LOS ANGELES TIMES SPECIAL REPORT : City Times Basketball Playoffs : City Section--Where Local Legends Emerge : Many players who led their teams to titles went on to major college and professional careers. Crenshaw has been the dominant team, winning 11 of 17 championship games since 1971.

For 45 years, the City Section has crowned basketball champions through a playoff system that provides high school players with the opportunity to become local legends.

Willie (The Whale) Naulls of San Pedro and Billy (The Hill) McGill of Jefferson were two of the most famous players of the 1950s. (Jumpin’) Joe Caldwell of Fremont and former UCLA stars Gail Goodrich of Poly, Curtis Rowe of Fremont, and Greg Lee of Reseda were ‘60s standouts.

Crenshaw won its second title in 1973 with Dorsey transfer Marques Johnson, who later starred at UCLA and in the NBA. In 1980, Darryl Strawberry was a starting forward for Crenshaw while Dodger teammate Eric Davis played basketball for Fremont.

The ‘80s featured Carson’s Eldridge (El Hud) Hudson, Crenshaw’s John Williams and Manual Arts’ Dwayne Polee.

And while there have been many famous individuals to compete in the City championship game, there also have been standout teams.

Under Coach Willie West, Crenshaw has won 11 City titles in 17 championship game appearances since 1971. The school’s 1985 team compiled a 31-0 record, winning City, State and exhibition World titles. Nine seniors from the 1988 City-champion Cougar team received Division I scholarships.

Here is a brief look at City 4-A and 3-A championship games during the past 10 years.

1983

Banning 62, Crenshaw 61--Crenshaw junior John Williams appeared to be unstoppable. In the three games before the final, Williams scored 35, 23 and 28 points.

But Banning Coach Don Nichols designed a defense to slow Williams--or stop him. The 6-foot-8 center managed 23 points, but the game was decided during the final seconds by Banning’s Ronnie Barber.

Barber, the quarterback for the Banning football team, made a desperation 25-foot jump shot with two seconds to play to give the Pilots the 4-A championship. It was sweet revenge for Banning and Barber because the school lost to Crenshaw in the semifinals of the football playoffs.

Reseda 54, Canoga Park 41--In the 3-A final, Reseda used five transfers from the inner city to win the school’s first championship in any sport. Guard Eugene Jackson was the star, leading a balanced attack with 15 points.

1984

Crenshaw 112, Westchester 59--After being denied the 1983 championship, John Williams--now a forward with the Los Angeles Clippers--came back with a vengeance, scoring 41 points as the Cougars won by the most lopsided score in the tournament’s history. In four games, Williams scored 156 points, breaking the 1981 tournament record set by Manual Arts’ Dwayne Polee. One of Westchester’s star players was Bob Samuelson, who played for the ’92 U.S. Olympic volleyball team that won the bronze medal.

Reseda 51, Wilson 39--Eugene Jackson, who later played for Cal State Fullerton, had 14 points and nine assists. Wilson’s Anthony Blackmon had 12 points and 13 rebounds.

1985

Crenshaw 73, Manual Arts 62--John Williams departed to Louisiana State, but the Cougars did not miss a beat, winning their eighth title and second in a row under Coach Willie West. The Cougars discovered a new leader in junior guard Stevie Thompson, who averaged 28 points a game to lead the City. In the final, Thompson scored 30, including 17 in the second half, as Crenshaw overcame a 34-33 halftime deficit. Manual Arts was led by Marco Fleming, well-known for his dunking ability.

Fairfax 65, San Pedro 61--Fairfax won its first title when the playoff system began in 1947 and 5-foot guard Al Linnick was the star player. In 1985, 6-foot-7 center Sean Higgins was the most dominating player, averaging 17 points a game. Higgins, a sophomore, scored 12 of his 17 points in the first half as Fairfax took a commanding 11-point lead. But it took four free throws from Lion guard Jerome Jenkins during the final minute to end San Pedro’s upset bid.

1986

Crenshaw 95, Cleveland 79--As he grew in stature, Crenshaw’s leading scorer preferred a more grown-up name. Little Stevie became Stephen Thompson. His scoring average also matured--to 30 points a game. Cleveland was led by 6-8 forward Trevor Wilson, who had 27 points and 20 rebounds in the final. Wilson played at UCLA and is the school’s fourth all-time leading scorer.

In the final, Thompson, who later played at Syracuse, scored 29 points as Crenshaw won its third consecutive title.

Marshall 62, University 47--All-time scoring leader Jerry Simon, a 6-5 forward, and 5-7 Luis Gonzales were too much of an inside and outside scoring combination for University to handle. Simon ended up with 28 points and 17 rebounds and Gonzales had 16 points and nine rebounds.

1987

Fairfax 86, Cleveland 58--Sean Higgins, Chris Mills and transfer J.D. Green formed a formidable front line that beat Cleveland, not once, but four times during the season. In the final meeting, tournament MVP Mills had 24 points and 11 rebounds. Green scored 21 points and had 16 rebounds, and Higgins added 20 points and 14 rebounds as the nation’s second-ranked team won its 25th consecutive game. Mills starts for Arizona, Green plays for Cal State Fullerton and Higgins helped Michigan win the NCAA championship in 1989 before he turned professional after his junior year.

Granada Hills 60, Birmingham 55--Not too many players came bigger than 6-9, 230-pound center Gary Gray of Granada Hills. Gray made 11 of 17 shots, scored 25 points, and grabbed 17 rebounds despite being sandwiched by 6-6 forwards Keith Owens and Ennerea Maxwell. Owens played forward at UCLA and with the Los Angeles Lakers.

1988

Crenshaw 83, Manual Arts 67--The Cougars entered the final having scored 100 or more points in 13 games. They had a balanced scoring attack featuring John Staggers, Doug Meekins, who plays for Washington, and Cornelius Holden, who plays for Louisville. Despite starting four guards, Manual Arts led 42-36 at halftime. But the Cougars managed a 12-point turnaround during the third quarter and put the game away during the final eight minutes. Chris Small had a game-high 30 points to lead Manual Arts, while Staggers had 22 to lead the Cougars.

Manual Arts came back to upset Crenshaw in the regionals and won the State championship.

Manual Arts received an at-large bid to the State tournament and upset Crenshaw, 89-82, in the regionals.

The Toilers defeated Bishop O’Dowd to win the State championship.

Crenshaw, which averaged 99.6 points a game, finished with a 28-1 record.

Jordan 56, Grant 41--Despite finishing third in the Pac-6 League, Jordan ended an improbable season by beating Grant to win its fourth City title. Junior Stephon Davis scored a game-high 29 points, including two thunderous dunks, to lead Jordan.

Grant guard Danny Enowitz characterized the team’s poor shooting, scoring only eight points on 4-of-11 shooting after averaging 17.7 points a game during the regular season.

1989

Crenshaw 85, Manual Arts 72--The Cougars erased the memory of the previous year’s loss in the State playoffs and ended Manual Arts’ unbeaten streak at 24. Crenshaw won its second title in a row and fifth in six years behind guard Terry Cannon’s 31 points. Cannon is redshirting this season at San Jose State. The Cougars also won the State title, beating Skyline of Oakland, 70-63.

Fremont 65, Los Angeles 48--The Romans made their first championship game appearance since 1953, and were confident of a victory because they had beaten Fremont in a regular-season tournament. Los Angeles also had a front line featuring players at 6-10, 6-8 and 6-6. But the Romans could not stop Fremont’s Tyrone Phillips, who scored a game-high 20 points. Phillips now plays for Marshall University.

1990

Manual Arts 84, Crenshaw 72--Crenshaw discovered the penalty for being too good. In 1988, Marcell Capers failed to make the Cougar varsity and transferred to Manual Arts. Two years later, the senior guard scored 26 points to help Manual Arts win its first City title since 1981. Capers plays for Arizona State and is among the Pacific-10 Conference leaders in assists.

Manual Arts also received a strong performance from William Celestine, who had 25 points and 12 rebounds. Crenshaw was led by Kevin Ollie, who scored 24 points., and Alex Scruggs, who had 11. Ollie is a starter for Connecticut.

North Hollywood 76, Fremont 71--North Hollywood, behind the shooting of Dana Jones, denied Fremont a chance to win its second consecutive City title. Jones, who starts for Pepperdine, scored 29 points, had 29 rebounds and blocked seven shots.

It was the first basketball championship for North Hollywood and the third title for Coach Steve Miller, who won titles in 1978 and ’79 at Fairfax.

1991

Westchester 65, Manual Arts 57--Westchester became the dominating team in the new decade. The Comets won their first basketball championship, rallying from a 12-point third-quarter deficit. LeRoi O’Brien led Westchester with 24 points and 10 rebounds.

Guard James Gray scored five of his seven points in the fourth quarter and Jason Sanders finished with 12. Dwain Bradberry scored 18 points for Manual Arts before fouling out.

Fremont 70, North Hollywood 37--In a title rematch, North Hollywood was no match for the state’s top-ranked team. Fremont easily disposed of North Hollywood in one of the most lopsided championship games in City history. UC Santa Barbara standout Chris Ford led all scorers with 17.

Fremont finished with a 31-2 record. The Pathfinders lost to St. Joseph of Alameda, 67-61, in the State final.

St. Joseph was led by Jason Kidd, the consensus high school player of the year.

1992

Westchester 87, Crenshaw 71--Westchester became the first team other than Crenshaw to win back-to-back titles since Fremont’s championship teams in 1962 and ’63. Senior guard James Gray, co-City Player of the Year, scored 27 points and grabbed 16 rebounds.

Fremont 77, South Gate 61--The Pathfinders won their second title in a row, third in four years and ninth since 1959. Fremont, coached by Sam Sullivan, received balanced scoring throughout the season from guards Todd Whitehead, who plays for UC Irvine, and Rickey Brown. Each scored 13 in the final. South Gate, which started four juniors, was a surprise finalist, having lost to Fremont twice in league play.

Both teams will compete in the 4-A in 1993.