State Finals Might Splash in Pond in ’97

The state basketball tournament begins its two-week run tonight with news that the finals might be headed back to the Southland.

Margaret Davis, CIF associate commissioner, said she is recommending the tournament finals be played at The Pond of Anaheim in 1997. If her plan is approved, it will mark the first time championship games have been held locally since 1983, when they were played at the Sports Arena.

“I think it is finally time to start alternating the finals between Northern and Southern California,” Davis said. “That is what I’m advising to our council.”

Since the tournament was resurrected in 1981, the finals regularly have been played in Northern California, most frequently at the Oakland Coliseum Arena. But that arena will get a face lift later this year and will not be available next season.

The CIF has reserved Arco Arena in Sacramento for the finals in 1996 and has put a tentative hold on The Pond for ’97.

“I’m negotiating a contract with Anaheim as we speak and hope to finalize it soon,” Davis said.

The finals were not well received at the Sports Arena in 1983, which is why the CIF kept them in the Bay Area, where they have received strong fan support.

Ray Ball, tournament director, also supports Davis’ plan, which bodes well for its passage at an Executive Committee meeting later this month.

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The state tournament begins with the Southern and Northern regionals tonight and concludes with the finals March 17-18 at Oakland.

For the third year in a row, the most anticipated showdown is in boys’ Division I, with top-seeded Santa Ana Mater Dei and second-seeded Crenshaw favored to meet in the final Saturday night at The Pond.

Crenshaw has won their last two meetings and last year’s 71-67 victory was televised live on Channel 9. But Channel 9 did not pick up its option this year and no other local television stations expressed interest in the game.

“The game received favorable ratings last year, but programming schedules are pretty tight,” said Bob Seagren of Marketing and Financial Management, which handles marketing for the CIF.

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The main topic of conversation at a gathering of Southern Section boys’ soccer coaches Sunday was why the overtime period was cut from championship games.

In January, the section’s council voted to eliminate overtime in title games after concluding that the extra period seldom affected the outcome.

“Research showed that games which ended in ties during regulation seldom had a different result after the overtime period,” said Karen Hellyer, the section administrator in charge of soccer.

Three of the section’s nine boys’ and girls’ title games ended in ties over the weekend, the tying teams being declared co-champions.

“All of the coaches at our meeting Sunday agreed that there should be overtime,” said Mike Collins, boys’ coach at Rancho Cucamonga Alta Loma, which tied Irvine Woodbridge, 1-1, in the Division III title game. “It’s not very gratifying to end a game in a tie. It leaves you wondering what you could have done differently.”

Collins said the coaches will propose a change for next season.

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The Huntington Beach Marina girls’ soccer team won its third consecutive Southern Section Division I title Friday, playing part of the game with only 10 players.

Marina Coach Bobby Bruch had his team play the final three minutes of its 2-0 victory over Claremont one player short of a full squad.

“We began the season with only 10 players against El Modena,” Bruch said. “It was to motivate them. And now we have come full circle, and I totally believe in that.”

Marina extended its unbeaten streak to 61 games.

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UCLA has three available men’s basketball scholarships, and Coach Jim Harrick is recruiting several local players.

At the top of the list is Tommy Prince, a 6-5 guard-forward from Compton Dominguez, who scored 18 points in his team’s 77-59 victory over Tustin in the Southern Section Division II-A final Saturday.

Also being recruited by the Bruins are La Puente Nogales guard Shomario Richard and forward Rico Harris of Temple City.

Prep notes

Joe Dominguez, football coach at Wilmington Banning from 1988-91, recently was given back his old job. Dominguez replaces Ed Paculba, who stepped down after three difficult seasons. Dominguez is best known for refusing to allow his team to play at Dorsey in 1991 for fear of gang violence. . . . The Southern Section drew 24,682 fans for six of its boys’ basketball finals last Saturday at The Pond. That’s the second-biggest attendance for the event, behind last year’s 25,739.

Times’ Basketball Polls

The Times’ top 20 high school basketball polls, with teams from the City and Southern Sections.

BOYS

School Sect. Div. Rec. LW 1. Mater Dei SS I-A 32-1 1 2. Dominguez SS II-A 29-2 2 3. Crenshaw City 4-A 24-5 7 4. Inglewood SS II-A 26-4 3 5. Fairfax City 4-A 23-6 5 6. Tustin SS II-A 28-2 4 7. Artesia SS III-AA 26-3 9 8. Pasadena SS II-AA 24-6 15 9. JW North SS II-AA 23-4 6 10. Fremont City 4-A 27-4 10 11. Harvard-Westlake SS III-A 27-2 11 12. Fontana SS I-AA 25-6 16 13. Glendora SS I-A 26-4 13 14. Westchester City 4-A 25-7 12 15. Santa Margarita SS II-A 26-3 14 16. Cres. Valley SS II-AA 25-2 18 17. LB Poly SS I-AA 20-10 NR 18. Nogales SS I-A 26-4 8 19. Dos Pueblos SS III-A 25-3 20 20. Verbum Dei SS IV-A 22-5 NR

*GIRLS

School Sect. Div. Rec. LW 1. Woodbridge SS II-AA 29-1 1 2. Newbury Park SS III-AA 28-1 2 3. Mater Dei SS I-A 25-1 4 4. Brea Olinda SS II-A 28-2 5 5. Buena SS I-A 23-3 3 6. Crenshaw City 4-A 28-0 6 7. Alemany SS II-AA 23-5 9 8. LB Poly SS I-AA 25-4 14 9. Peninsula SS I-AA 25-5 8 10. JW North SS II-AA 26-2 7 11. B. Montgomery SS III-AA 23-5 11 12. Diamond Bar SS I-AA 25-3 10 13. Fountain Valley SS I-A 22-7 13 14. Chino SS I-A 22-5 12 15. Muir SS II-A 24-3 15 16. Marina SS II-AA 21-7 16 17. Simi Valley SS I-AA 24-5 17 18. Hesperia SS I-AA 20-8 18 19. Santa Ynez SS IV-AA 27-1 NR 20. Cerritos SS I-A 21-6 20