Chaminade’s Gym Earns a Big Assist

Chaminade High’s basketball team hasn’t had many breaks this season, but the Eagles got a huge one Monday against visiting Notre Dame.

The Knights had the ball with the score tied and eight seconds remaining when Rich Igou spotted Tommy Zapata at the other end of the court, open for an easy layup.

But Igou’s baseball pass was high and hit a speaker hanging from the ceiling at mid-court, turning the ball over to Chaminade.

“He threw the ball the only way he could,” Notre Dame Coach Pete Cassidy said. “He was being triple-teamed. I thought it was a great play. But to Chaminade’s credit, they still had to score.”

The Eagles set up a play at mid-court and Mike Yang made a three-foot shot with three seconds left, giving Chaminade a 68-66 victory.

FOOTHILL LEAGUE

Overlooked

Saugus running back Chris Johnson has received no scholarship offers and Coach Jack Bowman is mystified.

Johnson rushed for more than 3,000 yards in three seasons, which Bowman thought was enough to cash in for a scholarship.

When classes resumed at Saugus last week, Bowman spent many hours on the phone with college coaches, trying to persuade them to take second looks at Johnson and All-Valley lineman Matt Speranza.

“This really mystifies me,” said Bowman. “I’m real stunned about both of them.”

Johnson rushed for 1,398 yards and 19 touchdowns last fall.

NORTHWEST VALLEY

Irish Get Their Man

Finally, it’s a done deal.

San Fernando quarterback Leon Blunt signed a letter of intent with Notre Dame on Wednesday, the first day of the NCAA’s winter signing period, and ended weeks of speculation in the process.

It was no easy decision, Blunt said.

Blunt said that on Wednesday morning, he was still reconsidering his oral commitment to Notre Dame. USC also was heavily courting the option quarterback.

Early Wednesday, while Blunt was getting ready for school and still trying to make up his mind about college, Notre Dame called. The caller was informed that Blunt was in the shower.

“They said they’d hang on until I was done,” Blunt said, laughing. “They wanted to make sure I was gonna sign that thing.”

He did. Along with several other Southland standouts, Blunt finally signed his letter of intent during a ceremony at Bluechip Illustrated magazine headquarters in Woodland Hills. Hart defensive back John McLaughlin also signed with Notre Dame and attended the event.

Blunt may have had trouble selecting a school, but he remembers how to talk the talk.

“Me and McLaughlin were the only ones in Notre Dame hats,” Blunt said. “So everybody knew who the best guys were.”

*

Javy Ramos, an All-City Section basketball guard from San Fernando, missed all the hubbub. He didn’t miss any games, however.

Because of a family medical emergency, Ramos was forced to leave for Mexico on Jan. 15, two days before the earthquake leveled parts of the San Fernando Valley. High school basketball games were canceled for two weeks.

Ramos returned Monday night, in no apparent hurry to get back to school. Coach Dick Crowell called him at home Tuesday morning to see if he could make practice later that day.

Ramos said he couldn’t leave the house because the earthquake had damaged the door to his family home.

Said Crowell: “Javy, you were gone for seven or eight days and nobody messed with your house.”

The result?

“He hemmed and hawed, but he finally agreed (to come to practice),” Crowell said.

*

Bob Francola is a little worried about his team. That is, he’s wondering if he still has one.

Francola, the football coach at Kennedy, said the widespread earthquake damage at the Granada Hills campus has his players talking.

“Every time I see something (on television) about the schools, they show Kennedy,” Francola said. “That’s where the most visible damage is.”

As a result, Francola had to do some damage control of his own. Some returning Kennedy players already have assumed that the school will be bulldozed and that they will be attending another school next fall, he said.

Francola has started calling players to assure them that Kennedy, despite the structural damage, will field a team.

Kennedy, the newest of the 49 high schools in the L.A. Unified School District, suffered so much damage that administrators adopted a year-round academic calendar. The school is not expected to reopen until March.

MID-VALLEY LEAGUE

Got a Charge Out of It

Birmingham’s Tony Silberfeld doesn’t mind being a pushover on the court--just as long as he gets the call.

Silberfeld--all 6-feet and 128 pounds of him--has taken 28 charges in 12 games.

“Offensive charges not only turn games around, they can nullify baskets and change momentum,” Braves’ Coach Al Bennett said. “It is a really big play.”

Bennett said Silberfeld has an eye for spotting opportunity.

“He looks for that kind of thing,” Bennett said. “His back is all bruised up, but it has really kept us in games.”

PACIFIC LEAGUE

An ‘A’ for Honesty

You’ve got to respect a coach who comes right out and admits when he’s made a mistake. So, applaud John Goffredo.

The Crescenta Valley coach has watched Hoover upset his team twice this season, both on last-second shots. The second time was last week, and Goffredo admitted it was the Tornadoes’ delay offense that caused his team problems. The Falcons weren’t prepared for it, Goffredo said.

But Hoover’s delay was no secret. The Tornadoes had been running it for weeks.

“I didn’t think they’d do it against us, though,” Goffredo said. “I wasn’t prepared.”

MARMONTE LEAGUE

Royal Resurgence

The Royal girls’ basketball program, which did not have a winning record in any of Coach Paula Getty-Shear’s first five seasons, is riding high.

Last season, Royal was 5-17. “And that was with two forfeits,” Getty-Shear said, laughing. “We were really 3-19.”

But the resurgent Highlanders won 12 of their first 15 games this season, including a 54-42 victory over Thousand Oaks on Jan. 25. It was the first time a Getty-Shear team defeated the Lancers.

Why the sudden improvement?

“We have some (good) players finally,” Getty-Shear said.

Sophomore Tawnee Cooper has been a revelation, averaging 19.6 points, 9.7 rebounds and four steals a game.

Two other sophomore newcomers, Jenny Broadhurst and Merilee Lewis, start for the Highlanders, as does Croatian foreign-exchange student Bruna Grubisic.

*

The Channel Islands girls’ basketball team recently lost a starter for the rest of the season. But she isn’t injured, nor did she flunk all her classes or move out of the area.

She graduated.

Raider forward Alison Jones finished her required classwork as of the just-completed first semester and opted to graduate, ending her high school career early. “We’re going to miss her, but we’ll be all right,” Coach Don Salado said.

Jones may try to play for Oxnard College.

*

One of the hottest squads in the state, the Raiders (18-2) have won 17 consecutive games, including all 10 of their league contests, entering Thursday night’s game against Camarillo.

Senior guard Shawanda Hotchkiss has been their key player, averaging 17 points, 5.5 rebounds and three steals. “It’s been a great season for us,” Coach Don Salado said. “We’ve been playing real steady basketball.”

CHANNEL LEAGUE

Muscling In

Ventura has virtually locked up the league wrestling championship after beating Rio Mesa, 46-13, last week, but Coach Paul Clementi is looking for more.

The Cougars are ranked No. 2 in the Southern Section Division I coaches’ poll behind El Modena. If Ventura can finish in the top two, it will earn a home match in the preliminary round of the dual meet championships, an event it has hosted only once before, in 1992.

“It’s what we’re shooting for now,” Clementi said. “This has been a basketball town but we’re helping to turn it on to other sports. It would be a great way for our seniors to start their playoffs.”

Around the Leagues . . .

* St. Genevieve Coach Dan Donovan missed his team’s game last week because he was trying to move out of his earthquake-damaged home in Valencia. Problem was, Donovan couldn’t find any vacant storage space for his belongings while his home was being repaired. Building inspectors gave Donovan’s house a yellow tag, meaning limited access is permitted. He will stay there until he is able to store his belongings and move in temporarily with his in-laws in Northridge.

* St. Francis (17-5, 8-1 in Del Rey League play) has allowed 60 points or more only twice this season, and the Golden Knights won both of those games. The team is allowing 48.5 points per game, but averaging only 52.6 offensively.

* Crescenta Valley junior Brock Jacobsen finally has started to meet the scoring potential Coach John Goffredo had predicted. Jacobsen, who was injured early in the season, scored 53 points in two games last week. Jacobsen is the younger brother of Adam Jacobsen, who graduated from Crescenta Valley in 1993 and holds the Southern Section record for most three-point baskets with 387.

* Verdugo Hills’ Chan Cornish is averaging 17.8 points and 14.2 rebounds a game.

* Because of a scheduling quirk, the Crescenta Valley girls’ basketball team has played 11 of its last 12 games on the road. And its final four games, scheduled to be at home, will be played at Glendale College because the Falcon gym was damaged by the earthquake.

* Saugus forward Lisa Nielsen is the leading girls’ scorer in the Foothill League with an average of 13.9 points a game.

* Chaminade sophomore Tami Pivnick is leading the girls’ soccer team in scoring for the second consecutive season. The midfielder has 20 goals and eight assists in 20 matches. The Eagles are battling Mission League opponents Alemany, Harvard-Westlake and Louisville for the league’s final two playoff spots. Bishop Montgomery has clinched the title.

* Four Harvard-Westlake wrestlers were winners in their own tournament last weekend. Paul Michaels (103 pounds), Brandon Roth (112), Josh Eisenberg (171) and Germain de Martinis (189) each won their weight divisions, leading the Wolverines to the team championship.

Kennedy Cosgrove and staff writers Steve Elling, Jeff Fletcher, Dana Haddad, Michael Lazarus and Paige A. Leech contributed to this notebook.