MIDWEEK REPORT : HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS UPDATE : Carlen Changes His Tune and Suit at El Camino Real

By day, he wears a singlet and perspires heavily. By night, he dons a robe and carols eloquently.

Even Nathan Carlen of El Camino Real High admits that wrestling and singing go together like, well, a headlock and Vivaldi’s “Gloria.”

Still, Carlen, one of the City Section’s best wrestlers at 171 pounds and a baritone in the school choir, excels at both. And with harmonious balance.

Which does he prefer?

“That’s difficult to say,” Carlen said. “It’s two different things. One’s physical and aggressive, the other’s kind of artistic.”

Carlen, a senior, wants to pursue a career in teaching.

“Maybe music,” he said. “Maybe wrestling.”

Maybe both.

Coach Terry Fischer, who last season led El Camino Real to its sixth City wrestling championship in the past 10 years, doubles as director of the school’s chorus and choir. Fischer has been a big influence on Carlen, whom he called “a great baritone.”

Fischer wrestled and was a member of the choir at Simi Valley High. And he knows all about age-old stereotypes that singers are sissies and wrestlers are dumb jocks.

“People laugh at you if you tell them you wrestle, they laugh at you if you tell them you’re in the choir,” Fischer said. “And they really hoot if you tell them you do both.”

Carlen, a favorite to win a City title after placing second last season in the Valley League, wouldn’t hear of giving up either endeavor.

“Some people think I’m kind of weird, but they don’t say much,” Carlen said. “A lot of my friends think it’s kind of cool that I do both.”

Marmonte Magic

Fans watching the Camarillo boys’ basketball team dismantle Westlake in the first three quarters last week must have wondered why the Marmonte League is billed as the area’s best.

This is competition?

Westlake Coach Gary Grayson gave his team a tongue lashing at intermission, but after Camarillo scored the first seven points of the third quarter to take a 43-19 lead, he turned to assistant John Zaruka and said, sarcastically, “Nice halftime speech.”

What happened next left Grayson speechless. Westlake rallied, rallied and rallied some more, scored a school-record 38 points in the fourth quarter and won, 71-67.

Westlake’s 6-foot-8 center Jeremiah Nesbitt left the game because of a minor knee injury in the third quarter, and Grayson used four guards and 6-foot-2 forward Brian Gazaui. The smaller lineup pressed Camarillo into 12 turnovers in the fourth quarter.

“Gazaui had no points and he fouled out in about 10 minutes, but he played a great game forcing turnovers,” Grayson said.

Jake Stewart, who missed all four shots he took in the first three quarters, made six for six and added four steals during the comeback. Westlake outscored Camarillo, 21-4, in the last three minutes, including a three-point basket and two free throws on consecutive possessions by Jason Gaines in the last 20 seconds.

Sign Language

The Granada Hills boys’ basketball team doesn’t run a lot of called plays.

Even if the Highlanders did, forward Aaron Hannig couldn’t hear them.

After starting this season on the bench, the 6-3 senior forward, who is deaf, has played a key role in Granada Hills’ climb back to respectability. He scored six points in a victory over Grant last week, the Highlanders’ first after six losses.

“We forget a lot of times that he’s deaf,” Granada Hills Coach Lou Cicciari said. “We’ll use hand signals or somebody will nudge him so he knows what’s going on. He’s used to our system.”

Hannig played the previous two seasons on the junior varsity. He uses an interpreter supplied by the school during timeouts to better understand Cicciari.

“He’s an excellent lip-reader,” Cicciari said. “Maybe we should have him look at the coach in the other huddle. He’d be able to tell what the other team is planning.”

Around the Leagues

City Section

VALLEY PAC-8 CONFERENCE

* Boys’ basketball: Canoga Park is no longer a secret, but the Hunters are playing a fantastic game of cat and mouse. Ranked No. 5 in the area by The Times, the Hunters had a 5-1 start in eight days, including an upset of Chatsworth, then went into hiding. Canoga Park, which hasn’t played since Dec. 8, returns from a 13-day layoff with a matchup today against Washington Union of Fremont in a first-round game of the Fresno Buchanan tournament. Why leave town? To establish themselves as a local power, of course. “We wanted to do something different, go to the big tournaments like the big programs do,” Coach Ralph Turner said. Well, if it walks like a duck. . . . Grant and North Hollywood have seen better days. Grant, 17-8 last season, is 1-6 and shows little signs of improvement. North Hollywood, one of the toughest City schools in the area in the 1990s, is off to a 2-5 start.

* Girls’ basketball: North Hollywood Coach Rich Allen reached another milestone Saturday in the Huskies’ 54-53 victory over Louisville in the Simi Valley tournament. It marked Allen’s 200th victory at North Hollywood. So, what did it mean to him? “It means I’ve been around quite a while,” he said. Allen, who is 200-61 and in his 13th season at North Hollywood, has led the Huskies to appearances in the City title game in 1986, ’87 and ‘92, but has yet to win it. “We’re the Buffalo Bills of girls’ basketball,” he said. . . . Despite his underdog attitude in the off-season, Monroe Coach Bryant Ching may soon change his tune. The Vikings are 2-1 despite Ching’s preseason list of weaknesses: no player with more than two years experience in organized basketball, no player taller than 5-9 in entire program, no returning starters. Asked to list the team’s strengths, Ching responded, “Absolutely none.” The Vikings must be doing it with mirrors. . . . Grant’s 4-0 start is even more impressive than it looks. The Lancers, who have defeated their four opponents by an average of 28 points, have a balanced attack that is producing all over. Poma Stevenson, a senior guard who is averaging 17.8 points, has 15 of the team’s 27 three-point baskets, Bahaneh Maani has 11. Working inside is 6-foot sophomore center Nakeisha Perkins, who is averaging 13.8 points and 14 rebounds. “We’re optimistic,” Coach Steve Brumwell said. “We’ve got good perimeter shooters and this year they’ve got to respect us inside.”

NORTHWEST VALLEY CONFERENCE

* Boys’ basketball: Two members of the Kennedy football team, juniors Waking Bailey and Tommy Gales, are playing prominent roles for the Golden Cougars. Bailey and Gales were teammates at Faith Baptist in the 1993-94 season. . . . Chatsworth point guard Jerome Joseph, trying to carry the load for the Chancellors following the preseason loss of three players, has made just three of 33 three-point attempts in consecutive losses to Canoga Park, Harvard-Westlake and Basic (Nevada). . . . With Birmingham junior center David Redmond out until the beginning of the conference season since returning to the Braves last week after quitting the team, Coach Al Bennett is starting three sophomores and will give freshman Kenny Mason plenty of playing time: “I don’t know how good we are now, but we’ll be better by the end of the season.” The Braves didn’t play last week, giving the youngsters extra practice time. . . . Granada Hills forward Ernest Quinley returned to the lineup after missing two games because of the flu and scored 16 points in a victory over Grant.

* Girls’ basketball: Kennedy defeated Fremont in overtime in the first round of the Van Nuys tournament despite having just three players on the floor at the end of the game. Guard Akana Maruyama scored 11 of Kennedy’s 14 points in the extra period. . . . After a slow-start as a scorer this season, Taft guard Nyoki McKeith scored 27 points against Van Nuys last week. In the second round of the Van Nuys tournament against Chatsworth on Tuesday, McKeith scored 29. . . . The Van Nuys tournament provided a preview of the top teams in the Northwest Valley Conference. Taft defeated North Valley League favorite Chatsworth on Tuesday. “It’s great to get the all the best City teams from this area at once,” Kennedy Coach Donis Bailey said. “We can all see each other play.”

* Wrestling: Heavyweight Jeff Macrea of El Camino Real lost his first bout in 11 decisions in the Quartz Hill tournament, a 1-0 loss to a wrestler from Barstow.

Southern Section

FOOTHILL

* Boys’ basketball: Hart is 5-3, but the Indians are kicking themselves for not being 7-1. They’ve lost two games by a total of three points. Hart lost to Agoura by one and Camarillo by two. . . . Saugus Coach Jeff Hallman didn’t like it when his team lost to Glendale, 55-53, last week. The Centurions trailed most of the game before battling back to tie. After they allowed a layup to lose at the final buzzer, and after the silent bus ride home, the Centurions went into their own gym and practiced. . . . Valencia is 3-4, not bad for a first-year team with three juniors, six sophomores and a freshman. But the Vikings could be even better by staying out of foul trouble. In a semifinal loss to eventual champion Boron in the Mojave tournament last week, Valencia made eight of 12 free throws. Boron made 29 of 43 free-throw attempts. The next night against Mojave, Valencia shot only 11 free throws while Mojave took 22. The Vikings showed their firepower in the first round, routing Bethel Christian, 85-17.

* Girls’ basketball: Canyon might not have the most talented team in the league, but it’s probably in the best condition. Every player who didn’t participate in volleyball or tennis during the fall ran cross-country. “I said, ‘I want you involved in a fall sport,’ ” said Coach Paul Broneer, an assistant on Canyon’s state champion cross-country team. “We started running in the summer.” . . . Hart’s Candice Boller looks to be one of the league’s exciting new players. In one game last week, the 5-11 junior scored 23 points, making nine of 11 shots.

GOLDEN

* Boys’ basketball: This is Palmdale’s penalty for being consistently good: The three-time defending league champion Falcons, who play in a Division II league, will be bumped up to Division I if they make the playoffs. Coach Garry Phelps hopes his team responds to the Southern Section’s challenge. “This will open their eyes and make them realize they have to work harder in practice,” he said.

* Girls’ basketball: On a team already stocked with better-than-average talent, a new standout, Cheree Hicks, emerged last week for Littlerock. Hicks, a 6-1, 200-pound center, had 21 points and 22 rebounds in a 55-40 victory over Montclair Prep. “She’s real physical and it’s hard to keep her off the boards,” Coach Tom Hegre said. The Lobos are having trouble keeping all five starters on the floor at once. Forward Jamie Foster is out because of minor eye surgery and guard Patricia Nuno could miss part of the Saugus tournament, which starts today, because of pulled wisdom teeth.

* Wrestling: Senior Jim Stockdale (135 pounds) and junior Weslee Mattison (145) of Quartz Hill placed first at the Quartz Hill tournament on Saturday. Both have records of 19-2.

PACIFIC

* Boys’ basketball: Crescenta Valley claimed its fifth consecutive tournament championship with a 52-50 victory over Bellflower in the final of the Crescenta Valley tournament. The Falcons have reached the finals of 11 consecutive tournaments dating to 1992 and have won seven. Senior center Mike Greco was selected most valuable player of the tournament after scoring 19 points in the final. Greco, averaging 16.9 points, has rebounded from a serious break of his left arm two years ago. A projected starter as a sophomore, he wound up sitting out the season and played as sixth man as a junior. Senior forward Nathan Sinning is averaging a team-high 22.4 points. . . . Steve Avetyan of Glendale is among the area’s most dangerous players. Avetyan, a senior guard, is averaging 22.5 points and has scored 27, 29 and 34 in his last three games. “He’s very difficult to defend,” Glendale Coach Bob Davidson said.

CHANNEL

* Boys’ basketball: Oxnard is 2-4 after two tournaments, but Coach Henry Lobo believes his team can challenge for a playoff berth. Alan and Jeff Fouchey, 6-4 transfers from Santa Clara, give the Yellowjackets some height to complement Danny Sweeney, a returning all-league shooting guard. Point guard Adrian Carrillo, a senior, is back after sitting out last season to concentrate on baseball. . . . Tournaments the next two weeks should reveal whether Ventura (1-2) will be able to improve on last season’s 5-19 record. Charles Dixon and Donte Lincoln, both 6-6 forwards, give them a strong inside game, and guard Christian Gallagher is averaging 14 points.

* Girls’ basketball: Buena (4-0), the area’s No. 1-ranked team by The Times, is idle for the second week in a row, a fact that distresses Coach Joe Vaughan. The Southern Section limit on the number of games a team can play has kept the Bulldogs from entering more than two tournaments because the eight-team Channel League plays 14 games. Buena will play in the Archbishop Mitty tournament in San Jose next week. . . . Rio Mesa (5-1) beat Santa Clara, 45-29, despite having three starters at less-than-full strength because of illness.

* Wrestling: Ventura, the Southern Section Division I individual and dual-meet champion in 1992, appears to have returned to power after slipping last season. The Cougars, whose string of five consecutive Channel League titles ended last year, have won three tournaments, including Saturday’s Rosemead tournament. The Cougars also defeated Westlake, 68-3, in a dual meet. Three Ventura wrestlers placed first at Rosemead: Bernie Gonzalez (140), Nghiep Dang (145) and Cristobal Gonzalez (172). All three recorded victories in the final against top-seeded opponents. Said Coach Paul Clementi: “We’re like Avis--we try harder.” . . . Rio Mesa’s Jesse Bautista (135), who placed sixth in the state as a sophomore last season, improved to 13-0 but suffered a sprained shoulder and finished 12th in the Rio Mesa tournament. The Spartans will participate in the Sierra Nevada Classic in Reno, Dec. 27-28.

MARMONTE

* Boys’ basketball: Thousand Oaks’ upset of Simi Valley came one week after the Lancers took Harvard-Westlake into double overtime before losing. Thousand Oaks defeated the Pioneers at the varsity, junior varsity and frosh-soph levels. “We’ve had good success against Simi Valley the past five years and it was a great boost for our program to sweep them,” Coach Ed Chevalier said. The varsity victory was made more impressive by the fact that 6-8 center Scott Sheridan was sidelined because of a foot injury. . . . Forward Ryan Nielsen and guard Marques Pena form a potent inside-outside combination for Royal. Pena is averaging 20.9 points and 7.7 assists, and Nielsen is averaging 20.8 points and 10.8 rebounds. . . . O.J. Thomas, Junior Mosones and Bernabe Simon of Channel Islands have 95 steals among them in eight games. Raider forward Andres Garcia had eight three-point baskets against Agoura.

* Girls’ basketball: Thousand Oaks’ victory over Simi Valley was crucial because neither team is expected to lose to any other team in the league. The Lancers and Pioneers meet one more time. Thousand Oaks overcame a 19-9 first-quarter deficit to win, 62-56. “That is what I was most pleased with, the fact we battled back after falling behind,” Lancer Coach Chuck Brown said. The Lancers’ height advantage forced the Pioneers to shoot from outside, where they made only six of 36 shots. . . . Simi Valley’s Tawnee Cooper is averaging 25.7 points and 10.2 rebounds. Teammate Jamie Griffin is averaging 16.7 points.

* Wrestling: Senior Juan Roman of Channel Islands (125) is 13-0, including five pins, after placing first at the Brea-Olinda tournament. Roman, who advanced to last season’s state meet, was selected the tournament’s outstanding wrestler. . . . Ryan Montenes of Royal (130) placed first and was selected outstanding wrestler of the Colton tournament. Teammate Ray Torrez (160) also placed first.

RIO HONDO LEAGUE

* Boys’ basketball: La Canada Coach Tom Hofman recorded his 200th career victory last week in a nonleague game against St. Francis. Hofman, who has guided the Spartans to eight consecutive league championships and a Southern Section 3-A Division title in 1992, has a career record of 203-54 in 10 seasons.

CAMINO REAL

* Girls’ basketball: After a rash of illness and injury, Bell-Jeff will have a full squad suited up for the opening of its own tournament Tuesday. Junior Jaclyn Johnson returns after missing four games because of a strained calf muscle. The 6-1 guard/forward had averaged 23 points and 14 rebounds a game before her injury. Also returning is junior forward Felicia Flores, who has been out for two games because of the flu.

ALPHA

* Boys’ basketball: Kilpatrick has a new coach this season. Vern Kluke, who had coached the frosh-soph team at Newbury Park the past four years, volunteered for the position after stepping away from the Panthers for a year. After his team started 1-3, Kluke sees some potential. Six-foot-4 guard DeWayne Doig is averaging more than 30 points a game and 6-2 power forward Colby Frazier is getting nine rebounds a game. Kluke also has a 6-6 center in Billy Hart and says point guard Robert Shelton is very quick. . . . Matt Thorpe, a 6-2 power forward for Village Christian, rejoined the team last Thursday after missing three weeks because of academic ineligibility. . . . Russ Brumpton of L.A. Baptist set a school record with five three-point baskets in Friday night’s 80-69 victory over Bishop Diego in the second round of the Carpinteria tournament. He broke his own record of four set last season.

* Girls’ basketball: The trio of freshmen playing for Village Christian has been reduced to one after 5-8 forward Jenny Greslie suffered a broken leg and 5-9 center Amy Feola was declared academically ineligible. Shannon Spielbuehler, a 5-8 guard, is the only freshman left until Greslie’s expected return Jan. 8.

HIGH DESERT

* Boys’ basketball: Paraclete is 0-6, but don’t put the Spirits on the endangered list. Coach Allen Adams is purposely scheduling higher-level teams to toughen Paraclete for league play. “We are playing tremendously talented teams, hoping to get better,” said Adams, who said the Spirits usually have only one bad quarter each game. “If we do well in league, I’ll say it paid off. If not, I’d say it was an experiment that didn’t work.”

SANTA FE

* Boys’ basketball: Bell-Jeff hasn’t played since its 76-62 loss to Burbank on Dec. 11, and it has been a much-needed layoff. During that time the Guards have practiced with as few as two players because of illnesses. Tuesday, they had their largest turnout at practice in 10 days when 10 of the 14 players showed up. Coach Eli Essa expects that his roster for the Bell-Jeff tournament, which begins tonight, will not expand beyond 10 players. Backup center Ryan Ortiz was hospitalized last week because of pneumonia. He is not expected to play in the tournament.

Contributing: Dana Haddad, Steve Henson, Vince Kowalick, Michael Lazarus, Paige A. Leech, Peter Yoon.