CITY WESTERN LEAGUE : Title Contenders Must Perform Some Awesome Feats in Awful Places

The City Western League may not be a haven for county’s greatest road warriors, but before a team can start any serious talk about winning a championship, its players achieve success in some of the most dim, claustrophobic and occasionally hostile environments.

In the Western League, you must win at home and only hope to steal a game or two from a contender on the road. Western League basketball has become best known for the collection of bizarre places its teams call gymnasiums.

“You’ve got to win when you’re the visitor,” said USDHS Coach Jim Tomey. “That’ll be tough, because of the buildings. Kearny’s gym is like an airplane hangar.”

Of course, the Dons (10-2) would love to play all games in their home “gym,” a converted “cafetorium.” The Dons now have a hardwood floor (replacing linoleum), but it still sits on top of concrete. If you don’t stop on a dime while completing a fast break toward the north basket, your momentum might throw you onto center stage. That is, the school auditorium stage. The curtain, however, remains closed during basketball games.

“I’ve felt like running and hiding behind those curtains sometimes,” La Jolla Coach Rick Eveleth said. “You better not lose at home. And (USDHS) and Kearny can’t afford to split with anybody else (and expect to be champions).”

Kearny (12-3) and USDHS, the two preseason favorites, play in two of the county’s strangest gyms. But league opponents say those gyms might have much to do with the home team’s success as the team itself.

Bill Peterson, whose Komets have lost three games by a total of five points, said it’s just as important to know the terrain as it is the opponents. So when Kearny travels to USDHS Jan. 18 for the of what figures to be the first of two wild confrontations between these teams, the Komets will head for the south basket, away from the stage.

“(The south) backboard is hung crooked,” Peterson said. “So, we always go to that end for the first half. You’ve got to be an architect as well as a basketball team. But our place is tough, too. Our lights sometimes flash on and off.”

THE RACE

Top contenders: Kearny (16-10 in 1989-90), USDHS (17-7).

Surprise potential: University City (23-5).

Hoping for improvement: Mission Bay (4-17), La Jolla (4-19).

Game of the year: USDHS at Kearny, Feb. 8. If this game boils down to a championship, Kearny will have a distinct advantage, because winning on the road is a difficult proposition in this league.

THE PLAYERS

The man: Eric Barajas, a 6-foot-1 senior guard, played in the shadow of Peter Ellis (16.3 points a game) on a USDHS team that that reached its first (Division III) section championship game (losing to Lincoln, 83-66) in the school’s 24-year history in 1989-90. But many are convinced that Barajas, who entered the week averaging 20.3 points and five rebounds, is the real thing. Barajas picked the perfect showcase to prove that when he finished with 26 points and hit the winning shot to upset then No. 1 El Camino, 64-63, in the Mt. Carmel tournament. The following night, Barajas had 23 as the Dons, currently ranked sixth, defeated then-No. 2 Mt. Carmel, 59-54, to win the tournament.

“It seemed like they were doubling him and he still did an excellent job penetrating and getting the key baskets,” said University City Coach Tom Medigovich, who witnessed the Mt. Carmel upset. “He’s a complete player; the top guard in the county from what I’ve seen.”

“Mt. Carmel could not stop him,” Mission Bay Coach Mike Seaman said. “He’ll dribble right past you and penetrate. He’ll either take it all the way or he’ll open things up for the other guys.”

Who will fill the shoes of Anthony Hill and Jerome Price? The two players who led University City to a 23-5 season and a near comeback in its 68-65 loss to El Camino in the Division II section final are gone. Now senior point guard Ian Krebs and senior forward Elliott Alexander must step and fill those voids if UC (6-5) hopes to repeat. Krebs, 6-1, showed promise as a sophomore, but the talent ahead of him and an ankle injury have limited his development until this year.

Price was an explosive scorer and rebounder, but so far this season Alexander, a 6-5 former reserve, is averaging 18.1 points a game.

The names of Joe Clark, Dave Withers (11 points) and Dave Silva (10) won’t show up on a stat sheet often, but they’ve played strong defense and added balance to USDHS, which is off to a 10-2 start. No. 2 Kearny has benefitted from several key players off a JV team that finished 18-1 the previous season. Demetrius Brown (6-0) and Ali Nayab (5-9) and John Lam (6-0) are all capable of scoring in double figures. Mike Oviedo (6-7), a third-year Kearny mainstay, will rank among the league’s scoring and rebounding leaders.

John Price, a 6-6 center, has carried Mission Bay (3-8) thus far while averaging 17.1 points and 14 rebounds.

Others to watch: Many will contend that Darnay Scott, a wide receiver who is San Diego State’s top football recruit, is the best basketball player in the Western League. Scott, 6-3, averages 16.8 points game but has yet to hit stride after a football season that carried into December and ended with a loss in the section championship game. Like USDHS with Barajas, Kearny’s fortunes this season rest primarily on the shoulders of Scott, who has the ability to dictate the outcome of a game.

“If I have to fear somebody in this league it’s Scott,” Eveleth said. “He’s a volcano waiting to erupt. He can take over a game at any time. You could be tied with four minutes left, and Scott could suddenly dominate the rest of the game at both ends of the floor.”

With a little more consistency, University City’s Ray Hooper could be in the same category. The 6-5 1/2 forward led the Centurions with a 17.6 scoring average last year. But he is sidelined with a severe sprain to his right ankle that will keep him out of the lineup at least until Jan. 25. Hooper, who orally committed to attend Cal State Fullerton last fall, had been averaging 20.2 and 10 rebounds through nine games.

THE INTANGIBLES

Tackled at the goal line: La Jolla is off to an 0-11 start but the Vikings didn’t make final cuts until the week before Christmas because the majority of the team’s key players were part of a Viking football team that reached the San Diego Section semifinals. Consequently, Eveleth doesn’t expect his players to be in basketball form until the second half of the league season, at which time they could pull off an upset or two and spoil someone else’s season.

Said Seaman: “Rick is a great coach. He’ll have them ready, and they’ll bite you if you take them lightly.”

Mission Bay has been plagued by misfortune. Guard Wyatt Spencer, who averaged 13 points as a junior, has quit the team. Junior center Chris Smith (6-6) may not return from a severely broken left arm that he sustained after his thumb became entangled in an opponent’s jersey in a game against El Capitan. Consequently, the Bucaneers are down to seven players and have lost many games to fourth-quarter fatigue.

But the Bucaneers are not to be taken lightly either, despite recent misfortunes.

“They could be a surprise,” Medigovich said of Mission Bay. “Their record could easily be turned around.”