Playoff Candidates Scrutinized

When the Agoura Oak Park High boys’ basketball team made the playoffs last season with an 0-18 record, some questioned the qualifying process.

Under a revised format, the Southern Section allowed league representatives to determine playoff entries. As a result, a record 367 boys’ teams and 332 girls’ teams entered the playoffs. It took three weeks to determine 10 division champions.

Record numbers are not expected this season. Section officials have asked league representatives to crack down on the entry qualifications.

“If a lot of poor teams make the playoffs again this year, then we might have to take back control of deciding entries,” said Dean Crowley, Southern Section administrator in charge of basketball. “Teams with no chance for advancement should not be in the playoffs.”

The regular season ends Saturday. Boys’ pairings will be announced Sunday, girls pairings on Monday. The playoffs will begin Feb. 18 with the qualifying round and will end March 7.

Each league is guaranteed three playoff berths, with additional entries for teams with tough schedules and good records.

“Making the playoffs can be a real incentive for a struggling team in the latter part of the season,” said Gary McKnight, whose Santa Ana Mater Dei boys’ team is ranked No. 1 in the section. “Going to practice the last three weeks of the season can be a real drag if there is no incentive. I’m not in favor of really bad teams making the playoffs, but teams that feel they can pull an upset should get the chance.”

The Southern Section basketball selection committee used to handle all entries, making selections based on a point system. The committee relinquished the job to league representatives last year, but Crowley warns that it might take it back next year.

“Let’s see how they respond to our warning,” he said.

The City playoffs begin a week later than the Southern Section’s. The regular season will end Feb. 21, and the first round of the playoffs will be Feb. 26.

Playoff bracketing will be determined at a coaches’ meeting on Feb. 20.

Westchester and North Hollywood will probably be the top seeds in the 4-A and 3-A Divisions, respectively. Washington and Roosevelt are the probable No. 1 seeds in girls’ 4-A and 3-A, respectively.

The Palos Verdes Peninsula girls’ basketball team continues to show why it is the best team in the Southland, and possibly the nation.

The Panthers, ranked No. 1 in the Times’ Southern Section poll and No. 1 in USA Today, beat No. 8 Ventura Buena, 83-59, in a non-league game Saturday night at Ventura College.

Played before 2,500, the loss was the first for Buena (20-2) in 18 games. It was the program’s most lopsided defeat since Joe Vaughan became coach in 1975; Vaughan has lost only 37 games in 18 seasons.

Peninsula (23-0) features a lineup of four seniors who have signed letters of intent with Division I colleges.

“This kind of a team comes around only once in a lifetime,” said Wendall Yoshida, Peninsula’s coach.

It was a banner season for the Santa Ana Mater Dei football team, but few of its players were smiling during last Wednesday’s national letter of intent signing day.

Quarterback Billy Blanton, who set Orange County records last season for passing yards (3,545) and touchdowns (36) in leading the Monarchs to the Southern Section Division I title, was overlooked by many of the larger college programs. He signed with San Diego State.

Tight end David Knuff, who had 61 receptions for 1,094 yards, turned down offers from Nevada and Utah State. He decided to wait for the amateur baseball draft in June.

Blanton was the Southern Section player of the year, and Knuff was the Division I player of the year. Size probably worked against both players. Blanton is 6 feet 2, 195 pounds, and Knuff is 6-3, 195, a bit small for most major programs.

State sprint champion Marion Jones will not compete in the high school portion of the Sunkist Invitational Track Meet Saturday at the Sports Arena.

Jones, who suffered a broken wrist and dislocated jaw during a basketball game last month, is preparing for the outdoor season.

The featured event will be the boys’ mile, which will include national cross-country champion Corey Ihmels of Williston, N.D. Jeff Wilson of Newbury Park and Angel Martinez of San Gabriel are the top local challengers.

Offord Rollins of Wasco, who goes on trial in Kern County Feb. 18 on a first-degree murder charge, will defend his title in the triple jump.

High school events will start at 12:10 p.m.

Austin McKellar, a preseason all-state Division V selection, has left the Campbell Hall basketball team after refusing to accept punishment for violating a team rule.

McKellar, a 5-foot-10 guard who was averaging a team-high 16.7 points, left the team after learning that he would not start in Saturday’s game against Brentwood.

McKellar, who helped lead Campbell Hall to its first winning season and into the state playoffs last season, was to be benched for failing to meet “certain expectations regarding conduct” during Campbell Hall’s 71-70 loss to Faith Baptist last Thursday, Coach Jon Palarz said.

Times’ Prep Polls

CITY SECTION

BOYS

No. School Div. Record LW 1. Westchester 4-A 20-2 1 2. Fremont 3-A 22-3 2 3. Crenshaw 4-A 13-3 5 4. Dorsey 4-A 15-3 8 5. Washington 4-A 15-3 3 6. Manual Arts 4-A 16-3 4 7. North Hollywood 3-A 20-1 6 8. Fairfax 4-A 12-7 9 9. Carson 4-A 14-6 7 10. Reseda 4-A 10-5 NR

GIRLS

No. School Div. Record LW 1. Washington 4-A 20-2 1 2. Banning 4-A 11-5 2 3. Carson 4-A 12-5 3 4. Crenshaw 4-A 15-3 4 5. Roosevelt 3-A 14-3 5 6. North Hollywood 4-A 14-3 6 7. Dorsey 4-A 10-4 7 8. Van Nuys 3-A 15-2 8 9. University 3-A 10-5 9 10. Marshall 3-A 11-5 NR

SOUTHERN SECTION BOYS

No. School Div. Record LW 1. Mater Dei I 24-1 1 2. Capistrano Valley I 21-3 2 3. Lynwood I 20-4 3 4. Cajon I 20-2 4 5. Glendora II 24-0 5 6. Riverside North I 21-2 6 7. Artesia II 19-3 7 8. Trabuco Hills II 18-5 8 9. San Bernardino I 20-3 10 10. Lakewood I 17-6 9 11. La Canada III 21-2 11 12. Irvine I 20-4 13 13. LB Jordan I 18-5 14 14. San Marcos II 18-3 12 15. Santa Clara IV 20-3 15

GIRLS

No. School Div. Record LW 1. Peninsula I 23-0 1 2. Thousand Oaks I 22-1 2 3. Brea-Olinda III 22-2 3 4. Lynwood I 21-1 4 5. Capistrano Valley I 22-1 5 6. Rubidoux II 21-0 7 7. Gahr II 20-3 6 8. Buena I 20-2 8 9. Chino I 20-4 10 10. Ventura II 17-3 9 11. Coachella Valley I 19-0 11 12. LB Poly I 17-2 12 13. Alemany II 19-4 13 14. Millikan I 19-4 NR 15. St. Bernard III 18-4 14