Hawthorne’s Semon Selected to Officiate Super Bowl

Sid Semon finally got the call Monday.

After 13 years as an NFL official, Semon, head of the physical education department at Hawthorne High, was selected to work Super Bowl XXV.

“I’m all excited,” he said. “I finally made it.”

Semon, the former baseball and golf coach at Hawthorne, will be head linesman for Sunday’s game in Tampa, Fla., between the New York Giants and Buffalo Bills. He has worked three AFC championship games, but never the Super Bowl.

Because of NFL rules, Semon was prohibited from discussing any details of his preparation for the game.

Semon’s selection confirms his standing as one of the league’s top-rated officials. He departs for Tampa today.

In a stunning one-game turnaround, the Bishop Montgomery boys’ basketball team lost to Crespi, 69-56, Friday night after beating the Celts, 102-60, on Jan. 2 in a Mission League opener.

That’s a 55-point swing.

“We’re real disappointed,” Bishop Montgomery Coach Doug Mitchell said. “There were a couple of things that hurt us. It was our seventh game in 12 days; we weren’t ready to play. And the kids thought it would be a cakewalk, I guess.”

It turned out to be just the opposite as Crespi abandoned its run-and-gun offense for a more controlled scheme before a partisan crowd in Encino.

“The last time, they ran the Loyola Marymount fast break,” Mitchell said. “Our strength is getting up and down the court, and they played right into our hands. This time they slowed it down and played strictly zone defense.”

The adjustment was made by a young man who knows something about the running game, first-year Crespi Coach Chris Nikchevich, a former Loyola point guard under Paul Westhead.

The setback was the latest in a string of frustrating defeats for Bishop Montgomery. The Knights (7-11 overall, 3-4 in the Mission League) have lost three league games by three points or less. If they could reverse those decisions, the Knights would be 6-1 and in first place.

“I’m disappointed because we haven’t won the close games,” Mitchell said. “I wish we could turn it around, but we can’t get over the hump. Hopefully, we can start winning in the second half of league play.”

A good time to start would be Saturday night, when Bishop Montgomery plays host to St. Bernard. The Vikings (10-9, 6-1) won the first meeting between the rivals, 74-72, on a layup by forward Chris Keldorf with two seconds left.

Mitchell is worried that the Knights could be outmuscled by St. Bernard’s front line of 6-foot-7 Wyking Jones, 6-5 Keldorf and 6-4 Rick Famuyiwa. Bishop Montgomery lost its best rebounder and most physical player, 6-4 forward John Zimmerman, for the season after he suffered torn ligaments in his ankle last week.

Since beating Morningside, 62-52, on Jan. 9, the Palos Verdes girls’ basketball team has won by margins of 52, 81, 72 and 44 points en route to a 20-1 record and the No. 1 rating in The Times’ CIF rankings.

The one-sided games bring up an age-old question: Is the lack of competition hurting the Sea Kings?

“In terms of physical competition, it doesn’t help us,” said Palos Verdes Coach Wendell Yoshida, whose team has beaten opponents by an average score of 71-35. “We almost see it as a break from killing each other in practice all week.”

Yoshida said he makes it a point to work on different skills in every game to help the players from losing their concentration.

“The biggest thing is to keep the kids motivated,” he said. “We could go out and play every day without any purpose besides winning. I think you have to go out and challenge the kids to do certain things that will help you later on.”

The Sea Kings figure to win the rest of their Ocean League games handily, with one exception--Wednesday’s 6 p.m. game at Morningside.

Yoshida says he will try to solve the team’s need for stronger competition this summer by entering Palos Verdes in a boys’ sophomore league.

“I don’t know if the boys would take to that, but it would be great for the girls,” he said. “What’s the sense for us to beat someone in summer league by 100 points? Playing against boys could only benefit us.”

An interesting idea, to be sure.

How is this for a balanced lineup?

The five starters for the Palos Verdes girls have scoring averages within two points of each other.

Junior point guard Kristen Mulligan leads the team with an 11.7 average, followed by freshman forward Mimi McKinney (11.2), 6-3 junior forward Monique Morehouse (10.7 and 10 rebounds), 6-5 junior center Jeffra Gausepohl (9.9 and 6.4 rebounds) and junior guard Raquel Alotis (9.7).

That’s right, they’re all back next year.

John Quick has done a commendable job in his first season as Miraleste’s basketball coach. The Marauders, who weren’t expected to mount much of a challenge in the Camino Real League, are in a three-way tie for first place at 5-2, 11-6 overall.

However, because Miraleste is headed for closure, it also appears it will be Quick’s last season coaching this group.

“It’s sad,” he said. “We have three starters who are underclassmen and two juniors coming off the bench. We’d have a good nucleus (next season).”

Miraleste’s youth movement is led by junior point guard Frank White, a talented floor leader; sophomore off guard Scott August, and 6-5 junior center Fritz Marohn.

Quick, a walk-on coach who works as a postal service supervisor, realizes he would have little chance to land the head coaching job at Peninsula High over John Mihaljevich of Palos Verdes and Cliff Warren of Rolling Hills.

“I wouldn’t even be considered,” he said. “It will either go to Cliff or John Mihaljevich, which is rightfully so.”

Track officials are being sought to work high school and community college meets. Hector Moreno, secretary-treasurer of the Southern California Track Staters Assn., said officials are needed to compensate for a steady drop in membership in the past 15 years.

For more information, contact Moreno at (213) 548-5663.

Notes

Seven South Bay seniors have been ranked among the top 102 college football prospects on the West Coast by Super Prep magazine: Banning running back-defensive back Travis Davis (No. 8), Carson quarterback John Walsh (No. 23), Carson receiver-defensive back Abdul Muhammad (No. 38), Serra running back-defensive back Jerald Henry (No. 54), Westchester receiver-defensive back Albert Jones (No. 71), Bishop Montgomery linebacker Mike Hall (No. 85) and Rolling Hills running back Robert Coulter (No. 102). . . . Gardena High has cancelled its football banquet because of lack of interest by the players, Coach Mike Sakurai said. According to Sakurai, only 14 of 35 varsity players returned slips indicating they were interested in participating in an awards ceremony and pot-luck dinner. Gardena won the Southern League title last season. “It was kind of a shock to me,” Sakurai said. . . . Cal State Dominguez Hills will be site of the Southern California Division III, IV and V regional basketball finals March 9. The Division I and II finals will be played at the Sports Arena.

South Bay’s Boys’ Basketball Top 10

Selected by Times Sportswriters Through Tuesday’s Games

Rank, School, League Record 1 Morningside (Ocean) 18-2 2 San Pedro (Pacific) 16-3 3 Westchester (Metro) 14-6 4 Inglewood (Bay) 12-8 5 Leuzinger (Bay) 11-4 6 St. Bernard (Mission) 10-9 7 Mira Costa (Ocean) 14-6 8 Carson (Pacific) 10-9 9 Torrance (Pioneer) 11-6 10 Miraleste (Camino Real) 11-6