There’s a Buzz About Murphy

Bob Webb was a teammate of Bill Walton on UCLA’s 30-0 NCAA championship team in 1973. He saw Walton make 21 of 22 shots and score 44 points in the NCAA final against Memphis State.

So it’s easy to understand why it takes a lot to impress Webb.

Eshaya Murphy is winning him over.

Murphy is a 5-foot-11 junior forward at Van Nuys Montclair Prep, the defending Division V-AA girls’ basketball champion. Webb is the Mounties’ coach.

Two weeks ago, Murphy scored 45 points and had 32 rebounds against Santa Monica Crossroads. In the next game, she scored 34 points and had 20 rebounds against Granada Hills Hillcrest Christian. Then came a 35-point, 22-rebound performance against Cerritos Whitney.

“I guess she’s trying to show people she has hops,” Webb said.

Murphy is more than just a leaper. It’s her athleticism and all-around play that have college coaches constantly dropping by Montclair Prep to watch her practice.

From top-ranked Connecticut to Pacific 10 teams USC and Washington, the coaches are showing up to express recruiting interest in Murphy, who leads the Southland in scoring and rebounding with averages of 32.8 points and 22.8 rebounds.

“It’s so amazing,” she said. “I’m shocked. It’s overwhelming in a way. There are so many schools. I love every school. How can I say no? A lot of people tell me to be cool. Coach Webb told me, ‘Connecticut is coming.’ Oh my gosh, it puts a lot of pressure on you.”

Murphy is no pushover. At 12, she started playing for a YMCA team made up mostly of boys. After she made an aggressive drive, one of the boys got frustrated and pushed her down. He didn’t like getting embarrassed by a girl.

“They were jealous,” she said. “Feelings were hurt.”

Murphy started to cry but didn’t back down.

“I got back up and played,” she said. “It made me play harder to prove them wrong.”

As a sophomore, Murphy averaged 29.5 points and 17.0 rebounds. The Mounties had more experience and size last season, allowing Murphy to play primarily a forward position. This season, she has been learning to play with her back to the basket.

Her rising rebound totals come from tips. Webb jokes that she plays like former NBA star Moses Malone.

“He’d miss the layup, get the rebound and that’s how he padded his stats,” Webb said. “I told [Eshaya], ‘You’re doing the Moses thing.’ She goes, ‘Who?’”

There are not many athletes the caliber of Murphy. She enjoys entertaining spectators with powerful dribble moves and three-point shots. Her mother, Pauletta, has been known to shout, “Do a Kobe,” referring to the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant.

Webb sees Murphy as his team’s Walton. She can do just about anything--except beat him in H-O-R-S-E.

“I can still win because I start shooting hook shots,” he said.

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Last winter, left-hander Eric Moore of Granada Hills Kennedy was considered among the top pitchers in the City Section. His curveball was unhittable at times. When the season started, he began to have arm problems. He stopped throwing. He tried physical therapy. An MRI exam was inconclusive. No one knew the reason for his pain.

“I was hoping time or something would make it go away,” he said.

The last resort was surgery, and that’s what happened on Jan. 3. Moore was hoping the doctor found something, and he did. A tendon was pealing away from the joint in his shoulder. A screw was inserted. Moore awoke from the surgery feeling relieved. The pain will be gone. He can begin throwing in four months and hitting in three months.

It’s bad news that he might miss most of his senior year. But if he returns to the form of last winter, some college team is going to have an outstanding pitcher.

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What happens when you played football at a co-ed high school and it becomes an all-girls’ school?

If you’re Lamont Hollinquest, it doesn’t matter. Hollinquest, who graduated from Downey Pius X in 1989 and played football at USC and with the Green Bay Packers, will have his football jersey retired Tuesday at halftime of a basketball game involving the newly opened St. Matthias girls’ school.

St. Matthias replaced Pius X, but Hollinquest has continued to make donations to improve the school’s weight room, gym and field even though there are no boys remaining.

“Athletes are athletes,” he said. “And I feel like giving something back to the place where I spent four good years.”

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Lew Stueck, football coach at Loyola High from 1959-71, is now the athletic director at Verbum Dei. He’s calling upon his former players to help raise funds for Verbum Dei during a barbecue Feb. 10 from 1 to 4 p.m. at Verbum Dei. He plans to talk about his days running the single wing offense....

UCLA-bound 6-8 Matt McKinney of Santa Ynez will be sidelined three to eight weeks after suffering a partial ligament tear in his right ankle last week in a basketball game against Paso Robles....

Zach Evans, a 6-2 eighth-grade basketball player at Chatsworth Chaminade Middle School, was selected most valuable player at the Paul Muff Catholic grammar school tournament held at Encino Crespi. Evans played on the 14-and-under Maccabi team that won a gold medal last summer in Philadelphia.

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Eric Sondheimer can be reached at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.