MIDWEEK REPORT HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS UPDATE : A Stark Contrast at Crunch Time for Montclair Prep Guard

Guard Scott Stark might not be the most prolific scorer but when it comes to last-second shots in a big game he is the player Montclair Prep looks for.

Saturday night against Chadwick, the second-ranked team in Southern Section Division V-AA, Stark’s jump shot with six seconds left broke a 68-68 tie and gave the Mounties, the top-ranked Division V team in the state, the victory.

Stark’s shot, a 15-footer just to the left of the key, came from nearly the same spot where he hit a shot with seven seconds left to defeat San Diego Horizon Christian last year in the Southern California regional final and enable Montclair Prep to advance to the State title game.

“I don’t understand what it is,” Stark said. “Both times I go unnoticed most of the game and all of a sudden I’m the guy that wins the game.”

Stark wasn’t Montclair Prep’s first option in either case. Last year, Stark and Reed Berglund passed the ball back and forth several times before Stark took the shot. Saturday, the Mounties wanted to get the ball to standout forward Anwawn Jones, but he was surrounded by Dolphin defenders, setting up Stark, who took the inbounds pass.

“I figured they were going to double down on Anwawn so somebody was going to be open,” Montclair Prep Coach Howard Abrams said. “Now I know who needs to get the ball.”

Funds and Games

Woodbridge won the game but, as always, the Buena girls’ team also came away a winner Saturday night in its annual “fund-raiser game,” grossing more than $10,000.

The gate of about 1,700 included 950 who paid $10 each for a tri-tip and chicken dinner and a ticket to the nonleague game. The event served as a homecoming for numerous Bulldog players--girls and boys alike--and Coach Joe Vaughan spent about two hours before the game shaking hands and saying, “How’ve you been?”

Vaughan has a record of 498-51 in 21 seasons but is only 5-6 in the fund-raiser games because he invites the best possible competition. Woodbridge began the season ranked No. 1 in the nation by USA Today.

Counsel for the Court

The boys’ basketball teams at Canyon and Valencia, with a combined 5-11 record in Foothill League play, have been given pep talks by special guests within the past week.

Former Canyon football Coach Harry Welch took a cue from Coach Greg Hayes before Friday’s game. At Valencia, former NBA veteran and Western Kentucky standout Jim McDaniels was a guest coach at Valencia earlier this week.

McDaniels, who led the Hilltoppers to the Final Four of the 1971 NCAA tournament before playing in the ABA and NBA, including a stint with the Lakers, is the father of Valencia’s Eskias McDaniels, a 6-foot-1 freshman guard. The elder McDaniels lives in Kentucky.

“The kids were right there with big, bug eyes,” Valencia Coach Gary Spindt said. “Even though [Jim and Eskias] live apart, you can see they are very close. I’m sure [Eskias is] very proud of his father.”

Valencia, a first-year varsity team, is 5-17 and has lost all eight league games.

After Welch’s address on Friday, Canyon routed Burroughs, 87-73.

Dog Days for Huskies

Although the North Hollywood boys’ basketball team was in a four-way tie for first place in the East Valley League heading into Wednesday’s game, the Huskies have fallen on tough times recently and are in jeopardy of missing the playoffs for the first time in Coach Steve Miller’s 11 years.

North Hollywood was sitting in the driver’s seat a week ago with a one-game lead on Grant and Reseda. But last week the Huskies lost two starting guards and promptly went out and lost to Monroe and Reseda.

James Wilson’s father, who coached North Hollywood players during the summer, had a heart attack and died Jan. 27. Wilson, a sophomore point guard who was averaging nearly eight points and four assists a game, has not returned to school since the tragedy. To compound problems, Rashaan Anderson, a senior guard, was dismissed from the team for personal reasons. Neither Wilson nor Anderson is expected to return.

“It’s been just an incredibly tough season,” Miller said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

All things considered, Miller isn’t assuming anything.

“We’re just gonna do the best we can,” he said. “That’s all you can do.”

Making Alpha Waves

Usually, when L.A. Baptist plays Village Christian for the Alpha League championship it involves a football game. The schools have played for at least a share of the league title in football in six of the past eight seasons.

But tonight the Knights and the Crusaders will meet at Village Christian for a share of the league title in basketball.

“Our basketball rivalry goes back three or four years now,” L.A. Baptist Coach Maury Neville said. “Whether it was for first or last place it [was always] a packed house.”

Village Christian has won each of the last three league championships in basketball, but L.A. Baptist, which won the football championship in November, has the advantage this season. The Knights (8-1 in league play) clinched at least a share of the title with an 88-65 victory over Kilpatrick on Tuesday and defeated the second-place Crusaders (7-2) on Jan. 23, 58-52.

Also in the league title hunt is Marshall (6-2), which lost to both the Knights and Crusaders last week to drop into a tie for second with Village Christian.

Assuming Marshall defeats Kilpatrick (2-6), Village Christian can force the first three-way tie for first place in league history and the teams will draw out of a hat for playoff seedings.

If the Knights win, they will retain sole possession of first place while Village Christian drops to third and Marshall remains in second.

“There’s a lot at stake,” Village Christian Coach Brian Gibson said. “It’s like a playoff game for us.”

Kicked When Down

Wednesday, the Golden League stripped the Littlerock boys’ soccer team of its only league victory, a defeat of Highland on Tuesday, because one of the Lobos’ players had violated Southern Section rules by participating in an outside league Jan. 15. Littlerock slips to 0-8-1 in league play, continuing a season of turmoil under second-year coach Roz Matalon.

Matalon had 22 players on the roster at the beginning of the season. At one point, after some members quit and she dismissed others, she was left with 14.

“There were kids with attitudes who didn’t want to be part of what we were doing and I decided not to tolerate it any more,” said Matalon, whose team is 7-13-2 overall. “Part of the problem was we had kids from two different club organizations out there and they wouldn’t work together.”

Matalon said she gave one of her better players the boot after he declined to start the second half of a match because the weather was turning cold.

Fallen Seraphs

The St. Bonaventure boys’ basketball team, which Coach Marc Groff had seen as a strong contender for second place, has fallen far below expectations. The Seraphs have stumbled to a 4-13 record and a 1-6 league mark entering Friday’s finale against Bishop Diego.

Although St. Bonaventure has a roster full of talented athletes, Groff said many of the Seraphs need to be more dedicated to basketball.

“The players have to put in more individual time on their own and the team’s gotta do more summer league tournaments and games,” said Groff, whose teams have been to the playoffs nine times in his 13 years at St. Bonaventure.

He said part of the problem was that eight of his 13 players moved straight from football to basketball season.

Basketball Notes

City Section

VALLEY PAC-8 CONFERENCE

Boys: East Valley League--How’s this for parity? All four teams (Grant, Monroe, North Hollywood and Reseda) were tied for first place at 4-4 heading into Wednesday’s games. And it is entirely possible that after this week’s final league games, the four could be 5-5 and 1-1 in head-to-head competition against one another. If that happens, all four would receive a 4-A Division playoff berth, provided there are enough wild-card slots available. The kicker: Only Monroe has a winning overall record. . . . Reseda senior guard Art Boyamian, who was averaging seven points and nearly two steals a game, was declared academically ineligible for the remainder of the season. . . . Reseda Coach David Enowitz, a former Grant assistant, is 0-3 against Grant Coach Howie Levine, his mentor. He can break the winless streak Friday in a home game against the Lancers. . . . Grant’s Donald Patterson is doing a bang-up job of filling brother Ronald’s shoes. Ronald Patterson, now at Santa Monica City College, led all area City players with 23.6 points a game last season. Donald Patterson is currently seventh among area City players, averaging 19.6 points.

Mid-Valley League--Last week’s Van Nuys-Canoga Park rematch more than lived up to its billing. There were 13 ties and 18 lead changes in the game, which Canoga Park won, 84-78. Van Nuys, which won the first meeting, 79-77, gave the Hunters all they could handle and it wouldn’t bother Canoga Park Coach Ralph Turner if he didn’t have to play the Wolves again this season. “The scary thing is [Van Nuys] is getting better,” Turner said. “They’re gonna cause a lot of problems for a lot of teams.” . . . Van Nuys senior forward Onaje Longmire had counted on a two-game sweep of Canoga Park and was nearly speechless after the Wolves’ loss last week. Longmire, who scored a game-high 26 points and grabbed nine rebounds, said he hopes Van Nuys gets another shot at the Hunters. . . . Sylmar and Poly were eliminated from playoff contention last week, but that didn’t stop Poly’s Eric Owens from playing hard. Owens, who averages 11.7 points, scored 35 points in the Parrots’ first conference victory, 79-66.

Girls: Mid-Valley League--There’s a big difference between first-, second- and third-place teams in this league. Second-place Van Nuys illustrated it best in its two games last week: On Jan. 31, first-place North Hollywood defeated the Wolves easily, 62-38. Two days later, Van Nuys knocked off third-place Monroe by 29 points. . . . North Hollywood has won 35 consecutive conference games through last week, the longest current streak in the City. Crenshaw had its 44-game winning streak snapped by Washington last week. . . . Van Nuys Coach Tony Magnante had hoped that Lynne Berry could return to action by playoff time, but Berry’s broken ankle has not completely healed. Berry was averaging 21.6 points before she was injured in the fifth game of the season. Meanwhile, Gohar Tumanian, a 5-9 senior center, has stepped up her game in Berry’s absence, averaging 18.6 points and 16.5 rebounds.

East Valley League--Reseda’s Lashonda Holland, a 6-5 senior who leads area City players with 21.7 points a game, had 63 points and 21 rebounds last week. . . . Grant clinched the league title last week and now Poly and Reseda are in a two-way tie for the league’s second playoff berth.

NORTHWEST VALLEY CONFERENCE

Boys: West Valley League--There are two reasons why Chatsworth is making a late-season charge for the 4-A playoffs. Chancellor center Eddie Miller has stopped playing on the outside, becoming his dominant self rebounding and scoring inside, but more important, Chatsworth is playing with more intensity on defense, getting contributions from Kevin Bentley, Keith Stevens and Monte McFarland, who was called up from the junior varsity earlier this season. . . . Cleveland guard Derrick McGhee, who suffered a concussion in the closing seconds of last Wednesday’s game against Chatsworth, is fully recovered and played Friday against Taft.

North Valley League--San Fernando might be struggling this season, with only one conference victory, but Coach Mick Cady believes the Tigers will be a team to watch next year. One reason: Two starters, Reggie Kinlaw and Bryson Atkins, are freshmen. . . .Birmingham Coach Al Bennett hoped to have the services of forward Raymond Kizzee, who started at the end of last season but was academically ineligible. But Kizzee will remain ineligible after grades were released this week.

Girls: North Valley League--Chatsworth has rampaged through the first four games of league play, winning by an average of 41 points. Not only are the Chancellors a tough team to defend, with 6-foot post players Tynitra Wilson and Nancy Vincent, guard Jodi Borenstein has scored 50 points in the last three games. Borenstein’s shooting has improved since a 32-point outburst against Taft three weeks ago. “She gained a ton of confidence in that game,” Coach Emad Whitney said.

Southern Section

ALPHA

Boys: Kilpatrick Coach Vern Cluke, who is also the sprint coach for the Newbury Park track team, handed over the Mustang basketball team to assistant coach Burman Deshautelle so he could focus on track. Cluke, a volunteer at Kilpatrick, was in his first season. . . . Kiko Banos, the leading scorer and assist man for Village Christian, is still nursing a tender ankle that he sprained back in December. The 6-2 guard sat out the Crusaders’ 86-54 victory over Vasquez last Friday and played sparingly in Tuesday’s 56-41 victory over Maranatha so he would be ready for tonight’s league- championship showdown with L.A. Baptist.

Girls: L.A. Baptist Coach Mary Christiansen is looking into the possibility of a one-game playoff for the league’s third and final playoff berth because it appears likely the Knights will finish the season tied for third with Maranatha. Such a playoff would require the coaches’ mutual consent. Other options include a coin flip. . . . Village Christian Coach John Domke, in an effort to bolster the competition for his team as it heads toward the Division IV playoffs, will play Division II Hart on Saturday night. The Crusaders have won 37 consecutive Alpha League games and have won every league game this season by 23 points or more. Hart defeated the Crusaders, 44-37, in the Thousand Oaks tournament earlier this season.

CAMINO REAL

Girls: Bell-Jeff has won four consecutive games by an average margin of 44 points. This streak comes on the heels of a three-game losing streak in which Guard Coach Jim Couch said his team “went into an emotional slump.”

CHANNEL

Boys: Buena star center Ceneka Shaw was benched Friday against Hueneme because he arrived late for the game. He was replaced by sophomore Ian Boys, who made the most of the opportunity. Boys (6-5) had 19 points, 17 rebounds and four blocked shots to lead the Bulldogs to their 10th league victory against two losses. . . . Ventura and Oxnard, 8-4 and tied for third in league play, are assured of playoff berths along with Buena and front-running Santa Barbara. . . . George Jones, Hueneme’s leading scorer with a 20.4 average, has quit the team but returned to school Wednesday after contemplating dropping out. Jones was Hueneme’s starting quarterback for four years and will be a member of a relay team this spring that could contend for a state title.

Girls: Forty-three of Buena Coach Joe Vaughan’s players have gone on to the college ranks. Ten current Buena players have grade-point averages of 3.5 or better. . . . Buena’s Eboni Conley is not the only high-profile player sidelined with a knee injury. Nicole Black, Oxnard’s talented junior forward, is out indefinitely. Results of an MRI will be available this week.

FOOTHILL

Boys: Burroughs gets the league’s “close-but-no-cigar” award. Three of the team’s five league losses have come by three points or less. . . . Center Don Allado had only two points in Burbank’s 65-32 rout of Canyon last week, but it was a dream play. Allado blocked a shot, grabbed the loose ball and dribbled down the floor for a slam dunk.

Girls: Another week, another heart-breaking injury for Burroughs. Sophomore center Teroya Roberson suffered a severe ankle sprain last week against Canyon that will leave her in a cast for nearly three weeks. Technically, the 6-3 Roberson, who averages 7.5 points, 10 rebounds and has 57 blocked shots, is out for the season. Burroughs, which expected to challenge for the league title, has not played with a healthy lineup all season. . . . Canyon finally had a breakthrough as it upset second-place Saugus, 58-48. Coach Paul Broneer, who worked his team hard in the off-season, expected better than a 10-15 record, 4-5 in league play. “The last four or five minutes [in close games], we played not to lose instead of win,” Broneer said. With 10 victories, the Cowboys could make the playoffs.

FRONTIER

Boys: Santa Paula’s young team has exasperated Coach Tom Donahue at times, but the Cardinals appear headed to the playoffs for the sixth time in Donahue’s six-year tenure. The team has had to rely on point guard Josh Jimenez and shooting guards Willie Zavala and Anthony Hernandez to make up for a lack of inside height and the results have been unpredictable. “We’ve taken some ill-advised shots and shot ourselves out of some games but we live and die that way,” said Donahue, whose team is earmarked for third place. In Donahue’s first five seasons, the Cardinals have hosted a first-round playoff game. This season it appears they will play on the road.

Girls: Moorpark continues to roll, improving to 21-0 with a victory Tuesday over Santa Clara that clinched the program’s first league title. As recently as the 1993-94 season, the Musketeers had a losing record and their 4-16 mark that season was the best in the program’s history.

GOLDEN

Boys: UCLA-bound running back Jermaine Lewis has been a fixture at Antelope Valley games this season. He is more than a basketball fan. Lewis is a former teammate of many of the players on the Valley’s No. 4-ranked team, because he played for the Antelopes last year. “That’s what this team reminds me of--UCLA,” Lewis said. In fact Lewis, a teacher’s aide for Coach Tom Mahan, took Mahan to UCLA’s basketball game last week against Oregon. . . . His sport is basketball, but Highland Coach Tim Knight said his greatest coaching influence was provided by former Notre Dame football Coach Ara Parseghian. Knight, 52, whose neckties feature the “ND” insignia, served as manager for an Irish football team that included NFL Hall of Famer Alan Page and Mike Wadsworth, current Notre Dame athletic director.

Girls: At week’s start, Highland was without a league victory. Now the Bulldogs are without standout freshman center Tiffany Winkfield. Winkfield, 6-3, landed awkwardly while making a rebound last week against Quartz Hill and injured a knee. Freshman guard Mae Vidaure, who had 14 points, six rebounds and eight steals, was the only bright spot in a 64-36 loss.

HIGH DESERT

Boys: Paraclete is getting better while sophomore center Josh Foster is blossoming. The Spirits are 7-2 in league play and headed for a championship game against Rosamond on Friday. Foster, since the start of league play, has increased his scoring and rebounding averages from eight and seven to 11 and 10.

MARMONTE

Boys: The end of the Agoura-Thousand Oaks game Friday left many puzzled and others angry. Thousand Oaks led for 31 minutes 59 seconds before Agoura’s Jon Barry tipped in a missed shot by Josh Portnoy to give the Chargers an 83-82 victory. Thousand Oaks fans believe their team led for the full 32 minutes. The officials did not award the final basket until they discussed it for several minutes. The outcome spoiled a tremendous effort by Lancer guard Mike Lauer, who scored 29 points. Portnoy had 25 points for Agoura, his career high.

Girls: Simi Valley guard Jamie Griffin has set a school record with 351 steals, breaking the mark of 341 set by Jeanette Zimmer from 1981-84. Pioneer center Kayla Hughes has recovered from pneumonia that sidelined her last week. Tawnee Cooper ranks sixth in the state with a 26.6 scoring average. . . . Newbury Park guard Amy Berman has made a commitment to attend Nicholls State, a Division I school in Louisiana, for softball. Berman is a shortstop.

MISSION

Boys: Four consecutive victories have given Alemany (7-4) sole possession of second place entering Friday’s regular-season finale against Loyola. A big reason for the Indians’ late-season surge is guard Adrian Pantoja, who has averaged 16.2 points over the past six games. Another is Father Robert Milbauer, the school’s principal. “He’s attended our last two games,” Coach Rob Webb said. “Father Milbauer is our lucky charm.” . . . Crespi lost its second point guard of the season when freshman Kevin Howard was declard academically ineligible last week. Conor O’Neal quit the team last month. . . . Brett Henry of Notre Dame has made 62 of 158 three-point shots (39.2%). However, it’s been a long season for the Knights, who have lost three league games by a combined 10 points.

Girls: Alemany guard Kelli Kobayashi was attending a family funeral in Hawaii and did not play in Tuesday’s 65-38 victory over Louisville. Kobayashi (11.7 points) is second to teammate Carly Funicello in scoring and averages a team-high 6.1 assists. . . . Sophomore guard Kari Crawley of Louisville has made 33 of 66 three-point shots and has made 27 of 31 free throws the past four games.

PACIFIC

Girls: Neither Amirah Leonard’s personal-high 44 points nor her 10 three-point baskets in Crescenta Valley’s 79-71 victory over Muir on Tuesday were school records. Sarah Hagman, now at Cal State Northridge, scored 48 points and made 14 three-pointers in a game in 1994. The Falcons’ 13 three-pointers against Muir did establish a Southern Section single-season record of 175. Crescenta Valley held the previous record with 167 in 1994 and had 166 last season. Leonard’s four-year total of 201 three-pointers is a school record. Hagman made 151.

TRI-VALLEY

Boys: Oak Park, which has won 23 consecutive league games and the last three league titles, met its match last Friday when it played a team of alumni and lost by 10 points. “They were all guys from the last three years and their starting lineup averaged about [6 feet 3] and 200 pounds,” varsity coach Rob Hall said. “They couldn’t shoot because they haven’t been playing much but they got every rebound.”

Girls: Fillmore thumped St. Bonaventure last Thursday and claimed its second consecutive league title. With a victory over Oak Park tonight, the Flashes would move to 21-3 and break the school record of 20 victories, set by the 1994-95 team.

WESTSIDE

Girls: Montclair Prep Coach Bob Webb missed Tuesday’s loss to Faith Baptist because of the death of his father. Webb missed several games last month while in Philadelphia tending to his father.

Soccer Notes

City Section

Boys: Kennedy forfeited six victories and kissed its playoff hopes goodbye a year ago because one of the Golden Cougars had illegally participated in an outside league during the high school season. Last week the team had to forfeit a victory over Taft from earlier this season because the same player had played in the same outside league on Dec. 31. “I tried to give him another chance and I got burned again.” said Coach Fred Singer, whose team upended Birmingham on Tuesday to dramatically improve its playoff hopes. “I won’t be a monitor for these kids, I don’t have the time.”

Southern Section

Boys: Channel League--With a defeat of Dos Pueblos on Tuesday, Rio Mesa set a school record for victories in a season with 13, surpassing last season’s mark of 12. In the program’s 18 seasons, those aforementioned campaigns are the only ones in which the team has had a winning record. The Spartans play at Santa Barbara today. A victory assures them of third place and the league’s final automatic Southern Section Division II playoff berth. A loss knocks them to fourth, where they finished last season and earned an at-large bid. Junior striker Jaime Ambriz has 26 goals and has scored in 16 of 17 matches in which he has played.

Foothill League--Before Tuesday, Saugus had last won a league title in 1981, when it was a member of the Golden League. The Centurions (19-2-2) finished second to Burroughs the past three seasons and are ranked fourth in the Division II coaches’ poll. . . . Burroughs set a school record for shots last Tuesday, outshooting Hart, 39-10, and losing, 3-2. Should the Indians not make the playoffs it would end their four-year string of postseason play. . . . Burbank, headed for second place, can credit Santiago Giangrasso for its postseason berth. Last week the senior striker scored to beat Canyon, 1-0, then scored twice, including the winning goal as the Bulldogs upset Saugus, 3-1, and temporarily keeping the league title out of the Centurions’ hands.

Marmonte League--Royal, Westlake and Simi Valley are ranked third, fifth and eighth respectively in the latest Division I coaches’ poll. Royal senior goalkeeper Brian Pineau, a starter before breaking bones in his face during a holiday tournament match, returned to the Highlander goal late in a 5-0 whitewash of Channel Islands last Friday. Pineau had returned to practice with the team during the week and one of the first drills Royal Coach Kevin Corley put him in was one-on-one breakaways. “He shied away from the first one or two but that’s to be expected,” Corley said. “It takes a little while to get over the fear of getting hit again.” The Highlanders and Westlake appear headed for a down-to-the-wire finish but Royal owns a tie-breaking advantage after beating and tying the Warriors.

Mission League--It’s impossible to accuse St. Francis of ducking the competition this season. The Golden Knights have lost to Peninsula and beaten Esperanza and Mater Dei. All have been top 10 teams in the Division I coaches’ poll. St. Francis has also beaten Division II powers Diamond Bar and St. John Bosco and is ranked third in the latest Division III coaches’ poll.

Pacific League--The roof has caved in on Glendale, which was undefeated and tied with Arcadia for the league lead after one round of play. Last week the Dynamiters lost to Arcadia, 5-0, and allowed Crescenta Valley to score on its only two shots to pull out a 2-1 victory. “We just gave up a league title,” said Coach Loi Phan, whose team had allowed only three goals in league play before the losses. “One week we’re thinking of being undefeated and the next week we’re hoping to make the playoffs.” Add Glendale: The Dynamiters outshot Muir, 18-2, Tuesday and tied, 0-0. Goalie Joseph Agaverdyan did not have to make a save.

Tri-Valley League--Oak Park, whose players have thrived under the demands of second-year Coach Zoran Lomic, are ranked fifth in the latest Division V coaches’ poll and are 17-1-2, 10-1-1 in league play. Players agreed not to leave the area during the holidays and practiced twice a day from Dec. 18-29 with the exception of Christmas.

Girls: Channel League--Buena has wrapped up its third consecutive league title and tonight faces Ventura, which is locked into third place and the league’s final automatic Southern Section Division II playoff berth.

Foothill League--Oliver Germond is building a dynasty at Hart, which has now won three consecutive league titles and will have 15 returning letter-winners next season. Holly Bell, Rebecca Colt, Laura Qualls, Carly Shafer and Lisa Tobin have played on all three of the title-winning teams.

Golden League--Quartz Hill, ranked 10th in the latest Division III coaches’ poll, has wrapped up its second consecutive league title and is 9-0 in league play entering today’s finale at Palmdale.

Mission League--Harvard-Westlake clinched its first league title in four seasons of membership with a victory Tuesday over Louisville. The Wolverines (19-3-1, 8-0-1) are now ranked first in the division’s latest coaches’ poll.

Tri-Valley League--La Reina tied St. Bonaventure on Monday for the second time this season--and fell out of first-place in the league for the first time in six years. The victory meant the league title is now the Seraphs’ to lose. La Reina did extend its string of consecutive league matches without at loss to 52. “Wouldn’t it be ironic if no one beats us and we don’t win the league?” La Reina Coach Joe Laraneta said.

Wrestling Notes

City Section

Monroe’s Alfonso Brizuela (145 pounds) is 27-2 with 13 pins entering the final day of dual-meet competition today against Canoga Park. Brizuela, who has left the team twice this season because of family matters, has placed first at the Granada Hills, Highland, San Fernando and Harvard-Westlake tournaments. Brizuela is a defending City champion. Monroe will host the City dual-meet finals Feb. 15 but the Vikings will not be involved.

Southern Section

Twins Rick (125) and Ron Peterson (119) Peterson of Camarillo placed first in the Marmonte League finals last season to claim their second league championships. Both were champions as sophomores. Wayne Hatch (140) also placed first for Camarillo, which tied Newbury Park for the team title. . . . Juan Roman of Channel Islands defeated Mike Greding of Thousand Oaks, 23-7, in the 112-pound final to capture his third consecutive league championship. Roman (35-2), who advanced to the State meet last season, has a record of 40-0 in league bouts. . . . Pairings for Saturday’s Southern Section dual-meet finals are to be released today at 4.

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