Judge Denies Westchester’s Plea to Stay City’s Postseason Ban

Westchester’s bid to win a third consecutive state Division I boys’ basketball championship suffered a blow Friday when a Los Angeles Superior Court judge refused to issue a temporary restraining order that would have prevented the City Section from enforcing a postseason ban for an alleged recruiting violation.

It leaves the Comets at the mercy of Marie Ishida, executive director of the California Interscholastic Federation, who received an appeal of the one-year playoff ban on Monday. Unless Ishida overturns the postseason sanctions next week, the Comets won’t be able to compete for a fifth consecutive City Section title.

The City Section plans to seed its 16-team City Championship playoffs today and play the first round next Friday without Westchester.

Judge Dzintra I. Janavs declined to issue a temporary restraining order despite pleas from three attorneys representing Westchester Principal Dana Perryman, Coach Ed Azzam and players Rogdrick Craig and Amir Johnson. She expressed concern that Westchester might not be able to win a permanent injunction, resulting in forfeits and at least one team being denied entry into the playoffs.

“It was against the public interest,” said attorney William Schuetz, who represented the CIF at the hearing in Superior Court.

Westchester was banned from the postseason Dec. 16 by the City rules committee after hearing testimony by Los Angeles Verbum Dei officials that a Westchester assistant coach recruited the 6-foot-9 Johnson, who transferred.

Westchester denies the recruiting claims, which cost Johnson his junior season of eligibility. A three-person appeal panel refused to overturn the decision.