PREPS / MITCH POLIN : Boseman Quickly Showing He Is a Man for All Seasons

After concentrating on football for the past three months, All-Southern Section guard Stais Boseman of Morningside High says it will probably take some time to grow comfortable with playing basketball again.

But it has not taken long for Boseman to make his presence felt.

All it took was an alley-oop pass from guard Sean Harris that Boseman converted into a thundering, one-handed dunk early in the second quarter of Morningside’s 67-64 victory Friday over Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks in the second round of the La Canada Holiday Classic.

That was enough to convince Morningside Coach Carl Franklin that Boseman is back.

“He’s actually even stronger than last year,” Franklin said. “He wouldn’t have been able to take that pass (from Harris) that he did and turn it into a basket like that.”

The 6-foot-4 Boseman, a quarterback for the Morningside football team that won the Southern Section title on Dec. 14, scored 17 points in his first game back--an opening-round victory over San Fernando on Thursday. Against Notre Dame he had 12.

Boseman’s efforts are particularly impressive when you consider how little he thought about basketball until recently.

“I didn’t even pick up a basketball during the whole football season,” Boseman said. “I was concentrating on getting a CIF championship. Until (last) week, I didn’t pick up a ball for about two or three months.”

It is not as if everything is going smoothly in his return to the court. Late in the game against Notre Dame, Boseman made an errant pass.

“He made a turnover that I don’t think he would’ve made later on in the season,” Franklin said.

At this point, Boseman says he is having the most difficulty with his offensive game. He made only two of five free throws against Notre Dame.

“I haven’t hit a jump shot since I came back and my free throws are real hard,” he said. “I have to go out to a court and practice my free throws a lot more.

“Most of my points have come on garbage plays. I can still jump and get up for rebounds, but I haven’t made any good shots and my timing is off.”

While Boseman is not as polished as he would prefer, he realizes that his best games are yet to come.

“I’m just not as smooth as I’m going to be but that will come with time,” he said. “When I get my composure back, it’s going to be a lot different.”

And that can be a scary thought for Morningside opponents.

A year has made quite a difference for the Banning boys’ basketball team.

At this point last season, the Pilots were 1-10 and on their way to 5-19 season.

But with a 58-39 nonleague win over Inglewood on Friday, Banning improved its record to 6-5.

Coach Mark Paez said there have been two important factors behind the turnaround.

“It was my first year last year and last year’s team had only about two months to prepare for a new coach,” he said. “I think their familiarity with me is greatly reflected in our improvement. We’re also a lot more balanced as a team.

“Last year we relied mostly on Jabari Anderson for our scoring. This year there’s not one player who we really have to rely on.”

Anderson, who has graduated, averaged 35.1 points to lead the South Bay in scoring last season. In his place, the Pilots have turned to players such as guards Sean Washington and Benny Tillman. Washington is averaging nearly 20 points and Tillman 14.

Also making an impact is 6-5 junior Bryan Hill, who averages 12 rebounds after playing for the school’s B team as a sophomore.

“He gives us the post man that we didn’t have last year and that clogs up the middle and has made us a much better defensive team,” Paez said.

The Pilots have also benefited from the addition of guard Jana Wafer, a transfer from Los Angeles High who is averaging seven assists.

“He’s really held our offense together,” Paez said. “He’s made very few turnovers and he is very sure-handed with the ball.”

Paez said Friday’s victory over Inglewood was a good sign for the program.

“We beat a well-coached team, so that has to do wonders for our confidence.”

Paez thinks the team will be even stronger after the holiday break.

“The most encouraging thing for me is our best days are ahead of us,” he said. “We’re improving all the time and I really expect us to be a much better team after Christmas.”

Prep football fans from the South Bay will see two familiar faces on the sideline at Harbor College football games next season.

In hopes of adding a boost to Harbor’s offense, Coach Don Weems has hired former Serra coach Leo Hand as his offensive coordinator and former Banning and Oklahoma quarterback Jamelle Holieway as his quarterback coach.

Hand guided Serra to a 24-1 record in 1989 and 1990. The Cavaliers won the Southern Section Division VII title in 1989.

Holieway starred as an option quarterback at Banning and Oklahoma in the 1980s. In 1984, he earned All-City honors at Banning and helped lead the Pilots to a berth in the City 4-A Division final.

Harbor finished 2-8 last season and ranked last in the Western State Conference in offense.

With no player taller than 5-8, the North Torrance girls’ basketball team has one of the shortest starting lineups in the South Bay.

But that hasn’t seemed to bother the Saxons, who are 7-1 after Friday’s 61-44 victory over Redondo.

The Saxons have been led by 5-7 junior forward Jennifer Tojo, who earned Pioneer League most valuable player honors last season when they finished 15-11 overall and third in the league at 5-3.