Then There Was One--Glendora

Only one high school boys’ basketball team remains undefeated as the Southern Section begins league play in earnest this week.

Most prep fans would think that the only team without a loss would be a preseason favorite such as Santa Ana Mater Dei, Artesia or Lynwood.

But those teams have all been beaten. Glendora of the Baseline League is the last unbeaten team in the section.

Glendora (15-0) is off to a fast start thanks in part to two hard-fought league victories last week over Chino Don Lugo and Claremont.

Using a combination of experience--with 10 seniors, and two standout undergraduates in sophomore Cameron Murray and junior Adam Jacobsen--Glendora Coach Mike LeDuc has turned the Tartans into a strong favorite to reach their third Southern Section final in four seasons:

--In 1989, Glendora--led by Tracy Murray, now at UCLA--lost to San Bernardino in the 4-AA Division final, but came back to defeat the Cardinals in the state playoffs.

--In 1990, the Tartans won their first Southern Section title when they defeated Compton for the 4-AA Division championship, largely on the play of then-freshman Jacobsen.

--Last season, Glendora lost to Cerritos Gahr in the quarterfinals. The Tartans, who finished with a 24-5 record, also failed to win the Baseline League title, finishing second behind Chaffey.

This season, Glendora was expected to be strong with guards Jacobsen and Murray returning. Jacobsen averaged 16 points a game and was a second-team all-Division II selection last season. Murray, the younger brother of Tracy Murray, averaged 22 points and was named to the first team.

“I don’t like to compare teams,” LeDuc said. “But, this team has as much overall talent as any team I’ve had in the past.”

The question for the Tartans heading into the season was whether their inside play could match the outside strength of Murray and Jacobsen. It was answered with the transfer of 6-foot-6 Brandon Lee.

Lee, who suffered an ankle injury last week against Don Lugo, is averaging 18 points. With his inside scoring, opponents have not been able to concentrate only on stopping the Tartans’ perimeter game.

Glendora has played well in big games, having won three early-season tournaments. The Tartans avenged their season-ending loss of last spring by defeating Gahr in the final of their own holiday tournament last month, 79-72.

Murray, a 6-foot point guard, has continued to improve. Despite an early-season ankle injury that forced him to miss four games, he is averaging 18 points.

Jacobsen, a 6-2 shooting guard, has taken over as the Tartans’ scoring leader, averaging 22 points.

Glendora will be stronger when 6-5 Tracy Thompson, who has not played a game this season, returns after recuperating from a football injury.

Standout sprinter Marion Jones of Thousand Oaks High is expected to miss the rest of the girls’ basketball season after suffering a broken left wrist and a dislocated jaw during a Marmonte League game at Simi Valley last week.

Jones, a junior, hit the floor hard after being fouled in the third quarter of Thousand Oaks’ 83-46 victory.

A two-time state 100- and 200-meter champion, Jones transferred to Thousand Oaks from Oxnard Rio Mesa in November.

Jones is expected to wear a cast for at least six weeks, according to Elliott Mason, her personal track coach. The injury also may prevent her from competing in the Sunkist Invitational indoor track and field meet at the Sports Arena on Feb. 15.

In a showdown between the top two girls’ basketball teams in Southern California, Palos Verdes Peninsula defeated Brea-Olinda last Saturday night at Brea, 48-42.

After Brea-Olinda closed to within 44-42 with 23 seconds to play, Peninsula guard Kristen Mulligan made four free throws to give the Panthers the victory.

Peninsula, ranked No. 1 in USA Today’s national poll, was led by 6-5 center Jeffra Gausepohl’s 21 points and 16 rebounds.

Earlier in the week, Peninsula routed Inglewood Morningside, 1991 State Division I runner-up, 72-28.

Tom Hoak, football coach at Rialto Eisenhower High, has given some insights into what it is like to have a football team ranked No. 1 in the nation for most of the season.

The Eagles held the top position in the Associated Press and USA Today national polls for most of the season and didn’t lose their ranking until after they lost to Santa Ana Mater Dei in the Southern Section Division I final, 35-14.

Hoak, speaking at The Times’ Inland Empire awards breakfast in Riverside Sunday, said: “For you coaches who aspire to have your team in the national polls, I wouldn’t wish it on anybody.

“Your players get a sense of accomplishment before the season is even half old. Everybody is around, slapping you on the back, but, in essence, you haven’t accomplished anything.

” . . . (Being No. 1) also eliminates some of your coaching goals, like making the game fun. That goes right out the window. Everything is winning, winning. . . . And heaven help you if you are behind at halftime, or you don’t win by 40 points.”

Added Hoak:

“I never heard from (USA Today), not one time,” he said. “One of our assistant coaches would just call up a guy in Long Beach who worked for them, give them our score and some highlights, and then we’d go to the corner store the next week to get the paper and find out where we were. That’s it. Nobody from there ever talked to any of us. It was amazing.”

And what happened in the USA Today poll when No. 1 Eisenhower lost and finished with a 13-1 record? They dropped, not to No. 5 or No. 10, but out of the top 25 altogether.

Times’ Prep Polls

CITY SECTION

BOYS

No. School Div. Record LW 1. Westchester 4-A 10-3 1 2. Fremont 3-A 17-3 2 3. Washington 4-A 11-2 3 4. Manual Arts 4-A 12-2 5 5. Dorsey 4-A 11-2 6 6. Crenshaw 4-A 9-2 4 7. North Hollywood 4-A 15-1 9 8. Fairfax 4-A 8-6 8 9. Taft 4-A 9-3 NR 10. Chatsworth 4-A 9-4 NR

GIRLS

No. School Div. Record LW 1. Washington 4-A 14-2 1 2. Crenshaw 4-A 12-1 4 3. Carson 4-A 9-3 5 4. Banning 4-A 6-4 2 5. Roosevelt 3-A 9-3 8 6. North Hollywood 4-A 9-3 3 7. Van Nuys 3-A 11-1 NR 8. University 3-A 7-4 7 9. Kennedy 4-A 7-5 NR 10. Huntington Park 3-A 13-3 9

SOUTHERN SECTION BOYS

No. School Div. Record LW 1. Mater Dei I 18-1 1 2. Lynwood I 11-3 2 3. Capistrano Valley I 14-3 5 4. Glendora II 15-0 10 5. San Marcos II 12-2 8 6. Cajon I 14-2 11 7. Riverside North I 13-2 NR 8. Artesia II 10-3 3 9. Gahr II 13-3 13 10. Trabuco Hills II 11-5 15 11. Santa Margarita III 13-1 NR 12. San Bernardino I 13-2 NR 13. Lakewood I 14-4 6 14. Peninsula I 15-3 NR 15. La Canada I 13-2 NR

GIRLS

No. School Div. Record LW 1. Peninsula I 13-0 1 2. Thousand Oaks I 14-1 2 3. Brea-Olinda III 12-2 4 4. Lynwood I 11-1 3 5. Capistrano Valley I 15-1 NR 6. Gahr II 14-1 6 7. Rubidoux II 12-0 14 8. Buena I 10-1 7 9. Ventura II 9-2 9 10. Chino I 10-4 5 11. Coachella Valley I 12-0 NR 12. Bishop Montgomery II 14-2 15 13. Cerritos I 11-5 11 14. Alemany II 14-3 13 15. St. Bernard III 13-2 NR