NOTEBOOK / SEAN WATERS : Recruiting Season Replaces Regular Season

With the high school football season over, the recruiting season has begun.

Richard Estrada, who covers the area for Para-Dies Scouting services, has rated the area’s top players. Here are his choices:

Best prospects--Hamilton’s multipurpose standout Kelvin Moore and teammate Eric Polk have received the most attention from college recruiters.

California, Stanford and Washington State are looking at Moore, who will probably be a defensive back in college. Polk, a wide receiver, is being looked at by Cal and Nevada Las Vegas. Linebacker Rasheed Hibler (Beverly Hills) and lineman Lamont Brown (St. Bernard) also received high marks.

Best quarterback--It was a down year for quarterbacks. Westchester junior Seka Edwards, who passed for 1,566 yards and 24 touchdowns, will be among the area’s top prospects in 1993.

Best running back--Westchester running back Oliver Baines (5-foot-9, 170 pounds) and St. Bernard’s Joe Henderson (5-10, 205) are rated as the best prospects.

Best receivers--In addition to Polk, Estrada likes Palisades’ Ray Abdelkader (5-10, 170), Richard Bowden (Westchester), Hasan Muhammad (Fairfax), and Dameon Porter (Culver City).

Best lineman--There are several contenders in this heavyweight division. The list includes Westchester offensive tackle Sterling Holt (6-2, 350), St. Bernard tackles Steve Buether (6-4, 250) and Lamont Brown (6-4, 250), Palisades tackle Bobby Moore (6-4, 300), and center Armando Morales (6-2, 220) and Beverly Hills tackle Joon Jang (6-4, 220).

Tight end--St. Bernard’s Chris Bowman (6-3, 210) is regarded as the best at this position.

Battle of champions--The Westchester High boys’ basketball team was not at full strength last week in a 72-54 loss to Southern Section Division I-A champion Mater Dei in the quarterfinals of the Tournament of Champions.

Guard Damon Smith missed the game because of church functions and forward Cullen Countee arrived late and did not play in the first half.

Westchester Coach Ed Azzam, however, believes the presence of Smith or Countee would have made little impact.

“They beat us inside and they beat us outside,” Azzam said of the Monarchs. “They have matured a lot and are a lot smarter in taking the shots the defense gives them. They have a very good point guard, excellent inside players and some guys who can really shoot the ball. They’re going to be tough to beat.”

Mater Dei defeated Long Beach Poly to win the tournament title and Westchester beat Serra in the fifth-place game.

Stuck in traffic--After settling the schedule conflicts with two tournaments, Venice High made it to last week’s Santa Barbara tournament.

The Gondoliers were slowed by rain and traffic and were 45 minutes late for their first-round game in Santa Barbara. The Gondoliers were placed in a consolation bracket and won three consecutive games to place third in the tournament.

Rasheed Hazzard scored 11 of his game-high 13 points in the second half to help Venice beat Dana Hills, 44-38, in the third-place game.

Larry Atkins, who scored 39 points in three games, was selected to the all-tournament team and Kevin Curry received the outstanding basketball achievement award.

Venice, meanwhile, was added to the second section of the Los Angeles Invitational after Poly of Sun Valley forfeited against El Camino Real. Venice will compete in the consolation bracket.

Soccer pairings--The City Section released the boys’ soccer pairings last week and three area teams qualified for the 16-team tournament.

Venice, which finished 7-3-0 in conference play, will travel to Manual Arts (8-2-0), University (6-2-2) will play at Granada Hills (6-2-1), and Palisades (6-2-2) will play at Washington (6-2-0).

Belmont, the only undefeated team in the City, is the top-seeded team.

The playoffs begin Jan. 20.