HIGH SCHOOL NOTEBOOK

Eric Brown has the full arsenal.

The senior guard at Palmdale can drive for easy baskets, shoot a pull-up jump shot or make a three-pointer.

Brown, averaging 28.7 points, can break the school record for points in a season tonight against Antelope Valley.

Brown has 631 points in 23 games, 20 shy of the record set by Kerry Yates in 1997-98.

“As long as something [bad] doesn’t happen, I think he should get [the record],” Palmdale Coach Garry Phelps said.

The 5-11 Brown even plays defense.

“He’s always been able to score and shoot the ball, but we challenged him to work on his defense before the season,” Phelps said.

“He’s made big improvements there. As [Littlerock Coach] Ben [Dale] said, you think he’s not doing anything defense-wise and the next thing you know, he’s got two or three steals and he’s getting layups at the other end.”

*

Brandon White, a 6-6 senior center, has been kicked off the Littlerock team for disciplinary reasons.

White was averaging 11.3 points and 13.1 rebounds.

*

They’ve been given a simple, yet apropos, moniker: “The Cousins.”

Jackson Beauchamp, John Durso, Ryan Shaffer and Tyson Larson, cousins at Grace Brethren, are playing their final regular-season game tonight against Faith Baptist.

Last fall, they helped lead the Lancers to a football championship in the Southern Section Eight-Man Large Schools Division.

Now they’ve got the basketball team in position for a playoff run.

The cousins haven’t always been together on the court--Shaffer missed last season because of a torn anterior cruciate ligament and Larson missed 10 games this season because of a broken hand.

But they have provided a strong nucleus for the Lancers (16-7, 9-2).

“It’s been a fun run,” assistant Tim Howard said. “They’re excellent athletes. They work to each other’s strengths and weaknesses.”

*

Gracie Coronado of Burroughs came through with an impressive two-game stretch in Foothill League girls’ play last week.

The 5-10 sophomore had 18 points and 14 rebounds in a loss to Valencia. She had 24 points and 23 rebounds and set a school record by making all 12 of her free throws in a victory over Saugus. She also had four steals in each game.

Burroughs Coach Doug Nicol called Coronado’s performance against Saugus one of the best he’s seen.

“It was incredible,” Nicol said. “She just couldn’t be stopped.”