Schwan Hits Notes, Plays in Key at Westlake

Ahem . Mi - mi - mi - mi .

On Dec. 18, those in attendance in the Westlake High gym will rise for the singing of the national anthem before the start of the Warriors’ Marmonte League boys’ basketball game against Thousand Oaks. At the microphone will be none other than Westlake senior Brad Schwan.

No surprise there. Seems like these days, every school with a public-address system and an aspiring Frank Sinatra treats--and sometimes mistreats--the crowd to an often off-key rendition of the Star Spangled Banner.

What is unusual is that Schwan (6-foot-6, 235 pounds), who also happens to be the Warriors’ starting center, is a talented baritone as skilled at hitting the low notes as he is at handling the low post.

Schwan, a four-year member of the school choir, sings with three campus ensembles, including a barbershop quartet. And all are busy during the holiday season with rehearsals and performances.

“I like both singing and basketball because they’re different,” Schwan said. “It gives me a chance to do two different things. It’s for diversity, I guess.”

These days, Schwan is repeatedly making a fast break from choir practice to basketball practice. But Schwan, who averaged 11 points and 7.2 assists last season, knows that both shows must go on.

Last weekend, he performed on stage Thursday, Friday and Saturday. He also performed in the paint Thursday and Saturday, scoring team-high totals of 15 and 17 points in the Saugus tournament.

“He is so valuable to the choir, the choir director asked me if I could not schedule tournament games in early December,” Westlake Coach Gary Grayson said.

Humbug! Westlake played in the Saugus tournament and is in the Beverly Hills tournament this week.

‘Tis the season for basketball too.

RECOGNITION PROBLEM

Thousand Oaks forward Nick Foster had team-high totals of 81 points and 43 rebounds in four games in the Simi Valley tournament. The Lancers lost to North Hollywood, 65-63, in the final.

So why wasn’t Foster selected to the all-tournament team? Perhaps because brother Paul--Nick’s 6-7 identical twin--was. Paul, who had 52 points and 33 rebounds, is a returning starter who averaged 8.0 points a game last season. Nick played sparingly last season.

Maybe those casting ballots thought they were watching Paul when they were looking at Nick. It’s possible, Coach Ed Chevalier said.

“It’s just a matter of Nick being overlooked,” Chevalier said. “He didn’t come in with the notoriety Paul had.”

TRAVELING VIOLATION

It was not the way Jim Beckenhauer wanted to start his team’s trek to Long Beach for the Division II semifinal meeting against Los Alamitos.

The bus that was to take the Falcons to Veterans Stadium in Long Beach arrived at Crescenta Valley at 5:30 p.m.--only two hours before kickoff and an hour and a half later than scheduled. Once on the freeway, the bus was pulled over for speeding.

“We told (the officer) to give us a break because we were an hour and a half late,” said Beckenhauer, Crescenta Valley’s coach.

No dice. The bus driver was cited.

When the Falcons finally arrived about 6:30, the officials pushed back the start of the game 15 minutes to allow Crescenta Valley time to warm up.

MILLER’S MUSINGS

As Crescenta Valley receiver Brett Miller watched Los Alamitos quarterback Tim Carey in the teams’ Division II semifinal, he could not help but wonder what kind of numbers he could put up playing for a passing team such as Los Alamitos.

Miller, an All-Pacific League selection with sharp moves and sure hands, spent much of the year as a decoy or throwing blocks downfield because the Falcon offense sticks to the ground like sneakers to a movie-theater floor.

Miller, who says he has been contacted by Oregon, Oregon State and Washington State, led the Falcons with 27 catches. Although he accepted his role, he said he wished Crescenta Valley had a strong-armed, quarterback such as Hoover’s Nate Dishington, who attempted 325 passes this season.

“I was always hoping he’d come over here,” Miller said.

QUALIFIED CRITIC

Crescenta Valley linebacker Paul Lopez must know something Bill Walsh doesn’t.

After the Falcons’ loss to Los Alamitos, Lopez was asked which quarterback was better: Los Alamitos’ Tim Carey, who has signed to play for Walsh at Stanford, or Hart’s Davis Delmatoff, who is being recruited by BYU and threw three interceptions in a 13-7 loss to Crescenta Valley a week earlier.

“(Carey) is nothing compared to Delmatoff,” Lopez said.

RAINED OUT

The boys’ basketball team at St. Genevieve High has a problem most of its opponents don’t have to deal with: the weather.

At St. Genevieve, which does not have a gym, the Valiants practice on an outdoor court. That is unless it is raining or too cold, as was the case Saturday morning.

“There was no way I was going to have them out there,” Coach Dan Donovan said.

There are other problems too. Wind. Darkness. A smaller-than-regulation court. Bent rims that aren’t even 10 feet high. “Sometimes we have to be a little creative,” Donovan said.

WELCOME BACK

Senior Ian Taylor left Burroughs’ basketball team during the summer, vowing not to return.

Also a standout in water polo, the 6-8, 210-pound Taylor decided the pool--rather than the hardwood--would provide him with the best chance of earning a college scholarship.

That is, until last week.

Taylor, who played on the junior varsity last season, yearned to rejoin his former teammates after watching the Indians (1-2) during their opening week of the season. Basketball Coach Art Sullivan, whose team had no player taller than 6-5, welcomed Taylor back.

“He came to me in my office one day and said, ‘Coach, I just have to play,’ ” Sullivan said. “I really want to get back out there.”

Only one problem: Sullivan was unsure how the team would react to Taylor’s reinstatement.

“He quit during the middle of the summer, so I asked the team how they would feel about him coming back after not working with us,” Sullivan said. “Everyone said they wanted him back.

“He’s rusty, but he’s definitely going to be a factor for us.”

BOMBS AWAY

Canyon sophomore guard Greg Minor found a place he liked on the floor against Calabasas in the Cowboys’ opener: anywhere behind the three-point line.

Minor scored 30 points to lead the Cowboys (2-2) to a 100-41 victory. He made a school-record eight of 10 three-point shots. Minor’s performance is even more noteworthy considering he played only 20 minutes because of foul trouble.

Staff writers Jeff Fletcher, Vince Kowalick and Jason H. Reid contributed to this notebook.