A Transfer of Power: Morningside Loses Talented Davis to Lynwood

The Morningside High girls’ basketball program--a model of stability for many years--suddenly appears to be operating on shaky ground.

How else would you describe a team that has lost its top player and might lose its coach?

All-American center Janet Davis, The Times’ South Bay Player of the Year last season, has transferred to Lynwood High for her senior year, and there are reports Ron Randle will not be rehired as coach because he is no longer employed by the Inglewood school district.

Along with Peninsula and City Section powerhouse Washington, Morningside was expected to be among the top two or three teams in Southern California. The Lady Monarchs have reached the State Division I final each of the past four years.

But the balance of power has clearly shifted in light of Davis’ transfer. The 6-foot-4 Davis averaged 20.5 points, 11.5 rebounds and 8.5 blocked shots last season, and her addition makes Lynwood a leading contender for Southern Section and state titles.

“It’s a dramatic blow for Morningside,” Randle said. “We still have a lot of talent, but when you lose someone who is unarguably one of the better players in the state, it sends a chill through you.”

Randle said Davis played with Morningside all summer and never indicated she would be changing schools. Randle, a newlywed, said he learned about the transfer after returning from his honeymoon, shortly before the start of the fall semester.

“I talked with her before she left and she said she was moving,” Randle said. “That’s all I’ve gotten out of her.”

Davis’ mother said she decided to leave Inglewood because she was worried about her daughter’s faltering grades at Morningside. The Davis family lived in Lynwood before moving to Inglewood three years ago, when Janet began high school.

“We wanted to get into a better academic program,” Elora Davis said. “I talked to the (Lynwood) principal and I talked to the coach, and they seem to have a much better academic program over there. That was the main reason that we moved.

“Her grades were falling at Morningside. She is being recruited by a lot of colleges, and I didn’t want her sliding into college by the skin of her teeth. I have already noticed an improvement in her schoolwork and in the support she is getting from the school. It seems like she is much happier.”

Randle, however, suspects there are other reasons for the transfer. He points out that Davis has played summer basketball with the Olympias Girls Development League of Carson for many years. OGDL Coach John Anderson is a close friend of Lynwood Coach Maurice Roberson, Randle said.

“It sounds like there is a collaboration thing going,” Randle said. “I have never heard of a player leaving a winning program. I think there is more to it than they are saying, but there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Roberson, beginning his fourth season at Lynwood after guiding the Knights to three consecutive San Gabriel Valley League titles, downplayed Davis’ transfer as being particularly significant. Lynwood returns three starters from last season’s team that lost to Morningside, 56-54, in the Southern Section Division I-AA semifinals.

Asked what the addition of Davis does for his team, Roberson replied, “Not too much. Janet is a little slow, so we have to try to fit her in our program. She gives us height, but she reduces our speed.”

As for his relationship with Anderson, Roberson said they are only casual acquaintances. He said he was “shocked” by Davis’ transfer.

“It happened out of the wild blue,” Roberson said.

Randle believes otherwise.

“Lynwood will do anything to win,” he said. “But it takes two to tango. Somehow they convinced (Davis) to go there.”

Randle said the Inglewood School District’s decision this summer requiring all coaches to reapply for their jobs has created an uncertain atmosphere and might have contributed to Davis’ transfer.

“With all these rumors of coaching changes, other schools are playing on it,” he said. “They’re doing all they can to affect our program.”

The district declared all coaching positions vacant at Inglewood and Morningside in an effort to redefine the roles that coaches play in the academic development of their athletes.

Randle said he is waiting for the interview process to begin. He went though the same thing last year when he was selected to succeed longtime Morningside girls’ basketball Coach Frank Scott, now an assistant at USC.

“I don’t know what they’re doing,” Randle said. “It’s frustrating.”

Because Randle recently resigned as an accountant for Inglewood schools, some have speculated that he will not be rehired because the district wants coaches who are also school employees.

“If they don’t want me back, they haven’t told me,” he said.

Mira Costa football Coach Bill Lysle was critical of his team last week after a 14-0 loss to Leuzinger. He said the Mustangs (1-2) must do a better job of sticking to the game plan Friday night against Santa Monica (2-1) at Santa Monica College.

“We give the kids a game plan, we work on it all week, then we come to a game and the kids decide they are going to do it their way,” Lysle said. “We would like them to believe in us as coaches. We went into the (Leuzinger) game with a game plan that we thought was sound. The kids show up and don’t do what we asked them to do.”

Without top running back Miguel Garcia (sprained ankle), Mira Costa’s offense sputtered against Leuzinger. The Mustangs finished with 106 total yards and only 25 rushing.

Morningside running back Montres Gordes displayed some flashy moves last week in a 55-30 victory over Torrance. The 5-8, 160-pound senior rushed for 146 yards and two touchdowns, including a 20-yard run in which he broke two tackles and eluded four defenders.

“I have to thank the coaches for teaching me that cut,” Gordes said. “The play was supposed to go to the right, but it closed down. Then I saw a block from the left and went that way.”

The Monarch backfield of Gordes, fullback Jesse Swayze and quarterback Stais Boseman combined for 416 yards rushing in 40 carries against Torrance, better than a 10-yard average.

It will be interesting to see how Morningside (2-0) does Friday against Peninsula (3-0), which shut down Redondo’s running game last week in a 42-22 victory.

Peninsula High administrators have acted quickly to correct a potentially dangerous situation at the school’s football field.

During last week’s Peninsula-Redondo game, a Redondo receiver was injured when he slid into a newly constructed long jump runway, which runs parallel to the west end zone about five yards beyond the field of play. The player hit a part of the runway’s cement curb that was raised several inches above the ground.

An administrator said the school plans to make the runway level with the ground by filling in the area with dirt, and also plans to cover it.

Overshadowed during Carson’s 29-18 upset loss to Granada Hills last week was a noteworthy effort by Colt wide receiver Tony Knox, who caught five passes for 190 yards. It was the second-highest receiving yardage game in school history behind Michael Ross, who had 205 yards against Dorsey in 1989.

Serra has rebounded nicely since its season-opening 42-18 loss to Crespi with victories the past two weeks over Bloomington, 60-25, and Basic of Las Vegas, 41-20.

But first-year Coach Jon Dimalante says the Cavaliers are giving up too many points. Already they have allowed more points (63) than they did last year in an eight-game regular season (56).

“We’re blowing assignments,” said Dimalante, who was Serra’s defensive coordinator last season. “You win on defense, and we’re giving up too many points. We’re hurting ourselves.”

Serra, which has a bye this week, resumes play Oct. 11 at Lompoc.

Notes

El Segundo baseball Coach John Stevenson, whose health has returned after undergoing bypass surgery last spring, is putting together a team with Crossroads Coach Chuck Ice for a tour of Australia from Dec. 20 to Jan. 3. Players age 15-18 are eligible. The cost is $3,398 per player and includes air fare, hotel accommodations and meals. Information: Stevenson at (213) 322-4500, ext. 242. . . . Banning’s football team is ranked No. 7 in the state among large schools and No. 6 overall in Southern California by Cal-Hi Sports. . . . The Peninsula girls’ cross-country team, ranked No. 13 in the nation, won the team title at the prestigious Royal Invitational at Moorpark College last weekend, beating second-place Hart of Newhall, 37-71.