Jones Pays Penance of One Game for Ejection

Santa Clara High, waking up in time for a late-season run, will be without Nick Jones Tuesday against Calabasas.

Jones, averaging 21.8 points, picked up two technical fouls and was ejected after arguing an out-of-bounds call Friday against Santa Paula.

Under Southern Section rules, Jones is not allowed to play in the next game for the Saints (19-3, 4-2 in Frontier League play).

“First time he’s ever pulled anything like that,” Coach Lou Cvijanovich said. “He’s not that type of kid. He’s embarrassed.

“We don’t condone that type of stuff, but if that’s the worst thing that ever happens to him, he’s got a pretty good life ahead of him.”

Jones will return for the Saints’ game Thursday against league-leading Nordhoff (17-4, 5-1).

Santa Clara was 2-2 in league play before defeating Malibu and Santa Paula.

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Hueneme (10-12, 4-2) was heart-broken by its last-second, 61-60 defeat to Oxnard (18-6, 7-0), but Coach Tom McCollum told his players that they needed to put the outcome behind them.

“It’s important that we focus on our next two games because we need to win them to finish second in league,” McCollum said. “We can’t dwell on this loss because we’ve got two games left.”

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Poly (13-9, 7-1) is on the verge of winning its first outright Mid-Valley League championship this decade, and a big reason is the play of 6-3 senior James Word.

Word is averaging 20.5 points in seven games since becoming academically eligible.

“I think he’s one of the best two guards,” Coach Jay Werner said. “He brings a lot of desire on the defensive side.”

Before Word became eligible, Poly had no player averaging in double figures. He’s an excellent three-point shooting threat.

Another player contributing is 5-10 sophomore Mike Mgdesyan.

“He’s got the heart of a lion,” Werner said.

Poly needs to defeat Reseda on Wednesday to clinch the Mid-Valley championship.

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Titles in the Foothill and Golden leagues could be decided in the final game of the regular season.

In the Foothill League, Valencia and Burroughs are tied with 6-2 league records with two games to play. Burroughs, winner of five in a row, plays at third-place Canyon (5-3) tonight and at Burbank on Thursday. Valencia plays host to Saugus (4-4) tonight and plays host to Canyon on Thursday.

In the Golden League, Quartz Hill (7-1) leads Littlerock (6-2). Littlerock plays at Palmdale and Quartz Hill plays host to Lancaster tonight. On Friday, Littlerock travels to Quartz Hill.

GIRLS’ NOTE

Problems are knee deep at Cleveland.

Jessica Cosby, the leading scorer among City Section players, will miss the remainder of the season because of a knee injury, Coach KimBerly Kelly said.

Cosby, a junior forward who has had chronic problems with her right knee, injured her left knee when she came down with a rebound in a game against Birmingham on Friday.

Cosby, who is averaging 21.1 points and 11 rebounds a game, is the fourth Clevelandplayer to be sidelined with a knee injury.

Junior Melinda Malone was the first on the disabled list, sustaining a season-ending injury during a preseason game.

Since then, the Cavaliers have lost senior Stephanie Sanders, sophomore Cheyenne Brashear and Cosby. All started at one time or another.

Brashear is the only player who might possibly return for the playoffs.

“I told my boyfriend I’m going back to school to take a class on knees and how to fix them,” Kelly said.

Team members had a meeting Monday to re-evaluate team goals. The No. 1 goal?

“For nobody else to get hurt,” Kelly said.

To fill the void, Kelly brought up two players from the junior varsity team and one from the freshman-sophomore team.

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Nordhoff, which has won six consecutive Frontier League games and is 10-14 overall, received more good news--just in time for the playoffs.

Point guard Melody Shedlosky, out for all of the Rangers’ league games with a knee injury, has been cleared to play.

“She’ll be a great asset,” Coach Ted Cotti of Nordhoff said.

Shedlosky, a sophomore, also missed part of last season with a knee injury.

Staff writers Vince Kowalick, Paige A. Leech, John Ortega, Eric Sondheimer and correspondent Mike Bresnahan contributed to this notebook.