Boys basketball: Classic from A to Z

Barry Faulkner

With 44 teams and 93 games at no less than six different gymnasiums

in three action-packed days, the second annual George Yardley Summer Cage

Classic will serve up a veritable boys basketball buffet.

One might even say the event, orchestrated by Newport Harbor High, has

everything from A to Z. To wit:

A-liso Niguel, Newport’s Sea View League rival, is in the field.

B-olsa Grande, from where Bill Reynolds moved on to coach Southern

California College (now Vanguard University) and a lanky Larry Hirst,

also occupies a spot in the bracket.

C-orona del Mar hopes to continue its strong summer start, which could

mean a second-round clash today with the Back Bay rival Tars.

Dana Hills’ Dolphins will attempt to show off a few new tricks, which

can be observed for the modest $2 admission charge at all sites.

E-stancia, which has some intriguing transfers added to a mix of

improved returners, opens at home today at 10 a.m. against Calabasas.

F-oothill, set to join Newport Harbor in the Sea View League next

season, will give locals a chance to scout the 2003 competition.

G-arden Grove League representative La Quinta is on hand, as is its

namesake from the desert.

H-ost with the most would be Newport Harbor Coach Larry Hirst, who

became a fibrotic fiend in order to coordinate, by phone, the expansion

from 32 teams to 44.

I-vy League representative Valley View hopes to demonstrate there’s no

I in team.

J-ackrabbits from Victor Valley will be running and jumping between

the whistles, at least if they want to keep their coach from spiking his

clipboard.

K-atella’s Knights have this letter double covered.

L-a Canada, a frequent playoff nemesis in recent years for CdM, Costa

Mesa and Estancia, always seems to have talented, fundamentally sound

teams.

M-ater Dei, though usually without some of its marquee names in this

event, provides any team that can interrupt the Monarchs’ reign the

chance to make its offseason.

N-orthwood, led by former Estancia and Orange Coast College head man

Tim O’Brien, is faced with the novel challenge of replacing players in

the school’s first graduating class.

O-range High is one of six hosts, but the Panthers will only play at

home today, before venturing off to other sites.

P-umas is the mascot for Temecula-based participant Chaparral. Wonder

if they’ve got a shoe contract?

Q-uinn, as in Chris Quinn, will coach St. Monica against his alma

mater, CdM, in today’s opener at 10 a.m. at Newport Harbor. As an

overachieving senior forward in 1992-93, Quinn helped lead the Sea Kings

to the CIF Division IV-AA crown.

R-ialto is one of several squads commuting from the Inland Empire.

Winning would be great, of course, but those ocean breezes surely justify

the drive.

S-avanna’s Rebels are ordinarily civil about moving quickly to the

consolation bracket.

T-esoro, preparing for its debut varsity season, should add to a

strong South Orange County contingent.

U-niversity’s run-and-gun style somehow seems suited to the summer,

thoughCoach Mike Dinneen and his players usually make it work in the

winter, as well.

V-alley appears on the bracket no less than six times -- trailing

Fountain, Santa Ana, Temecula, Arroyo and Victor, while preceding View.

W-olverines (Aliso Niguel), Wolfpack (Claremont), Timberwolves

(Northwood) and Trabuco Hills Coach Rainer Wulf, could keep things wild

and woolly.

X marks the midpoint in the last name of El Toro Coach Todd Dixon,

who, like Hirst a former SoCal College player under Reynolds, looks

forward to meeting up with Hirst and Reynolds at this event every summer.

Y-ardley, for whom the tournament is named, graduated from Newport

Harbor in 1946 and went onto stardom at Stanford and the NBA, en route to

the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. His retired jersey number

is a glaring omission from the school’s gymnasium walls. They did have

numbers back then, didn’t they George?

Z-ack Novak, a hard-working Estancia guard preparing for his senior

season, comes to the rescue here. Novak, whom Eagles Coach Chris Sorce

said is ready to blossom after an understated junior campaign, is the

kind of player for whom this summer experience is most vital.

Why not experience some of this year’s event yourself? See you there.