SOUTHERN SECTION BOYS’ BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Underdog La Habra Having a Great Time at Playoff Party

Maybe there is something to this qualifying round after all.

La Habra and Villa Park, which never will be mistaken for basketball powers, played an entertaining game in Southern Section Division II-A play Tuesday night at Villa Park High School.

In the end, La Habra made 10 of 13 free-throw attempts to win, 74-66, and gain only its seventh victory of the season. La Habra’s reward? A chance to play defending state Division II champion Artesia on Friday night.

“We came in here for a cup of coffee and had some fun,” said Frank McCarroll, who had no illusions after the victory. “We’ll show up at Artesia and do our best.”

But for the next two days, La Habra (7-18) will celebrate its first postseason victory since 1984. The Highlanders won only one game in the Freeway League, but McCarroll never questioned a decision to join the postseason party.

“We had seven of our 10 games in the league decided by eight points or less, so I thought we would be competitive,” he said. “I start four juniors, so this game is something to build on.”

Sadly, the same can’t be said for Villa Park (5-17). First-year Coach Andy Beyer, a walk-on who teaches in Yorba Linda, said he won’t return next season unless he is offered a teaching position at the high school.

Villa Park has had four coaches in the past 10 years and two of them, Val Popov and Frank Palminteri, resigned because of a lack of administrative support.

“The district is reviewing the situation,” Beyer said. “A full-time position on campus is what it’s going to take to turn this program around. If there’s an on-campus job, I’ll come back.”

Beyer, a 1983 Villa Park graduate who played at Redlands University, brought in highly successful traveling coach Chuck Thomas to assist him this year and the Spartans were competitive in nine of 10 Century League games. But without a commitment from district administrators, Villa Park will be searching for another basketball coach.