MAKING MUSICAlthough the Palisades boys’ basketball team...

MAKING MUSIC

Although the Palisades boys’ basketball team was competing in the Beverly Hills tournament last week, 6-foot-5 starting center Greg Thomas missed a game.

Thomas, a drummer for the group Oedipus, skipped a game to do a sound check at a West Hollywood nightclub. Sarah Schroeder, a Palisades volleyball player, is the group’s lead vocalist.

Thomas’ decision struck a bad note with Palisades Coach James Paleno. He lost his starting job.

Thomas earned his starting job back last week in an 84-73 win over Jefferson in the final of the Eagle Rock tournament. Thomas had 16 rebounds Thursday as the Dolphins became the first team in 19 years to win consecutive Eagle Rock tournament titles.

HAWAIIAN DUTY

Pacific Hills finished third last week in the Roosevelt Tournament in Honolulu.

Bryan Sterling, who recovered from the chicken pox to make the trip, had career highs of 34 points and 14 rebounds as the Bruins beat host Honolulu Roosevelt, 70-52. Sterling made all 16 of his free-throw attempts.

“It was beautiful,” Pacific Hills Coach John Bobich said. “We wore shorts the whole time. I think the low (temperature) was 70 degrees. We went to the beach, did some snorkeling. We went on all the tours. I hated to come back.”

Pacific Hills (10-3) has had a successful holiday season. The Bruins also won the El Segundo tournament and finished fifth in the Charter Oak tournament.

“When we’re healthy, we’re good and we can play with anybody. If we don’t come ready to play, we’ve proved to be a less than average team.”

LOSING PAINS

St. Monica (2-10), off to its worst start in 10 years, may have lost 5-11 guard Gabe Pagtama for the season.

Pagtama, who is averaging 15.4 points a game, suffered a hairline fracture of his right ankle and will be out a minimum of three weeks. Pagtama first felt a pain in the ankle on Thursday during the Mariners’ 74-72 loss to Granada Hills in the fifth-place game of the Chaminade tournament.

Despite the loss of Pagtama, Coach Leo Klemm remains optimistic about the season.

His son, 6-6 center Adrian Klemm, has recovered from a broken left ankle he suffered during football season. Kenny Jackson, a 6-4 forward, has returned to practice after missing last week because of a shoulder injury.

“I still think were going to be a good team when league starts,” Klemm said. “We’ll find some good in all of this.”

KANGAROO FEVER

Venice High got a bittersweet taste of basketball’s international flavor on Monday when it played host to the boys’ and girls’ teams from Condell Park High in Bankstown, Australia.

The visitors were on a three-week tour of four cities. In the San Diego Slam ‘N Surf tournament, the Condell Park boys won the championship and the girls finished fourth in their division.

Trailing by 11 points at halftime, the Gondolier boys outscored Condell Park, 23-8, in the fourth quarter, to win, 64-55.

“We finally took a game from someone at the end and this was against a very good team,” Venice Coach Thermon Moore said. “Intensity on defense is what we needed. And we showed we’re making efforts in the right direction.”

Venice (8-6) was led by junior forward Quintin McCowen, who had 20 points.

Moore hopes the Gondoliers get off to a quicker start when they open Coastal Conference play at Manual Arts Friday.

“We didn’t get down on ourselves. . . for what looked like the eight count,” he said. “We need to carry it into league.”

In Moore’s three previous seasons, Venice has yet to defeat Coastal Conference powers Manual Arts, Fairfax or Westchester and has beaten Palisades only once in three games.

“We definitely have equal talent, but we have to practice harder and play with intensity for an entire game,” Moore said. “If we don’t, we’ll just be a another good team that can’t win.”

The Venice girls missed 16 free throws in 21 attempts and lost to Condell Park, 56-43.

Karen Haddad had 12 points to lead Condell Park. Senior Carly Furuno and junior Yuriko Jung led the Gondoliers with 12 and 10 points.

Venice will play host to Los Angeles at 4 p.m. Friday to open Coastal Conference play.

FUTURE PROSPECT

Santa Monica junior swingman Damyuhn Campbell has been impressive during the holiday tournaments and Santa Monica Coach Ken Sprague cannot wait until next week to see Campbell compete against Bay League opponents.

Campbell, who joined the Vikings (3-8) as a sophomore, is the team’s leading scorer (13) and rebounder (nine) in his second season of organized basketball.

“So far he’s doing a good job scoring and playing defense,” Sprague said. “He’s got good three-point range with a nice high release, a lot of quickness and good ball-handling.”

Sprague believes Campbell has a particularly bright future because of his size and athleticism.

“He has all the guard skills, and what impresses me most is that he is 6-foot-6 and still growing,” he said. “I fully expect him to be one of the best players in the Southern Section next year. I definitely believe he’ll be good enough to play Division I.”

BALANCED ATTACK

Injuries and illness reduced the Culver City roster to seven players last week during the quarterfinals of the 22nd Hart Holiday Classic. After losing to Manual Arts, 69-63, the Centaurs suited only six players and lost to Simi Valley, 64-55, in the fifth-place game. Culver City (7-6) lost a 10-point third-quarter lead against Simi Valley.

“Fatigue set in,” Centaur Coach Jeff Perry said. “With four days straight at our pace, we just couldn’t keep it up. We were in foul trouble for the whole tournament.”

Senior point guard Chris Ellison, who was selected to the Southern Section Division VII football team as a defensive back, was named to the all-tournament team in basketball.

Culver City begins Ocean League play Friday at Morningside. Perry is confident about his team’s prospects. Four Centaurs players are averaging more than 10 points a game: Louie Biaty (14.5), Sanford Richmond (13.9), Damon Williams (11.1) and Ellison (10.2),

“The key to our game is to keep our balanced scoring,” he said. “We’re not concerned about playing away from home since our first 14 games were on the road.”

HOLIDAY WRAPUP

Westchester beat Inglewood, 66-53, to win the Artesia tournament. Tournament most valuable player Danny Walker scored 27 points in the final. The Comets, ranked 20th in the nation, also won the Las Vegas Holiday Classic two weeks ago. It was the first time Coach Ed Azzam has won two holiday tournaments in a season since he became coach in 1979 . . . Beverly Hills won the consolation championship of the Katella tournament last week. Center Luke Buffum was named to the all-tournament team. He has made all six all-tournament teams in two seasons.

The St. Bernard girls (13-1) beat Gahr, 51-45, to win the Gahr tournament on Thursday. It was the Vikings’ second tournament victory. They beat Justin Siena, 60-33, to win the Santa Barbara tournament Dec. 23. Olympia Scott, The Times’ 1993 Westside Player of the Year, was voted most valuable player of the Gahr tournament. Teammate Marte Alexander was MVP of the Santa Barbara tournament. Viking Guard Olanike Farodolu is shooting 50% from three-point range (25 of 50) . . . The Crossroads girls (8-3) defeated Crenshaw, 59-32, to take third place in the Los Angeles Invitational on Thursday. Sherrise Smith (20 points) and Yasmeen Benjamin (14 points) were named to the tournament team. “We’re executing our offense better and we’re reacting to defensive pressure better,” Coach Larry Wiener said . . . Hamilton (5-4) beat Canoga Park, 55-24, to win the Van Nuys tournament on Dec. 22. Hamilton’s Natasha Steen, who averaged 14.7 points in four games, was named tournament most valuable player. Teammates Kelly Peden, Ellen Johnson and Miatta Rice were also named to the team. Brentwood (10-4) won the Carpinteria tournament last week, defeating Pasadena Poly in the final, 57-52. Gerry Washington, a 6-foot-1 junior guard, led the Eagles with 16 points and was named MVP.

INJURIES

Windward (1-6, 0-2 in Liberty League) may play Buckley on Friday in a league game without point guard Ryan Groman, who pulled a back muscle in practice last week. The senior also has suffered a sprained ankle, a pull hamstring and a scratched cornea, but missed only one game. He is averaging 13 points.

“I may not have earned my pay as a coach as yet, but I definitely have as a trainer,” Windward Coach Ken Asher said.

MISCELLANY

Owen Hahn resigned after four seasons as Santa Monica College football coach. He was 25-16-1 at Santa Monica and 34-26-1 at the community college level. Hahn coached at West L.A. from 1979-80.

“I’ve been doing this for 31 years and basically I ran out of gas,” said Hahn, who began coaching at the high school level in 1968. His overall record is 74-37-2.

Santa Monica cannot offer a teaching position to go with the coaching job.

Corsair assistant Robert Taylor, a 10-year assistant, is expected to be named coach on Monday.

Beverly Hills catcher Jeremy Booth was chosen to the 1994 Mizuno USA preseason high school All-American team, selected by Collegiate Baseball. Booth, The Times’ 1993 Westside Player of the Year, batted .562 with five home runs and 45 runs batted in last season. He had a .991 fielding average and threw out 10 baserunners.

In girls’ volleyball, Windward middle-blocker and setter Jessica Papell, a 5-foot-6 freshman, was selected to the Southern Section Division VI first team. Papell, who is also a left-handed pitcher and first baseman on the softball team, led the Wildcats in kills.

“She’s an outstanding hitter with a very good wrist snap and has made herself into a top player,” Coach Gail Holmes said.

The Wildcats (14-6), who finished second in the Liberty League and playoff quarterfinalists, will return 14 of 15 players next year, including Papell.