8 prep All-American who started as a freshman at UCLA this season.

After defeating Compton, the Tartans advanced to the state Division II Southern California regional final, losing to Artesia, 57-43, and finishing with a 29-6 record.

The successful season earned Valley boys coach of the year honors for Glendora Coach Mike LeDuc at the Los Angeles Times All-Star Basketball Awards program. Mel Sims of Muir got the trophy for girls coach of the year.

Trophy for boys player of the year went to Johnny McWilliams of Pomona and for girls to Ingrid Dixson of West Covina.

Trophies and certificates also went to the nine other players on the boys and girls All-San Gabriel Valley teams.

In addition to McWilliams, the boys team includes Sherrod Belton of West Covina, Hong Duong of Alhambra, Jason Green of Bishop Amat, Clyde Jordan of West Covina, Todd Lewis of Pasadena, Don Mitchell of Pasadena, Kevin Morrison of Damien, Matt Schuler of Nogales and Corey Smith of Glendora.

The girls, in addition to Dixson: Tristin Alfred of Walnut, Melinda Armstrong of Muir, Karin Banks of Muir, Kelley Figueroa of South Hills, Rose Jong of Muir, Lillian King of Pomona, Natalie Kramer of San Dimas, Kim Rice of Pasadena and Lisa Sloan of West Covina.

Teams from 11 other Times circulation areas were also honored during the ceremony at the Anaheim Hilton. The speaker was Jim Colonna, Times assistant sports editor.

For Glendora’s LeDuc, it was the first time he has captured Times coach of the year honors. But he has been no stranger to success in his four seasons with the Tartans.

Coming to Glendora after seven years as coach of Baseline League rival Damien of La Verne, he has compiled an impressive 106-18 record with the Tartans, including a 28-1 mark in the 1987-88 season and 31-3 for 1988-89.

In fact, over the last four seasons, LeDuc’s 106 victories are the most for any coach in the Southern Section. He has also guided Glendora to four consecutive Baseline League titles.

Pomona’s McWilliams is the only junior on the all-valley boys team, but he is regarded as one of the premier underclassmen in the state.

The 6-6 forward has been a star for Pomona ever since he started his first game as a freshman, when he averaged 15.3 points. He was one of the leading scorers and rebounders in the valley as a sophomore, when he averaged 24.2 points and 12.2 rebounds and became one of the rare 10th graders to be selected to the All-CIF Southern Section Division III first team.

As if his sophomore season wasn’t impressive enough, McWilliams may have turned in an even better all-around performance in his junior year. He was selected to the preseason all-underclassmen team by Street and Smith magazine and lived up to the billing.

He averaged 23.5 points, 13.5 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 3.6 steals to carry the Red Devils to the Montview League title and a 20-7 record. He also earned All-Southern Section Division III first team honors for the second straight season.

A two-time All-Montview League selection, McWilliams is already being recruited by NCAA Division I powers such as Uviversity of Nevada-Las Vegas, Syracuse and Notre Dame and West Coast teams such as USC.

In girls basketball, West Covina’s Dixson earned the player of the year award by establishing herself as perhaps the most dominating performer in the valley this season.

It was not as if her performance was unexpected, though.

The 6-3 Dixson had given a sample of her ability in her sophomore and junior seasons.

As a sophomore at Edgewood in West Covina, she earned a position on the All-Valle Vista League team and averaged 13 points and 12 rebounds. In her junior year, after Edgewood closed and merged with West Covina, Dixson averaged 17.5 points and 11.3 rebounds and made the All-Southern Section Division I and Times All-San Gabriel Valley teams.

Those figures pale by comparison to her statistics this season, when she averaged 25.1 points and 18.6 rebounds to lead the valley in both departments. Dixson also earned all-league selection for the third straight season.

Understandably, Dixson is considered among the top college prospects in Southern California. She lists the top contenders for her services as UC Berkeley, Cal State Long Beach, UCLA and USC.

Among girls coaches, Sims of Muir accomplished a first when he was selected as coach of the year for the second year in a row.

But it was a year of firsts for the Muir basketball team. It started when the Mustangs captured their first Southern Section title with a 56-49 victory over Ventura in the 4-AA Division final. That put an end to years of frustration for Muir, which had reached the Southern Section championship game four of the previous six years only to lose in the final.

The Mustangs added to their string of firsts when they won their initial Southern California regional title in Division II with a 39-35 victory over perennial power Pt. Loma in the final.

That also advanced Muir into the state Division II title game for the first time, although it suffered a 47-44 loss to San Ramon Valley of Danville to finish second.

Still, the Mustangs finished the season with an impressive 29-6 record.

It more than made up for the disappointment of the 1988-89 season--the first for Sims at Muir--when the Mustangs were beaten in overtime 54-48 by Katella of Anaheim in the 4-A Division title game.

It also left Sims with outstanding credentials in his first two seasons with the Mustangs. During that span he has a 53-11 record, two Pacific League titles, two berths in a Southern Section title game and two trips to the state regionals.

Before arriving at Muir, Sims had been boys coach at Monrovia High the previous two seasons. He has also been girls coach at Alta Loma.