Long Run Puts Providence’s Dabbaghian on Top

Barry Dabbaghian wasn’t the leanest of machines when he enrolled at Providence High as a sophomore three years ago--mostly because he was never far from a refrigerator.

Dabbaghian (6-foot-1) weighed a doughy 190 pounds when he showed up at Providence. An hour into his first practice, he started feeling lightheaded and had to excuse himself. He then proceeded to lose weight in gut-wrenching fashion.

“He went into the bathroom, threw up, and came back as white as a sheet,” Coach Paul Sutton recalled.

When it came to conditioning, Dabbaghian threw up the white flag. Yet before his junior year, things changed. So did Dabbaghian’s appearance.

Sutton, also the school’s cross-country coach and athletic director, convinced Dabbaghian to try distance running. Good for cross-training, the coach said. Good for overall health. Good for Sutton’s cross-country team. And, ultimately, good for Providence (17-4) and its basketball team.

Now, after two seasons of cross-country, Dabbaghian is a svelte 162 pounds. In terms of flab, he is half the man he used to be, but two years later, he has nearly doubled his scoring output.

As a sophomore, Dabbaghian averaged 16.2 points. As a junior, he raised his average to 20.7 and ranked 17th among area Southern Section players.

Now, in his final season, Dabbaghian is averaging 30.6 points, tops among area players. What’s more, according to Cal-Hi Sports, Dabbaghian ranks third in the state in scoring average behind Michael Dean of Torrance (32.8) and Raymond Tutt of San Pedro (32.2).

Dabbaghian scored 33 points Friday in a 77-54 victory over Avalon, obliterating Providence’s single-season scoring mark of 500 points set by Dan Carlin in 1976-77. He added 26 Saturday against Avalon and 28 Tuesday against Holy Martyrs. He has 582 points with at least two games remaining.

Before Dabbaghian is through, he will have erased Carlin’s single-season record for scoring average (25.0 points), not bad for someone with no particular offensive strength. Dabbaghian, you see, isn’t a brute inside or a bomber from the perimeter. He plays just about everywhere.

“He’s not a great shooter, not a great post player, but he knows how to score,” Sutton said. “He’s just hard for most teams to match up with.”

Match? Playing against Dabbaghian is like playing with fire. He scored a personal-high 50 points in a December game against a first-year team from Queen of Angels. The total was one shy of the school single-game record.

“When I saw him at that first practice, I thought, ‘Either this guy’s gonna be a great player or he’s gonna weigh 250 pounds and be shooting nothing but threes,’ ” Sutton said.

Dabbaghian has achieved a degree of celebrity because of his chart-topping exploits. It seems that many of his classmates, teachers and friends often peruse the statistical scoring leaders list of area high school players. It typically features his name at the top.

“I hear it every minute of the day,” he said. “ ‘Barry, you’re No. 1.’ Or, ‘Barry, you’re the best player in the Valley.’ ”

Dabbaghian, to his credit, believes not a word of it and tries to edify his fans on the reality of basketball in small-schools circles. Providence plays in Division V-AA, the second-lowest rung on the section ladder.

“There’s a big difference in being the best player and being the top scorer,” Dabbaghian said. “If I played at a public school, I wouldn’t average 30. The level of play is very different.”

The level of attention that Dabbaghian has brought to the program is considerable. Several area junior colleges have spoken to Dabbaghian about his plans for playing beyond high school.

In fact, Sutton said the last Providence player to generate comparable interest was former baseball standout Jeff Cirillo, who earned a scholarship to USC and was drafted in the 11th round by the Milwaukee Brewers in 1991.

No baseball for Barry, though. Dabbaghian dabbles only in cross-country, which is more than enough to keep him busy. As it turns out, he even might have developed an affinity for distance running. Sutton said he was the best runner on the team last fall.

Dabbaghian isn’t exactly a convert, though. Cross-country is just the means to a lean end.

“It’s a drag,” Dabbaghian said with a laugh. “You know, it’s not the greatest sport. But it gets you in shape.”