NOTEBOOK : Sentinels Finish in 2nd Place at Cross-Country Invitational

The Belmont High School boys’ cross-country team took second place in the Bell-Jeff Invitational meet Sept. 25 at Griffith Park.

The defending City Section champion Senti nels had a five-member team total of 79 minutes and 55 seconds to trail first-place Morro Bay (79:17). Canyon Country finished third (81:06), Bell fourth (83:39) and Roosevelt fifth (84:40).

Ricardo Valenzuela of Belmont ran 15:17 to finish third. Miguel Ramirez of Roosevelt took fourth at 15:26, Francisco Camacho of Bell (15:54) was eighth, and Amado Munoz of Belmont (15:58) was ninth.

In Division IV, Salesian finished second to McFarland in the seeded team competition and Cathedral won the open team competition. Eduardo Santillan of Salesian ran 16:35 to take 10th place.

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College basketball--Los Angeles City College assistant basketball coach Milton Gentry has developed a reputation for knowing inner-city high school talent and it has paid dividends for the Cubs’ program.

Gentry, who also serves as the team’s recruiting coordinator, has some of the area’s best incoming freshmen. The list includes 6-6 forward Tarryl Franklin of Dorsey, 6-6 center Stacey Thomas of Washington, 6-6 forward Sai Tuiallua of South Gate, 6-1 guard Leslie Bean of Fremont, and 6-3 guard Derrick Higgins of Locke.

The Cubs have begun conditioning and will start practice Oct. 15.

“We’re young and fast,” Gentry said. “And we can shoot the three from anywhere on the floor. I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t win the state championship.”

The top player for the Cubs is 6-9 sophomore forward Marty Cotwright, who is being recruited by more than 25 Division I programs.

Cotwright had home visits last week with Howard University in the District of Columbia, the University of New Mexico, Boston College, Washington and Xavier of Cincinnati.

Former Cub Ed Forney, a 6-6 forward, is now playing for Utah State and 6-5 forward Steven King is playing for Grand Canyon, a Division II school in Arizona.

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Raising funds--Yes Clothing has donated $2,000 to the Manual Arts High girls’ basketball program.

The money will be used to pay for basketball equipment and uniforms, Coach Jack Mitchell said.

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Add Manual Arts--David Rickenbacker has made a verbal commitment to attend San Diego State.

Rickenbacker, a 6-5 forward, averaged 18.4 points and 10.9 rebounds last season and was selected the Coastal Conference player of the Year.

“He really liked (San Diego State) Coach Tony Fuller,” Manual Arts Coach Randolph Simpson said. “The Aztecs are going through a rebuilding process and David welcomes the challenge.”

Simpson said the Toilers will participate in three tournaments: the Amador Basketball Classic in Oakland (Nov. 9-11), the Tournament of Champions at Ocean View (Nov. 14-17) and the Magic City Classic in Birmingham, Ala., (Dec. 26-31).

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Add recruiting--Fremont 6-1 guard Calvin Patterson has not made a verbal commitment to Loyola Marymount, but the Lions are in the running. Patterson is also being recruited by Washington State, San Diego State, Cal State Fullerton, the University of San Francisco, and Colorado State.