WATTS SUMMER GAMES / JOHN ORTEGA : Playing Possum Leads to San Fernando Upset

Dick Crowell, the boys’ basketball coach at San Fernando High, characterized the Tigers’ 44-41 victory over Lynwood in the L.A. Watts Summer Games on Sunday as one of his biggest victories.

The 10-year coach did not realize just how big the third-round win at Eagle Rock High was until a day later when he learned that Lynwood, the runner-up in the Southern Section Division I-AA championships, was the No. 1-seeded team.

“They were seeded first?” Crowell asked. “I guess it doesn’t really surprise me. They were awesome size-wise and they were very athletic. Their shortest guard was bigger than our tallest perimeter player.”

Although San Fernando has a pair of 6-foot-4 players in Miguel Martinez and Jerome Elliott, Crowell admitted that Lynwood had “four guys who could go over our guys at will.”

How did the Tigers win?

They played tenacious defense inside the three-point line. Also, they might have lulled Lynwood into a false sense of security with a unimpressive second half in a 42-35 victory over Birmingham in a second-round game earlier in the day.

San Fernando used a full-court press to run out to a 28-9 halftime lead against Birmingham, but Crowell called it off in the second half and played his reserves liberally, resting his starters for Lynwood.

“I think they got overconfident after watching us against Birmingham,” Crowell said. “We didn’t use the press against them and we packed it inside. I think they had trouble adjusting to that. They were stunned when they lost.”

Although four sophomores and two juniors constitute San Fernando’s top six players, five played on the varsity last season, when the Tigers were 7-12, 1-8 in West Valley League play.

“We’re a team that tends to play up to good teams and down to teams that are not as good as us,” Crowell said. “But we also feel we can beat anybody on a given day.”

San Fernando will play host to Long Beach Jordan in a fourth-round game Saturday at noon. If the Tigers win, they will play the winner of the La Canada-North Hollywood game in a quarterfinal at 3 p.m.

Catching fancy: A seldom-used receiver in Kennedy’s ground-oriented attack last season has emerged as one of the brightest stars in the seven-on-seven football tournament.

Shawn Dudra, a lanky 6-4, 175-pounder who will be a junior in the fall, caught nine touchdown passes in four games last weekend as Kennedy advanced to a semifinal game against Hart at 11:30 a.m. Sunday at Compton College.

The winner will play the winner of the Muir-Locke game in the championship at 2 p.m.

“He has improved incredibly since last season,” Kennedy Coach Bob Francola said. “He was just a vacuum out there. He was catching everything thrown his way.”

Kennedy quarterback John Toven, who completed three of four passes for 31 yards as a backup last season, threw 13 touchdown passes over the weekend. However, he will miss his No. 1 weapon against Hart: Dudra will be on vacation with his family.

Looking forward: Francola hopes that success in this year’s seven-on-seven tournament will translate to success for the Golden Cougars’ passing attack in the fall.

Kennedy advanced to the championship of the 1989 Watts Summer Games with Tony Vazquez at quarterback, but the Golden Cougars’ run-and-shoot offense failed to consistently fire on all cylinders.

“We just couldn’t get it done in the run and shoot,” Francola said. “But this year, we’ll use a lot of play action.”

Repeat aspirations: Chatsworth began defense of its baseball title in impressive fashion with an 11-0 victory over Canoga Park in a second-round game at West L. A. College on Sunday.

Ricky Staves and Tony Montiel led Chatsworth. Staves gave up three hits and struck out five in the first four innings of the 4 1/2-inning game that was called because of the 10-run rule. Montiel was two for three with a triple and drove in two runs.

Fancy footwork: Seven teams from the region advanced to the third round of the boys’ soccer tournament, which will be played at Balboa Park on Saturday.

Birmingham, Buena, Grant, San Fernando, St. Francis, Santa Paula and Ventura have outscored opponents by a combined total of 22-0.

Teams from the region have compiled a 16-8 record in the tournament, including a 16-5 mark against non-region opponents.

The semifinals and final will be held Sunday at Compton College.