Teams, Individuals Fill Seasons With Exploits Worth Remembering

With the exception of a few all-star games, the 1989-1990 high school athletic year has come to a close.

Here’s a month-by-month review of the 1989-90 year:

SEPTEMBER

--Fontana began the prep football season as the top-rated team in the Southern Section and defeated its first two opponents by a combined score of 82-9.

--For the second consecutive year, City power Carson lost on the road to La Puente Bishop Amat. After rallying from 17-0 behind to a 23-17 lead, Carson lost, 24-23.

--Kevin Hicks of Crenshaw and Ontiwaun Carter of Granada Hills Kennedy put on a running show, gaining 267 yards each in the Golden Cougars’ 39-36 victory over Crenshaw.

OCTOBER

--Kevin Copeland of Dorsey collapsed during a football game against San Pedro and died.

--Palmdale’s Darius Wilson was arrested for attacking an official after a game between Palmdale and Saugus, which was suspended in the fourth quarter with the score tied, 0-0, because of numerous incidents.

--Four underclassmen led the Southern Section in statistical categories in football. Sophomore Chad Davis of Palm Springs led in passing yardage (2,630 yards for the season); junior Leon Neal of Paramount led in yards-per-carry (12.3); junior Derek Sparks of Van Nuys Montclair Prep led in scoring (186 points) and junior Napolean Kaufman of Lompoc led in all-purpose yardage (more than 230 yards per game).

NOVEMBER

--Garfield stopped Roosevelt’s two-point conversion attempt on the game’s final play to win the East Los Angeles Classic before a capacity crowd of 25,000 at East Los Angeles College.

--With Armin Youngblood passing for 254 yards and three touchdowns, Carson defeated rival Wilmington Banning, 41-0, at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach before a national television audience.

--The Southern Section was taken to court by several schools not allowed into the football playoffs after they were forced to forfeit games because they used ineligible players.

--Two highly rated San Fernando Valley teams were upset in the playoffs. Granada Hills lost to El Camino Real in the City 4-A Division and Van Nuys Montclair Prep was beaten by Tehachapi in Southern Section Division IX playoffs.

DECEMBER

--Bryan Dameworth of Agoura completed an undefeated cross-country season by winning the Kinney National Championships, after winning his third consecutive state Division I title.

--In a Southern Section Division II semifinal football game, Santa Barbara defeated Canyon Country Canyon, 28-27, in overtime, after tying the game with no time remaining in regulation when officials awarded the Dons’ an extra play after a Canyon penalty.

--After receiving a scare from Huntington Beach Edison in the semifinals, Fontana completed a 14-0 season by defeating San Gorgonio in the Southern Section Division I football final, joining Gardena Serra, which defeated Lompoc for the Division VII title, as the Southern Section’s only undefeated teams.

--An inspired Dorsey team upset Carson, 26-15, behind City player of the year Lamont Warren, to win its first 4-A Division title.

--Santiago Alvarez of Franklin, who threw a record 52 touchdown passes, led the Panthers to their third City title in four years when they beat Garfield for the 3-A championship.

--Basketball officials Al Jury and Dick Smith and three Victor Valley players got into a fight following a game against La Verne Damien. The Southern Section suspended the Victor Valley players for the rest of the season.

--The Brea-Olinda girls basketball team won the Santa Barbara Tournament by defeating Inglewood Morningside, the Southern Section’s top team, and Washington, the top team in the City.

JANUARY

--Santa Ana Mater Dei defeated Artesia in a battle between the top-rated boys’ basketball teams in the Southern Section before a sellout crowd at Cal State Long Beach.

--Piper Hahn of Mira Costa, who led the Mustangs to their first state title in girls’ volleyball, was named national co-player of the year.

--The Los Angeles Unified School District dropped its no-fail requirement for extracurricular activities that was introduced in 1982.

--Lisa Leslie of Morningside scored 101 points in one half, but was denied an opportunity to break Cheryl Miller’s national single-game scoring record of 105 when South Torrance refused to play the second half.

--Amy Jalewalia of Westminster La Quinta led the Southern Section in girls’ scoring for the second consecutive year, averaging 34.3 points per game.

FEBRUARY

--Behind Marcell Capers’ 26 points, Manual Arts defeated Crenshaw for its first boys’ City 4-A Division basketball championship since 1981. North Hollywood upset defending champion Fremont for the 3-A title.

--In the City girls’ basketball finals, Washington repeated as 4-A Division champion behind the play of cousins Detra Lockhart and Missa Houston; and Marshall won the 3-A Division title for the second consecutive year behind point guard Laura Oki.

--Long Beach Millikan’s 3-2 victory over Santa Barbara San Marcos in the boys’ 3-A Division soccer playoffs was nullified by the Southern Section when it was discovered that one of the officials was a long-term substitute teacher in the Long Beach School District. San Marcos won the rematch, 3-2, two days later.

MARCH

--With the return of Coach Ron Palmer, Long Beach Poly won its first Southern Section boys’ basketball title since 1984, defeating Lynwood, 60-58, for the 5-AA championship.

--Jason Quinn’s desperation three-point shot beat Long Beach Poly and sent Mater Dei into the boys’ state Division I final, where the Monarchs continued Southern California’s nine-year dominance by defeating Northern California champion San Francisco Riordan, 62-60.

--Two of the nation’s top senior players, Ed O’Bannon of Artesia and Shon Tarver of Oxnard Santa Clara, led their teams to state basketball titles in Oakland.

--Behind Lisa Leslie’s 35 points, Morningside girls’ basketball team took home its second consecutive state Division I title, defeating Berkeley, 67-56.

APRIL

--Coley Candaele of Carpinteria dominated the nation’s top middle distance runners in the Arcadia Invitational and Mt. San Antonio track and field meets.

--El Segundo’s baseball team outscored its first four Camino Real League opponents, 108-4, but was beaten by pitcher Eric Mooney and Long Beach St. Anthony, 4-3.

--After injuries to its top runners, Hawthorne, the perennial boys’ track power, ended a nine-year dual meet win streak by losing to Beverly Hills.

MAY

--Pitcher Kym Weil of Newhall Hart broke the Southern Section record with 85 career softball victories.

--Locke girls’ track team won its seventh consecutive City team title behind Rosetta Hunter’s victories in the 1,600 and 3,200 meters. Donovan Burks won the boys’ 100 and 200 meters for the second consecutive year and led Washington to the City team title.

--Mira Costa capped a 22-0 season by beating Huntington Beach Edison for the boys’ Southern Section 4-A volleyball title.

JUNE

--Chatsworth became the 18th consecutive San Fernando Valley team to win the City 4-A baseball title, defeating El Camino Real, 3-2, with two runs in the bottom of the seventh in the title game.

--Fairfax defeated Washington, 5-2, for the City 3-A Division baseball title, its first in 41 years.

--Marina High of Huntington Beach won Southern Section 5-A titles in softball and baseball.

--With a victory in the 1,600-meter relay, Muir won its fifth boys’ state track and field title.

--After failing to win a state title in three years, Coley Candaele of Carpinteria won his first in the 1,600 meters in a nation-leading time of 4:06.26. Freshman Marion Jones of Rio Mesa won both girls’ sprints in the state meet.