Departing Grant Center Gets More Than Handshake

One of the first phone calls made by Grant High basketball Coach Howie Levine shortly after last week’s earthquake was to former player Rick Forscutt.

Forscutt, a 6-8 senior center, played his last game for Grant on Jan. 14--the same day escrow closed on his parents’ home. The Forscutts were set to move to Provo, Utah, the following Monday. Before the sun rose Monday, however, Levine was tempted to flee the shaken area with the Forscutts.

“I called up over there to see if there was any space in the back of the car,” Levine said. “I was ready to go.”

Despite the chaos and horror that engulfed the area hours after the earthquake, the moving vans arrived on schedule at the Forscutts’ house in Van Nuys on Monday morning, and the Forscutts left the state as planned. Levine was left behind to pick up the pieces.

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Levine is certain to miss Forscutt, who was the top rebounder and one of the leading scorers for the Lancers.

Forscutt, who set a school record last season for shooting percentage (68.3%), averaged 10.9 points and eight rebounds in 15 games this season, helping Grant (12-3) rebound from a 9-14 season a year ago.

MID-VALLEY LEAGUE

Sylmar Shakes ‘Em Up

Sylmar Athletic Director Bob Miller should have known something like this would happen.

Miller, who coached the Sylmar basketball team many years ago, should have warned Coach Jose Fernandez that the earth shakes when Sylmar is successful on the basketball court.

“He said the best season he ever had was in 1971,” Fernandez said, “I said, ‘So, how come you didn’t warn me this would happen.’ ”

Sylmar has a 9-7 record and is in first place by one game in the East Valley League. Sylmar was 21-72 over the past five seasons.

“Someone told me when I took this job that the day Sylmar is in first place is the day the earth will end,” Fernandez said.

CAMINO REAL LEAGUE

Dear Dan

So, how do you shoot free throws in the wind? And how do you avoid dribbling through puddles?

Some area basketball teams were forced by the earthquake to practice outdoors. If advice on how to do it is needed, St. Genevieve Coach Dan Donovan is volunteering his services.

Because there is no gym at St. Genevieve, Donovan is an expert on playing against the elements.

“I’ve been (practicing outdoors) for three years,” Donovan said. “They should call me for advice. I feel like I should be a consultant and make some money.”

NORTHWEST VALLEY

In Search of . . . a Gym

What’s a guy to do?

With a majority of the gyms in the San Fernando Valley either damaged or being used as emergency relief centers, finding a place to play basketball is difficult.

For the second consecutive week, all City Section games were postponed, leaving players to find ways to avoid getting rusty. Fact is, there aren’t many options.

El Camino Real swingman Charles Adams, an All-City player who lives in the Valley, said he has been shooting around at Sherman Oaks CES High, a City school that didn’t sustain major damage.

“Sometimes they let me in,” Adams said.

After he received word that this week’s games also had been postponed, Adams said he planned to round up some friends for a pick-up game. Somewhere. . . .

GOLDEN LEAGUE

Rolling in Palmdale

Palmdale is on a roll.

Why? Its players can spell role .

The Falcons entered the week with a 9-0 record in league play and 15-3 overall thanks to each player’s acceptance of performing a specific task.

In a 69-61 victory over Antelope Valley earlier this month, three key contributors were unavailable: Rocque Sandoval was on a football recruiting trip to New Mexico, Maurice Wright was sidelined because of a knee injury and Shad Martin was suffering the effects of food poisoning.

Off-guard Mike Hamelin stepped forward with his biggest night of the season, finishing with 11 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. “Having a bunch of guys who can come off the bench has really helped,” Coach Garry Phelps said. “Depth has been important to us.”

Palmdale defeated second-place Highland, 63-57, Friday night, with four Falcon players scoring between nine and 16 points.

Staff writers Steve Elling, Jeff Fletcher, Mike Lazarus and Paige A. Leech contributed to this notebook.

Basketball Top 10

Rankings of Valley-area high schools by sportswriters of The Times:

Rk LW Team League W-L 1 1 Hart Foothill 18-1 2 3 North Hollywood East Valley 9-5 3 4 Palmdale Golden 16-3 4 5 Harvard-Westlake Mission 16-1 5 2 Reseda North Valley 14-1 6 6 Glendale Pacific 16-5 7 7 St. Francis Del Rey 15-5 8 10 Canyon Foothill 15-5 9 8 Westlake Marmonte 10-4 10 NR Agoura Marmonte 12-5