Westchester Appears Ready to Make Another Title Run

If there were any lingering questions about the strength of the Westchester High boys’ basketball team, the Comets may have answered them Friday with an 80-63 victory over perennial City power Fairfax.

“That was probably the biggest win of the year for us because Fairfax had beaten Manual Arts earlier in the week,” Westchester Coach Ed Azzam said.

More importantly to Azzam, the Comets, 20-2 overall and ranked No. 1 in the City Section by The Times, are continuing to improve.

“I think we’re getting better all the time,” Azzam said. “I think I’ve impressed to our players that we have to keep getting better and I think we are.”

Azzam said Fairfax was his team’s most difficult opponent since it returned from the two-week dead period.

“We had been playing people like Palisades, Los Angeles and University and we had to step up a notch for Fairfax and I think we did that,” he said.

“I’m very impressed with this team. They work hard in practice and practices are enjoyable, maybe not as much fun for them as for me, and the games are fun to watch.”

Azzam also credits the unselfish play of perhaps the team’s top two players, forward Lorenzo Ball and point guard James Gray. Ball is averaging 15.4 points and Gray 14. Azzam says both could easily score more for the defending City 4-A Division champions.

“There are a couple of kids on this team who could be classified as stars, but the rest of the players won’t let them,” Azzam said. “They help bring them down to Earth. It’s a real close-knit group. One of the reasons we played so well last year is they were close together and it’s been that way this year, too.”

Against Fairfax, five players scored in double figures, led by Gray with 19 points.

Despite the fact that the Comets are ranked No. 2 in the state behind Santa Ana Mater Dei, Azzam is pressing for more improvement.

“People already have us in the state final and I think that’s unrealistic at this point,” Azzam said. “It’s going to be tough just getting through City.”

The Comets must travel to City power Manual Arts on Wednesday and will play host to Manual and Fairfax in the second half of Western League play.

“If we play hard, I haven’t seen any team that can beat us and I haven’t said that about a lot of teams I’ve coached,” Azzam said. “That doesn’t mean we can’t get beat. But if we play as hard as we can, I don’t think there’s a team that can beat us.”

After starting slowly, the St. Bernard boys’ basketball team is finishing the season strongly.

Entering the final week of the regular season, the Vikings are 14-10 overall and tied with Crespi for the Mission League lead at 7-3.

“With two games left, if you told me we’d be in first place, I’d be pretty happy about it,” Coach Jim McClune said.

McClune said there were a couple of factors behind the team’s slow start.

“We don’t have a fall (physical education) program for our players so we really start on Nov. 18--the first legal date you can practice,” he said.

The team also struggled because of a difficult nonleague schedule.

“Our overall record is 14-10 and 10 losses isn’t a great season,” McClune said. “But three of those losses were to Mater Dei, Long Beach Jordan and Long Beach Millikan and we also lost to Inglewood. So I think we lost to some pretty good teams.”

He said the Vikings have won with a combination of solid defense and balanced offensive. The leaders are Parker Jenkins at point guard and post player Chris Keldorf.

St. Bernard had three players score in double figures in a 69-42 victory over Bishop Montgomery last week and four in a 70-61 win over St. Paul on Friday.

“We have a very versatile team,” McClune said. “We put different lineups on the court much of the time and we’ve had a lot of different people step up.”

McClune said the Vikings cannot afford to look past their final two league opponents. They play Notre Dame on Wednesday and Chaminade on Friday.

“I wouldn’t say we’re a good team yet, but we’re getting there,” he said.

It was a week that Bishop Montgomery High boys’ basketball Coach Doug Mitchell would just as soon forget.

The Knights started in first place in the Mission League by a half game.

But after back-to-back losses to St. Bernard and Alemany, Bishop Montgomery dropped to fourth.

The Knights (10-10, 6-4) lost to St. Bernard, 69-42, on Wednesday before losing to Alemany, 63-61, Friday night in Torrance.

The defeat to Alemany was particularly heartbreaking. Bishop Montgomery had apparently tied the score at 63 on a basket by center Andre English with a second remaining. But the Knights were called for a three-second violation and Alemany held on for the victory.

“It’s just tough to let an official decide a game with a call like that,” Mitchell said. “I think he would be the first to tell you he might have made an error.”

Mistake or not, it could not have happened at a worse moment for Bishop Montgomery.

“We were tied for first (with St. Bernard and Crespi entering the game) and we can’t count on Crespi and St. Bernard to lose a game,” Mitchell said. “It was a tough week for us with two losses like this.”

With league games against St. Paul on Wednesday and Notre Dame on Friday, Mitchell is hoping the Knights can regroup before the start of the Southern Section playoffs.

“We just want to get back on a roll again,” he said. “I don’t think we need radical change, maybe just a few subtle things.”

He said the Knights could stand to relax more during games.

“We’ve been too tight the last two games,” Mitchell said. “I also thought we worked hard on defense, but we need to be more efficient.”

The Redondo boys’ basketball team had a chance to play spoiler Friday night against Culver City and it made the most of the opportunity.

Redondo ended Culver City’s hopes of an Ocean League title with a 73-68 upset victory. In the process, the Sea Hawks held All-Southern Section forward Shani Kennedy to eight points.

“It was our best win and our best game of the season,” Redondo Coach Cliff Warren said. “Things are starting to go a lot better for us.”

Redondo is 11-12 and 2-4 after a 1-7 start.

“We lost seven games in a row in December and that was tough,” Warren said. “But we’ve improved a lot since then. Not all at once but a little at a time.”

Two starters who have played a key role in the team’s improvement are forward David Cottey and point guard Ted Silva. Cottey is averaging 24 points, including 30 against Culver City, to lead the South Bay in scoring. Silva leads the South Bay in assists.

“They play very well together,” Warren said. “They do some nice things on the court.”

The team has also benefited from the recent promotion of sophomore guard Morgan Ensberg from the junior varsity. Ensberg scored 12 in a victory over West Torrance on Wednesday and 11 against Culver City.

Although the Sea Hawks are no longer in the league race, Warren says the final two regular-season games against Mira Costa on Tuesday and Beverly Hills on Friday are important.

“We’re hoping to improve enough next week to get ready for the playoffs,” he said. “Everything we’ve done in the past two weeks has been pointing toward the playoffs.”

After their victory against Culver City, the Sea Hawks appear to be going in the right direction.