Sports : DOWN AND OUT

The Westside’s top five football teams were all losers in the first round of the high school playoffs.

Culver City, Westchester, St. Monica, Beverly Hills and University lost by a combined score of 178-87.

Venice scored the only victory among area teams, beating Van Nuys, 28-18.

This will be the seventh consecutive season that the Westside has failed to produce a City or Southern Section champion. In 1987, Westchester won the City 2-A playoffs.

Brentwood continues to dominate the eight-man level. The two-time defending champion Eagles (10-0) play Faith Baptist (9-1) in the large division championships at 1 p.m. Saturday.

SYLMAR INVESTIGATION

University’s football season came to an end Friday, but the Warriors almost received a second chance in the aftermath of an investigation into the Sylmar program by the City Section office.

Sylmar, the top-seeded team in the 4-A playoffs, allegedly used an ineligible player in a 46-0 first-round playoff victory over University.

City Commissioner Barbara Fiege investigated the allegations against Sylmar Tuesday, but said the evidence was inconclusive.

“(A reporter) brought allegations to the office stating that a player on the Sylmar football team had transferred from Saugus High in the middle of the season, but did not change residency,” Fiege said. “I went to the house he said he lived at and I went to the old house in Saugus.

“After going through eight hours looking around, I decided the evidence was inconclusive and conflicting.

“In order to declare him ineligible and eliminate the Sylmar team from the playoffs, I would have needed more proof.”

Had Fiege decided to bounce Sylmar from the playoffs, University would have advanced to play Banning in a playoff game on Sunday or Monday.

Instead, Sylmar played host to Banning Wednesday night.

Sylmar, which entered Wednesday’s game with an 11-0 record, is on probation for holding an illegal practice during the preseason.

TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE

Culver City, the area’s top-ranked team, had high hopes entering the season.

“We want nothing short of a championship,” Centaur quarterback Damon Williams said during the preseason. “This is the team to do it. If we don’t do it, it will be another five to 10 years before this school has this many skilled athletes.”

When the clock started ticking on their season, the Centaurs didn’t react until it was too late.

Culver City, seeded No. 1 in the Southern Section Division VII playoffs, sleepwalked through three quarters before succumbing to Santa Maria, 33-29.

The Saints entered with a 1-9 record, the worst of any playoff team.

“Santa Maria came out with nothing to lose and everything to gain,” Centaur Coach Robert Moore said. “Our guys came out too relaxed.”

Trailing 33-14, the Centaurs scored two fourth quarter touchdowns to pull within four. Culver City had the ball on the Santa Maria six-yard line with 56 seconds left, but were penalized for a personal foul after a run by Aki Wilson.

“The referee kind of killed us,” Moore said. “The films clearly show that Wilson was face-masked and there was no call.”

Backup Centaur quarterback Rashad Stroops did not complete a pass in four attempts.

“We really didn’t get focused until the last 13 minutes of the game,” Moore said. “That’s when the true Culver City team woke up. But by then it was too late.”

COMETS’ TALE

Westchester lost its first and last games of the season. But in between, the Comets were unbeaten for nine consecutive games.

Westchester’s season ended with a 14-6 loss to San Pedro in the first round of the City 4-A Division playoffs.

So why did a team that won its third consecutive Coastal Conference title play so poorly in the playoffs again?

“We had very few returning starters from last year’s team,” Westchester Coach Larry Wein said. “We had a few players like Tony Griffin and De Travor Turner who made us seem like a veteran team.”

Turner, a senior defensive end, was the team’s leading defensive player with 66 tackles and 18 sacks through 10 games.

Griffin, a senior tight end and defensive back, caught 24 passes for 659 yards and 12 touchdowns in eight games. He caught a 44-yard scoring pass from quarterback Damion Ward on Friday.

“Tony Griffin is probably one of the most exciting receivers and potential stars since Ken Norton played here,” Wein said, comparing Griffin to the current San Francisco 49ers linebacker.

Despite the quick exit, Wein says he plans to return for his 14th season at Westchester.

“I know a lot of people would like to shoot me, but yes I plan to be back,” he said.

FINAL COUNTDOWN

St. Monica also made a last-minute effort before losing to Yucca Valley, 36-30, in the Division IX playoffs.

Quarterback Steve Pulley threw a long pass to Dwight Carter to give the Mariners a first down at Yucca Valley’s 19-yard line. With no timeouts left and eight seconds remaining in the game, Mariners Coach Norm Lacy wanted Pulley to throw the ball out of bounds to stop the clock.

Pulley, however, thought his coach wanted an out-pattern and completed a seven-yard pass to Carter, who failed to get out of bounds. Time ran out with the Mariners 12 yards away from the end zone.

Still, Lacy was pleased with the Mariners season. St. Monica finished 7-3. Pulley completed 19 of 29 passes for 195 yards and a touchdown.

“I thought the seniors played up to my expectations in regards to statistics and what they did on and off the field,” he said.

IN SEARCH OF

Marco Polo?

Marco Pleas?

When University High standout running back Marco Pleas was counted absent from the Warriors’ 46-0 loss to top-seeded Sylmar in a first round game of the 4-A playoffs, teammates and coaches came up with a host of alibis. But who can you believe?

One teammate said Pleas went to his grandfather’s funeral in Georgia. An assistant coach said Pleas had gone to his brother’s out-of-town wedding.

But the truth remains a mystery.

“All I’m gonna say is that he’s not here,” said Coach Marshall Jones after the Warriors’ loss.

RAGS TO RICHES

Despite losing in the first round of the playoffs, Beverly Hills can take pride in rebounding from a 4-7 record in 1992 and 2-8 mark in 1993.

The Normans finished 6-5 after losing to Covina, 49-22, Friday in the first round of the Division VII playoffs.

Beverly Hills, which averaged 30 points a game, was led by senior quarterback Chris Wallace, junior running back Aaron Kogan and senior wide receiver Mike Hakim. Wallace threw for 2,197 yards and 18 touchdowns. Hakim caught 53 passes for 1,129 yards and 14 touchdowns. Kogan rushed 1,498 yards and 12 touchdowns.

“We had a great group of seniors who helped put our program back on track,” Beverly Hills Coach Carter Paysinger said.

BROKEN STRING

Taft’s reign as two-time 4-A tennis champion came to an end Thursday.

Palisades, seeded second and winners of 15 City titles, reclaimed the crown with a stunning 6-1 victory over the top-seeded Toreadors.

“It was time to bring the trophy back to the Westside,” said Palisades Coach Bud Kling, who has won nine titles in the past 11 years. “Most people thought Taft had the advantage. No one expected us to dominate.”

Julia Feldman, Taft’s No. 1 singles player, extended her three-year unbeaten streak to 47 games. But it was the Toreadors’ only victory.

The biggest surprise came when Palisades sophomore Shana Miller rallied after losing her first set, 6-0, to defeat Ravid Levy, who has not lost a match in singles or doubles team competition. Miller won the next two sets, 6-0, 6-4.

Carolyn Lee also pulled off an upset when she beat Alicia Whelan, 7-5, 6-0. Whelan is a two-time City doubles champion player.

Filling in for Jennie Wilson, sophomore Christin Cho teamed with Alison Fischer to win their doubles match, 6-4, 6-3.

“I think they underestimated us,” Kling said. “We started four freshmen. We’re very young, but we’re deep in talent.”

SPEED RACER

Peter Gilmore of Palisades erased a disappointing 1993 finish and the Palisades girls won their first City cross-country title in 13 years Saturday at Pierce College in Woodland Hills.

Gilmore led from the start to win the three-mile race in 14 minutes, 56 seconds--the fastest winning time since 1983--to lead the Palisades boys’ to second behind Garfield.

Gilmore finished third in last year’s finals after entering the meet with the fastest qualifying time.

“I choked last year,” Gilmore said. “I’m more confident about my training and went in hoping to break 15. If the first mile went out fast I didn’t care about whether I was in the lead or not as long as I got my time.”

Kara Barnard (19:21), Diana Epstein (19:21) and Genevieve Cruise (19:37) of Palisades finished fourth, fifth and seventh, respectively, to lead the Dolphins to the team title.

Elizabeth Bernier of Hamilton finished second in 19:12 to qualify for the state meet. The top two teams and first five individuals advanced to the state meet, which is Saturday in Fresno.

GENTLE REMINDER

The problem that plagued the UCLA men’s soccer team toward the end of the regular season was the inability to score goals.

The Bruins (16-4-0) were shut out in their last three regular-season games, including a 1-0 loss to Fresno State in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championship game.

So how did the forwards for seventh-ranked UCLA manage to score three goals in a 3-2 overtime victory over unranked Alabama Birmingham (15-4-1) Sunday at UCLA in a first-round game of the NCAA tournament?

Before the game, Coach Sigi Schmid showed the Bruins a highlight film of the goals they had scored earlier this season.

The motivational tool worked.

“We’ve obviously had trouble scoring goals over the past few weeks so we were happy to get some goals,” Schmid said. “It was important to get the first win. I think this was the tougher one for us to play.”

The victory was the Bruins’ first playoff win in three years. UCLA will play a second-round game at eighth-ranked Southern Methodist (15-3-1), at 11 a.m. Sunday.