Previews of Southeast / Long Beach Teams : EASTERN LEAGUE (CITY)

The Eastern League is composed of six schools from the City Section CIF. Competing in addition to those mentioned here are Roosevelt, Narbonne and Garfield.

BELL--The Eagles appear to be one of the front-runners. Coach Rod Tange returns starters Alphonso Foster, a 5-9 guard, and Danny Lizzote, a 5-11 swingman. Foster averaged 10 points and seven assists last year. “Talentwise, this is the best team I’ve had since I’ve been here,” said Tange, who enters his fifth year. Bell was 12-11 overall last year but finished second in the league.

HUNTINGTON PARK--The Spartans finished 6-14 last year and wound up fourth. But Coach Tom Nitahara sees Huntington Park, which returns seven players, battling for the league title. He calls the race a tossup among his team, Bell, Narbonne and Roosevelt. A key could be Cesar Rivas, a 5-11 senior forward who averaged 12 points and six rebounds last season.

SOUTH GATE--The Rams, under Coach Paul Hackett, were 17-6 last year, but that was with Keith Billingslea, a 6-1 forward who averaged almost 30 points. He is battling for a starting job at Fresno State and Hackett is battling to replace him. “We have a young team,” he said. Hackett must also replace three other starters. One candidate is 5-6 point guard Dontre Glenn. Byrone Moore, a 6-2 junior who averaged 20 points in summer league, is the only starter back. Sixth-man Ernie Delatorre, a junior, also returns.