Sports

By ALAN OTA and SEAN WATERS

Jan. 20, 1994 12 AM PT

SHOOTING COMETS

Although his team beat Manual Arts last week, Westchester Coach Ed Azzam is more concerned about finishing with the best record in the Coastal Conference than where the Comets rank among the City Section powers.

The Comets, ranked No. 3 in the Southland by The Times, beat the Toilers, 86-78, Jan. 12 in a game matching the top teams of the Coastal Conference. The Comets also beat Hamilton, 112-62, Friday.

Westchester (17-3) used an effective pressure defense to prevent the Toilers from developing their inside game. They also made 21 of 24 free throws.

“We put pressure on everyone’s guards,” Azzam said. “We’re all guards. If we don’t, our little big men underneath are going to get killed. There are probably 40 L.A. teams who can beat us with their big men.”

The Comets have 10 players who are 6-foot-2 or smaller who can run and score. The best is sophomore Danny Walker, who scored 19 points against Manual Arts.

Walker, a 6-foot-1 point guard, leads the team with an 18.2 scoring average. He was the most valuable player in the Artesia tournament.

“He’s one of the best players I’ve ever seen,” Azzam said. “He does everything well. He shoots the ball well, he handles the ball well.

“My only complaint is that I wish he would shoot the ball more. He doesn’t score as consistently as I would like.”

Ben Sanders (14.4 points) and Cullen Countee (13.5 points) also have lived up to their billing as two of the top players in the City Section. Countee, who is recovering from a knee injury, made the all-tournament team in the Las Vegas Holiday Classic.

“Cullen has really been playing well,” Azzam said. “He settles everyone down and comes up with the big shot during crucial times of the game.”

But what makes the Comets special is their depth.

“I have probably 10 guys who can start,” Azzam said. “They don’t defend as well as I like, but I got a lot of kids who can score, handle the ball and run the press. There’s a lot of power coming off the bench.”

The Comets expect to be challenged by Fairfax and Venice in the Western League, but their real competition might not come until the City 4-A Division playoffs, when they hope to play defending City champion Crenshaw.

Does Azzam think about Crenshaw?

“I really can’t concern myself with (Crenshaw),” Azzam said. “We have to put ourselves in position to win our league championship convincingly. We don’t want to play them on their home court.”

CARRYING THE TORCH

Genevieve DuBose of Hamilton High has been selected to carry the torch in preparation for the 1994 Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway.

DuBose, who won the City girls’ cross-country championships, and Humberto Sanchez of South Gate High, the City boys’ runner-up, were selected to participate in the Norwegian Torch Relay on Feb. 5 in Oslo, Norway.

Thirty participants from 13 countries, including five U.S. torchbearers, were chosen to carry the flame through a selection program sponsored by Coca-Cola. The International Olympic Torchbearers Program marks the first time in Winter Games’ history that runners from outside the host country will participate.

The U.S. runners are among those who will carry the torch more than 8,000 kilometers in 75 days. The relay began Nov. 27 and concludes Feb. 12 with the opening ceremonies in Lillehammer.

FALLING SHORT

Culver City was trailing Redondo by 20 points going into the fourth quarter in an Ocean League game Jan. 11, but pulled to within two points with eight seconds left. The Centaurs had the ball when playmaker Chris Ellison attempted to pass to Louie Baity. The ball went out of bounds and Redondo ran out the clock to win, 87-85.

“We should have beat them,” Culver City Coach Jeff Perry said. “If we can play with that type of intensity for four quarters, we would have blown them out. We missed seven uncontested layups and seven free throws. That’s 21 points right there. Plus 10 turnovers.”

QUICK FAX

Fairfax’s Lanell McGrew had 21 points and seven rebounds Friday in a 67-61 loss to Manual Arts, an indication that the 6-3 forward is starting to develop into the type of defensive big man the Lions need. McGrew, who played on the junior varsity last season, has been one of the Lions’ better offensive players, but he has been inconsistent defensively.

“We are spending 10 to 15 minutes before and after practice trying to improve his footwork,” Fairfax Coach Harvey Kitani said. “We’re trying to give him more repetition on the various defensive fundamentals.”

McGrew and Tomar Yachini were assigned to guard 6-5 forward David Rickenbacker, who scored 18 points. The Lions out-rebounded the Toilers, 31-21, and McGrew made nine of 13 shots.

“We let them shoot 53% from the field,” Kitani said. “They made seven three-point shots against us.”

VIKINGS CONQUERED

St. Bernard’s girls’ basketball team, the defending State Division IV-AA champions, lost to Alemany, 57-37, and Bishop Montgomery, 51-50, last week to snap a 14-game Mission League winning streak. The Vikings, who dropped from first to fourth in this week’s Westside poll, played most of the week without 6-foot-4 senior forward Marte Alexander, who sprained her left ankle. Alexander, who has signed a letter of intent to play at Arizona, had been averaging 16 points and nine rebounds a game. She injured her ankle in the fourth quarter against Alemany and did not play against Bishop Montgomery and Harvard-Westlake.

The Vikings relied on 6-3 forward Olympia Scott, The Times’ 1993 Westside Player of the Year who is averaging 15.8 points a game. St. Bernard broke its losing streak by defeating Harvard-Westlake, 75-28.

“We had no excuses for losing to Alemany or Bishop Montgomery,” Viking Coach Lori Pawinski said. “We did not play to our potential. We don’t make any excuses for our poor play.”

ADD VIKING WOES

The St. Bernard boys’ team dropped from the Westside rankings after losing two Mission League games. The Vikings (8-7) were beaten by Bishop Montgomery, 71-57, Jan. 12 and to Harvard-Westlake, 76-65, on Friday.

The Vikings have lost three consecutive games.

“I cannot recall the last time we lost three consecutive games,” Coach Jim McClune said. “It may have happen the last time we played in the Angelus League.”

During the 1987-88 season, the Angelus League had Division I players such as LeRon Ellis and Tom Peabody of Mater Dei, Geoff Lear and Stephon Pace of Bishop Amat and brothers Rob and Jeff Willig St. Paul.

TRIPLE-DOUBLE

Venice traveled to Palisades on Friday and defeated the Dolphins in a Coastal Conference game, 77-54. The Gondoliers (13-5) were led by senior center Jamila Locke, who scored 19 points. Teammate Yuriko Jung had 15 points, 10 rebounds and 10 steals to record her first triple-double.

“It was a goal from way back but I wasn’t conscious of the stats during the game,” said Jung, a 5-foot-8 junior guard. “I was surprised.”

Jung said the Gondoliers need to work on free-throw shooting, having fallen short of a team-goal of 70% accuracy, and on defense.

“We still have to work together more, especially when we switch from zone to man-to-man coverage,” she said.

On Friday, Venice will see if that preparation pays dividends when it plays host to Westchester at 7 p.m.

“Next to Manual Arts, they should be the most competitive (team) in conference,” Jung said. “They have plenty of strength with their inside players. It’ll be a good game for us.”

BUILDING UP

Pilibos Armenian has developed into a solid small school basketball program in only its first year of existence. The Eagles (2-2) hope to join a league next season after competing as an independent this season. The school lacks a gym, so the team practices on an outdoor asphalt court.

On Friday, Pilibos Armenian defeated Southwestern Academy, 98-46. Haig Avakian, a 5-foot-11 senior forward, scored 39 points and guard Sevan Hovsepian, a 5-9 guard, added 20.

“We seem to be doing well,” said Coach Carlo Honanian. “And we are improving.”

With a limited free-lance schedule, the Eagles conclude their season with games against Wilshire West on Feb. 4 and 8.