Newcomb Puts Wrap on Tale of the Tape

Antelope Valley defeats Palmdale in a nail-biter Friday, 78-74, and Coach Tom Mahan credits . . . . the school’s football coach?

“The key to our win was Coach [Brent] Newcomb,” Mahan said.

Newcomb’s heroics took place even before the opening tipoff, Mahan said. When Newcomb found out that Antelope point guard Matt Parm might not play because of a sprained ankle, Newcomb sprang into action.

Newcomb said to Mahan: “Coach, let me tape [Parm]. All we had was ankle injuries all year.”

Apparently, Newcomb’s tape job did the trick: Parm dished out five assists and scored six points and the Antelopes remain atop the league standings.

“The more [Parm] played the better he felt,” Mahan said.

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Ticket sales for the girls’ game between Crescenta Valley and Buena have been surprisingly slow.

The game, to be played Saturday at Buena, features two of the top teams in California.

“It’s starting to pick up,” Buena Coach Joe Vaughan said. “I just don’t think we have a real lot of publicity about it right now.”

The game is this year’s annual fund-raiser for the Bulldogs. The ticker ticket package features tri-tip and chicken dinner before the game.

The gym has been near its 1,400 capacity the past few years and raises around $6,000 annually.

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John Domke coached the Village Christian girls’ teams to five consecutive Alpha League titles, two Southern Section Division IV-AA finals and a region-best 56 consecutive league victories before resigning after the 1996-97 season.

Domke, who took a job coaching league rival Frazier Mountain, faced his former team for the first time Friday, and beat the Crusaders, 48-37.

Three days earlier, Village Christian’s streak ended at 56 with a 52-44 loss to L.A. Baptist.

That didn’t relieve the pressure from Domke.

“Everybody was asking me before the game if I was nervous,” said Domke, whose team is 9-4 overall. “I said I wasn’t, but I was lying.”

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The Santa Clara High boys’ and girls’ games against Nordhoff scheduled for today have been rescheduled.

The girls’ game at Santa Clara has been moved to 6:30 p.m. Saturday. The boys’ game at Nordhoff will be played at 7:30 p.m. Monday.

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Crespi administrators had to turn away wannabe spectators at the Celts’ gymnasium door as the boys’ game between rivals Notre Dame and Crespi begab Friday night. It was standing-room only and the first sell-out in four years, Crespi Coach Dick Dornan said.

Those who arrived in time to secure a spot in the gymnasium couldn’t have been disappointed with the game. Although it was a matchup of two teams with losing records in league play, it proved to rival the spirited battles of an earlier era.

Crespi won in overtime, 66-61.

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Camarillo senior Mark Larson suffered a broken bone in his right hand in a 71-55 loss to Newbury Park on Friday and will miss the rest of the season.

Larson, averaging 13 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.8 steals for the Scorpions (6-9, 0-6), is the second Camarillo starter to be lost for the season.

Senior D.J. Nakaba, who hadn’t played since December, underwent surgery Friday to remove bone chips from his right ankle.

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Sophomore Russell Lakey of Harvard-Westlake is 50 of 127 (39%) from three-point range and is averaging 21.2 points a game.

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Valencia High senior Lauria Rossiter is out for the season with a degenerative disc in her back.