Esperanza Now Team to Beat

The last two teams that won the National Classic tournament--Germantown (Tenn.) in 1995 and Miami (Fla.) Westminster Christian in 1996--went on to win a mythical national championship.

Esperanza Coach Mike Curran--whose Aztecs defeated El Dorado for the title Thursday--does not expect to be listed No. 1 nationally, although they expect to enter the national rankings. Winning the tournament showed Curran that the 11-2 Aztecs can play with anybody.

It will make Esperanza a marked team when it resumes Sunset League play Wednesday against Marina.

“In a league such as ours, [winning the tournament] sends out challenges to the rest,” Curran said. “Beating us will now put a feather in their cap. So the sneaking-up-on-people days are over. Besides, no one goes undefeated in our league.

“My concern is teams, win or lose, put so much emotion into the tournament, that when you return to league you’re usually so drained. Every time we’ve played in it, the next game has either been a very tough win or a loss.”

On the other side, Canyon, which entered the tournament top-ranked nationally by USA Today but split four games, can now concentrate solely on winning the Century League and winning a second consecutive section title.

“I would have loved to have gone 4-0,” Coach Mike Najera said. “But I hope this shows us that we are not invincible, that you have to go out and play hard every time.”

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After its Division II state championship victory, Laguna Hills joined Brea Olinda and Woodbridge as the only county girls’ basketball teams to be ranked No. 1 in the state in the final poll by Cal-Hi Sports.

It was also Laguna Hills’ only appearance at No. 1.

“I think the reason it took us awhile to get there is you have to have some tradition behind you, and we didn’t have that,” Laguna Hills Coach Lynn Taylor said.

Brea and Woodbridge had previously appeared in the state finals before being No. 1. Laguna Hills had never even reached the Southern Section finals.

“I’m not sure you work any harder with a talented group like this than you do when you have a group that’s not too talented,” Taylor said. “It leaves me with the realization that to get to this point, it’s a combination of having the right team at the right place at the right time.”

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Scott Tenchka, co-coach of the year in the Academy League, has resigned as basketball coach at Fairmont. Tenchka, 11-51 in three seasons, cited “philosophical differences” for leaving the small private school. He said he hopes to relocate to Oregon or Idaho.

Huskies Athletic Director Michael Halasz said he is accepting applications for the position.

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Duke-bound Chris Burgess of Woodbridge, The Times’ Orange County boys’ player of the year, fared better in his second national high school all-star game than his first.

Burgess scored 15 points in Magic’s Roundball Classic at The Palace in Auburn Hills, Mich., on Sunday. He was seven of 15 from the field and made one of three three-point attempts.

At the McDonald’s All-Star Game, Burgess took six shots and made a single three-pointer.

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Though the South has handled the North in the state playoffs in Division III and higher in recent years, the third California State All-Star girls’ basketball game Saturday at UC Irvine had a fairly surprising conclusion.

The North won by 30 points, 85-55.

Trailing, 12-9, the North took over behind Rincon Valley Christian’s Erin Bueschler (21 points), who scored eight consecutive points.

Brea Olinda’s Jennifer Saari scored nine points. Laguna Hills’ Tamara Inoue scored three points and Tayyiba Haneef scored two.

Times staff writers Martin Henderson and Paul McLeod contributed to this report.