Cleveland High Alums Renew Acquaintances

Andre Chevalier and former Cleveland High teammate Tim Bowen went head to head when the Northridge basketball team played Butler in Indianapolis last week.

On several occasions, Bowen caught Chevalier with his guard down, either driving around him or stealing the ball from him.

“He wanted to prove something to me and he got me,” said Chevalier, a 1990 Cleveland graduate. “I give him this one, but I’ll get my revenge.”

At least from a statistical standpoint, Chevalier held his own, even earning a slight edge with nine points, six assists, four rebounds, one steal and five turnovers.

Bowen, a 1989 Cleveland graduate, scored six points and had five assists, two rebounds, two steals and four turnovers.

“We are really, really good friends,” Bowen said. “It wasn’t a rivalry thing. It was going out and having a good time. That’s why we are both playing college basketball.”

The Chevalier-Bowen matchup wasn’t the only contest featuring two former Cavalier guards going sneaker to sneaker last week.

When Cal State Long Beach played host to Cal State Los Angeles, Lucious Harris and Etienne Graves, 1989 Cleveland graduates, both scored in double figures.

Harris scored 19 points for Long Beach and Graves had 14 for Cal State L.A., including 12 in the first half.

Later in the season, Long Beach will play Kansas and Adonis Jordan, an ’89 Cleveland graduate.

Said Bob Braswell, a Long Beach assistant who coached all of the players at Cleveland: “All of the old guys will get a chance to see each other.”

SILENT TRIBUTE

The Cal Lutheran basketball team will wear black armbands for the remainder of the season in remembrance of Sonya Beltowski, who died of cancer at age 21 on Nov. 17.

Andy Beltowski, Sonya’s brother, is a starting forward on the team.

Sonya Beltowski’s funeral was last Thursday, but Andy played with the team last weekend in the Menlo College tournament. Beltowski, a transfer from Oxnard College, did well in his Kingsmen debut, scoring 18 points in two games.

“Our team did a good job of handling it, but it certainly affected everybody,” Cal Lutheran Coach Mike Dunlap said. “Just the fact that he played as well as he did is a true testimony to (Andy). . . . We’re all behind him.”

DELAYED DEBUT

Simon O’Donnell, Cal Lutheran’s 6-foot-6, 230-pound senior center, will return to the starting lineup Friday night after being held out the first two games by Dunlap.

Dunlap said O’Donnell broke a school rule and was placed on “social probation.” He did not specify the violation.

Dunlap attributed Cal Lutheran’s 0-2 start in part to the absence of O’Donnell. But he added, “I endorse what the school is about. The big fella had to pay the price. . . . Now it’s all over with.”

PAIN IN THE BACK

Last season, a nagging lower back injury forced Brian Kilian, Northridge’s backup center, to miss nine games. It also limited his playing time in the other games to brief periods.

“Brian was a victim of his own doing last year,” Northridge Coach Pete Cassidy said. “We have outstanding trainers and they prescribed all the proper exercises. When he did them, he was fine. Then, he got a false sense of security. He did not follow directions and it stiffened up.

“We had a long talk this year and he has not missed (therapy). He’s committed to being the best he can be.”

Kilian’s performance is crucial for the Matadors because starting center Percy Fisher tends to get into foul trouble.

In an 82-67 loss to Butler in the Matadors’ opener, Fisher was limited to 14 minutes and two points because he was saddled with fouls.

In his absence, Kilian scored seven points, grabbed seven rebounds, made three steals and blocked two shots.

COSTLY EXAM

David Swanson missed Northridge’s basketball opener because he was bleary-eyed from jet lag.

Swanson, a senior forward, was unable to travel with the team to Indianapolis last Thursday because he had to take an exam. After the test, he took an overnight flight, which included a three-hour layover in Atlanta.

“That’s the second time in my 26 years that a professor would not allow a student-athlete to take a test before or after a trip,” Cassidy said bitterly.

GETTING THE BOOT

Jim Harper, Colorado’s kicker for most of the past two seasons, did not make the trip for the team’s regular-season finale and is wondering where, or if, he fits into the Buffaloes’ postseason plans.

Harper, a former Valley College and Hart standout, was left behind on Colorado’s trip to play Iowa State in Ames, Iowa, last Saturday. The Buffaloes’ kicker was junior Pat Blottiaux, who made a 22-yard field goal, missed a 44-yard try and made both extra points in Colorado’s 17-14 win. Coach Bill McCartney said Blottiaux earned the start based on his consistency in practice.

“I don’t know what the deal is, me being a senior and that being the last game,” Harper said. “I had a good game the week before. I’m probably the only kicker ever to be cut after making his last three field goals.”

Harper has made eight of 13 field-goal attempts; three attempts were blocked.

Colorado will conclude its season in either the Orange, Blockbuster or Gator bowl game.

RUNNING RAZORBACK

Deena Drossin of Arkansas was the No. 4 runner for the No. 2 team in the NCAA Division I cross-country championships at El Conquistador Country Club in Tucson on Monday.

But the freshman from Agoura High was left with a feeling of what might have been if not for a foot injury that forced her to miss 10 days of training earlier this month.

Drossin, a three-time state Division I cross-country champion at Agoura, finished 44th in Tucson--she was the second freshman overall--to help Arkansas to a runner-up finish behind Villanova.

But it was a disappointing finish after being the Razorbacks’ No. 1 runner all season. “I was excited for the team because we held the second-place spot,” Drossin said.

“But I was disappointed in my own personal performance. I just wasn’t able to get into any kind of a rhythm during the race. I think the layoff had something to do with that.”

Arkansas Coach Lance Harter, who held Drossin out of the NCAA District VI meet Nov. 16 so that she could rest for nationals, concurred.

“She just wasn’t flowing the other day,” Harter said. “You could see that the rhythm she had earlier in the season just wasn’t there.”

The NCAA meet was Drossin’s sixth race of the season. She had been the Razorbacks’ top runner in the previous five and had won the Aztec invitational in San Diego, the Arkansas invitational in Fayetteville, and the Southeastern Conference championships in Athens, Ga.

WAITING GAME

Bryan Dameworth of Wisconsin and Dave Hartman of Villanova, former state champions at Agoura and Canyon highs, respectively, attended the NCAA Division I cross-country championships.

However, neither raced.

Dameworth, a three-time state Division I cross-country champion from 1987-89 and the 1990 state track champion in the 3,200 meters, is coming back slowly from a series of foot injuries that he sustained after his senior track season.

Hartman, the 1991 state champion in the 3,200, was Villanova’s No. 3 runner for most of the season, but the Wildcats failed to advance to the NCAA meet from the District II regionals on Nov. 16.

Dameworth, who did not compete as a freshman at Wisconsin because of injuries, has run a few races this fall and is currently running 50 miles a week in training.

Although he hopes to have a full racing schedule during the 1992 track season, he does not expect to be fully recovered until the 1992 cross-country season. “Martin wants to bring me back real slowly,” Dameworth said of Martin Smith. “He doesn’t think I’ll be completely there until next (cross-country) season.”

KITE FLYING HIGH

Derek Kite helped Lubbock Christian win its second consecutive National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics men’s cross-country title Nov. 16.

Kite, the No. 2 runner on the Camarillo High team that won the 1989 state Division I title, placed ninth in the NAIA championships to earn All-American honors and help Lubbock Christian to a 26-42 victory over runner-up Adams State (Colo.).

Kite was the Chaparrals’ No. 4 runner. He placed eighth in last year’s championships as a freshman.

HARRIER HABITAT

Runners from Southern California were, as usual, dominant in the state junior college cross-country championships. In the men’s race, the top 11 finishers, and 17 of the top 20, were from Southern California schools. So were the top five teams.

In the women’s competition, four of the top five individuals were from the Southland, as were the first three teams.

PLAYOFF PROSPECTUS

The Northridge women’s volleyball team completed the regular season with its ninth loss in its past 11 matches, a three-game sweep by fifth-ranked UCLA. But even with a 13-17 record, the Matadors are in contention for postseason play.

The pairings for the National Invitational volleyball championships will be announced Sunday and Northridge Coach Walt Ker is confident that his club will be included.

Ker says the factors working in Northridge’s favor are the strength of the Matadors’ schedule and that the Matadors won two of three matches against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, also is a tournament hopeful.

Individual statistical leaders from Valley-area junior college football teams for 1991 season:

PASSING

Player, Team Att. Cmp. Yds. TD C. TUCKER, Mrpk. 178 88 1,626 18 M. BRIMIGION, Vnt. 281 130 1,623 14 M. WASHINGTON, AV 159 72 1,463 12 ERIC KIESAU, Glen. 119 77 781 5 JOE PICA, Pierce 127 50 641 3 M. MCMULLEN, Gln. 116 48 633 3 C. GADOMSKI, Val. 63 31 553 2

RUSHING

Player, Team Car. Yds. TD LaSHANTE PARKER, Pierce 207 1,366 17 TERRANCE BROWN, Valley 153 1,138 15 J. ANDERSON, Moorpark 155 1,063 9 RAFIK THOROSSIAN, Glen. 149 837 7 GREG GRAHAM, AV 82 613 5 BOBBY WEBSTER, Glen. 174 573 6 WILLIAM MILLS, Ventura 109 526 3 JOHNEL TURNER, Mrpk. 80 495 5 NIGEL BOSTIC, Valley 60 436 5

RECEIVING

Player, Team Rec. Yds. TD CURTIS MARSH, Mrpk. 48 1,030 10 JOE WADE, Glendale 34 393 1 WILLIAM MILLS, Vent. 32 342 1 SHAWN YOUNG, Vent. 30 571 6 KEITH WEST, Glendale 30 321 2 S. CULVER, Pierce 24 399 3 THOMAS REIMER, AV 19 332 2 NATE WILLIAMS, AV 18 558 8 C. ROBERSON, Vent. 18 227 3

SCORING

Player, Team TD FG PAT Pts. L. PARKER, Pierce 17 0 0 102 T. BROWN, Valley 15 0 0 90 JAMAL ANDERSON, Mrpk. 11 0 *1 68 CURTIS MARSH, Mrpk. 10 0 0 60 CUNEYT KARACUHA, Val. 0 9 25 52 STEVE SZEKELY, Pierce 0 9 24 51 TONY WILLIAMS, Ventura 8 0 0 48 NATE WILLIAMS, AV 8 0 0 48 CASH ACHZIGER, AV 8 0 0 48 R. THOROSSIAN, Glen. 7 0 0 42 SHAWN YOUNG, Ventura 7 0 0 42

* Denotes two-point conversion.

Ron Twersky and staff writers Mike Hiserman, Theresa Munoz, John Ortega and Wendy Witherspoon contributed to this notebook.