PREP NOTES

Basketball season is here, so it was time for a team meeting at Mater Dei. The stat team that is.

On Monday, Monarch assistant coach Phil Bellomo assembled a group of six girls in head coach Gary McKnight’s office for his annual How To Take Basketball Statistics seminar. It was the third of four sessions that the girls are required to attend.

Bellomo, who moonlights as a stat keeper for Laker broadcaster Chick Hearn, explained how to keep rebounds, shots attempted, assists, etc. Then, to put theory into practice, he showed a video tape of a Mater Dei game and had the crew keep stats, pausing from time to time to explain what should have been recorded.

“I’ve done this since 1985,” Bellomo said. “We want to be as accurate as possible.”