Marincovich: North County is Dominant

THE PROPHET: Mt. Carmel boys’ basketball Coach John Marincovich doesn’t mince words when he talks about perceived North County dominance.

“There’s at least five teams in our league that belong in the top 10, and there might be six,” he said. “That’s from what I’ve seen. I think our league is very competitive and might be up a notch, and basketball might be down in the county.

“It would be real easy for five or six teams in our league to be in the top 10, but it won’t happen because we’re going to knock each other off.”

Marincovich hit the nail on the head. Two games into the season, Mt. Carmel was the only undefeated school in the eight-team league. The third week of the season, the Sundevils--playing without Scott Schoenwald (ankle) and Danny Kirby (ankle)--were upset at Fallbrook.

Still without Kirby, Mt. Carmel rebounded with a victory over Poway. Marincovich then said four losses in the 14-game schedule could decide the league champion.

But North County dominance doesn’t stop in the Palomar League, according to Marincovich.

“I think there are three teams from the Avocado League that could be in the top 10 too,” he said.

THE FAVORITES FALL: It hasn’t been a good year for The Times’ No. 1 teams. Rancho Buena Vista opened the year in the top spot and lost its first three games to out-of-county schools.

Morse, 8-3 at the time, replaced RBV and was beaten by Lincoln, 75-56.

Mt. Carmel then assumed the No. 1 burden and was beaten 66-65 at Fallbrook.

Last week, seven of the top 10 teams lost.

By default, Mt. Carmel remains No. 1. The Sundevils host No. 10 Torrey Pines Wednesday.

TRIVIA TIME: What is the only school to play in each of the four city conferences?

SAN DIEGO TALENT: Eight local players were honored by Cal-Hi Sports on its assorted all-state football teams.

Teddy Lawrence of section 3-A champion Morse, The Times’ player of the year, and Kearny’s Darnay Scott were both first-team multipurpose players on the all-comers team, which encompassed all schools in California. Rancho Buena Vista running back Markeith Ross, the section’s all-time leading rusher, and Hoover linebacker Roger Blake were second-team selections.

Blake was also a first-team pick on the medium schools team and Scott, ironically, was not.

Lincoln defensive back Marvin Green was a medium school first-team selection.

Named to the small schools team--1-A and Class B divisions--were La Jolla Country Day running back Rashaan Salaam and kicker Eric Abrams. They are the first players from an eight-man team to be named to the all-state team.

Morse running back Gary Taylor, who led the county in rushing, was named junior of the year.

A DASH OF COLOR: Chula Vista’s 89-71 victory over Hilltop Friday was a colorful one. Among the top scorers were Hilltop’s Chris White (23 points) and Courtenay B rown (27), and Chula Vista’s Jerome Green (23).

The only one missing was Morse’s Jaamar Lavender.

FLYING THE COOP: Granite Hills’ two starting guards, Aaron Parcell and Jason Braun, who had just returned from an injury, quit the basketball team after Friday’s 68-43 loss to Monte Vista, leaving the struggling Eagles (3-13, 0-1) with only one senior, Mark Syverson.

“They were both seniors who had come out from football,” Coach Lon Underwood said. “They thought they weren’t getting enough playing time even though they were starters.”

ALMOST SKUNKED: The boys’ basketball team at Montgomery High was losing in the first quarter to Castle Park Friday, 20-3, but came back to win 67-59. The Aztecs whittled the deficit down to 32-29 at halftime.

Castle Park was playing without leading scorer Benji Gil, out for the third straight game with a lower back injury.

POX ALERT: Mt. Carmel probably would have lost its girls’ basketball game to Poway anyway, but it didn’t help the Sundevils that Nicol Nicholas missed the contest.

Mt. Carmel had an assembly that day and the athletic teams were waiting in the wrestling room to enter the gymnasium. Coach Tracey Johnson heard Nicholas explaining to a teammate she had one spot after Wednesday’s practice and “eight or nine today (Thursday).”

“Could it be the chicken pox?” the coach asked.

“My little baby cousin was over two weeks ago and he had them,” Nicholas replied.

So Johnson told Nicholas to get checked. She did. She called school with the bad news as the bus arrived.

By Sunday, Johnson was waiting by the phone, hoping it wouldn’t ring. Two of her three guards, Jennifer Alley and Jollery Nichols, have not had the chicken pox--yet.

On an even larger scale, all of Mt. Carmel’s athletic teams were in the wrestling room with Nicholas, who will be out this week.

TRIVIA ANSWER: St. Augustine, currently playing in the City Harbor League. When San Diego formed conferences in the early ‘70s, the Saints played in the City Eastern League, moved to the Western League in the late ‘70s, the Central in fall, 1981 and the Harbor League in fall, 1989.

A STEP INTO THE PAST: The 44th annual Kiwanis Invitational boys’ basketball tournament was a far cry from the way it was in the past. The most recent version had only eight teams participating.

It was a 16-team tournament in 1989 and had 31 teams in 1988. A decade earlier, the tournament had 40 teams.

“A lot of people decided to start their own tournaments,” Serra Coach Tom Williams said. “I think we can get it back, somewhat, but only eight teams sent in their registration by the deadline. Afterward, some other teams wanted in, but I felt we had to give a commitment to the Kiwanis on the deadline.”

Williams anticipates 16 teams next season, including schools from Orange and Los Angeles counties.

“We’ll go out of (San Diego County) to get the 16,” said Williams, who has coached at Serra the past 14 years.

Times staff writers Jim Lindgren and Laura Palmer contributed to this report.