Sports : SILVER ANNIVERSARY

Palisades High will celebrate the 25th anniversary of its City Section basketball championship team during halftime of a Jan. 21 home game against University.

Chris Marlowe, captain of the U.S. gold medal volleyball team in the 1984 Olympics, and 12 other Dolphin players from the championship basketball team, will be reunited to pay tribute to A.J. (Jerry) Marvin Jr., who coached at the school from 1961 to 1991. The gym will be renamed “Marvin Gardens” in his honor.

Also expected to attend are former starters Don Shaw, Ken Baker, Kris Jamtaas, Doug King, and reserves Jeff Jacobs and Jay Hanseth.

In the championship game, the Dolphins, led by Marlowe, beat Reseda, 85-57, to avenge an earlier loss to the Regents and complete a 21-1 season.

In addition to having an outstanding basketball team, the Dolphins featured seven players who later became volleyball stars in college, including professionals Marlowe and Hanseth.

NEW COACH

Robert Taylor was officially named football coach at Santa Monica College on Monday, becoming the school’s first black football coach. He replaces Owen Hahn, who resigned two weeks ago.

Taylor has been a full-time physical education teacher and assistant football coach at Santa Monica since 1984. He also has been an assistant at North Carolina A & T, L.A. Southwest and L.A. City. He was an all-state running back at Jonathon Law High in Miford, Conn., competed collegiately at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria and Central Connecticut State, and played semi-professionally with the Los Angeles Mustangs.

“I think he has paid his dues and worked hard as an assistant in the program,” Athletic Director Avie Bridges said. “He deserves an opportunity to direct our program.

“He is very deserving of the position and has a great rapport with the athletes.”

FAMILY TRADITION

Malika Edmondson, 14, a freshman at St. Bernard who set a national age-group record of 54.7 seconds in the 400-meter sprint last summer, will make her high school debut at the 35th annual Sunkist Invitational indoor track meet on Feb. 19 at the Sports Arena.

Edmondson is the daughter of Barbara Ferrell, the USC women’s track coach and 100-meter silver medalist at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, and Warren Edmondson, the former NCAA 100-meter champion at UCLA.

HIS TIME HAS COME

Kejuan Woods made the shot of the game to help Crossroads beat Brentwood, 60-59, Saturday in a Delphic League opening game. But Roadrunner point guard Baron Davis made the comment of the week.

With about two minutes left, Davis asked Roadrunner Coach Daryl Roper, “Can I go off now?”

Roper, who did not take his 5-foot-6 guard seriously, responded, “Sure. Why not?”

Davis then proceeded to score the Roadrunners’ next seven points on a layup, a three-point shot and a 15-foot jump shot.

Woods scored off a rebound and was fouled with two seconds left. He made the free throw to win the game. Crossroads (6-6, 1-0 in league) has won three consecutive games.

Roper, however, was still laughing Monday when he retold the Davis story.

“He’s a prime-time player who loves the pressure,” Roper said. “But I’m not sure what he was waiting for.”

NOT THEIR BEST SHOTS

St. Bernard and Palisades had a hard time scoring points last week and it wasn’t because their opponents were playing great defense.

The Vikings had a school-record low 43 points in a 43-13 victory over Alemany Friday in a Mission League game.

The Vikings (8-5, 2-2) led 7-5 after the first quarter and 12-6 at halftime.

“I had to keep kicking my assistant to keep him awake,” St. Bernard Coach Jim McClune said. “It was a normal game--they didn’t stall--but neither team could shoot very well.

The Vikings are averaging 62 points a game, the lowest point total since McClune became coach in 1981.

Palisades had a season-low point total on Friday in a 43-29 loss to Fairfax in a Coastal Conference game. The Dolphins (10-5) attempted only 24 shots and had 22 turnovers. They also missed 12 free throws.

The Dolphins scored only 14 points in the second half after trailing, 21-18, at halftime.

“Our defense was pretty good,” Palisades Coach James Paleno said. “We turned the ball over one too many times and missed our foul shots.”

ONE-MAN SHOW

Windward (2-7) was trailing Buckley, 30-25, late in the fourth quarter of a Liberty League game Friday. Then sophomore guard Eric Groman scored two three-point baskets to give the Wildcats a 31-30 win. Groman, who is averaging 11 points, scored a career-high 25 points and made five of six shots in the second half. The victory was Windward’s first league win in two seasons.

“It definitely was the greatest shooting performance I’ve ever seen by a Windward player,” fourth-year Wildcat Coach Ken Asher said. “And we’re out of last place for the first time since I don’t know when.”

CAUGHT IN A TRAP

In its Coastal Conference opener Friday at Manual Arts, Venice was held to only two first-quarter points by the Toilers’ trapping zone defense and went on to lose, 69-48.

“They came out like men and we played like boys,” Venice Coach Thermon Moore said. “We knew exactly what they were going to do. But their defense was too strong and we didn’t execute well offensively.”

Gondolier guard Rasheed Hazzard had 18 points in the loss.

BIG IMPROVEMENT

Free-throw shooting paid dividends when the Venice girls’ team overwhelmed Los Angeles, 89-32, in its Coastal Conference opener Friday. Venice shot 66.7% from the line in making 16 free-throws, an improvement from the previous week when the Gondoliers missed 16 of 21 attempts in a 56-43 loss to Condell Park of Bankstown, Australia.

“That really showed what we had to work on,” Venice assistant Cathy Shaw said.

Senior center Jamila Locke led the Gondoliers with 17 points and junior guard Yuriko Jung and senior guard Carly Furuno added 15 and 14.

DOUBLE DOUBLES

One bright spot for Hollywood (1-6, 0-4 in Northern Conference) has been the play of 5-foot-9 senior guard Mishal Ortiz, who had 15 points and 15 rebounds in a 44-41 loss to Lincoln on Friday. Sheik Coach Ken Hardee praises her quickness and aggressiveness. Ortiz is averaging 10.7 points and 10 rebounds.

“I’m giving her more responsibility and she’s playing with more confidence,” Hardee said.

“And as a team, that was the best we’ve played all year even though we only shot around 25%. We just have to work on getting it in at a higher clip.”

Hollywood, which has won only four conference games in the past three years, plays at Eagle Rock on Friday.

WELCOME BACK CARTER

Marlborough (12-4) 6-foot-1 senior center Kim Carter returned from an ankle injury last week and scored 18 points in a 43-32 nonleague win over Campbell Hall.

Carter had eleven rebounds on Friday in a 42-36 victory over Immaculate Heart in a Sunshine League opener. In that game, 5-11 senior Deborah Sternlight lead Marlborough with 18 points and 18 rebounds.

With Sternlight and Carter, Coach John Ferrante likes the Mustangs’ chances in league, even against defending champion Notre Dame Academy.

“With Kim returning, we should be able to play with anybody,” he said. “Even with Notre Dame having (Jenny) Hatch and (Taryn) Reynolds, our size should keep us in any games.”

Marlborough will play host to Notre Dame on Jan. 27.