Brown Is Scoring Some Pinkie Points

Like the Energizer Bunny, Thousand Oaks High girls’ basketball coach Chuck Brown keeps going . . . and going . . . and going.

Brown is appearing in a nationwide commercial for the battery company.

In the advertisement, Brown plays a cross-country coach who implores his team to keep trying to compete and win, using the bunny as a motivating tool.

This isn’t the first foray into television for Brown. Several years ago, the Thousand Oaks girls’ basketball team was featured in a Reebok commercial. Brown was contacted by the same producers to play the gravelly voiced coach.

“[Friends] aren’t recognizing me right away, but as soon as they hear the voice they know that it’s me,” Brown said.

One of those who recognized Brown was Vanderbilt star Michelle Palmisano, who played for Brown at Thousand Oaks.

“She thought it was great,” Brown said.

Crying foul: Buena center Nicole Greathouse saw her illustrious high-school career end in bizarre fashion Thursday by fouling out on a technical call. Referee Shell Brown tagged Greathouse for pumping her fists after she made a late basket in the Bulldogs’ 60-55 upset loss to Narbonne in the Southern California Regional Division I semifinals.

Just two days earlier, Greathouse, a 6-foot-2 senior bound for UC Santa Barbara, told The Times that high-school referees have been whistle happy against her all season.

“They like to pick on big people,” she said. “That’s one reason why I’m looking forward to college.”

Looking up: Now that Sylmar Coach Bort Escoto has turned the Spartan boys’ basketball program around in just three seasons, he’s says it’s time to take the next step.

If Valley Pac-8 Conference coaches and the City Section will allow it, Escoto would like the Spartans to move up to the 4-A Division, as Canoga Park did after the 1995-96 season.

“I just don’t like playing 3-A,” he said. “You don’t get any respect. It does nothing for the program.”

A jump to the 4-A would be quite a stretch for the Spartans, who won seven of 41 games in the previous two seasons.

After a 6-7 start, Sylmar went on to win the Mid-Valley League title this season, advanced to the semifinals of the 3-A Division playoffs and finished 17-9.

But is Sylmar--even with three returning starters--ready to play with the big boys and make a serious run at a 4-A title?

“It depends on how many free agents we pick up in the summer,” quipped Escoto.

Melting pot: Taft High boys’ volleyball Coach Doug Magorien might as well be working for the United Nations.

His team includes a Syrian (Afram Naoum), an Israeli (Elan Yackvee), three players of Middle Eastern descent (Parham Feyerdonny, Mazdack Marzban, Steve Alverdi), and two brothers from Afghanistan (Mushtaba and Mortiza Mohammed Noorzay), who began their move to the U.S. by riding in a tank across Afghanistan.

“We’re a United Nations that actually gets along in real life,” Magorien said.

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Eight in a row

When Buena defeated Crescenta Valley, 59-55, in the Southern Section Division I-A girls’ basketball championship game at the Pyramid in Long Beach last week, it gave the Bulldogs their fourth title in five years. Almost as impressive, It was Buena’s eighth consecutive appearance in a section final.

Here is a list of the title games.

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Season Division Place Score Opponent 1989-90 5-A 2nd 49-45 Hart 1990-91 I-A 2nd 67-57 Thousand Oaks 1991-92 I-A 2nd 76-46 Thousand Oaks 1992-93 I-A 1st 44-33 Thousand Oaks 1993-94 I-A 1st 50-41 Mater Dei 1994-95 I-A 2nd 57-53 Mater Dei 1995-96 I-A 1st 56-51 Mater Dei 1996-97 I-A 1st 59-55 Crescenta Valley

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