JC NOTES / Irene Garcia : Marymount Coach Bets Future on Recruiting

There was no fun in the sun for Marymount Palos Verdes basketball Coach Jim Masterson last summer. He spent his vacation recruiting.

“Sitting on that bench for 21 losses last year inspired me to go out and recruit,” Masterson said.

Another motivator was losing his two best players, sophomores James Anderson and Ernie Woods. Anderson averaged 25.9 points (12 rebounds) as the state’s third-leading scorer and Woods averaged 23.5.

So the fifth-year coach, determined to improve last year’s 7-21 record (3-11 in the Southern California Athletic Conference), got athletes from Montana, Arizona, Texas, Hawaii, New York and the Bahamas. Masterson has only eight local high schools to recruit from, so he’s allowed to get out-of-state players.

It’s a good thing because only two of the 18 athletes on this year’s roster are from the South Bay.

“Talent-wise,” Masterson said, “this is the best we’ve had in the five years I’ve been here. We’ve never had this many and never this much talent.”

Two of the Mariners’ biggest assets are imported. Forward Warren Cox (6-foot-6) and guard Kerry Baker (6-4) are former Bahamian national team members who should contribute big numbers immediately.

Cox, 22, was a plumber and Baker, 22, was a police officer. They met Masterson in the Bahamas two summers ago when his team competed against that country’s national squad.

“They approached me and said they wanted to play at our college,” Masterson said. “I guess they expected a big scholarship, but when I told them what it was going to cost, they said. ‘It may take us a year to save the money.’ ”

Annual tuition at Marymount is $8,700. The players are paying the tuition.

The last time a South Bay athlete was on Marymount’s basketball team was 1985, Masterson’s first year as head coach.

This season’s locals--Ian Chatfield and Ron Dinnel--are only the second and third South Bay players to compete at the small private college located at the highest point of Palos Verdes Drive East.

Chatfield is a guard from Palos Verdes High and Dinnel is a guard from Rolling Hills High. The other cager was guard Craig Jehr (Rolling Hills) who played at Marymount in 1985 and 1986.

Too bad El Camino and Rancho Santiago, both in the 16-member Mission Conference, don’t play each other. It would be a great offensive showdown.

Both are undefeated (5-0) and have California’s best offenses.

Rancho Santiago leads the state with an average of 459 yards a game, and top-ranked El Camino averages 442. Warrior quarterback Frank Dolce, however, leads Rancho Santiago’s Scott Wood.

Of the 2,211 yards gained, El Camino passed for 1,455. Dolce has completed 95 passes for 1,364 yards and 14 touchdowns and Wood has made 69 of 110 attempts for 10 touchdowns and 1,022 yards.

Dolce is also second in state total offense, behind Scott Barrick of Palomar.

El Camino lost every wrestler from last year’s team, but the Warriors have a couple of freshmen who rank among the state’s top five.

Mike Ramirez (177 pounds) from West Torrance High is ranked No. 3 in California and heavyweight Robert Avila (Mark Keppel High in Alhambra) is No. 4.

The Warriors are 3-0 in the South Coast Conference (3-4 overall) after defeating San Bernardino, 34-12, Wednesday. El Camino’s other league victory was over San Diego City. The Warriors will play host to Cerritos, one of the SCC’s strongest teams, on Wednesday.