MIDWEEK REPORT / HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS UPDATE : Valley’s 4-A Teams Played More Like 4-H

As washouts go, the performance City Section boys basketball teams from the region in the 4-A playoffs was epic flood proportions.

As recently as last season, the outlook seemed bright for a 4-A team to make a run. Chatsworth pushed City Section power Fremont to the last shot before falling and Grant and North Hollywood gave City champion Crenshaw all it could handle.

But last week any delusions of grandeur came to an abrupt end. Some of the lowlights:

The four 4-A teams--Cleveland, Chatsworth, Monroe and North Hollywood--lost by an average of 33 points.

Chatsworth, whose 84-69 loss to Westchester was the slimmest losing margin, still endured a 48-4 run over two quarters by the Comets.

Cleveland had the best chance to win, trailing by only seven in the third quarter, but still lost by 28.

North Hollywood, which played so close to Crenshaw a year ago in a 71-65 defeat, lost by 67 points this time.

“It was a step up in competition for all of us,” said Cleveland Coach Kevin Crider. “And none of us were ready.”

The Valley can at least take heart in the 3-A Division. Four of five local teams won first-round games. And since El Camino Real played Van Nuys and Granada Hills faced Canoga Park Thursday night, the region is guaranteed two semifinal teams, something the 4-A can still only dream about.

Doctored Up

The doctor was in early this week. And so were some banged-up wrestlers.

Jesse Bautista of Rio Mesa, who forfeited the 130-pound final in last weekend’s Southern Section Division I finals because of bruised ribs, paid a visit to his doctor and wound up talking takedowns with Juan Roman of Channel Islands and Dan Ramirez of Oxnard.

Roman won the Division II title at 112 pounds but emerged with a partial muscle tear of a calf muscle.

Ramirez forfeited the Division I final at 215 because of knee-ligament damage.

“I was getting my ribs worked on and the doctor said, ‘One of your friends is in the next room,’ ” Bautista said. “It was Roman. And Danny Ramirez had been there earlier.”

It was bruises and bandages all around for many of the 21 Ventura County wrestlers who survived the section finals to advance to Saturday’s Masters Meet at Fountain Valley High.

Rick Peterson of Camarillo, Division II champion at 125, has battled a sprained knee all season.

Ventura’s Cristobal Gonzalez, Division I finalist at 171, has bruised ribs.

Bryan Doss of Ventura, who placed third at 152, emerged from the tournament with 11 stitches in his forehead.

“I don’t know if I remember a year when so many kids are banged up,” Rio Mesa Coach Todd Stoke said.

At last bandaging, all were still scheduled to compete this week.

Eighteen Is Enough

An 18-year era came to an end Tuesday night when L.A. Baptist boys’ basketball Coach Maury Neville coached his final basketball game, a 77-67 loss to Calvary Chapel in the quarterfinals of the Southern Section Division IV-A playoffs.

Neville announced before the season began that this would be his last as coach.

“I told myself that I would coach my son through his senior year and that would be it,” Neville said, speaking of his son Ron, a senior at L.A. Baptist.

Neville said that his final game this season was no different than those of seasons past.

“It hasn’t sunk in yet,” he said. “The most emotional part of it is the same as it is every year--that the seniors will never play a high school game again.”

The Knights, even though they lost Neville’s final game, sent their 47-year-old leader out on a good note.

They finished the season 20-6, gave Neville his sixth Alpha League championship and set a school record for scoring with an average of 71 points a game.

“Only one team in our division can end the season with a win,” Neville said. “It would’ve been tough to be that team.”

Neville, who has a 278-154 record over his coaching career, will remain in his position as athletic director and chairman of the social studies department at L.A. Baptist.

Bob Chevalier, a long-time assistant to Neville, will become head coach next season, but Neville is not ruling out a return to coaching.

“The reality is that if I want to un-retire, I can,” he said. “Somewhere down the line I may decide to do it. But for now I’m going to play some more golf.”

Basketball Notes

City Section

4-A DIVISION

Boys: Chatsworth center Eddie Miller, who was ruled ineligible the last week of the regular season, is considering attending a prep school next season to improve his academics. Miller, who averaged 25.3 points, is being recruited by several Division I schools. . . . Since North Hollywood lost to Fremont in the 1991 3-A Division championship game at the Sports Arena, the Huskies have lost in the first round of the playoffs in four of the last five seasons. Friday’s 125-58 first-round loss to Crenshaw was far worse however, than any of the other three losses: The others losses were by a combined total of 14 points. . . . Although Washington outsized Monroe (14-6) by several inches (both horizontally and vertically), the Vikings outrebounded the athletic Generals, 35-23. But in this case, the game wasn’t won on the boards, it was more a matter of which team put the ball into the basket with greater consistency. Washington (13-13) was 25 of 56 (45%) from the field and Monroe just 23 of 69 (33%), but it was the 25-of-35 free-throw shooting that provided the Generals with their margin of victory, 77-56. “I knew we could be competitive and we were for the first 12 minutes,” said Monroe Coach Allen Caveness, whose team was up, 20-17, early in the second quarter. “The problem is we play 32 minutes.”

Girls: Taft headed into Wednesday’s second-round game against Washington not knowing if Coach Stephanie Blin was going to join the team. Blin underwent surgery to repair torn ligaments in her hand suffered in a skiing accident last week. . . . El Camino Real junior guard Ramona Shelburne felt the brunt of Westchester’s physical play in the Conquistadores’ first-round loss. Shelburne left the game in the second quarter after taking an elbow in the eye, requiring stitches. “She got cut above the eye, below the eye, it was a mess,” said Conquistadore Coach Lori Chandler. Shelburne, a standout infielder for the softball team, shouldn’t miss any action. . . . Kennedy kept up with three-time defending City champion and top-seeded Crenshaw in the first half before a 16-4 Crenshaw run ended the Golden Cougars’ chances. All five starters return for Kennedy, which struggled to a 12-12 record. . . . If North Hollywood gets into the semifinal round of the playoffs Friday, watch out: The Huskies are 3-0 in the semifinals in Coach Rich Allen’s 13 seasons. “To me that’s the toughest game to win,” said Allen, who is 0-3 in championship games. . . . North Hollywood got off to a fast playoff start in its first-round game last week against Roosevelt. The Huskies, seeded No. 4, started with a 20-4 run en route to a 61-45 victory. “They were like caged animals,” Allen said. “They really wanted to play.”

3-A DIVISION

Boys: Although Van Nuys Coach Kevin Kanemura did not find out who the Wolves would be playing in the first round until about 24 hours before game time, his team had little problem disposing of its first playoff opponent. The top-seeded Wolves shot a blistering 65% (44 of 68) from the field against Bravo, scored their highest point total in Kanemura’s two seasons and won by 44 points, 113-69. . . . Bravo earned the 16th berth in the playoffs by beating Mid-City Alternative in the Magnet League championship game.

Girls: Grant, Reseda and Poly--three East Valley teams that earned playoff berths--lost in first-round games by an average of six points.

Southern Section

DIVISION I-AA

Boys: After being tied at halftime, Royal surrendered 51 points in the second half and fell to Victor Valley, 85-75, in the second round of the playoffs Tuesday. The Highlanders’ first-round victory was their first playoff win in school history. . . . Three weeks ago, Antelope Valley was ranked No. 2 in the region by The Times. Then the Antelopes went into free fall. They lost three of their last five games, including a 98-75 rout by Lynwood in the first round of the playoffs. Antelope Valley (18-8) had to play Lynwood, perhaps the toughest second-place team in the division, after it was overtaken by Highland the final week of the season and finished second in the Golden League. The Antelopes were lucky to finish second after barely beating last-place Ridgecrest Burroughs (3-17) in overtime. . . . Highland and area large-school scoring leader John Burrell were upset Tuesday night at home in the second round by Peninsula, 41-40. The Bulldogs were outscored, 6-4, in the final eight minutes.

Girls: Tawnee Cooper needed 39 points Wednesday night to become Simi Valley’s all-time scorer. . . . Quartz Hill forward Amanda Chelette had only nine points in a 73-49 loss to Palmdale in the Golden League championship game. A week later, Chelette scored 26, making eight three-point shots in a 71-48 victory over Arroyo Grande in the first round of the playoffs. . . . After resigning his head-coaching job at Antelope Valley last week, Robert Fields was asked how good the Antelopes (10-11) might be next year. “We have some good players coming back, but some have expressed an interest in transferring, i.e. Tiffany Coke and Kenya Corley,” Fields said.

Fields said Coke and Corley are considering transferring to Palmdale.

DIVISION I-A

Boys: Buena made 13 of 30 three-point shots Tuesday, but fell to Capistrano Valley, 70-68. Seven different Bulldog players took three-point shots.

Girls: Palmdale Coach George Corisis, taking a shot at Southern Section commissioner Dean Crowley, predicted a second-round upset of second-seeded Buena in Wednesday’s second round. “I predict Chino will beat Buena . . . to show how badly Crowley seeds,” Corisis said. Chino was not seeded, despite a victory over Palmdale (25-2).

DIVISION II-A

Boys: Steve Aylsworth had a career-high 37 points in Westlake’s 100-95 loss to Ventura on Tuesday night. His output fell one point short of the school record set by Paul Keenan in 1987. There were 16 lead changes and 12 ties in the game.

Girls: Megan Carmola of Westlake scored 49 points in two playoff games and finished the season with 601 points and a 22.2 scoring average, second in the league to Simi Valley’s Tawnee Cooper (26.7).

DIVISION III-AA

Boys: Moorpark and Coach Tim Bednar are living on the edge, with back-to-back overtime victories to advance to Friday’s semifinal game against top-seeded Bishop Montgomery. The Musketeers used double-overtime to beat Dos Pueblos last Friday and needed only one extra session Tuesday to dispatch Compton Centennial.

DIVISION III-A

Girls: Harvard-Westlake (16-9) had the best record in the program’s history this season. The Wolverines, who lost to San Marino, 69-50, in Saturday’s opening round, have six players returning.

DIVISION IV-AA

Boys: For the fourth consecutive season, Oak Park’s season ended in the quarterfinals. For the second consecutive season, the loss came at the hands of St. Bernard at El Segundo High.

Girls: Paraclete’s Monica Flores, who averaged 8.5 points during the regular season, scored 26 in a 58-42 first-round victory over Beaumont last week. Flores stepped up when center Kim Whisler was benched with foul trouble.

DIVISION IV-A

Boys: L.A. Baptist made only 10 turnovers in its 77-67 loss to Calvary Chapel Tuesday night, but was outrebounded, 38-24. . . . Bell-Jeff came on strong in the second half of its 63-58 quarterfinal loss to Santa Clara on Tuesday, scoring 38 points after halftime, 21 in the final period. Ruben Douglas had 16 of his 23 points after intermission and Kent Dennis had 12 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter.

DIVISION V-AA

Boys: It figured Montclair Prep would have an easy time in its second-round playoff game against South Bay Lutheran on Tuesday night. Anwawn Jones had 26 points and 23 rebounds as the Mounties defeated the Waves, 84-61, during the regular season.

Soccer Notes

City Section

Boys: Victory Boulevard will be enlivened by three second-round playoff matches Friday. Chatsworth plays at Sherman Oaks CES, El Camino visits Reseda and Birmingham plays host to Locke. “It’s going to be drive-by soccer,” said El Camino Coach David Hussey. Other games involving Valley-area teams are Cleveland at Garfield and Hollywood at Sylmar.

Girls: Top-seeded Kennedy’s 3-A Division quarterfinal game against Venice was scheduled for Wednesday. However, Golden Cougars’ Coach Bob Gramacy had a personal conflict and arranged for the game to be played last Friday, when Kennedy routed the Gondoliers. . . . Chatsworth (15-0-1), top-seeded in the 4-A Division, remembers its upset loss to San Pedro in the semifinals two seasons ago. Chatsworth last season fell to Grant by a goal in the 4-A championship game. “Practicing has been our biggest challenge,” midfielder Kim Pickup said. “We just put people up against each other and work on our passing.” Pickup, who has 13 goals and 17 assists, has teamed especially well with center midfielder Michelle George, who has 12 goals and 11 assists. Freshman forward Jackie Fodor leads the team with 18 goals.

Southern Section

Boys: Division I--Defending division champion Royal led the Marmonte League for much of the season but finished second and then bowed out in the first round of the playoffs last Friday, losing to North Torrance on penalty kicks. Royal outshot the Saxons, 16-4, but hit the post once and the crossbar twice in overtime and missed a penalty kick in regulation.

Division II--Rio Mesa, which has outscored its playoff opponents, 11-0, exacted sweet revenge Tuesday. The Spartans (15-6-3) beat Lynwood, 7-0, in a second-round game at Rio Mesa, avenging a loss to the Knights in the same round last season. Jaime Ambriz has 29 goals for the Spartans. . . . The Channel League’s four entries in the divisional playoffs--San Marcos, Buena, Santa Barbara and Rio Mesa--comprise half of the teams to make the quarterfinal round.

Division III--Golden League champion Palmdale and Mission League runner-up St. Francis meet Friday at St. Francis in a quarterfinal game at 5 p.m. Palmdale’s Murad Dibbini, who has 41 goals, is questionable due to a hip injury suffered in a first-round victory over Whittier. Dibbini played about 10 minutes in the Falcons’ Tuesday victory over Hacienda Heights Wilson. Merrick Henry, who has 15 goals, and Brandon DeShields, who has 10 goals, will be counted on heavily. Palmdale also reached the divisional quarterfinals in 1993-94 and 1991-92. . . . After scoring three goals in the regular season, St. Francis forward Kris Cash has scored four in two playoff games. Cash began the season as the Golden Knights’ defender assigned to shadow the opposition’s offensive standout but switched positions with Ryan Norstadt, who has proven adept at tailing snipers. Pete Vagenas has 17 goals and 17 assists for St. Francis and Eric Johnson has 17 goals and 13 assists.

Division IV--La Canada will be without Jason Cropley, who has 30 goals, for today’s quarterfinal game against Sierra Vista. Cropley was ejected in Tuesday’s victory over Corona Centennial for picking up a pair of yellow-card warnings. La Canada has extended its Southern Section record for consecutive victories to 47. Nick Andrus leads La Canada with 36 goals.

Girls: Division I--For the second consecutive season, none of the Marmonte League’s three qualifiers advanced past the quarterfinals. In fact, this season none were left after the first round, with Westlake losing a wild-card game and Royal and league champion Thousand Oaks dropping first-round games.

Division II--Harvard-Westlake (22-4-1) has looked worthy of the No. 1 seeding in the division, trouncing Muir, 7-0, and Lakewood St. Joseph, 4-0. Susan Baise had six assists against Muir and Jessica Post scored four goals. . . . Ventura, which used upset shootout victories over Chaminade and Temple City to advance to the second round, bowed out Tuesday with a 3-0 loss to Redlands. The Cougars (16-6-5) return 10 starters next season.

Division IV--St. Bonaventure suffered its first loss Tuesday in a second-round game with Righetti, despite outshooting the Warriors, 24-7. The Seraphs (19-1-5), who scored 94 goals and allowed eight, will have 14 letter-winners back.

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