SIDELINES : For St. Genevieve’s Donovan, ‘Pickup Game’ Has New Meaning

The search for an available gym has forced the St. Genevieve High boys’ basketball team to hold 5:30 a.m. practices a couple of times a week.

Not a big deal for Coach Dan Donovan and his crew--with one exception.

One of his players, Emilio Gonzales, can’t get a ride to the Panorama City area at 5:30 a.m., so Donovan interrupts his commute from Newhall to pick up Gonzalez . . . in Quartz Hill, 30 miles north of Donovan’s abode.

“The only part that gets me is I’m on the road for an hour and I’m right back where I started,” Donovan said. “But it’s what we’ve got to do to find time.”

To reach practice in the morning, Donovan leaves his home at 4 a.m.

Same time next year: Next year’s opponents can’t be too happy that Antelope Valley High’s football team, which won the Southern Section Division II championship, loses only 14 seniors from its 39-man roster.

Seven of the team’s 10 All-Golden League selections are juniors or underclassmen. The offensive backfield of quarterback Trymon Redick, fullback Justin Reinier and running back Jermaine Lewis are juniors. Lewis was the league player of the year.

Where’s the Zamboni: After one boys’ basketball game in the new bubble-top gym at Alemany High, the facility has at least one detractor.

Westlake Coach Gary Grayson, whose team beat the Indians, 64-45, in the makeshift gym Saturday night, said it was so cold his players had to wear sweat pants during the game.

“It was like the Great Alaskan Shootout,” Grayson said. “It was like a football game. I tried to do my best (former Minnesota Vikings Coach) Bud Grant imitation. . . . Our kids didn’t want to come out of the game because they had to sit on the cold benches.”

Pound for pound: At 5 foot 1, 90 pounds, Edniesha Curry is barely a blip in the team picture, but the Palmdale High girls’ basketball player made an impressive splash last weekend at the Jasper Place tournament in Edmonton, Canada. The sophomore averaged only seven points a game in the tournament, but was named the event’s most valuable player.

“They play a very fast international-style game,” said Coach George Corisis, whose team won the tournament championship. “Their presses up there are unbelievably tenacious and Edniesha broke all of them and handled everything they threw at her.”

Stats

Some statistics from El Camino Real’s crazy, 109-104 triple-overtime victory over Van Nuys on Monday:

-- El Camino Real’s Jermel Jones scored 19 of his 35 points in overtime.

-- El Camino Real made 26 of 55 free throws.

-- Van Nuys’ Onaje Longmire scored 27 points and grabbed 21 rebounds.

-- Van Nuys junior Jon Okui scored 33 points off the bench, including seven three-point baskets.

-- El Camino Real’s bench did not score a point.

No favorites: Only one of the eight Marmonte League boys’ basketball teams has a losing record as the teams open league play today. The best are Simi Valley (4-0), Royal (6-1) and surprising Channel Islands (5-1). Newbury Park (2-3) is the only team with a losing record. Overall, the league is 28-14.

Streakers: Highland High, under first-year Coach Tim Knight, won seven of its first eight games, including a victory over Muir. The Bulldogs have two 20-point scorers in junior forward John Burrell (averaging 21.4 points) and senior swingman Jamal Dedeaux (20.3). Feeding them the ball are Carl Biel (7.3 assists per game) and Jason Carr (6.0 apg), who is used to passing--he is the Highland football team’s quarterback.

Honors

Senior John Garcia is believed to be the first Notre Dame High student to have played on Southern Section championship teams in two major sports.

Garcia was a running back on the Knights’ football team, which won the Division III title Friday. As a sophomore, he was a guard on the school’s basketball team, which won the III-A championship.

Things to Do

About 200 wrestlers will converge at Rio Mesa High on Friday and Saturday in the fourth Rio Mesa 12-Way meet.

The competition figures to be keen, with wrestling powers from Nevada, Hawaii, Idaho, Washington and California scheduled to participate.

Wooster High in Reno is the defending Nevada state champion and is ranked 13th in the nation by Scholastic Wrestling News. Iolani High of Honolulu is defending Hawaii state champion. Blackfoot High from Blackfoot, Ida., placed eighth in the state last season. Kennewick High from Kennewick, Wash., also is a perennial power.

Also entered is Arago High from San Mateo. Area teams scheduled to compete include Rio Mesa and Thousand Oaks.

Registrar

The L.A. Recreation and Parks Department is staging a basketball coaches’ clinic Saturday at Balboa Recreation Center. Former UNLV Coach Jerry Tarkanian is the guest speaker. Long Beach State Coach Seth Greenberg and Pepperdine Coach Tony Fuller also are scheduled to attend.

The clinic runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Information: 818-343-5946.

Compiled by Steve Elling. Contributing: Kennedy Cosgrove, Dave Desmond, Steve Elling, Jeff Fletcher, Vince Kowalick, Michael Lazarus and Bryan Rodgers.