Burroughs High Improves Just In Time for Playoffs

Burroughs High is in a position Coach Art Sullivan wouldn’t even have dreamed of being a month ago--in the Southern Section playoffs.

The Indians, considered a Foothill League title contender until an 0-3 league start, are hosting a first-round game Friday night against Temple City.

“I’m estatic to get a home game,” Sullivan said. “But I’m estatic to just be in.”

Burroughs (17-9, 6-4 in league play) won six of its last seven games, including a victory over Foothill champion Hart, to finish in third place.

Pivotal to the run was the team’s ability to take care of the ball.

In their last two games, both victories, the Indians had only seven turnovers. Point guard Mario Fernandez, who led Foothill players with a 4.7 assist average, had one turnover in the last two games.

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Harvard-Westlake, the defending state Division III champion, turned heads by winning 13 of its first 15 games this season after losing four starters to graduation, including 6-foot-10 twin towers Jason and Jarron Collins.

But when senior point guard Victor Munoz, the only returning starter, went down with a knee injury, the Wolverines became average.

“You know what you’re losing when you lose a Jason or Jarron, but sometimes with [losing] a small guy you don’t realize the impact it will have on the team,” Coach Greg Hilliard said. “But we learned this season that a point guard is pretty crucial.”

Without Munoz, who had knee surgery Friday, the Wolverines were 6-5 and didn’t win successive games until the final week of the season.

“We just figured that was the kind of team we were,” Hilliard said. “Then we put two wins together at the end and we’re pretty excited.”

The Wolverines (19-7), who were 95-6 in the three previous seasons, finished third in the Mission League and will play at Lompoc Cabrillo (12-11) in a first-round Division III-A playoff game Friday.

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The odds were in Hoover’s favor entering a Pacific League finale Thursday. Luck, however, was not.

In two of three possible scenarios, Hoover would have finished second and qualified for playoffs. But Hoover had to win its final game.

The third scenario--a Hoover loss to Crescenta Valley combined with a Pasadena upset of first-place Muir--would drop Hoover into a third-place tie with Crescenta Valley, a team it had lost to twice, and no guarantee of a playoff berth.

“We had our fate in our own hands,” Coach Kirt Kohlmeier said.

Unfortunately for the Tornadoes, Pasadena beat Muir by 15 and Hoover lost by one to Crescenta Valley. Hoover (16-10) did not get an at-large berth.

“Go figure,” Kohlmeier said.

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Rocky Steryo of Montclair Prep made eight three-point baskets in an 89-53 victory over Calabasas on Wednesday, giving him 243 for his career and moving him into 10th place on the state all-time list, according to Cal-Hi Sports.

The senior guard needs 17 three-point baskets in the playoffs to move into ninth place.

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The most undeserving participant in the Southern Section playoffs could be St. Bonaventure (10-13), which finished last in the Tri-Valley League with an 0-8 record.

Because the Division IV-A draw lacked quality teams, the Seraphs received an at-large berth and will play at Del Rey League champion Serra in a first-round game Wednesday.

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Grant forward Laron Harris took 26 charges this season.

“He hits the floor a lot,” said Grant Coach Howard Levine.

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Agoura Coach Bill Sanchez experienced the highs and lows of his profession last week.

He was ecstatic when Agoura upset Simi Valley, 70-69, in a Marmonte League game Wednesday, and was disappointed when the Chargers lost to Westlake, 61-46, in the final game of the regular season Friday.

“We had a big, big letdown,” Sanchez said. “We should have beaten Westlake and gone into the playoffs on a high note. Instead, we backed in.”

Fourth-place Agoura (13-11, 7-7) will play at Channel League champion Dos Pueblos (22-4, 12-2) in a Division II-A playoff opener Friday.

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Simi Valley center Rafael Berumen, who missed both of the Pioneers’ games last week with a sore right elbow, is still listed as day to day by Coach Dean Bradshaw.

Berumen, a 6-9 junior who was The Times’ Ventura County player of the year last season, averages 21 points, 10.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists for Simi Valley (22-5), which hosts Santa Maria in a first-round Division I-AA playoff game Friday.

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Jeff Stuteville of Camarillo (9-14, 3-11 in Marmonte League play) closed the season on a hot streak at the free-throw line.

Stuteville, a 6-1 senior, made 154 of 186 free throws (82.8%), including 67 of 74 (90.5%) in the second half of league play.

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Hueneme had a single-digit win total for the fifth consecutive season, but the Vikings (9-14, 5-9 in Channel League play) won three of their final four games to close the season on a positive note.

After defeating Ventura, 81-74, on Feb. 4, Hueneme lost to Oxnard in overtime, 72-71, last week before beating Santa Barbara, 70-60, and Buena, 56-50.

“We felt we were getting better every night out,” second-year Hueneme Coach Tom McCollum said. “We didn’t have the most athletic team in the league, but the kids brought every ounce of energy they had to the floor.”

With leading scorer Robbie Collins and several other top players expected back next season, Hueneme should be a playoff contender in the new Pacific View League that will include Camarillo, Channel Islands, Oxnard and Rio Mesa.

Staff writers Peter Yoon, Paige A. Leech, Tris Wykes, Michael Lazarus and John Ortega contributed to this notebook.