NOTEBOOK / SEAN WATERS : Beverly Hills’ Buffum, St. Bernard’s Scott Honored by The Times

Juniors Luke Buffum of Beverly Hills High and Olympia Scott of St. Bernard were honored as The Times’ Westside boys’ and girls’ players of the year during an awards banquet Sunday at the Guest Quarters Suite Hotel in Santa Monica.

Daryl Roper of Crossroads and Lori Pawinski of St. Bernard were selected as the area’s boys and girls coaches of the year.

Buffum, a 6-foot-7 forward, averaged 26 points and 8.9 rebounds. He made the Southern Section Division II team and was selected to three all-tournament teams. He had his best game against Ocean League rival Culver City, scoring 43 points and grabbing 19 rebounds.

Scott, a 6-2 forward, averaged 12 points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots. She was voted the Southern Section Division IV player of the year and was named one of the top 15 juniors in the state by Cal-Hi Sports magazine. Scott scored 24 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in the Vikings’ 59-48 victory over Bear River in the State Division IV championship game. She also had 13 points, nine rebounds as St. Bernard defeated Santa Ynez, 75-50, to win the Southern Section Division IV-AA title.

Pawinski guided the Vikings to a 30-4 record. The school won its first state title and second Southern Section title in three seasons.

In three seasons under Roper, the Roadrunners are 58-20. They have won three Delphic League titles and the 1992 Southern Section Division IV-A title. Last season, the Roadrunners (23-4) reached the semifinals.

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Tennis--Eight high school players from the Westside have been selected to compete in the 94th annual Ojai Valley tournament that begins today.

Damon Stein of Palisades and Jay Jackson of University will compete in singles competition. Sejin Park and Jae Kim of University, Hani Yassin and Jay Ericsson of Westchester, and Jeff Manson and Oliver Catlin of Palisades will compete in doubles.

“Sejin and Jae normally are not doubles partners,” University Coach Tom Anderson said. “But they are as good as any combination we have. This is a reward for being with the program for three years.”

The finals for all competition will be Saturday and Sunday at Libby Park in Ojai.

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Add tennis--University beat Palisades, 4-3, on Tuesday to avenge its only loss of the season.

The Dolphins and the Warriors are 6-1 in Coastal Conference play.

Palisades, which has won 19 City titles, is led by Stein and Bobak Morshad in singles.

“We’re not as strong as we were 10 or 12 years ago,” Palisades Coach Bud Kling said. “We have a nice one-two punch and a solid No. 3 in singles. We also have three solid doubles teams. It’s important to have depth in round-robin play.”

The Warriors have won four City titles in six years, including the 1992 title, and are defending Western League champions.

Three San Fernando Valley schools--Chatsworth, El Camino Real and Taft--are expected to contend.

“This is the most wide-open year,” Kling said. “A dark horse like Grant or North Hollywood could win the title and it would not surprise me.”

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Baseball--Western League teams, which are 27-5 against the Metro League in Coastal Conference play, begin interleague play this week.

Entering Tuesday’s games, defending league champion University and Westchester were 8-0 in conference play. Venice was 6-2 and Palisades was 5-3.

University suffered a setback when pitcher Richie Rivera transferred, but Doug Jarvis has filled in admirably. Jarvis is 4-0 in conference play and is batting .600 with five home runs and 22 runs batted in.

The Warriors have won the past three league titles, but University Coach Jon Beckerman believes Westchester may be the team to beat.

“They have a deep pitching staff and some outstanding returning players,” he said.

Andrew Spencer (7-1, 2.10 earned-run average), Mike Escamiloa (8-0, 2.43) and Jaleni Ferguson (8-0, 2.61) form Westchester’s rotation. Second baseman Henry Jones is batting .458, and catcher Rod Washington is batting .453.

Westchester plays a home-and-away series with University Tuesday and April 29.