Santa Clara Foursome Leads North

In the past three seasons, the talented quartet of Stevie Amar, Art Barron, Chris Cole and Isaiah Mustafa have led Santa Clara High to three Southern Section basketball titles, two berths in state championship games and one state Division IV title.

The foursome will give one last performance as teammates at Ventura High at 8 tonight when they play for the North against the South in the 16th Ventura County all-star basketball game.

Teamwork figures to give the North a hefty advantage. Barron, a 6-foot point guard, has been feeding the ball to 6-4 forward Cole and 6-4 center Amar since junior high. And Mustafa, a 6-3 forward, joined them as a sophomore.

But the North’s firepower does not stop with Santa Clara. The roster includes Buena’s Lance Fay (29.2 points) and Santa Paula’s Joey Ramirez (22.2) and 6-8 Terry Bell (11.9 rebounds).

Tim Sebek (24.6 points, 11.7 rebounds, 7.6 assists), a 6-4 swingman, will team up once more with his father Dick, the Nordhoff coach who will direct the North.

The South, coached by Simi Valley’s Dean Bradshaw, features Andrew Borg (17.2), Jeff Perrault and Kurt Pederson of Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley’s Danny Alexander (19.5 points), Agoura’s Eddie Corridori (18.2 points) and Westlake’s Joey Levitt (17.7 points).

At 6:30 p.m., it will be the South with the big guns in the 14th girls’ contest. Michelle Palmisano of Thousand Oaks and Lauren Goldstine of Westlake will lead a South squad that contains much of the All-Marmonte League team.

Palmisano, a 5-10 guard headed for UCLA, is the fourth-leading scorer in state history with 2,796 points. Goldstine, a 6-0 forward who will play at UC Santa Barbara, set the all-time county record for rebounds with 1,247.

South Coach Gene Hatton of Moorpark can also rely on Sasha Scardino of Thousand Oaks, Heather Eubanks of Simi Valley and Kristin Benson of Camarillo.

Jack Smith of Nordhoff will coach a North team that includes Santa Paula guard Tara Sanders, who hit the second-most, three-point shots (62) in the state, and Denise Rea and Wendy Ward of Ventura.