Some Suggestions to Make 1991 a Better Year for Preps

With the new year approaching, here are some things we would like to see in 1991:

* Fewer athletes jumping from one high school to another;

* Stricter rules regarding transfers;

* Stiffer penalties handed out to athletes involved in fights;

* More coaches with the dedication and class of Carson’s retiring Gene Vollnogle;

* A smooth transition for Peninsula High;

* A basketball team for Rolling Hills’ Cliff Warren to coach;

* The revival of the Inglewood football program;

* A change in the L.A. City Section’s year-round rescheduling plan, which would eliminate soccer and shorten the basketball season;

* Fewer Southern Section divisions, especially in football;

* Scrapping the Southern Section’s everyone-makes-the-playoffs basketball format;

* Expanding the ridiculously small 12-team L.A. City Section 4-A football division;

* A new football coach at Leuzinger who will carry on the solid tradition established by Steve Carnes;

* Parity in girls’ basketball;

* A league that can provide regular competition for El Segundo’s baseball team;

* A league where Narbonne’s football team, loser of 17 consecutive games, could play without embarrassment;

* A South Bay team to break the San Fernando Valley’s stranglehold on the L.A. City 4-A baseball title;

* A return to the basketball court for two talented juniors--Carson center Khary Stanley (injury to lower back) and Palos Verdes guard Julius Coleman (suspected heart defect);

* Two more years of Morningside’s talented sophomore, Stais Boseman. Then again, opposing football and basketball coaches might disagree;

* Fewer Proposition 48 athletes;

* A Bishop Montgomery football team that plays at the level of Coach Steve Carroll’s enthusiasm;

* Competent officials for every event;

* A reduction in run-and-gun, Loyola Marymount-style basketball;

* Serra football Coach Leo Hand to underestimate an opponent;

* A stable coaching situation for South Torrance’s baseball team;

* NCAA sanctioning for Mira Costa’s volleyball teams;

* Another group of speed demons for Hawthorne track Coach Kye Courtney;

* Another CIF Player of the Year for St. Bernard baseball Coach Bob Yarnall;

* The end of Banning’s seven-game losing streak to Carson in football. (It’s taking the suspense out of the series);

* The dignified closing (finally) of Miraleste;

* Another look at the face of a new visitor to Chadwick’s bubble gym;

* A healthy enrollment for tiny Mary Star;

* A return to prominence for the North Torrance athletic program;

* Success for the Redondo baseball team under Coach Tim Ammentorp;

* A second state wrestling title for West Torrance heavyweight Josh Gormley;

* Another shot at an elusive L.A. City title for veteran San Pedro baseball Coach Jerry Lovarov;

* A league title for Westchester basketball Coach Ed Azzam. (Strange as it seems, he’s never won one);

* Continued success for Torrance’s two-sport standout, quarterback-catcher Jason Kendall;

* Relief for Mike Sakurai, the football and baseball coach at Gardena;

* Free food and drink for sportswriters at all events;

* Happy New Year.

What a difference a year makes.

Leuzinger was beaten so soundly by Narbonne, 73-49, in the championship game of the Torrance basketball tournament last season that Coach Phil Sherman said of his team: “We don’t have that many big-game players.”

Sherman can’t make that complaint today. Not after the Olympians defeated Narbonne, 77-68, Friday night in the Torrance tournament final at West High.

One of the big reasons for Leuzinger’s improvement this season has been the play of 6-foot-8 senior forward Frank Willis.

Last year in the Torrance title game, Willis scored only five points, three coming in the waning minutes. It prompted Sherman to say of Willis: “In the last three games, he’s been absent.”

Willis made is presence felt Friday. He scored 17 points and earned the tournament’s most-valuable-player award. Forward Tyrone Merriweather also had 17 points for Leuzinger, which improved to 8-2.

Sherman said Willis has become a more effective player because he is taking more high-percentage shots than he did a year ago.

“He’s totally changed his game,” Sherman said. “Last year, he couldn’t score inside. Everything was a 15-footer. This season, I don’t think he’s even made a 15-footer. We changed the offense to take advantage of his body. Now he works for position, catches the ball and has a clear path to the basket.”

But Sherman was quick to point out that Willis, who signed early with New Mexico, is by no means doing it alone.

He also praised the efforts of sophomore point guard Antoine Lewis, who averaged 14 assists a game in the tournament, and off-guard Robert Northern, who scored 13 points in the final.

“We played a little better in this tournament,” Sherman said. “I think before, I was putting a little too much pressure on them. Now my attitide is, ‘Play all 10 and whatever happens, happens.’ A lot more guys are involved and team morale is better.”

One of the pleasant surprises has been forward Rayne Mack, a 6-1, 270-pound senior who is playing his first year of prep basketball. Mack was an offensive lineman on Leuzinger’s Bay League co-champion football team.

“He holds his own,” Sherman said. “He even dives on the floor for loose balls.”

Friday’s victory makes Leuzinger two-for-two in tournaments this season. The Olympians won the championship of the El Segundo/Kiwanis Tournament two weeks ago. Last year, they lost to Bishop Montgomery in the El Segundo final.

Leuzinger opens Bay League play Friday night with a tough game at Culver City.

Sherman conceded that Narbonne isn’t as good as it was last season, but he was impressed with Gaucho forwards Wil Weir and D’Mitri Rideout, both of whom made the all-tournament team.

“Weir did something I’ve never seen before,” Sherman said. “He caught a long rebound coming in, turned his body sideways to the basket, and reversed dunked it. He was seven, eight, nine inches over the rim. The ref called over the back (on Weir), but our guys didn’t know what to do.

“One of our forwards, Derrick Plum, jumps pretty good. But these two kids (Weir and Rideout) are in another stratosphere.”