THE HIGH SCHOOLS : At the End, C.J. Thompkins Was Campbell Hall’s Initial Choice

Campbell Hall Coach Joe Jackson isn’t quite sure what C. J. Thompkins’ initials stand for. It seems that Thompkins hasn’t exactly volunteered the information.

“We’ve asked,” Jackson said. “I know his first name is Carl, but as far as his middle name, I have no idea. We call him Jasper, but some say it’s Junior.”

In Friday night’s upset of neighborhood rival North Hollywood, it might have been Jumper .

Better yet, scrap Carl and call him Clutch Jumper.

Thompkins nailed a 22-foot, three-point shot with two seconds remaining to give the Vikings (11-0) a 48-47 victory over the defending City Section 3-A Division champion in a Bell-Jeff tournament semifinal.

Was Thompkins’ long-range shot an act of desperation? Hardly.

Reasoning that North Hollywood would expect the ball to be tossed in to Campbell Hall’s imposing figure in the middle, 6-foot-10 center Alex Lopez, Jackson instead called for a three-point attempt.

Go figure.

“I thought, ‘Why battle it out in O. T. when we have the guys who can win it right now with a three?’ ” Jackson said. “When you get in a situation like that, players have to have the attitude of, ‘Do you go for the tie or for the win?’

“We’ve been practicing for that all year. When we inbounded the ball, we knew what to do. We went for the win.”

Thompkins, a 6-foot-1 sophomore, finished with eight points. If it sounds somewhat surprising that Jackson would demand so much of a sophomore in a pressure situation, he didn’t have much choice: Every starters is an underclassmen.

Here’s to youthful enthusiasm. With its 59-58 defeat of Bell-Jeff in Saturday night’s final, the Vikings won their third tournament title of the year.

Add Campbell Hall: Last season, the Vikings experienced nonleague success with an 8-4 start, then had their socks knocked off in Delphic League competition.

Campbell Hall stumbled to a 1-9 mark in league play in 1989-90, which wasn’t particularly surprising considering the league contained two teams that advanced to the Southern Section 1-A Division semifinals. Over the past five seasons, Delphic League teams have won four Southern Section titles.

Things don’t appear to be much easier this season: Four of defending 1-A champion Faith Baptist’s starters returned.

“I can honestly say that I won’t be surprised if we finish anywhere from first to fourth,” said Jackson, who refers to the league as “the Big East” because of its balance and competitiveness.

The Vikings will play Faith Baptist (10-2) in a league opener Jan. 8.

One-liners: Taft Coach Jim Woodard on the numbers problem at North Valley League rival Cleveland, where injuries and several defections have left the Cavaliers with eight players on the roster: “I’m kind of disappointed, actually.

“Now when they’re up by 30 on us they won’t have anybody else to put in. The score will just get worse.”

Add Taft: The Toreadors’ Eagle Rock tournament semifinal game against South Gate on Friday was called with 6 minutes 38 seconds remaining when South Gate Coach Tak Aoki was assessed his third technical foul, automatically ending the game.

Woodard said he had never witnessed a game’s cancellation in his 18 years of coaching.

Taft won easily, 64-38.

“I thought it was a well-officiated game,” Woodard said. “Of course, when you’re ahead, you always do.”

Big man in the family: Glendale guard Hai Tran, a 5-4 sophomore, averaged more than 10 points a game off the bench in last week’s Hart tournament, scoring 17 points against Beverly Hills and 14 points against East Bakersfield.

Tran’s brother Thai, a 5-2 senior, also plays on the team and another brother Thuan, also 5-2, played at Glendale in 1987 and 1988.

“Hai’s the big post man in the family,” Coach Bob Davidson said. “He’s real quick and a very good ballhandler.

“We want him to come off the bench because he sparks our team and picks us up. Coaches kid me about him, but he gets respect when the game gets going.”

No thanks: Newbury Park’s Jeff Wilson appears to have all the credentials to be a top-flight two-mile runner in track, but the Panther junior won’t run the event hell-bent for leather this season.

Although he upset James Menon of San Luis Obispo--who eventually finished ninth in the Kinney national championships--and won the state Division III cross-country title last month, Wilson will concentrate on the mile, or its metric counterpart, the 1,600 meters, during track.

“I like the mile. I can’t stand the two mile,” Wilson said at a Sunkist Invitational press conference Thursday. “Everyone keeps telling me that I’d be a good two miler, but I don’t plan on running that event often this season. I want to focus on the mile. . . . I’d like to break 4:10 this season.”

Wilson runner-up in the Marmonte League 1,600 as a sophomore, will run in the rated mile in the Sunkist Invitational at the Sports Arena on Jan. 18.

Life in the fast lane: Rio Mesa sophomore Marion Jones is the defending state champion in the girls’ 100 and 200 meters, but at 5-feet-9 1/2 and 130 pounds she might be better suited for the 400 eventually.

“Marion is still in her infancy as far as her sprinting goes,” Rio Mesa co-Coach Brian FitzGerald said at the Sunkist press conference. “She’s got plenty to time to make that transition.”

As a freshman, Jones set national age-14 records in the 100 (11.62 seconds) and 200 (23.70) and also ran 54.21 in the 400.

She has set her goals at 11.50 in the 100, 23.50 in the 200 and under 54 in the 400 this season.

“I want to defend my state titles in the 100 and 200,” she said. “I’ll run the 400 but not in the championship meets. It’ll be to improve my strength.”