In a Flash, It May Just Be Fillmore

They are not the Tri-Valley League’s four-time defending boys’ basketball champions--that honor belongs to the players at Oak Park High.

They do not return the most experienced players--that nod goes to Bishop Diego. And they are not the circuit’s most athletic team--they may be dead last in that category.

But the Fillmore Flashes are certainly the Tri-Valley League’s most intriguing bunch.

Led by outspoken and occasionally outrageous Coach Harry Burns, Fillmore is a serious contender for its first league title since 1984. And Burns is telling anyone who will listen.

“We’re going to win [the] league,” Burns said in October.

Last month, he was at it again.

“The road to the Tri-Valley League title leads through Fillmore,” Burns said. “And the [other league] coaches know it. Why do you think they’re out here scouting us?”

This with a team that finished tied for last in league play last season at 2-6 and was 7-15 overall.

In a profession where his brethren tend to sandbag against overconfidence, Burns’ comments have raised eyebrows.

“He wants those kids to believe they’re championship caliber,” Oak Park Coach Rob Hall said. “Winning is contagious and maybe you can ride a wave there. But I’d be surprised if they can go out on the road and win consistently in this league.”

Burns, 56, and a longtime history teacher at Fillmore who coached the girls’ team at the school from 1975-81, said he’s simply being honest about his team’s talent.

“We do have a good team and I don’t want to be negative,” Burns said. “I’m not being cocky; we will have to expend every ounce of energy to knock off Oak Park and Bishop Diego.”

Whether Burns is crowned prophet or fool will be known in less than two months. But what’s evident now is that the league race could be the tightest in years.

Oak Park, winner of 31 of its last 32 league contests, returns only two starters and appears to have dropped back to the pack somewhat. Bishop Diego returns four senior starters and owns the league’s most pronounced home-court advantage with its aging, dimly-lit gym.

Carpinteria and St. Bonaventure, which returns no starters, figure to finish fourth and fifth, respectively, but can still play spoiler.

The wild card is Fillmore (10-5), a slow, undersized group that relies on all-out hustle and impressive shooting to carry it past more talented teams.

“I’ve lived here 25 years and I don’t think Fillmore’s ever had a team the last two decades that can [shoot] like these guys,” Burns said. “If we’re on, look out.”

The Flashes’ core is a senior quartet kept intact and nurtured by Burns for nearly four years: point guard Estevan Zendejas, shooting guard Jesus Jasso and forwards Mario Galvez and Dago Pantoja.

Last season, Galvez missed much of the season with an injury and the Flashes started a 5-foot-3 point guard, a 5-7 forward and the 5-11 Jasso, who has since sprouted to 6-1.

Galvez is 6-1 and junior center Greg Arnsdorf is 6-3, giving Fillmore its tallest lineup in years. Still, Burns admits his team is really “a bunch of guards” and has to look up at its competition on most nights.

Consequently, the Flashes excel at passing and shooting, the latter often coming in the form of successful three-point attempts.

“We shoot 40 minutes of three-point shots in every practice,” Burns said. Burns is the first to say that the majority of his players would not even make the varsity at a bigger school. But in Fillmore, with a high school of 900 in a town with an approximate population of 12,000, the Flashes are a source of pride.

“Every time I go in the local shop for a coffee or a doughnut I get hung up for 10 minutes talking about the team,” Burns said.

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AT A GLANCE

* THE PROVEN: Oak Park’s Greg Jones played out of position at point guard last season as a junior. Now he’s the team’s shooting guard and leads it with averages of 20.9 points, 4.1 assists and 2.6 steals. . . . Oak Park senior center John Murphy, 6 feet 6 and 225 pounds, led Ventura County last season with an average of 13.3 rebounds. . . . Fillmore relies on the senior foursome of guards Jesus Jasso and Estevan Zendajas and forwards Mario Galvez and Dago Pantoja. The quartet has played together for four years on three different levels in the program. . . . St. Bonaventure returns no starters but senior swingman Patrick Devericks, 6-2 and 181 pounds, is the Seraphs’ most experienced player. . . . Bishop Diego returns four senior starters, led by 6-5 center Christian Rovsek, an all-league and all-section honoree last season who averages 13 points and eight rebounds.

* THE PROMISING: Brandon Duplessie, a 6-6, 205-pound center at St. Bonaventure, is making an impact as a freshman. He averages 11.4 points and 8.5 rebounds. . . . Fillmore’s big man is center Greg Arnsdorf, a 6-3 junior promoted from last season’s junior varsity. . . . Oak Park has gotten a boost from 6-2 senior forward Jeff Smith, who is averaging 8.7 rebounds in his first varsity season. . . . Senior guard Tony Ortiz is the only new starter at Bishop Diego and averages seven points. . . . Carpinteria’s best newcomer is 6-2 sophomore forward Chris Redfield, averaging 13 points and hitting 50% of his three-point attempts.

* FAST FACT: Before capturing its own tournament title this season, Fillmore had not won the event in 26 years.

* 1996-97 STANDINGS: 1. Oak Park 19-7 overall, 8-0 in league play; 2. Bishop Diego 17-9, 6-2; 3. (tie) St. Bonaventure 9-15, 2-6; Carpinteria 10-13, 2-6; Fillmore 7-15, 2-6.