At No. 1 Van Nuys, Future Arrives Ahead of Schedule

Six weeks ago, Van Nuys High boys’ basketball Coach Kevin Kanemura had all but given up on his team.

A dismal 1-3 start had evolved into 5-7 and Kanemura had every reason to believe his Wolves would fall prey to hungry opponents in the Valley Pac-8 Conference.

With his hopes for a successful season discarded, the second-year coach went back to the drawing board and began working toward the future.

But that future came along about 10 months sooner than Kanemura expected.

The Wolves won eight of their next 10 games, finished in a first-place tie with Canoga Park (19-4) in the Mid-Valley League and--as if that wasn’t enough--earned the top-seeding in the City Section 3-A Division playoffs.

“We’ll take it,” Kanemura said, laughing. “We certainly don’t want to trade with anybody.”

Van Nuys (13-9), which will play the winner of Thursday night’s Magnet League championship game between Bravo and Mid-City Alternative in a first-round playoff game tonight at 7:30, traded in its losing season in December. After winning just one of three games in the Birmingham tournament, Kanemura found little to like.

“The way that we played the three games in that tournament, I thought it was gonna be a long rest of the season,” Kanemura said.

But after a few sweaty practices--with a strong emphasis on defense and rebounding--the Wolves started winning. And after their 79-77 victory over Canoga Park on Jan. 24, Kanemura knew his team had turned a corner.

The Wolves basked in glory for nine days until Canoga Park exacted revenge with an 84-78 victory. With that loss, apparently, went the Wolves’ hopes of a league championship. Canoga Park owned a one-game lead with just two games left against teams that were a combined 3-13 in league play.

“Never did it dawn on me that we would get another shot at [the league title],” Kanemura said.

But they did. Canoga Park was upset by Poly, 86-80, five days later, and the seeding committee handed the No. 1 spot to the Wolves.

Quite a turnaround for a team that finished 2-14 just two seasons ago. Credit Kanemura with the Wolves’ newfound success.

Kanemura, 28, has been a student of the game for as long as he can remember. He studied it mostly at Kennedy High, where he played--actually sat on the bench--his junior and senior years for Coach Yutaka Shimizu in 1984 and ’85. After graduating Cal State Northridge, Kanemura came back to Kennedy as a Shimizu assistant and stayed for five seasons.

“The first couple of years were a learning process [for him],” said Shimizu, who has coached at Kennedy for 13 seasons. “And the last couple of years I turned over a lot of the team to him. He probably coached half the season himself in the last two years.”

It was an experience Kanemura cherishes.

“I owe this man tremendously, I truly do,” Kanemura said. “The philosophy I have and the way I do things with basketball, I got from him. There’s no one I respect more than this guy.”

Kennedy’s loss is apparently Van Nuys’ gain. Still, Kennedy left its mark.

“I feel good [about Kanemura’s success] because I know this school has contributed to his development as a coach,” Shimizu said.

4-A Division

Area teams account for four of 16 4-A playoff berths. . . . Cleveland (15-8), the West Valley League champion, was seeded highest at No. 7. The Cavaliers play host to Carson (15-8), the second-place finisher in the Southern Pacific A League. Cleveland has won nine of 10 after a shaky start. Swingman Junior Brignac (16.5 points), forward Donald Holt (14.3) and point guard Jerome Grant have settled into roles as team leaders. The teams last met in the 4-A quarterfinals in 1994. Carson won but was kicked out of the playoffs for using an ineligible player. . . . Monroe (14-5), seeded No. 8, was the last team to draw a home game and will play Washington (12-13), which finished second in the Southern Pacific B League. The Vikings won four in a row to win the East Valley League title. Marrean Robottom, a 6-foot-7 senior forward, is the team scoring leader (18 points). . . . Chatsworth (10-9), the second-place team from the West Valley League, squeaked into the playoffs at No. 13 and will play at Westchester (21-6), seeded No. 4. Chatsworth defeated the Comets, 62-52, in the Artesia tournament in December, but that was with center Eddie Miller (25.3 points), who is now academically ineligible. . . . Squeezing into the playoffs by virtue of a coin flip is North Hollywood (8-16), which finished tied for second with Reseda in the East Valley League. For the second consecutive season, the underdog Huskies travel to second-seeded Crenshaw (21-5), champion of the Southern Pacific B League.

3-A Division

Five area teams were granted playoff berths, four of which will receive home games in the first round. . . . Top-seeded Van Nuys (13-9) has won eight of its last 10 games with 6-4 senior forward Onaje Longmire (19.3 points, 8.1 rebounds) leading the way. . . . Despite the improbable loss to Poly last week, Canoga Park (19-4) was seeded No. 3. The Hunters play host to Bell, which finished fourth in the Southeastern Conference among 3-A schools. Canoga Park has the talent to win the division, but consistency has been a problem. Carloes Harper (23.6 points), Anthony Ellison (18.1) and Aaron Lasley (13.0) have been the mainstays. . . . Granada Hills (10-12), the North Valley League champion and seeded No. 6, was on a roll until the final week of the season. Two losses dropped the Highlanders into a tie for the title with El Camino Real although Granada Hills won the tiebreaker. The Highlanders, who are led by forward Ernest Quinley (12.6 points), play host to Lincoln (15-7), the second-place team from the Northern Conference. . . . El Camino Real (16-9) is seeded No. 8 and plays host to South Gate (11-12), which finished in a three-way tie for first in the Southeastern Conference. The Conquistadores, with 6-4 Cameron Henderson (22 points) and 6-5 Eric Dotson (8.2), have the height advantage over South Gate, whose tallest starter is 6-feet. . . . Birmingham (11-11), the North Valley’s third-place team, travels to Huntington Park, seeded No. 7. Sophomore Ellis Richardson (18.4) is expected back after missing the final two games of the regular season.