Magnolia Names St. Clair to Coach Basketball

Magnolia High has named Chris St. Clair as its boys’ basketball coach, Sentinel Athletic Director Robert Rishel said Friday.

St. Clair, formerly of Sonora High and Cal State Fullerton, replaces longtime coach Al Walin, who resigned last month after 27 seasons with a record of 401-380.

St. Clair set single-game and career scoring records at Sonora and was a 1993 Times’ All-Orange County selection.

St. Clair’s career with the Titans spanned five seasons--a knee injury forced him to miss all but five games of the 1995-96 season. He was a starter in his final two seasons, finishing in 1998 with 185 career three-point field goals, second best in school history.

Rishel also said that Mater Dei assistant baseball coach Patrick Murphy has been named to replace Dennis McCuistion as the Sentinels’ baseball coach. McCuistion was recently hired to coach at Orange High.

Murphy will be the fifth Magnolia baseball coach in the last five seasons. The Sentinels won three consecutive Orange League titles from 1996-98 but were 2-20-1 last season.

BASKETBALL

Huntington Beach High has promoted assistant Richard Alvarez to coach the boys’ basketball team and hired Ryan Bettencourt as girls’ coach, Oiler Athletic Director Dave Van Hoorebeke said.

Alvarez, who played on Huntington Beach’s 1983 Sunset League championship team, replaces James Dingus, who quit after one season to go into private business. The Oilers were 8-18 and 0-10 in the Sunset League last season.

Bettencourt, who coached Northwood in its first varsity season in 2000-2001 and posted a 10-17 record, replaces Bill Thomson, who resigned in April after six seasons and an 88-77 record.

* Cypress College guard Angela Garrett has signed to play at Cal State San Bernardino. Garrett was named first-team All-Orange Empire Conference last season.