THE HIGH SCHOOLS / STEVE ELLING : Chatsworth Girls Touched by Horn’s Presence at City Title Match

One for the pinky in ‘93? OK, so it’s not exactly lyrical, but it’s accurate.

Chatsworth maintained its stranglehold on the City Section girls’ soccer championship by winning its fifth title in a row with a 2-1 victory over Grant on Friday.

And what a finish, replete with tears by all. As awards were being presented, as though that didn’t generate enough emotion, Bob Horn was wheeled onto the Birmingham High field.

Horn, who is largely responsible for the establishment of girls’ soccer as a City sport five years ago, is stricken with Lou Gehrig’s disease and cannot move or speak. He cannot breathe without a respirator, which is attached to his trachea.

“He hadn’t been out all year, and I didn’t know he was going to be there,” Coach Jack Sidwell said. “Then I saw a guy in a wheelchair and an orange jacket and knew it had to be Bob Horn.

“It was a great thing to see.”

After helping found City girls’ soccer in 1988, Horn coached Chatsworth during the 1989-90 and ‘90-91 seasons, when many of the team’s current seniors were getting started. Included among the super sophomores of 1991 was Mary Oades, a senior who scored the winning goal in the second half against Grant.

“I’ve known him since I can remember,” said Oades, who as a sophomore scored all six goals in a 6-0 wipeout of San Pedro in the final. “It felt good to have him there.”

Fire and ice: Tomorrow is another day. More importantly for Glen Carson, tomorrow is another month. Good thing, too, because the month of January darn near killed him.

Carson, a senior swingman at Notre Dame High, isn’t exactly the team’s best player. That honor goes to Monte Marcaccini.

Nonetheless, Carson repeatedly has found himself in the eye of a hoop hurricane over the past two weeks, and it has been a wild ride. No matter what he does--in one instance, all it took was showing up for the game--Carson has been in the thick of things.

In a nine-day span, Carson went from pugilist to persecuted to paladin. Someone squeezed his head, another got in his head, then Carson went to the head of the class.

The sequence of events started in a physical Mission League loss at Loyola on Jan. 21. Carson dived for a loose ball and found himself at the bottom of a human octopus. Arms and legs were everywhere. One of the former had his head in a lock.

“I (was given) a cheap shot,” Carson said. “Then I came up swinging.”

Carson and Loyola reserve Ryan Bailey were ejected for their part in the skirmish, which dovetails nicely into Carson’s next predicament. Two days later, Carson was penciled in as a starter for the Knights’ game against Chaminade. Seconds later, he was back on the bench when Chaminade stated its intention to play the game under protest.

Chaminade Coach Rob Kurowski claimed that Carson should have served a one-game suspension in light of the ejection, as specified in the league charter. Confusion reigned, Carson sat.

“I kept telling Coach (Mick Cady), if there’s any doubt, don’t play me,” Carson said.

Finally, somebody noted the suspension rule pertained only to soccer. Carson might have had a red face, but he had no red card. He was inserted early in the first quarter but did not score in the game.

“It killed me,” said Carson, who has signed a letter of intent to play baseball at USC. “I played (lousy). It messed with my head.”

Friday night, Carson again was left to twist in the winds of fate. Notre Dame (17-5) led at halftime, 36-22, when Alemany snapped out of its torpor. Alemany, in fact, held a one-point lead with two seconds left when Notre Dame center Tom Stillwell was fouled while shooting.

Stillwell made the first free throw to tie the score, 66-66, but missed the second. Alemany hauled in the rebound and called a timeout. Trouble was, the Indians had used their allotment and a technical foul was assessed with one second remaining.

Carson--who else?--was elected to shoot the foul shots. He toed the line with the game on the line and missed the first attempt. With the Alemany home crowd going bonkers, Carson swallowed hard and made the second attempt to give Notre Dame a 67-66 win.

Only fitting that in a month of highs and lows, the moment was somewhat bittersweet.

“I was more mad about the first one than I was glad about the second,” he said.

Brown out: Markee Brown has an announcement: He is sorry.

Brown, a senior at El Camino Real and one of the most talented City Section players in the area, was benched for Friday’s game against Taft by Coach Neils Ludlow after the latest in a series of differences between Brown and his coaches.

Against Cleveland on Wednesday, Brown was benched at halftime. The first two quarters had not been kind. Cleveland forward Shawn Bankhead had lit him up for 27 first-half points and Brown--who entered the game averaging 23.9 points--was scoreless.

What’s more, during the second quarter, Brown shrugged off with the wave of a hand the instructions Ludlow offered from the sideline. After realizing he wasn’t going to play in the second half, Brown changed into street clothes--while seated on the bench--and watched the final four minutes standing along the gym wall.

Brown, who scored 44 points in the season opener, also has been criticized by teammates for being selfish on the floor. But he says the mistakes he has made are because he is trying to win.

“I’m just trying to make things happen,” he said. “Sometimes, I make bad decisions. Sometimes, I do a little too much.

“If you’re the big player on a team, you try to make the big plays.”

Brown had a few roller-coaster days with Mike McNulty, who coached El Camino Real before Ludlow. McNulty, a walk-on who resigned last year because of personal and business commitments, said Brown’s behavior on the court always has been unpredictable. Especially in comparison to his daily demeanor.

“He’s the nicest kid you’ll ever know off the floor,” said McNulty, who benched Brown for one game last year over a disciplinary matter. “He never misses practice or school. Sometimes, though, he seems to have problems when things don’t go well for him.”

Brown said he talked with Ludlow after the team’s 86-66 loss to Taft and apologized. McNulty also attended the game and told Brown he was disappointed in the standout player’s recent behavior.

“I’m just looking forward to the next game,” Brown said. “I have to be a more mature player.”