Cal Lutheran to Face La Verne Shorthanded

Cal Lutheran could be without two starters tonight when the Kingsmen play host to La Verne in a pivotal Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men’s basketball game at 7:30.

Mike Fenton, a 6-foot-6 senior forward-center who is averaging 8.1 points and 5.1 rebounds a game, sprained his left ankle in Saturday night’s game against Caltech and will not play.

Mark Heerema, a 6-2 junior guard, did not play against Caltech after straining his right hamstring against Occidental on Feb. 8, and is questionable to play tonight.

Heerema, who is averaging 11.3 points, scored 29 against Redlands on Feb. 4 and has averaged 15.8 in the past four games.

John Pletsch, a 6-8 senior, will replace Fenton in the lineup. Greg Nagle, a 6-1 sophomore, will start if Heerema cannot play.

“We’re going to look like M.A.S.H. Unit 4077, but we’ll show up,” Cal Lutheran Coach Rich Rider said. “This is a big game for us.”

Cal Lutheran (15-6, 8-2) trails first-place Pomona-Pitzer (15-6, 9-1) by one game in the SCIAC standings. La Verne (15-6, 7-3) is two games behind.

La Verne defeated the Kingsmen, 83-68, earlier this season.

The Master’s College has climbed to 12th in the NAIA Division I men’s basketball poll.

The Mustangs (23-4), who were tied for 14th in last week’s poll, have won 10 games in a row and 16 of 17.

Bell-Jeff guard Tommy Gales has been declared academically ineligible and will miss the Southern Section playoffs, Bell-Jeff Coach Ron Quarterman said.

Gales, a 6-foot-2 transfer from Faith Baptist, was the Guards’ second-leading scorer. She missed the team’s final regular-season game against Murphy on Friday.

Bell-Jeff played Mojave in a Southern Section Division IV-AA wild-card game Tuesday night.

Skiing

Two-time defending champion Ellen Breen of West Hills, unbeaten this season in World Cup events, survived a stumble in the ballet skiing elimination round at the freestyle World Championships at La Clusaz, France.

Breen, who has clinched her third consecutive World Cup ballet title, finished the day in fourth place with a score of 23.55 points. Russia’s Elena Batalova leads with 26.65. The top 10 skiers qualify for Friday’s finals, when the field will start from scratch.

Breen has dominated World Cup ballet skiing for three seasons. Three weeks ago she survived a tiebreaker in eliminations at Lake Placid, N.Y., and came back to win.

She hurried from the finish area after her shaky run Tuesday and was not available for comment.

Football

Charu Turner, a senior wide receiver and outside linebacker for Harvard-Westlake High, has made a commitment to attend Brown.

Turner caught 16 passes for 274 yards and three touchdowns last season. However, he was recruited as a linebacker, he said.

Steve Shafer, a former quarterback and defensive back at Burbank High, was hired as defensive backfield coach by the Raiders.

Shafer, who spent last season as defensive coordinator at San Diego State, has coached at the college and professional level for 27 years.

He coached defensive backs for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1991-93 and for the Rams from 1983-90. Shafer, a quarterback at Utah State, played five seasons with the British Columbia Lions of the Canadian Football League.

Baseball

The Master’s game against Cal Lutheran scheduled for Tuesday at Newhall was postponed because of rain. No makeup date has been set.

Buckley High will hold an alumni game Feb. 25 at 11 a.m.

Information: (818) 382-1934.

* Staff writers Vince Kowalick, Michael Lazarus and John Ortega, and Associated Press contributed to this story.