Return of Curry Adds Spice to Ventura Lineup

The waiting is over for Calvin Curry.

Curry, a 6-foot-7 All-Western State Conference forward at Ventura College, will return to the lineup tonight when the Pirates play host to Oxnard in a North Division game. Curry has been sidelined for nearly a month because of strained knee ligaments.

Curry, a sophomore from Compton High, was injured Jan. 7 in Ventura’s 87-80 loss to Santa Monica, the team’s only setback in 27 games this season.

Ventura, the state’s top-ranked team, has bounced back nicely from the loss, but Coach Philip Mathews says the team was not whole without Curry, who was averaging 20.9 points and 5.9 rebounds before the injury.

“We missed him,” Mathews said. “It’s a little harder for us (without Curry). I like to go into games with all our weapons.”

Curry’s return forces sophomore guard Donyhel Johnson, who was starting in place of Curry, back into a sixth-man role.

THIRTY-SOMETHING

Not only did Valley finally win a WSC South Division game Wednesday with a 96-82 victory over Canyons, the Monarchs did it with pizazz.

The Monarchs (4-16, 1-2 in division play) easily surpassed their scoring average (64.9) and had two players score more than 30 points, a feat Coach Jim Stephens believes had not been accomplished at the school during his tenure.

“I’ve been here for 18 years and I don’t think that it’s happened before,” he said.

Joe Mauldin and Wayne Carlisle scored 37 and 35 points to lead the surprising offensive output. Mauldin, a 6-foot-2 wing from San Fernando High, made 12 of 18 field-goal attempts. Carlisle, a 6-7 wing from Grant High, made 11 of 17, including five from three-point range.

Another key to the pair’s scoring their outstanding free-throw shooting. Going into the game, Mauldin was shooting 40.4% (36 for 89) from the line and Carlisle was at 70% (70 for 100). Against Canyons, Mauldin made 13 of 14 and Carlisle made eight of 12.

As a team, the Monarchs had been converting only 60.6% of their free throws, which Stephens said contributed to the team’s problems.

“If we could have shot better from the free-throw line, we could have a better record,” Stephens said. “We’ve lost games every imaginable way. We’ve lost games with 30 seconds (to play) because of guys hanging on the rims after dunks and getting technicals. . . . I hope this (victory) will help our confidence for the remaining seven games.”

Carlisle’s 35-point effort catapulted him to the top of the South Division scoring chart with 80 points in three games for a 26.6-point average.

HOT STUFF

If Peter Micelli appears to be approaching breakneck speed during warm-ups before Cal State Northridge basketball games, it’s only because he would rather be hot than merely warm. Micelli, a 6-8 sophomore center, said he has found that the harder he works during warm-ups, the better he plays.

“I had always thought I shouldn’t exert too much energy because, you know, you still have to play the game,” Micelli said. “But that’s not even close to being right. If you warm up hard, as soon as it’s tipped, you’re ready to go. It helps a lot.”

STATWATCH

Men’s basketball: Northridge was considered a dead-eye team from three-point range after 14 games, but in its past three--all losses--the Matadors have gone cold. Northridge made four of 23 against Wisconsin-Milwaukee, eight of 21 against Boise State and then hit rock bottom, making only two of 17 against Alabama-Birmingham. That is a combined 14 of 61 (22.9%). In their first 14 games, Northridge was 109 of 270 (40.4%). . . .

Cassidy said before the season that the Matadors probably would need all five starters to score in double figures to stay competitive. So far, he has his wish: All five starters average in double figures. Andre Chevalier leads at 14.4, Peter Micelli and James Morris are tied at 10.5, Chris Yard is at 10.2 and Brooklyn McLinn is at 10. . . .

On a Glendale team that likes to put up three-point attempts, Will Burr is captain of the arc. On Wednesday in a hard-fought 72-67 loss to Santa Monica, Burr was up to the task. The former Alemany High guard made five of 12 three-point attempts to raise his season totals to 47 of 110 (42.8%). In an 84-65 victory over West L.A. last Saturday, Burr made seven three-pointers, one short of his school record set in December. . . .

Ventura forward Brandon Jessie is the WSC North Division scoring leader with 53 points in two games.

Staff writers Fernando Dominguez and Mike Hiserman contributed to this notebook.