Adopted Girls Add Sparkle to Ropeses’ Lives

Kaci Ropes, a South Korean-born girl adopted by Newbury Park High basketball Coach Greg Ropes and his wife Linda in 1977, has danced her way into the Ropeses’ hearts in more than one way.

Two years after the Ropeses adopted Kaci, now 15 and a freshman at Camarillo High, they discovered that she had slight brain damage, probably as a result of neglect as an infant before the adoption. Kaci reads at the 10th-grade level but has the math skills of a first-grade student.

“She’s a survivor,” Ropes said. “She has endured a tremendous amount of pain, and she’s such a sweetheart. It certainly has put things into perspective when it comes to coaching basketball.”

Ropes said he resigned as a men’s assistant at Cal Lutheran in 1983 in part because Kaci was having trouble in school.

“You never really know what she might do,” he said. “Sometimes you just have to tell yourself that she had another bad day and try to get through it.”

Kaci touched Cal Lutheran fans when Ropes coached there.

“Kaci likes to dance to music, and when the band started playing at halftime of one of our games she went to the middle of the floor and started dancing,” Ropes said with a chuckle. “After the game, people kept coming up to me and saying they had enjoyed the halftime show. I didn’t know what they were talking about until later. I guess the music just got to her and she was having a great time.”

In 1980, the Ropeses adopted Laney, another South Korean-born girl who now is a junior at Camarillo. The Ropeses have two biological sons, Brett (20 years old) and Chad (18).

Ropes said they discovered that Laney has a sister in South Korea, with whom she exchanges letters and gifts. Laney’s birthday is unknown, so the Ropeses have given her adoption date of Nov. 17 as her birth date and “we think she’s about 16 years old,” he said.

Ropes said he has promised the girls a vacation in South Korea. “They won’t let me forget it,” he said with a laugh.

RUDE HOMECOMING

Every coach’s dream turned into a nightmare--at least on the scoreboard--for Moorpark’s Tim Bednar.

Bednar, a 1979 graduate of Santa Clara, returned to his alma mater Tuesday in his first head-to-head meeting against venerable Lou Cvijanovich, his former coach and mentor.

Bednar said he considers his three seasons playing for Cvijanovich, the Saints’ coach for the past 34 years, one of the most rewarding experiences of his life.

“I just want us to play well,” Bednar said before the game. “There is a certain part of me that wants to go back and earn some respect.”

Coaching against Cvijanovich was not as pleasant an experience for Bednar; Santa Clara whipped Moorpark, 84-41.

HEALTHY HUSKIES

Perhaps the secret to North Hollywood’s success on the basketball court this season is the fact that no player has missed a game.

“The commitment of our team is totally there,” North Hollywood Coach Steve Miller said. “They are totally dedicated to being the best that they can be.”

The Huskies (15-1) are one game--a four-point loss to Fremont--away from a perfect record.

HOME-COURT EDGE?

Given the choice, most coaches would prefer to play in their own school’s gymnasium rather than in their opponent’s for obvious reasons. But after host Sherman Oaks CES lost a close game to Franklin last week, 47-46, Knight Coach Mac Becker might defer the advantage.

“The more you play this game, the more ways you figure out how to lose,” Becker said.

The Knights’ junior varsity coach, who was running the game clock, suffered a few miscues that cost Sherman Oaks (8-7, 3-1 in East Valley League play) at least four points.

Twice Franklin was credited with baskets after time had expired to end quarters. The buzzer should have sounded but did not, according to Becker.

To make matters worse, the clock operator failed to stop the clock when the whistle blew with 18 seconds remaining. The Knights had possession and plenty of time--or at least they thought they did--to tie or win, but the clock operator was asleep at the switch and most of the 18 seconds just flew by.

A coach might expect that kind of scoreboard blunder at an away game, but at home?

“There wasn’t too much I could say to him,” Becker said. “He apologized to me after the game, but I just walked away. There was nothing I could say.”

FINDING A SOPH SPOT

The Northwest Valley Conference features a pair of basketball teams that exemplify the extremes that playing several sophomores can produce.

San Fernando, 5-18 last year, is 6-5 and has found a pair of budding standouts in 5-foot-11 guard Javier Ramos (20.4-point average) and 6-4 forward Jerome Elliott (11.6). Kevin Pinkney, a 6-7 sophomore, also has had superlative moments.

“The thing to do is just let ‘em play and learn,” said Coach Dick Crowell, who has six sophomores on his 11-man roster. “But when you have a bunch of 10th-graders, you never know what’s going to happen.”

Granada Hills, which includes four sophomores among its top 10 players, has been heading the other direction. The Highlanders are 3-9 and Coach Bob Johnson is clearly frustrated.

“I thought we’d be good, not great,” he said. “But we’ve been plain bad.

“We’ve got too many of them (sophomores), and I think I know what the problem is. In the past, when we had Jermoine Brantley or Gary Gray playing as sophomores, they were surrounded by experienced players.

“We don’t have any experience this year.”

Shelton Simmons, a senior and the lone returning letterman, is the only Highlander player averaging in double figures in scoring (14 points a game).

LONG AND SHORT OF IT

Spandex leggings that come to mid-thigh . . . T-shirts under game jerseys . . . Gaudy high-tops that are color-coordinated to match uniforms . . . Extra-baggy shorts.

Senior guard Sean Smith is modeling what could be the latest twist in sartorial hoop fashion at Crespi. Mostly, he is doing so from the bench.

Smith, a reserve, wears his basketball shorts so low that the hem comes close to the knee. Others in the college and pro ranks also are sporting the low-rider look.

Playing the fashion plate, it seems, can be hazardous to one’s playing time.

“There was one game where he was losing the ball every time he (dribbled) between the legs,” Coach Chris Nikchevich said. “I yanked him and told him if he wanted to play, he had to pull up his pants.”

In last week’s game against Notre Dame, Smith’s shorts were back to near-pedal-pusher length.

“I guess I need to get pants with an extra-small waist or tie the drawstring real tight,” Nikchevich said.

COMING ALONG

Channel Islands’ Fred Gaines and Agoura’s Lloyd Silvers are 6-foot-2 juniors who are first-year varsity players in the region.

But perhaps most important is the potential each has shown.

Gaines is the younger brother of Kevin Venable, a former Channel Islands and Ventura College standout who seemed destined for a Division I college until his career was ended by three knee operations. Although Gaines is playing his first year of high school basketball and is playing out of position as a center, he has had impressive performances. He had 15 points and eight rebounds in a 62-54 win over Camarillo on Monday and had a 14-point, 13-rebound effort against Nordhoff on Dec. 28.

“If we had a big kid and Fred didn’t have to play center for us, I definitely think he could be one of the more talented forwards around,” Channel Islands Coach Gary Abraham said. “He’s a real good athlete who works real hard and is a competitive kid. That helps a lot, especially when he hasn’t played a lot of organized basketball.”

Agoura Coach Kevin Pasky said that Silvers, a transfer from Loyola, was impressive in Agoura’s run toward the Berkeley tournament title Dec. 21.

“He’s our best athlete, but he’s just learning how to play our style,” Pasky said. “He’s used to the run-and-gun, full-court stuff they run at Loyola. He’s really come along.”

IN HARM’S WAY

Robert Mena is a take-charge kind of guy. Barry Dabbaghian is not.

But Providence Coach Paul Sutton is working on that.

Mena has taken 14 charges in eight games, including eight in one game against St. Bonaventure. Dabbaghian has taken none.

“We like to draw the charge,” Sutton said. “One of our goals this year is to have everyone on the team draw a charge.”

So far, Dabbaghian is the only player who has failed to do so.

“I’ll take him to his favorite Armenian restaurant if he takes a charge,” Sutton said. “So far, he hasn’t.”

HAIRY BUFFALO

Tim Ross, the Royal free safety who hit as hard as a recession and was the Marmonte League’s defensive player of the year in 1990, simply provided a hairy problem for opposing offenses.

As a redshirt at Colorado this past season, his hair might have become a problem.

Ross’ bone-jarring tackles still provided troubles for offenses. During a practice this season, Colorado Coach Bill McCartney reportedly left his perch atop the coaching tower and walked onto the playing field to congratulate Ross on a tackle. “You’re going to play a lot of football here, son,” he said.

Ross (6-3) has gained 20 pounds and weighs 218. And, during a visit to Royal on Monday, he let down his hair by playing basketball in a gymnasium where his retired No. 29 jersey hangs.

“He’s taller, he’s heavier, and he has hair down to his shoulders,” Royal football Coach Gene Uebelhardt said, then laughed. “He wouldn’t have gotten away with that hair at Royal High.”

SPEECHLESS

Oxnard Coach Henry Lobo, who was left searching for answers after his team scored only four points in the first quarter of a 49-43 loss to Dos Pueblos in a Channel League game Friday: “I have no excuses. We just stunk. Maybe I need to work on my inspirational pregame speech. I thought I gave a pretty good one, but I guess not.”

UNGUARDED

Bell-Jeff’s 51-50 victory over Littlerock on Friday was impressive considering Littlerock’s 11-1 record entering the nonleague game and the fact that the Guards were caught with their guards down.

Bell-Jeff’s starting backcourt players, Ignacio Castro and Bryan Camacho, were on the bench serving one-game suspensions for fighting during the Bell-Jeff tournament.

“We just had a little discipline problem and we had to play without them,” Bell-Jeff Coach Steve Wahl said.

Moreover, sixth man Marc Sailer missed the game because of flu.

HAPPY RETURNS

Canyons’ Jason Walter (sprained knee) and Chad Phillips (sprained ankle) are expected to return to the lineup this week after being sidelined since early in the season. . . .

Oxnard senior center Corey Upchurch, who suffered torn ligaments and a chipped bone in his right ankle Dec. 13, might return as early as next week. Upchurch is the team’s second-leading scorer at 10.8 points a game. . . .

Mitch Shenkin, a Sherman Oaks CES senior guard who was suspended three weeks ago for non-basketball reasons, was reinstated and will be eligible to play against Van Nuys on Jan. 24., the Knights’ first game after a break.

BLOCK THAT KICK

Refereeing a soccer match is difficult enough on a normal day, but Craig McNey could have put in for battle pay after Saturday’s match between San Fernando and Capistrano Valley in the Simi Valley boys’ tournament. McNey inadvertently was hit in the face by the ball on a kick from San Fernando stopper Esteban Meza. The impact sent McNey to the ground and left him stunned for a couple of minutes before he was able to continue.

Coincidentally, McNey crossed paths with Meza later in the match. Meza went in for a hard tackle on a Capistrano Valley attacker early in the second half and McNey ejected him with a red card for dangerous play. Playing a man short the rest of the match and trailing, 2-1, the Tigers rallied to tie in regulation. But Capistrano Valley won the sixth-place match, 5-4, on a penalty kick shootout.

Showing no hard feelings afterward, McNey and Meza shook hands.

David Coulson, Vince Kowalick and staff writers Steve Elling, Paige A. Leech and Jeff Riley contributed to this notebook.