BASKETBALL

Jack Pollon, an assistant coach at Montclair Prep, has been appointed coach and athletic director at Valley Torah in North Hollywood.

Pollon, 22, becomes one of the youngest head coaches in the region.

* Joey Youman and Michelle Jimenez of Sylmar High have signed letters of intent with Cal State Los Angeles.

Youman averaged 9.5 points and 7.8 rebounds for the boys’ team last season, and Jimenez averaged 7.3 points, 11.7 rebounds and 6.2 blocked shots for the girls’ team.

Kelly Paige of Crescenta Valley High also has committed to Cal State L.A.

She averaged 8.5 points and 7.8 rebounds last season.

BASEBALL

* Ryan Shipton, an outfielder for Newbury Park High who batted .377 last season, has committed to Texas Tech.

* Bryan Gant, a freshman outfielder for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo from Chatsworth High, earned freshman All-American honorable mention by Louisville Slugger and Collegiate Baseball magazine.

Gant played in 43 games for the Mustangs, 29 as a starter. He led Cal Poly with a batting average of .392 and was second on the team in doubles with 11 and stolen bases with 11 in 13 attempts.

Gant scored 29 runs and had 49 hits. He had a 15-game hitting streak and finished with 17 multiple-hit games.

* Bryan LaCour, a senior first baseman for UC Santa Barbara who attended Chatsworth High, was selected to the All-Big West Conference second team.

Justin Martin, a senior at Nevada from El Camino Real, and Terrmel Sledge, who transferred from Cal State Northridge to Long Beach State, also are on the second team.

Sophomore pitcher Matt Rainer of Nevada, who is from Royal High, and freshman Chris Wright of Long Beach State, from Hart High, were also second-team picks.

Spencer Oborn of Cal State Fullerton was player of the year.

TENNIS

* Philip Sheng, a sophomore from Thousand Oaks High who won the Southern Section singles championship last month, was chosen most valuable player in the Marmonte League.

Sheng won the league singles title for the second consecutive season.

* Bernadette Bayani of Simi Valley defeated Amy Walgenbach of Carmel, 6-2, 6-4, to help a team of 18- and 16-year-old players from Southern California beat a team from Northern California, 14-6, in the 26th annual Maze Cup on Sunday at Bakersfield Racquet Club.

Bayani, top player in the girls’ 18 division in Southern California according to the U.S. Tennis Assn., teamed with Candice Fuchs of San Diego in doubles and beat Walgenbach and Kristen Roberson of Carmel, 6-4, 6-3.

In boys’ 16 singles, Ryan Heinberg of Agoura Hills defeated Francisco Zaponi of Pleasanton, 6-1, 6-1, but fell to Brian Wright of Fresno, 7-6, 6-4.

GOLF

* Kyle Thurston of Moorpark shot even-par 72 Sunday to claim the 12- and 13-year-old division championship of the Exxon-BFI Future Tour tournament at the Greenville Country Club in Greenville, Miss.

Thurston, 13, carded a 79 on the first day of the two-day tournament, to finish with a total of 151, three strokes ahead of second-place Brandon Ellis of Gulf Shores, Ala., and four ahead of third-place Nick Beale of Champaign, Ill.

SOFTBALL

* Pitcher Maureen LeCocq of Chaminade was selected most valuable player in the Mission League.

The right-handed senior LeCocq (23-2) led Chaminade (25-6-1) to the Southern Section Division IV championship last week.

Erin Taylor, Lindsey Weinstein, Shannon Barceloux and Lauren Rousselet of Chaminade were named to the All-Mission League team.

Also on the team are Lacey Smale of Flintridge Sacred Heart, Meghann Reiss and Annette Ramirez of Alemany, Christine Jordt of Louisville, Elena Ferrero and Kim Koral of Harvard-Westlake, and Karen Tobin, Patricia Wetzel and Amanda De La Cerda, all of Notre Dame.

AUTO RACING

* Cory Kruseman of Ventura won the Sprint Car Racing Assn.’s 30-lap main-event race Saturday at Perris Auto Speedway.

Troy Rutherford of Ojai finished eighth.

Kruseman is second in the SCRA series standings with 859 points. He trails Richard Griffin of Silver City, N.M., who has 898 points.