MIDWEEK REPORT / HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS UPDATE : Flipped-Out Enowitz Seeks New System

Are coin flips the best way to break ties and determine which teams play in the postseason?

Reseda Coach David Enowitz doesn’t think so. His boys’ basketball team lost such a flip Saturday at the City Section seeding meeting.

The Regents were 5-5 in the Valley Pac-8 Conference, good enough for a second-place tie with North Hollywood. The teams were both 3-3 in East Valley League play and they split two games in head-to-head competition.

North Hollywood (8-16), which has made the playoffs for 11 consecutive seasons, won the flip. The Huskies are seeded 15th in the 4-A Division. Reseda (9-14) was left out.

“I was disappointed over the weekend and got over it,” Enowitz said. “Then I got [to school] Monday and saw how disappointed the kids were. And they should be.

“To decide by a flip of a coin in some office is just not right.”

Saintly Praise

An earned compliment is the most satisfying and it takes a little extra to earn one from Lou Cvijanovich, the Santa Clara boys’ basketball coach.

Cvijanovich thinks the world of his 38th Santa Clara team, which opens the Southern Section Division IV-A playoffs Friday night at home against Brethren Christian.

“This has been an exceptional group of kids; they’ve been a joy,” said Cvijanovich, whose team is 20-4 and won the Frontier League title with a 10-0 record. “They’re cohesive and the way they like each other carries over onto the court.”

The Saints had a players-only before the season during which they set a series of goals.

“They tell me what [the goals] are as they achieve them,” Cvijanovich said. “They wanted to win 20 games, win a league championship and go undefeated in the league.”

Could the next item be anything but a section championship?

Basketball Notes

City Section

VALLEY PAC-8 CONFERENCE

Boys: East Valley League (4-A)--North Hollywood faces Crenshaw in the first round of the 4-A playoffs for the second year in a row. The Huskies lost, 71-65, a year ago. . . . Grant missed the playoffs for the first time in Coach Howie Levine’s 10 seasons, and he is blaming only himself. “We were in a decent position with a week and half to go and then lost all three [final games],” he said. “I think I made a couple of mistakes at the end with personnel. And we did not motivate the guys to practice hard, and that’s my fault.” . . . Monroe is a tough team to figure. After losing three consecutive games to Sylmar, Grant and Reseda, the Vikings won four in a row, including two decisive victories over second-place North Hollywood to win the league title. . . . The student finally prevailed over the mentor last week. Reseda second-year Coach David Enowitz--an assistant to Grant’s Levine for several years--guided the Regents to victory for the first time in four games against the Lancers.

Mid-Valley League (3-A)--Van Nuys sneaked into the playoffs last year at 9-13 and lost to Franklin in the first round. The Wolves have done an about-face, going 13-9 and earning the top seeded spot in the 3-A Division. . . . Canoga Park’s improbable loss to Poly helped Van Nuys. The loss allowed Van Nuys to back in to the league championship. . . . Poly’s two-game winning streak was made possible by the sharpshooting of Eric Owens, who scored 62 points in victories over Sylmar and Canoga Park. . . . Sylmar qualifies as the league’s most-disappointing team. Even with five transfers the Spartans managed a conference-low five victories.

Girls: Mid-Valley League (4-A)--North Hollywood (18-3) enters the second part of its season after a 10-game intermission called Valley Pac-8 Conference play. The Huskies, who have lost only to Crescenta Valley, Notre Dame and Bell-Jeff, will find the going tough from here on out. Although North Hollywood is seeded fourth in the 4-A, a first-round victory over Roosevelt (14-9) would earn the Huskies a very tough game against either Garfield (20-4) or Palisades (16-7). . . . Sylmar’s dismal 4-11 season would have been worse without Kylie Roberson in the lineup. The senior point guard averaged 18 points in her final six games.

NORTHWEST VALLEY CONFERENCE

Boys: West Valley League (4-A)--Even though Kennedy and Taft didn’t make the playoffs, the future looks good for both teams. Kennedy, which was nosed out of the final 4-A playoff spot by University, started four juniors, including Clayton Powdrill, Waking Bailey and Tommy Gales, who have played together on club teams but not on the same high school team until this season. Amir Bar-Netzer, Taft’s leading scorer and rebounder in conference play, is a sophomore along with Harold Shevlin and Tyrone Purnell.

North Valley League (3-A)--It’s double-duty time for El Camino Real Coach Neils Ludlow. He also coaches the softball team, which began practice this week, so Ludlow shuttles back and forth between the two practices, softball first, then basketball. Tami Jones and Ramona Shelburne of the girls’ basketball team are doing the same thing. . . . Granada Hills had a chance to win the league outright with a victory in either of the Highlanders’ final two games. But Granada Hills, which had won six consecutive games, lost to both San Fernando and Birmingham. “I wish I knew what happened,” Granada Hills Coach Lou Cicciari said. “Maybe we’ll find out in practice this week.”. . . . Birmingham sophomore forward Ellis Richardson will play Friday against Huntington Park. Richardson, the Braves’ leading scorer, missed the final two games of the regular season. John Price, a starting forward, missed a loss to El Camino Real last week but returned against Granada Hills.

Girls: West Valley League (4-A)--Kennedy Coach Donis Bailey is having the Golden Cougars, who must play three-time defending City 4-A champion Crenshaw on Friday, practice against members of the boys’ team this week. “It’s the only way we’ll learn to deal with [Crenshaw’s] press,” Bailey said. “They’re the only ones around who are quick enough.”. . . . Both the Kennedy-Crenshaw and El Camino Real-Westchester games will start at 5:30 p.m. because both schools are also the home sites for boys’ games at the normal 7:30 start time. . . . Both Granada Hills Coach Carolyn Gunny and Cleveland Coach Kimberly Kelly have jumped sports. With both teams out of the playoffs, the coaches started softball practice this week.

NORTHERN CONFERENCE

Girls: Verdugo Hills Coach Laura Redford isn’t calling the Dons’ 4-16 final record a smashing success, but it is a modest achievement considering Verdugo Hills was 0-14 last season. “I’m really excited for next season,” said Redford, who just completed her first season. “The younger players had really good attitudes through the whole season.” Daisy Lulham, who averaged more than 10 rebounds, is just a freshman.

Southern Section

ALPHA

Boys: After defeating Village Christian and claiming the league title outright Thursday night, L.A. Baptist enters its first-round playoff game against Mojave as the fourth-seeded team in Division IV-A. . . . The Knights’ league title comes in Coach Maury Neville’s 18th and final season. . . . Knights’ senior guard Russ Brumpton is on pace to break his own school record by making 92% (60 of 65) of his free throws. Last season, Brumpton shot 90%.

Girls: L.A. Baptist lost its last four games, including a one-game playoff to Maranatha for third place, and did not qualify for the playoffs. As it turned out, if the Knights had won just one of those final four games, they would have advanced as the league’s third-place team. Last season the Knights tied for third with Maranatha but missed the playoffs after losing a coin flip. . . . Village Christian has won eight consecutive league games by 24 or more points and is not accustomed to close games in the fourth quarter. The Crusaders had an 11-point lead with two minutes left in the third quarter last Saturday against Hart but ended up losing, 47-41. In practice on Monday, Crusader Coach John Domke talked to his team about playing hard in big games. “We talked about the difference between choking and inconsistent play,” Domke said. “I told them that now it’s time to step up and stop being immature.”

CAMINO REAL

Girls: Bell-Jeff has not played a zone defense since it lost to Calabasas, 56-42, on Jan. 22. After switching to a man-to-man defense, the Guards have won five in a row, giving up no more than 38 points in any of the games.

CHANNEL

Boys: After nearly a full season of featuring a three-pronged attack with Charles Dixon and Donte Lincoln inside and Christian Gallagher outside, Ventura has added a dimension the past three weeks. Forward Tim Heuer, a 6-3 senior, is averaging 14 points in that span. “We’ve been getting contributions from more players of late,” Coach Dan Larson said. “That’s really helped.” . . . Oxnard ended league play by edging league champion Santa Barbara, 86-84, in overtime behind Dan Sweeney’s 28 points. “Oxnard continually improved all season long,” Larson said. “We beat them three times during the summer but they beat us twice in league.”

Girls: Jaline Bradley of Oxnard just keeps getting better. The freshman guard finished the regular season as the Yellowjackets’ leader in scoring (12.8 average), assists (3.7) and steals (2.7). Oxnard finished league play with two decisive victories to take second place with an 11-3 record. Nicole Black, Oxnard’s talented junior forward, returned from a knee injury Thursday and should be available for the playoffs. . . . With All-Southern Section guard Eboni Conley sidelined because of a knee injury, Buena Coach Joe Vaughan expects several players to step up. Among those whose playing time should increase are sophomore guard Renae Hofmann and senior guard Christie Erickson. Conley rebounded well, and her absence puts added emphasis on the contributions of forwards Stephanie Kinnear and Ashley Jackson.

FOOTHILL

Boys: In the midst of his team’s 92-46 blowout of Valencia last week, Canyon Coach Greg Hayes decided to have fun. In the closing moments, he put two sets of siblings on the floor: guards Ruben and Joey Castaneda, and guards Larry Phillips and Landon Thompson, Phillips’ half-brother. “It really made for a special night for them, and a special memory for me, too,” said Hayes, who promoted Joey Castaneda and Thompson from the junior-varsity team for the occasion. Ruben Castaneda, who had 27 points, made a three-point shot with Joey getting the assist. Sitting on the sidelines, Hayes flashed back to his junior year at El Dorado High in Orange County, when he was inserted at quarterback near the end of a game to play with his older brother, who was an all-league lineman. “I threw a pass to him on a tackle eligible,” Hayes said, “and he dropped it.” . . . Hart, after starting 2-2 in league play, captured the Foothill title and is riding a six-game winning streak into the playoffs. “When it comes to playoffs, anything can happen,” Coach Mike May said. Nobody needs to tell May, who two years ago saw his 21-1 team lose its first playoff game. Will he tell stories of his 1994 playoff experience with his current team? “Nope.” . . . May can’t complain about the competition in his bracket in the Division I-A playoffs. Hart is the only league champion. . . . It took a furious 34-point outburst in the fourth quarter, but Burbank continued its mastery of rival Burroughs. The Bulldogs, with a 78-68 victory at Burroughs last week, beat the Indians for the eighth consecutive time, sweeping the season series for the fourth year in a row.

Girls: With his team headed for the playoffs this week, Canyon Coach Paul Broneer must wonder which team will show up--the team that upset Saugus, 58-48, or the team that was trounced by Hart, 60-29. “We’ve either blown teams out or got blown out,” Broneer said. . . . Bad news for Hart: Junior center Candace Boller, who averages 15 points and nine rebounds, is out for two weeks and is wearing a cast on her left wrist. Coach Dave Munroe has brought up sophomore Melissa Harrison to replace Boller.

FRONTIER

Boys: Santa Clara is rounding into health and form just in time for the postseason. Senior point guard Lukman Dotson, a forward before this season, has pleased Coach Lou Cvijanovich with his ballhandling and aggressive play. Junior forwards Skye Peterson and Jeff Lacefield are healthy and ready to go. Peterson had battled illness and Lacefield an injured knee. . . . Moorpark senior guard Patrick Tate, sluggish early in the season, has caught fire of late, averaging 12 points, three assists and six rebounds during the past eight games. “Patrick had a hand injury when he got done with football and it just took him a while to work back into basketball,” Coach Tim Bednar said. “Before, he would go the length of the court and bowl someone over for an offensive foul. He’s not forcing things now and he’s being aggressive and going to the basket at the right time.” Junior guard Kalani Ferreria has rejoined the Musketeers after missing 15 games due to illness. He had shared time at point guard early in the season and will spell guards Tate and/or Brian Donahue for 10-12 minutes a game in the playoffs, Bednar said. . . . Santa Paula had to defeat Calabasas in a third-place playoff game Saturday morning to earn the league’s final automatic playoff berth.

Girls: Undefeated Moorpark looks to extend its surprising season of dreams by earning the program’s first playoff victory when the Musketeers play Gladstone in a Division III-AA game Saturday at Moorpark. “The girls are excited. They want to play Newbury Park down the road and I have to keep them focused on Saturday,” Coach Brent Milburn said.

GOLDEN

Boys: With Steve Eernisse and Markus Carr averaging 20 and 15 points, respectively, Palmdale is the second-hottest team in the Golden League to Highland. But with Eernisse and Carr, both juniors, getting most of the attention, Coach Garry Phelps said senior guard Theo Carino is the unsung hero. While averaging just 4.5 points, Carino often shuts down the opponent’s leading scorer. He also averages three steals. “He’s an all-around player who’s not afraid to get down and dirty,” Phelps said. . . . Eernisse is averaging nearly nine rebounds and Carr has recorded 30 assists in his last five games. . . . Two weeks ago, Bronson Pitts of Littlerock made only seven of 35 shots against Quartz Hill and Palmdale. But the senior guard finished strong, scoring 31 and grabbing 10 rebounds in a 79-68 loss to Antelope Valley in Friday’s season finale. Senior Brad Hazard of Quartz Hill also put an exclamation point on his career with five three-point baskets and 17 points in a season-ending 65-48 loss to Palmdale.

Girls: Utah-bound center Kristi Rose had struggled throughout the season, but Palmdale Coach George Corisis and Rose’s family found a remedy for her shooting problems last week. Corisis adjusted the way Rose held the ball when she shot, and her parents decided to pay her for points. “The last couple games, she’s been getting a dollar a point,” Corisis said. Rose scored 44 points and had 32 rebounds in two games. . . . Some pre-seeding politicking by Corisis to Commissioner Dean Crowley of the Southern Section last week brought no results for Palmdale. The Falcons (24-2) are not seeded in the Division I-AA playoffs. The top four spots went to Peninsula, Simi Valley, Fountain Valley and Lynwood. Corisis told Crowley that Palmdale should be seeded, and he has a good argument against Simi Valley. The Pioneers (22-2) did not play Palmdale, but their two losses were to Crescenta Valley and Thousand Oaks, teams that Palmdale beat.

HIGH DESERT

Girls: Paraclete wrapped up a High Desert League co-championship with Mojave last week with a typical night for center Kim Whisler. The junior had 33 points and 17 rebounds in a 53-30 victory over Rosamond.

MARMONTE

Boys: Thousand Oaks ended a disappointing season on a high note, scoring 33 points in the fourth quarter to erase a 10-point deficit and defeat Newbury Park. Lancer senior guard Mike Lauer ended his career with a flourish, scoring 14 in the quarter and 49 in two games last week. . . . Channel Islands had a school-record 378 steals, including 106 by O.J. Thomas, 72 by Charles Merricks, 64 by Bernabe Simon and 57 by Junior Mosones. The Raiders, despite a 15-9 record, still could not steal a playoff berth in the crowded Division I-AA bracket. No at-large teams were placed in the division. “We had a great year,” Coach Gary Abraham said. “It’s too bad we couldn’t get in.” . . . Steve Aylsworth scored 42 points in two Westlake victories last week, enabling the Warriors to tie for the league title for the second consecutive season. Aylsworth will play next season at Lehigh, which claims to be the home of the first jump shot. Bob Many, an Engineer in the 1920s, is said to have been the first player to launch the ball with his feet off the ground. . . . Simi Valley center Pero Vasiljevic led the league with 567 points, 270 rebounds and 68 blocks. Newbury Park guard Michael Bowers was the assist leader (184).

Girls: Newbury Park (14-10) finished third behind co-champions Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks because of the improved play of several inexperienced players. The Panthers, state Division III runners-up last season, did well in a rebuilding year. “The girls took some lumps early and just kept getting better,” Coach Nori Parvin said. . . . With only one senior, Agoura showed promise behind Kristin DeSimone, Sarah Kane and Megan Skelly. The trio combined to average more than 30 rebounds a game.

MISSION

Boys: Harvard-Westlake, Alemany, Loyola, Chaminade and Notre Dame all made the playoffs. St. Francis (9-17) needed another victory to be eligible for an at-large berth. The Golden Knights failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 1988, Coach John Jordan’s first season.

Girls: Notre Dame has averaged 20.1 points in the fourth quarter over the past 10 games while averaging 14.2 points over each of the first three quarters. The Knights scored on 15 of 18 fourth-quarter possessions in a late-season victory over Louisville. Notre Dame’s Stephanie Eden has made a school-record 32 three-point baskets, breaking the school record of 16 set in 1993-94 by Casey Coughlan. The Knights have made a school-record 59 three-pointers this season, eclipsing the record of 26 in 1993-94.

PACIFIC

Boys: Crescenta Valley finished fourth in the league behind Hoover, Arcadia and Muir, but the Falcons (18-7) had the best overall record of the four. Crescenta Valley, in the playoffs for the 12th consecutive year and 16th time in Coach John Goffredo’s 18 seasons, has the fifth-best record in Division I-A. Crescenta Valley plays host to Damien (12-14) on Friday. With 240 assists, senior guard Jake Willis of Crescenta Valley is 13 shy of the school single-season record he set last season. Willis has 675 career assists.

SANTA FE

Boys: Bell-Jeff continues to play well in the waning minutes of games. The Guards overcame an eight-point deficit in the fourth quarter of a 53-48 victory over La Salle last week, then held off a fourth-quarter run by Cathedral on Friday night to clinch the league title, 70-65. . . . Junior David Starling scored all five of his points and forced three turnovers in the fourth quarter of the La Salle game.

SUNRISE

Girls: When Ray Doyle quit his job as coach at St. Genevieve in late December, the Valiants were 2-3 in league play and appeared headed for a mediocre season. But Athletic Director John Yakel took over as coach and the team won five of its next seven league games, finishing second and qualifying for the playoffs. The Valiants will visit Bell-Jeff on Saturday night in the first round.

TRI-VALLEY

Boys: Oak Park snared its third consecutive league title but not before the Eagles’ league-record 22-game winning streak was halted last week by Carpinteria. Had Oak Park not defeated Fillmore two days later, the Eagles would have tied Carpinteria and wound up with the league’s second automatic playoff berth. Oak Park has advanced to the playoff quarterfinals each of the last three seasons but Coach Rob Hall is nervous. “Our defense has been good but we’ve been out of sync on offense,” he said. “We’re a running team but we haven’t run the break well or taken care of the ball lately.”

Girls: League champion Fillmore completed an unbeaten league season and set a program record for victories with 21.

Soccer Notes

City Section

Boys: Thirteen teams from the region qualified for the section’s 32-team playoff draw. Last season 11 teams earned berths but none except Reseda advanced to the semifinals. . . . This season’s seeding surprise was the No. 5 placement of Sherman Oaks CES, which tore through the first-year Magnet Conference. Coach Dan McDonnell feared his team would get buried, but it will play host to Washington in a first-round match Friday. . . . Valley Pac-8 Conference champion Sylmar, seeded third, plays host Friday to Northwest Valley Conference member Kennedy. Chatsworth plays host to North Hollywood in another cross-conference match.

Girls: Playoffs in the 3-A and 4-A divisions open Wednesday and a team from the region is top seeded in each eight-team division. Eight teams from the region made the playoffs, four in each division. Undefeated Chatsworth (15-0-1) tops the 4-A Division. Kennedy is top ranked in the 3-A Division and could face a second-round game against 1994-95 3-A Division finalist Cleveland, which is seeded fifth.

Southern Section

Boys: Foothill League--Saugus won its first league title since 1981 but earned a dubious playoff prize--a Division II first-round match with Rio Mesa. The Spartans finished fourth in the Channel League and earned an at-large playoff berth for the second consecutive season. Last season Rio Mesa upset Foothill League champion Burroughs at Burroughs.

Marmonte League--Westlake entered last week tied with Royal for the league lead, but the Warriors claimed the title when they defeated Thousand Oaks and Agoura and the Highlanders were upset by Camarillo and held to a scoreless tie by Simi Valley. Westlake (17-1-2) features 15 seniors on its 20-player roster. Six started as freshmen and two others played varsity during a difficult 1992-93 season. “We lost a lot of one-goal games and it seemed like almost every game went into overtime,” said Coach Lalo Alvarado, an assistant that season before becoming head coach in 1993-94. “It was frustrating but at the same time I looked at them and thought they’d be something special because they were just freshmen and they were still competing with the Simi Valleys and Royals.” This season, the Warriors have taken care of business in front of their own goal. “We really focused on team defense, not just the four guys in the back,” Alvarado said.

Girls: Pacific League--Crescenta Valley was unable to surpass archrival Arcadia for the league title but gets an exciting first-round playoff match Saturday at home against neighboring La Canada. Crescenta Valley won last season’s meeting, 2-1, but because of football-related hostilities, the teams were not allowed to play this season. “I think it will be real emotional and there should be a nice crowd,” Crescenta Valley Coach Judd Bogust said. “A lot of our girls are friends with their girls or know them from club soccer.” Stephanie Rigamat of Crescenta Valley has scored a team-record 38 goals despite missing four of the last six matches because of an ankle injury.

Tri-Valley League--La Reina had its string of consecutive league titles halted at five despite going undefeated (7-0-3) in league play. St. Bonaventure (8-0-2) claimed the title with both of its ties coming against La Reina.

Wrestling Notes

City Section

The second City dual-meet finals will take place today at Monroe. Granada Hills will face Canoga Park, and San Fernando will wrestle Chatsworth in first-round matches at 3:30. The second round will pit the Granada Hills-Canoga Park winner against El Camino Real at 5:30. Bell will face the San Fernando-Chatsworth winner. The finals are scheduled for 7:30.

Southern Section

For the second consecutive year, Highland lost to Glenn in the championship round of the Division IV dual-meet finals. Glenn’s 51-22 victory Saturday gave the Eagles their third consecutive section dual-meet championship. The loss was the first for Golden League champion Highland in 34 matches this season. Two years ago, Glenn defeated Highland in the semifinals. Highland’s three-year record is 103-3. All three of the losses have been to Glenn. Highland will have 10 wrestlers competing in the Division IV finals Saturday at Santiago High. . . . Rio Mesa’s Jesse Bautista (130 pounds) enters Saturday’s Division I finals at El Monte High with a 31-2 record and a cauliflower ear. Bautista, sixth in the state last season as a sophomore, suffered the injury in the Channel League finals two weeks ago and has battled swelling ever since. “I tore the stitches in practice,” Bautista said this week. “It’s swollen and it looks all kind of ugly. But I’ll be fine.”

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