BOYS’ HIGH SCHOOL NOTEBOOK

What’s a coach to do when his team loses two games and a chance to win a fourth consecutive league title in the final week of the regular season?

Treat the players to dinner and a movie, of course.

That’s what Sylmar Coach Bort Escoto did Saturday night after the Spartans blew an early 12-point lead and lost to Monroe, 65-63, Friday in the Valley Mission League title game.

“It was just to pick them up a little bit,” Escoto said.

Escoto hosted a similar “mandatory team night” several weeks ago after the Spartans struggled in a Las Vegas tournament. He took the players bowling.

The Spartans responded by winning eight league games in a row.

Escoto is hoping “The Hurricane” will have a similar effect on the Spartans, who face No. 4-seeded Taft in a City Championship playoff opener on Friday.