Wooden Winners Get a Ticket to the Show

Five players from the Southern Section and one from the City Section have been selected as Wooden Award winners and will be honored Friday night at the Regal Biltmore Hotel.

Senior forward Travon Bryant of Long Beach Jordan, junior center Tyson Chandler of Compton Dominguez, junior guard Errick Craven of Torrance Bishop Montgomery, senior guard Felipe Williams of Santa Monica Crossroads, senior forward Othell Johnson of Price and Jason Morrissette of Fairfax will attend the black-tie dinner and reception that will be highlighted by the presentation of the John R. Wooden Award to college basketball’s player of the year.

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Shortstop David Espinosa of Miami Gulliver Prep High (Fla.) and left-hander Sean Burnett of Palm Beach Wellington (Fla.)--regarded as two of the nation’s top professional baseball prospects--are among the players that will participate in the 11th annual National Classic tournament April 17-20 in Orange County.

Riverside Poly, Fountain Valley, Placentia El Dorado and Anaheim Esperanza are Southland teams in the 16-team tournament. The championship game will be played at Cal State Fullerton.

Woodland and Fresno Clovis are other California teams in an event that also includes: Melbourne Palm Bay and Cooper City of Florida; Thiells North Rockland and Newburgh Free Academy of New York; Morristown Delbarton School (N.J.); Las Vegas Silverado; Salt Lake City Taylorsville; and Phoenix Shadow Mountain.

Orlando Bishop Moore (Fla.) defeated El Dorado in last year’s final. Esperanza, which won in 1997, is the last California team to win the title.

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A tribute for Ellis Hecht, a Beverly Hills boys’ volleyball player killed in a March 17 traffic accident, will be held before the Normans’ Ocean League home game today against Culver City.

Comments from teammates about Hecht, a 6-foot-8 junior middle blocker, will be read by Marla Weiss, the Beverly Hills girls’ volleyball coach.