Scoring Record Falls in Fitting Manner

It was only fitting that Mike Fisher of Southwestern Academy in San Marino broke the state and Southern Section single-season record for scoring average with an outside jump shot in the Sun’s 89-78 victory over Glendale Academy Thursday.

All season, Fisher has been burning opponents from the outside and against Glendale Academy he scored 52 points and finished the regular season with 827. In 18 games, Fisher averaged 45.9 points, breaking the record of 44.3 set by Tracy Murray of Glendora in 1988-89.

Fisher first gained notice in December when he scored 73 points against Los Angeles Pacific Christian, one short of the Southern Section record set by Nick Tenneriello of Colbert in 1967-68.

Since then, the 6-foot senior has been on a tear, having scored more than 30 points 16 times, more than 40 points 13 times, more than 50 points eight times and 60 points three times. Not bad for a player who was only 5-8 with a high game of 45 points last season.

“I’m pretty surprised at how much I’ve scored this season,” Fisher said. “When I scored 45 points last year, I thought that was the best thing in the world. I thought at the time that I’d never score that many points again. Then this year, I averaged that much per game.”

Opponents usually double- and triple-teamed him this season.

“It’s been hard not to put too much pressure on myself to score,” said Fisher, who averages 20 free throws a game. “I’ve had people talk about me playing in a small schools division, but I think that it’s a lot harder to play with two and three people guarding you than against one.

“I’m not that big and I rely on my outside shot. Teams really play hard against me and I don’t so much get fouled . . . I get tackled. They try to punish me.”

Southwestern Academy will play host to Chino Boys’ Republic tonight in a qualifying game of the Southern Section V-AA playoffs.

When La Canada Ribet Academy broke the Southern Section record for most points in a game in its 144-38 victory over Antelope Valley Christian Friday, Coach Mike Miller was not surprised.

“We could have gotten the record a couple of times this season,” he said. “But we held back. (Against Antelope Valley Christian) a combination of things happened and we broke the record.”

The Fighting Frogs broke the record of 140 points set by Gardena Serra against Los Angeles Salesian in 1980-81 by scoring 42 points in the first quarter, 28 in the second and 37 in each the third and fourth.

Ribet Academy, the defending Small Schools champion, did not play its starters in the fourth quarter and seldom-used reserve Ken Vera scored the basket that gave the Fighting Frogs the record.

“(Antelope Valley Christian) really played into our hands by (running) with us,” Miller said. “We played really hard and didn’t make any mistakes. The whole fourth quarter we played primarily bench players.”

Senior basketball player David Badibanga of Chaffey High has been suspended by the Southern Section for shoving a referee during an 86-85 overtime loss to Glendora last week.

The incident occurred after Glendora’s Jay Zuhlke had made a jump shot to tie the score at 75 as time expired in regulation play. Chaffey players, apparently believing that Zuhlke’s shot had been released after the buzzer sounded, ran onto the court to celebrate. But referee Rocky Bettar signaled that the shot counted, sending the game into overtime. Badibanga, who had scored 21 points, pushed Bettar from behind near the scorer’s table.

Badibanga was charged with a technical foul and ejected.

Chaffey Principal Barry Cadwallader has declared Badibanga ineligible for athletics and contacted the Southern Section.

“The boy has been removed from the team and will be ineligible for further athletic competition . . . in compliance with the state violence rule,” Southern Section Associate Commissioner Dean Crowley said. “This boy is through.”

Bettar, a Rowland High teacher, filed a report with Glendora police that will be forwarded to the juvenile district attorney to determine whether charges will be filed.

In its game against Washington High Friday, Crenshaw looked unbeatable for three quarters in opening a 24-point lead. With Kevin Ollie providing most of the scoring and its full-court press causing turnovers, Crenshaw dominated the Generals. However, Washington scored 47 in the final quarter and Crenshaw needed a last-second missed shot by the Generals to win, 111-110.

“They came back because we were not rotating on defense,” Crenshaw guard Alexous Scruggs said. “We just didn’t play together at the end.”

Scruggs, a 6-2 junior, played a major part in Washington’s comeback when he was called for a technical foul that helped trigger an eight-point turnaround for the Generals. But Scruggs redeemed himself when he made two free throws with 14 seconds remaining that gave the Cougars their winning margin.

“I got in trouble for talking back to the refs, that helped them get back into the game,” he said. “But I knew the game was on the line when I took those last two free throws.”

Inconsistency has been a season-long problem for Crenshaw, which has won 11 City and four state titles since 1971. Despite their 19-4 record, the Cougars are not considered a strong favorite going into the City 4-A Division playoffs.

“Sometimes they play together and sometimes they don’t,” Coach Willie West said. “They get caught up in scoring points and being a hero. We don’t need that, we need players. We know now that we have to win four in a row or the season is over.”

Prep Notes

In the City Section, the winner of the Southern League will be top-seeded in Division 4-A. Crenshaw is 9-1 in Southern Pacific Conference play and 19-4 overall, and Washington is 8-1 and 19-3. The Generals will play a makeup game against San Pedro this afternoon. If Washington wins, a coin flip with Crenshaw will determine the league champion.

Defending 4-A champion Manual Arts, 19-3, is seeded No. 2. In 3-A, top-ranked Fremont, 25-1, is seeded No. 1, and Van Nuys Grant, 17-2, is seeded No. 2. The City finals will be March 1. The Southern Section will hold its championship games March 1-2. The state Southern Regional finals will be March 9 at the Sports Arena and the state tournament will be March 15-16 at the Oakland Coliseum.

BASKETBALL RANKINGS C9