Crespi Gives Notre Dame Wake-Up Call

Notre Dame High boys’ basketball Coach Mick Cady knew it. Now, he hopes his players do too.

Never take archrival Crespi lightly.

Notre Dame, tied for first place in the Mission League, was upset by fifth-place Crespi, 54-52, Wednesday night at Notre Dame.

“I think Crespi really wanted to win badly and my guys didn’t show up,” Cady said.

The Knights (16-5, 7-2 in league play) probably thought they didn’t have to. They had defeated Crespi once in league play and once in the Beverly Hills tournament by a total of 44 points.

Crespi (8-11, 4-5) trailed by two with 2 1/2 minutes to play Wednesday, but the Celts nailed two three-point shots, sandwiched around a Notre Dame turnover, to take a four-point lead with one minute remaining.

The Celts were led by Scott Eschner, who scored 17 points, and Kyle Carden and Jeff Luderer, who each scored 13.

“(Crespi) was just going wild at the end,” Cady said. “They were all over the court. Our fans were crying. I was crying. It was a typical Crespi-Notre Dame game.”

QUICK STUDY

He is what some might call the ultimate overnight sensation.

Monroe High’s Jeff Nadeau played one year of high school football and, just like that, major NCAA Division I college coaches came calling.

Considering his outstanding speed, vertical jump (38 inches) and all-around athletic ability, who can blame them?

Nadeau, a 6-foot-1, 175-pound senior who committed Wednesday to play at Arizona, passed on offers from California and Oregon State, then canceled recruiting trips to Washington State and Northern Arizona.

Nadeau, an All-Mid-Valley League selection, caught only 16 passes for 235 yards but was a threat every time he touched the ball. He was the Vikings’ leading scorer with seven touchdowns--including two on kick returns and one on a punt return. He also started at defensive back.

“If he wouldn’t have wanted to start both ways, I would have asked him to quit,” said Monroe Coach Dave Lertzman, who recruited the talented athlete one day in class. “Because he’s that good. It would have been a waste of time if he hadn’t.”

Nadeau, who also excels on the school’s basketball and track teams, is still somewhat of a stranger to football.

“I understand the strategy and all that, but there is more to learn,” he said. “One year is not enough time to learn all there is to learn.”

Apparently it is enough time to impress Division I coaches.

But Nadeau’s athleticism is well-documented. Last year, he finished second in the long jump and triple jump and third in the high jump in the City Section track championships and qualified for the state championships in all three events. His personal bests include a 6-8 high jump, a 22-2 long jump and a 44-3 triple jump.

He’s no slouch on the basketball court either, averaging 12.6 points as a starting forward for a Monroe team that is off to a surprising 14-3 start.

“He’s kind of the heart of the team,” basketball Coach Paul Graber said. “How he goes, we go.”

Nadeau can’t wait to perform at the college level--especially at Arizona.

“Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve always thought it would be a neat place to live,” Nadeau said, despite never having visited the state.

His recruiting trip last weekend helped his dream materialize: “I found I was more comfortable there. I like everything about it--the people, the coaches.”

Arizona recruited Nadeau as a wide receiver but left open the opportunity for him to return kickoffs or punts.

“They say I’m as good as anybody out there,” Nadeau said. “And if I’m good enough, I can start in my first year.”

IT’S A LOCK

Looks as if there’s no stopping the Thousand Oaks boys’ basketball team.

Coach Ed Chevalier and the Lancers (18-1, 9-0 in league play) all but put a lock on at least a share of their third consecutive Marmonte League championship with a 60-57 victory Wednesday night over second-place Simi Valley (16-5, 7-2).

The victory was the Lancers’ 15th in a row and completed a two-game sweep of the tenacious Pioneers. Thousand Oaks has a two-game lead with five to play.

“I don’t see them losing another game in league,” Westlake Coach Gary Grayson said. “Not unless everybody has the flu and Chevalier has to play center.”

ODE TO OADES

It’s City Section soccer playoff time, which means it also is time for Chatsworth senior Mary Oades to post eye-popping scoring numbers.

As a sophomore, Oades scored all six goals in the Chancellors’ 6-0 victory over San Pedro in the City championship match. After being slowed by knee surgery last season, she scored five goals in this season’s 14-0 first-round win over Bell. In the semifinal last Friday, Oades scored all of her team’s goals in Chatsworth’s 3-1 victory over Palisades.

Oades, who has received a scholarship to play at Washington State, has 23 goals this season.

“If we need a goal, we can always count on her to score it,” teammate Erin Barry said.

“I guess I play better because the playoffs are more important to me,” Oades said. “We don’t really go out there as hard (during the regular season) as we do in the playoffs.”

Chatsworth will try for its fifth consecutive City title when it plays Grant today at 2 p.m. at Birmingham.

DUNKIN’ DEMOND

Canoga Park’s Demond Callahan, a 6-foot guard, is not the biggest guy around. But when it comes to state-of-the-art dunks, few stand taller.

“He’s really 5-11, but we give him 6 feet with the hair,” Coach Jeff Davis said.

He has had some hair-raisin’ dunks, to be sure. Callahan has slammed home 12 dunks in 14 games. Some have drawn rave reviews.

Last month, during a game against North Hollywood, Callahan took an alley-oop pass from Jody Edington and executed a reverse jam. North Hollywood Coach Steve Miller gave Callahan a high-five as Callahan ran down the sideline moments later.

Callahan isn’t a one-trick pony. The senior guard is averaging a team-high 16.2 points a game.

LEAGUE OF HIS OWN

El Camino Real Coach Neils Ludlow couldn’t believe his eyes Wednesday. Eyebrows raised, he turned to an assistant and muttered under his breath.

Cleveland forward Shawn Bankhead, who would torch his team for 40 points, had just made a circus shot. Bankhead drove full-tilt through the lane, made a 360-degree spin and deftly laid the ball over the rim for an improbable basket.

Improbable, at least, from where Ludlow was sitting.

“I’ve been practicing that move a little,” Bankhead said. “It was no miracle.”

Ludlow shrugged after the game when asked to assess Bankhead’s 18-for-25 shooting performance in Cleveland’s 72-60 win.

“You can’t do much against something like that,” Ludlow said.

Northwest Valley Conference foes have not been able to slow Bankhead, a 6-6 senior and a returning Times’ All-Valley player. Bankhead, who entered the week averaging 25.4 points, is averaging 30.3 in conference play.

“I’ve really been waiting to get into league,” Bankhead said. “I kept thinking to myself during all those tournaments, ‘I can’t wait to get back (to the Valley).’ ”

THANKS, BUT NO THANKS

Mark Paredes wears two hats at Bishop Amat. He is the football coach and athletic director.

Thus, when Del Rey League administrators were considering last week whether to allow member schools to participate in future bowl games, Paredes was the lone administrator in the room who had been under the media microscope as a game participant. League member Bishop Amat won the Southern Section Division I title last fall and one week later spanked Sylmar, 31-10, in the inaugural CIF/Reebok Bowl.

The administrators voted to not send league members to the bowl game in the future, and despite his team’s victory in the game, Paredes favored the decision.

League administrators cited the length of the season and a conflict with finals week as their primary concerns.

“The (bowl game) experience was very positive, but the strain on the entire school was really something,” Paredes said. “The strain of playing for the (Division I) championship was OK, that’s everybody’s main goal.

“To go through it again for the Reebok Bowl just didn’t seem to be worth the effort.”

WHAT GOES AROUND

Their excitement was understandable, but perhaps they reveled a bit too long.

It was the first time any player on Highland’s basketball team had experienced a victory over Quartz Hill since Highland opened its doors with only a freshman class in 1989. But while the Bulldogs’ 49-41 victory last week helped ease the pain of the previous losses, turnabout was not far behind.

About 24 hours after beating Quartz Hill (8-5), the Bulldogs (9-8) lost to Littlerock (3-14), a team they have routinely beaten over the past four years.

“We lost the game I thought we’d win for sure,” Highland Coach Tom Mahan said.

OUCH!

Take that! And that and that and that and that and that!

San Fernando recorded six pins and manhandled Birmingham, 66-12, in a Valley League wrestling meet Tuesday. The Tigers claimed victories in 11 of 13 weight classes to improve to 2-0 in league competition.

Among those recording pins were Ruben Martinez (125 pounds), Manuel Munguia (145) and Paul Escalera (160), all strong contenders to win championships in the league finals Feb. 20 at Canoga Park. Birmingham (0-2) recorded both its wins by forfeit.

WINNING UGLY

Alemany’s Melissa Hearlihy has long been considered one of the area’s best girls’ basketball coaches. She was honored as The Times Valley coach of the year last season after directing the Indians to the Southern Section Division II-A championship and the state regional finals.

But Hearlihy might be doing an even better job this season with an Alemany squad that has been decimated by injuries. The Indians have won 17 of their first 21 games and two of their losses have come against St. Bernard, one of the state’s top teams.

“This is the ugliest 17 wins I’ve ever had,” Hearlihy said. “We are winning, but it hasn’t been pretty.”

Not only has Hearlihy had to replace Rachel Corelli and Sarah Guziel, both returning Times All-Valley players, she also has done without the team’s top defensive player, sophomore Kelly McKay, and 6-0 center Barbara Ward for nearly a month.

McKay suffered a stress fracture to her right foot in late December and will learn if she can play again this season after an examination next week. Ward was sidelined because of heavy swelling and stretched ligaments in her right knee. Originally, she feared she would miss the rest of the season, but Ward was cleared to play last week with a knee brace.

The plague continued Saturday when starting point guard Kathleen Snee sustained torn ligaments in her right knee on a drive to the basket. Snee missed most of December with a separated shoulder.

DOING HER HOMEWORK

How is a talented 6-0 forward convinced to play more aggressively?

Hearlihy has required junior Zevette Mitchell to do homework in front of the television.

“I have her watching Big East and Duke basketball to see how it’s done,” Hearlihy explained. “I tell Zevette: ‘Do you know that you scare other players out there?’ We just need her to play more aggressively. She has so much ability.”

MORE INJURIES

The Buena girls’ basketball team normally concentrates on preparing for the playoffs this time of year.

But those preparations have been made more difficult by the loss of senior forward Julie Hardy, who sustained torn ligaments and a chipped bone in her left ankle in a win over Rio Mesa last week.

Hardy, one of three 6-foot players on the Bulldogs’ front line, is averaging 14.1 points but will miss at least four weeks of action.

David Coulson, Kennedy Cosgrove and staff writers Steve Elling, Jeff Fletcher, Vince Kowalick and Paige A. Leech contributed to this notebook.