SPORTS BRIEFS : Tarkanian to Coach in Celebrity Game

Jerry Tarkanian of Nevada Las Vegas will coach a team of celebrities against a team of current and former L.A. Raiders in the second annual Tarkanian celebrity basketball game at 2 p.m. Saturday at Cal State Long Beach.

Proceeds from the exhibition will benefit the Oralingua School for the Hearing Impaired in Whittier. Tarkanian’s wife, Lois, was the school’s first administrator.

Among the celebrities expected to participate are former boxing champion Ken Norton, former NBA all-star Norm Nixon and rap singer Tone Loc.

Cal State Long Beach football Coach Willie Brown will play for the Raiders, who will be coached by former Long Beach All-American Ed Ratleff.

Tickets range from $6.25 to $50 for VIP seats, and are available at TicketMaster outlets. Information: 855-0654.

Middle school principals in Long Beach have recommended that the school district eliminate softball, baseball and four track meets from its after-school sports program. The plan also would divert about $40,000 from after-school sports to enhance intramural programs at each school site.

The cuts, if approved by the district’s school board, would receive a one-year trial, said middle school sports coordinator Howard Lyon. After-school sports expected to remain are flag football, boys’ and girls’ basketball, girls’ volleyball and boys’ and girls’ league and city finals in track.

Ron Henke has been appointed football coach at St. Paul High School in Santa Fe Springs. He replaces Miguel Olmedo, who took an assistant coaching job at Fontana High. Henke was an assistant coach at St. Paul in 1985 under former Coach Rick Ready. He has spent the past five years as a coach in Cincinnati.

Three former administrators at area schools have been awarded CIF Southern Section lifetime passes for contributions to high school athletics. Tom Aney began his career as the football coach at Paramount High in 1955. Former Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District Supt. Maury Ross coached football at Poly High. Jordan High and Whittier College graduate Dick Tucker went on to win a national championship as the football coach at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa.

Warren High School in Downey plans to name its baseball diamond after longtime Coach Buck Taylor, 59, who resigned last month after 27 years.

He had a 290-278-5 record that included 10 playoff appearances and five league titles. Taylor will be honored in ceremonies to be held sometime after school begins in September.

The Lynwood Lakers, a basketball team of 10- and 11-year-old girls, captured a bronze medal in a recent Amateur Athletic Union tournament in Cerritos. The team was coached by John Fort and Tony Barre. Players were Acheve Barre, Felicita Fort, Danielle Gaskin, Brandy Peer, Dorothy Patterson, Chimere Anderson, Karina Gold, Birdie Herbert, Shameka Grant, Monique Allen and Christina Jackson.

The CIF Southern Section will play host to a fund-raising golf tournament June 27 at the California Country Club near Whittier. The shotgun-scramble round starts at 2 p.m. The cost is $85. Dinner costs $25. Call Kay Larson at 860-2414 or 826-5390.

Five area schools have been awarded CIF Southern Section “Shake for Sportsmanship” awards.

St. Anthony (Camino Real League), Schurr (Foothill League), Poly (Moore League), Warren (San Gabriel Valley League) and Mayfair (Suburban League) received the honors, chosen by principals in each of their respective leagues.