City Trying to Ride Out Semester Break

The City Section basketball season seems to be running smoothly, despite numerous obstacles.

School is out until Feb. 14 and players who live in the Los Angeles Basin must ride the bus to school daily for games and practices. The transportation logistics seem to have been ironed out.

Smoothly is not to be confused with economically, however. On Jan. 24, when Reseda played its first game after a four-week holiday vacation, there were plenty of buses.

The scenario: Reseda was scheduled to play at Cleveland. A bus transported players from Los Angeles to Reseda High while a second bus followed in its tracks.

The first bus then left for parts unknown, and the second bus shuttled the players to Cleveland, where it remained until the game ended. Bus No. 1 reappeared at Cleveland after the game and transported home the players who live in Los Angeles.

“The second bus drove me and the local guys three miles back to Reseda,” Coach Jeff Halpern said.

FOUR SCORE

It was one of the most controversial stories in the region at the time, and it appears that the script will have a happy ending.

In the summer of 1988, three young and talented football players from the Pacoima area moved to Westlake Village to live with businessman Buzz Holcomb, who said he was offering them a chance to experience life outside their gang-plagued neighborhood.

The plan was for the trio to join Holcomb’s son Erik, a wide receiver, on the Westlake High football team. The idea fizzled, however, and all three eventually returned to their home schools while Erik remained at Westlake.

This week, Erik orally committed to play next season at UCLA and he soon will join his former house mates as a recipient of an NCAA Division I football scholarship.

Defensive back Brian Brison, a senior at San Fernando, has agreed to play at Ohio. The others, running backs Ontiwaun Carter (Kennedy High) of Arizona and Leonice Brown (San Fernando High) of Colorado State, played in college last fall as freshmen.

“It all worked out great in the end,” Buzz Holcomb said.

NO SECONDS

Chatsworth center Brady Mertes did an about-face over the holiday break and came back a new man as a result.

Mertes, a 6-foot-7 junior, dropped 15 pounds thanks to a vigorous exercise regimen. Mertes went from 236 pounds to 221, Coach Sandy Greentree said.

“He really worked out hard,” Greentree said. “He’s much quicker.”

Mertes said that he made sure he watched what he ate over the break, something he didn’t exactly do as a sophomore.

“I gained about 15 pounds last year,” Mertes said.

Mertes is averaging 21 points and 15 rebounds, both team highs.

REPRIEVE

At least one player has taken advantage of the Los Angeles Unified School District’s intersession period to regain his athletic eligibility.

Taft reserve Rex Saputo, ruled academically ineligible in December, will rejoin the basketball team Wednesday for its North Valley League showdown with Kennedy. Saputo attended remedial classes over the past month to make up his grades, Coach Jim Woodard said.

City schools are in the midst of an eight-week break, but remedial courses were offered last month.

Saputo, a 6-2 senior, averaged 8.3 points in six games. His return should give Taft added depth inside.

“Losing him really left us thin,” Woodard said.

CROWDED HOUSE

The gym at Santa Clara, which holds 2,000, was packed Friday night. And 100 people hoping to see the Saints play Santa Paula were turned away.

Santa Clara, which has won 65 consecutive league games, typically draws well. But many in the overflow crowd made the 20-minute drive back to Santa Paula sooner than they had expected. “People come to see you play when you’re winning,” Santa Clara Coach Lou Cvijanovich said. “That’s the American way.”

Added Tom Donahue, Santa Paula’s coach: “I guess the game we played the first time added to the drama of it all.”

Santa Paula had given the Saints a fight earlier this season, losing, 48-45. On Friday, Santa Clara won, 55-45.

CENTERPIECE

Agoura’s Eddie Corridori, a 6-foot-4 senior who is projected as a guard in college, has been forced to play center for the smallish Chargers. But that has not hampered his ability to come through in the clutch. Corridori, the team’s leading scorer at 17.6 points a game, hit a five-foot jump shot with five seconds left that gave Agoura a 63-62 win Friday over Camarillo.

“He’s got that coolness about him,” Coach Kevin Pasky said.

Staff writers Steve Elling, T.C. Porter and Jeff Riley contributed to this notebook.

Regional Basketball

Top 10 Selected by sportswriters of The Times

Lst. Rk Wk Team League Record 1 1 North Hollywood Mid-Valley 18-1 2 3 Santa Clara Frontier 19-3 3 4 Buena Channel 16-3 4 2 Simi Valley Marmonte 16-4 5 5 Thousand Oaks Marmonte 13-6 6 6 Taft North Valley 12-3 7 7 Chatsworth West Valley 11-5 8 8 Kennedy North Valley 13-6 9 10 Saugus Golden 16-6 10 9 Quartz Hill Golden 13-7