Lawmen Answer Call at Highland

The Force is with the Highland High girls’ basketball team, but it has nothing to do with intergalactic powers.

The Bulldogs (16-5) have clinched their first Southern Section Division I-AA playoff berth in the program’s six-year history thanks in part to a coaching staff that features three members of law enforcement.

Ron Haywood, Vance Jackson and Ray McClinton each have juggled demanding professional schedules for the chance to help Highland lay down the law in the Golden League.

“It’s just a coincidence that we’re all working in related fields,” said Haywood, a varsity assistant and nine-year veteran of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Jackson has served 10 years with the L.A. Police Department, including six as a street cop.

He was at the center of the 1992 riots and twice had to dodge bullets.

He prefers guiding Highland’s freshman team and serving as the varsity shooting coach over being a shooting target.

“I’ve served my time in the streets,” said Jackson, who administers drug tests to LAPD recruits and probationers at Parker Center. “I would love to be a varsity coach some day.”

Jackson’s freshman team enters the final week of the regular season with a 15-2 record, including a first-place mark of 6-1 in the Golden League.

McClinton, a security guard for the Antelope Valley Union High School District, has guided the junior varsity team to a .500 record.

McClinton, a 7-foot former Paraclete High and Antelope Valley College center, works with the varsity team’s post players.

While Haywood and Jackson have head-coaching aspirations, McClinton is focused on a different goal.

After falling short of making the Phoenix Suns in a 1995 tryout, McClinton is planning another run at professional basketball. He hopes to audition for the Clippers, Suns and teams in the Continental Basketball Assn.

In the meantime, he continues to learn the game alongside Tim Knight, Highland’s head coach, Haywood and Jackson.

“They’re basketball geniuses and I try to pick their brains every chance I get,” McClinton said. “It’s an incredible opportunity for me.”

And for the Bulldogs, who won a total of two league games in the previous two seasons.

Last season, Highland lost to perennial league champion Palmdale, 57-6.

The gap has closed dramatically. Two weeks ago, the second-place Bulldogs lost to Palmdale, 41-40. The teams meet again Thursday night at Highland.

“We’ve come a very long way,” said forward Kameelah Purdom, the only senior on the team. “We needed a lot more discipline and to be shown how to focus better as a team. These coaches taught us how to do that.”

Last spring, Knight, who guided the Bulldog boys’ team to the 1995-96 league championship, took over the girls’ program.

Now one of the league’s worst programs is among the best.

Knight deflects much of the credit to his staff.

“It’s a great group of guys,” he said of his assistants. “The sacrifices they make are incredible. I think Haywood and Jackson work solely on naps.”

Haywood, Jackson and McClinton aren’t the only double-duty coaches in the region. In fact, they’re not even the only law enforcement officers who coach.

Quartz Hill girls’ Coach Steve Lankford is a robbery and assaults detective for the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department in Palmdale. Village Christian Coach Brent Smith is an investigator for the L.A. District Attorney’s office.

Haywood, who works at the Sheriff’s inmate reception center in Los Angeles, might soon join the ranks of head coaches.

Knight already has given Haywood many responsibilities associated with a head coach.

Haywood is in charge of the defense and he does much of the talking during timeouts. He also plays a significant part in practice.

“Every day I give him more and more responsibility,” said Knight, who has been a mentor to all three of his assistants. “Ron will make a wonderful head coach some day.”

Said Haywood: “When that day comes, I know I will always have Coach Knight’s phone number handy.”