1995-96 BOYS’ BASKETBALL PREVIEW : OLYMPIC LEAGUE

BRETHREN CHRISTIAN: 14-6, 2-8 in 1994-95. Coach: Dave Kirksey (first year). Prospects: Kirksey thinks he can sneak the Warriors into third place in the league race with good shooting and a transition game. Quickness shouldn’t be a problem, but a lack of experience might be. A pair of football players, Scott Milne and Mike Legaspi, are returning starters who are expected to provide leadership. Milne averaged 11 points and Legaspi six. Senior Dan Muilenburg, the football team’s tight end, is 6-5, junior Duane Hundley is 6-6 and sophomore Jacob Brown is 6-3, so the team has fair height.

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CALVARY CHAPEL: 21-7, 8-2 in 1994-95. Coach: Craig Falconer (third year, 34-21). Prospects: Led by junior guard Kevin Falconer, the Eagles might be the deepest team in the league. Falconer averaged 13.7 points and 8.6 rebounds last season. He’ll be joined by two returning starters: 6-5 forward Nate Morton and 6-2 guard Joe Ortiz. Morton averaged 11 points and Ortiz pumped in about 12. Also back is 6-5 reserve center Robert Cutler, who is expected to step into the starting role. Junior varsity MVP Garid Beeler, a 6-2 forward, and Justin Jones, a 5-6 junior, will vie for starting roles, as well. Craig Falconer, who has set high expectations for the team, said, “We should win league and be highly ranked in CIF.”

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ONTARIO CHRISTIAN: 13-12, 4-6 in 1994-95. Coach: Bob Reichert (third year, 25-26). Prospects: With three part-time starters back, the Knights will be hard-pressed to survive in this league. Reichert is aiming for the Division V-A playoffs, where the team advanced to the quarterfinals last season.

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ORANGE LUTHERAN: 7-16, 3-7 in 1994-95. Coach: Shawn Cassidy (first year). Prospects: Cassidy was handed three senior starters when he took the job: Kyle Salyer, a 6-4 forward who averaged 10 points, Brian Sappington, a 6-5 center who grabbed seven rebounds per game, and point guard Robert Meaux, who averaged four assists. Four other seniors, guards Jason Kemmer and Kevin Rutten and forwards Ben Willits and Aaron Kenney, also are back. Che Holloway, the football team’s top running back, says he’ll play basketball this season, too, as will linebacker Chris Amato. The Lancers should guard the base line fairly well with that contingent, but it’s the perimeter Cassidy worries about.

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CERRITOS VALLEY CHRISTIAN: 14-10, 6-4 in 1994-95. Coach: Harold De Bie (27th year, 497-249) Prospects: The dean of the league, De Bie figures to get his 500th career victory before league competition begins. But exactly when that will occur hinges on the success of the school’s top-ranked football team, where three basketball starters are right now.

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WHITTIER CHRISTIAN: 17-11, 7-3 in 1994-95. Coaches: Bob Brown and Robert Aviles (18 years, 116-70). Prospects: Aviles, who played for Whittier Christian in 1978, joins his old mentor, Brown, in his first year on the varsity level. Senior guard Brad Smith, an All-Southern Section selection, returns. He averaged 15.4 points. He’ll be joined by senior forward Kaipo Takahashi, senior guards Robert Spencer and Ephraim Carbins and junior guard Matt Oronoz, all of whom saw action last season. Others expected to battle for playing time are Randy Snyder, a 6-1 junior forward, Andre Karapetian, a 5-11 guard, Jon Stoa, a 6-2 freshman center, and Steve Doney, a 6-5 center transfer from Desert Christian.