Short Home Court Cramps Verdugo Hills’ Style on the Road

The Verdugo Hills boys’ basketball team is winless in Northern Conference road games this season. Coach Scott Kemple thinks the reason might lie in the eccentricities of its home gym.

Due to space limitations, the Dons’ court is 84 feet long instead of the regulation 94 feet, and only two feet separate the baseline from the wall, making inbounds plays difficult.

To combat the effects, Kemple takes his team to a nearby junior high school to practice on a regulation court the day before a road game.

“They’ve got wood backboards at the junior high but it still helps us adjust,” Kemple said. The Dons need all the help they can get. Verdugo Hills’ last four games are on the road, and with a 4-6 league record, the Dons are two games behind fourth-place Marshall. The top four teams will advance to the City Section 3-A Division playoffs.

Building blocks: George Keiaho rushed for 2,248 yards at Buena High in 1993, helping him earn a scholarship to Washington. Only now is it clear how he really did it.

Ventura College tight end Jason Bendinelli said Monday he will sign with UCLA. Buena tackle John Raymond committed two weeks ago to Arizona State, joining former Buena guard Brian Williams, who was a freshman for the Sun Devils this fall.

The relationship?

Bendinelli, Raymond and Williams played side by side by side for Buena in 1993, blocking for Keiaho.

“No wonder Keiaho got so many yards,” Buena Coach Rick Scott said.

One-sided reunion: Ann Wilson and Mary Gainey Hauser both played basketball at Fresno State. But after Wilson’s senior season in 1986-87, their paths didn’t cross again until last season.

Wilson, an assistant coach for the Buena girls’ team, and Hauser, the head coach at Mater Dei, met when their teams played for the Southern Section Division I championship.

“It was a neat situation,” Wilson said. “Seeing her and considering the importance of the game, it was very special.”

Buena put together a tidy 50-41 victory for its third section title.

Perhaps almost as satisfying for Buena was a 55-48 victory Saturday over Hauser’s Monarchs, rated No. 1 in the state at the time. The Bulldogs were rated second in the Southern Section Division I poll behind Mater Dei.

In this week’s Cal-Hi Sports state poll, Buena jumped from ninth to fourth in the state, one position ahead of the Monarchs.

Knuckling under: Three starters on the Thousand Oaks High basketball team--Jeremiah Nesbitt, Greg Winslow and Jeff Nowak--are playing with broken fingers or knuckles.

Mike Martin and Mike Lauer are the only starters who have avoided hand injuries.

“This has been the most oft-injured team I’ve ever had,” said Lancer Coach Ed Chevalier, in his 16th season.

Honors

Calabasas High will dedicate its baseball field on March 4, honoring former player Sam Rutherford, who died last week in Goleta.

Rutherford, an All-Frontier League designated hitter last season, died of heart-related problems Jan. 23. He was a student at UC Santa Barbara.

The dedication of Sam Rutherford Field will take place prior to the Coyotes’ Westside tournament game against Notre Dame, and Calabasas players will wear a black patch bearing Rutherford’s No. 22 on their uniforms throughout the season, Coach Scott Drootin said.

Quotebook

North Hollywood girls’ basketball Coach Rich Allen, after learning of Burroughs’ Jamie Vahoviak returning to play only 18 days after giving birth on Dec. 27: “We played Burroughs on Dec. 30. I thought it was going to be like Willis Reed coming back for the Knicks. Knowing how competitive she is, I was scared of her coming back against us, after only three days off.”

Northridge center Peter Micelli, after the Matadors lost to Division II Grand Canyon University, 88-82, on Monday: “We’ve got to play harder. There’s nothing else. No secret Xs and Os. No coaching motivational speech. No excuses about facilities. . . . We’ve just got to play harder. Hard work pays off. That’s the oldest rule. I think they founded this country on that.”

Stats

Grand Canyon’s victory over Northridge was the Matadors’ first loss to a Division II school in men’s basketball since Feb. 16, 1994, when Cal State Los Angeles defeated them, 76-74.

In its last two games, Northridge has 20 more field-goal attempts than its opponents, but has made 21 fewer. The Matadors were 54 of 146 (37%) and their opponents were 75 of 126 (59.5%).

David Gustafson broke the Village Christian boys’ basketball career scoring record in last week’s victory over Alpha League rival L.A. Baptist.

Gustafson has 1,147 points, breaking the record of 1,123 set by Dave Fennell, who graduated in 1993.

Gustafson also broke Fennell’s career steals record (175) earlier this season. Gustafson has 196 steals.

The Simi Valley High boys’ basketball team is 8-1 in games decided by four points or less.

Things to Do

Pomona-Pitzer and host Cal Lutheran, tied with La Verne for first place in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, will play each other in men’s basketball at 7:30 tonight.

Compiled by Irene Garcia. Contributing: Dave Desmond, Mike Hiserman, Michael Lazarus, John Ortega.