NOTEBOOK / SEAN WATERS : University, Venice Playoff Chances Still Up in the Air

Although they play in one of the most competitive conferences, the playoff fate of the University and Venice highs boys’ basketball programs may be determined off the court.

The City Section will determine the seedings and pairings for the boys’ and girls’ basketball playoffs tonight.

There are six leagues in the 4-A and 3-A divisions and only the top two teams from each league are guaranteed a spot in the playoffs. The remaining playoff spots will be filled by four third-place teams in each division.

Westchester, Fairfax, Manual Arts and Palisades are expected to make the playoffs from the Coastal Conference, which is the only conference consisting of the two 4-A leagues.

The Warriors were in third place in the Western League and the Gondoliers were third in the Metro League entering this week’s games. University beat Venice in the only matchup between the teams.

“We play in the only conference with two 4-A leagues, so at least one of our third-place teams should make the playoffs,” University Coach Jim Nakabara said. “I think they should let every team compete in the playoffs and not arbitrarily selected teams.”

But more is at stake than playoff bids. The City meeting also will determine the top four seedings and the pairings for each division.

Fairfax (16-7), which finished second behind Westchester in the Metro with a 6-2 record, is one team most opponents would like to avoid in the first round. The Comets beat Fairfax, 66-63, in overtime on Friday.

“We put ourselves in this position,” Fairfax Coach Harvey Kitani said. “Now we will probably have to play a first-place team on the road.”

North Hollywood Coach Steve Miller hopes it isn’t his team.

“I think any team that plays Fairfax or Dorsey in the first round has a good chance of losing,” Miller said. “Sometimes it pays not to finish first in your league.”

Southern Section playoffs: Crossroads will be bidding for its second consecutive Southern Section Division IV-A title under Coach Daryl Roper when the first round of the boys’ basketball playoffs begin Friday.

In addition to Crossroads, Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Murphy and Santa Monica qualified for the playoffs.

The Roadrunners (20-3) were selected as the top-seeded team in the Division IV-A after winning the Delphic League. They play Orange Lutheran (11-11) Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Santa Monica High.

“Obviously I’m happy with the seedings,” Roper said. “I don’t know much about Orange Lutheran. But we plan to come and run and do what we do best--fast break whenever we can, play pressure defense and show a lot of offensive and defensive sets.”

Crossroads is led by 6-foot-11 center Austin Croshere, who is averaging 24 points and 19 rebounds a game, guard Bakir Allen (18 points, four assists) and point guard Travon Dugar (16 points, 10 assists).

The Roadrunners are the state’s top-ranked team in Division IV, according to Cal-Hi Sports. Their main competition will come from Serra of Gardena, Santa Clara of Oxnard and Verbum Dei.

Another key first-round matchup will be Beverly Hills (12-13) at Dominguez (21-2). The Dons, who are seeded second in Division II-AA, are led by 6-2 senior guard Bryan Pettis, who transferred from Tulsa last summer, 6-4 sophomore swingman Thomas Prince and 6-5 senior center Chris Blanton. The Normans’ top player is Luke Buffum, a 6-7 1/2 center who is averaging 26.2 points a game.

In other Southern Section games, Glendale defeated Santa Monica, 56-54, on Tuesday in a Division I-AA game. The Vikings had an 8-15 record for the season. On Friday, St. Anthony (10-14) will play at Murphy (6-12) in Division IV-AA and Thacher (10-4) plays at Brentwood (19-5) in a Division V-AA game. Mark Kessler is the Eagles’ leading scorer, averaging 11 points a game.

Track: Half-miler Kamara Mayberry of St. Bernard and high jumper David Shumsky of Palisades will be among the top Westside athletes participating in the Sunkist Invitational indoor track meet Saturday at the Sports Arena.

Mayberry will compete in the first heat of the 880 at 5:45 p.m. and Shumsky, who quit the Dolphin basketball team to concentrate on track, will compete in the seeded high jump at 8:15 p.m.

Other Westside boys competing are Larry Atkins of Venice in the rated high jump, Jesse Stern (Harvard-Westlake) in the pole vault, Ramone Clark (Dorsey) in the 500-yard dash, Peter Gilmore (Palisades) in the rated mile, Mel Maultry (Beverly Hills) in the triple jump, Bill Steinhard (Harvard-Westlake) and Brian Karpman (Hamilton) in the 880.

Genevieve DeBose (Hamilton) will compete against Lyad Gozal (Beverly Hills) in the girls’ rated mile and Jenny Wong (Harvard-Westlake) will compete in the girls’ two-mile.

Several other area athletes will be competing in the sprints.