Sports
REVOLVING DOOR
The merry-go-round for football coaches at Playa del Rey St. Bernard took another spin Monday.
Bob Yarnall, the school’s longtime baseball coach who became football coach on an interim basis, resigned Monday. Yarnall served as co-coach with Tom Burgess after Mike Noonan resigned three days before the start of the season. Burgess also has decided not to return. The pair led the Vikings to a 5-5 record.
“I’m not going to be back,” Yarnall said. “I enjoyed it, but I’m going to stick to baseball. To me, football is just a brute-strength sport. Baseball is more of a finesse game. Besides, I have more knowledge of baseball than football.”
The Vikings will be looking for their fourth coach in four years. Tom Strickland resigned one month before the start of the 1993 season and was replaced by Noonan. Yarnall said 15 people have applied for the position, including defensive coordinator James Swain and offensive coordinator Kevin Crawley. Crawley is a former head coach at Gardena Serra.
A new coach is expected to be announced before Christmas vacation.
FINAL FOUR
After two dramatic comeback victories, UCLA has qualified for the NCAA semifinals in soccer and will play top-ranked Indiana on Friday at University of Davidson in North Carolina.
The Bruins (18-4) came back from a one-goal deficit to beat Charleston, 3-2, Sunday in the quarterfinals. UCLA led, 1-0, early in the second half, but Charleston scored two quick goals after goalkeeper Chris Snitko and fullback Frankie Hejduk received red cards and were ejected from the game. Snitko and Hejduk must sit out the semifinal game.
Despite playing with only nine men, the Bruins came back when midfielder Eddie Lewis headed an Ante Razov free kick in the net at 80:51. Greg Vanney scored the game-winner nine minutes later. Vanney also scored the winning goal in a dramatic 4-2 victory over Southern Methodist on Nov. 27.
UCLA Coach Sigi Schmid is one win away from his 250th career victory.
SHIRTS AND SKINS
Westchester will play host to Inglewood on Friday at 7 p.m. in one of the biggest high school boys’ basketball games of the year.
The game pits Inglewood forward Paul Pierce against the Comets’ talented guards Danny Walker and Ben Sanders.
Weschester Coach Ed Azzam complains his team “has nothing to wear” for the big event.
Honest.
“We don’t have any (home) uniforms,” Azzam said. “We ordered uniforms from a new sporting goods store, but the shipment has not arrived yet. The way they talk, I don’t expect to get them before the end of the season.”
Last week, Westchester wore its away uniforms in the Comets’ 67-56 season-opening victory over Washington at Washington. The Comets have not played since then.
To say Azzam is upset would be an understatement.
“There are probably another 20 schools in the same boat,” he said.
In their season opener, Sanders scored 17 of his 23 game-high points in the second half. Tarik Bragg, who had 12 points, and Jarvis Young, who had 11, were the only other Comets in double figures.
KEEPING QUIET
The way Jeff Porter tells it, the Brentwood girls’ volleyball team didn’t really need his coaching to win its second consecutive State Division V championship. But don’t believe it.
“This was the first team I have ever had that did not need a whole lot of coaching,” said Porter, who is in his 18th season as Eagles coach. “We had talent, we had experience and a real good knowledge of strategies.”
Granted, the Eagles had some outstanding players. Sarah Neal has great touch for a setter. Kelly Gentile is one of the Westside’s most powerful hitters. Erin Hawkins, Katherine Kuchenbecker and Karin Friederic also are talented, well-disciplined hitters.
Neal and Gentile were selected co-players of the year in Southern Section Division V. Hawkins also was named to the first team, while Kuchenbecker was picked to the second team.
Their talent was evident in a decisive 15-8, 15-5, 16-14 victory over Oakland College Prep in the state final Saturday at Cal State Fullerton.
But it took coaching for the Eagles to accumulate an impressive two-year mark of 49-2. They have won 13 Delphic League titles, including seven in a row under Porter.
The Eagles may have had the athletic ability to win, but it was Porter who inspired the team to play their best.
REBUILDING?
Take away St. Bernard’s twin towers and the Vikings will become an average girls’ basketball team.
Wishful thinking.
The Vikings still have a winning program despite 6-3 forward Olympia Scott and 6-4 Marte Alexander taking their games to Stanford and Arizona, respectively.
They may be smaller, but not considerably weaker.
St. Bernard beat Banning, 58-45, Saturday in the final of the South Torrance Tournament, completing a 4-0 tournament. The Vikings beat highly regarded Carson, 62-39, Friday in the semifinals.
“We’re better than people think,” said St. Bernard Coach Lori Pawinski, who has guided the Vikings to two consecutive State Division IV titles. “We’re a lot faster and we shoot well from the perimeter.”
The Vikings were led in the South Torrance Tournament by returning point guard Tracie Oaks, who averaged 20 points and seven assists in the four games. Small forward Nicole Monette averaged 15 points and three three-pointers a game.
“We may be young, but we can play,” Pawinski said.
TOURNAMENT TIME
Fresh from an encouraging fourth-place finish in the Las Vegas Invitational, West Los Angeles College’s basketball team will play tournament host Cuesta College in the Mid-State Classic in San Luis Obispo.
Last week, the Oilers (2-5) lost to the Cal Lutheran junior varsity before playing three games in Las Vegas.
“It’s tough for us to play four straight games, especially since we were not at full strength,” West L.A. Coach Charlie Sands said. “We could have won every game. We’re just so small and it affects our rebounding, especially on offense. It was quite a challenge.”
Rod Tennell, West L.A.’s returning all-Western State Conference player, had 56 points and 28 rebounds during the four games. He was selected to the all-tournament team.
NOTABLE
* St. Monica linebacker Mike Bailey led the entire Southern Section with 191 total tackles according to a Southern Section press release. Bailey had 40 more tackles than Nordhoff’s Russell Farrar, son of Nordhoff Coach Cliff Farrar. St. Monica quarterback Steve Pulley was ninth in the Southern Section passing yardage and St. Monica’s Dwight Carter ranked 14th in receiving with 49 catches.
* In water polo, Tim Lahey of Santa Monica was selected to the Southern Section Division III first team, and teammate D.J. Davis was named to the third team. Josh Watts of Malibu was selected to the Division IV third team, becoming the first All-Southern Section pick from the new school.
* In girls’ volleyball, Lauren Armistead of Marymount, and Kim Adams of Notre Dame Academy were named to the Division II first team. Lisa Sweeney of Notre Dame Academy and Amanda Wells of Marlborough were second-team choices.
Jessica Papell of Windward was named volleyball player of the year and Gale Holmes of Windward was selected coach of the year in Division VI. Kearney Visser of Windward also made the first team, while teammate Julie Speyer was selected to the second team.