Notre Dame’s Miller Finds Persistence Pays

If at first you don’t succeed. . . find another doctor.

That’s what Eddie Miller did.

Miller, a highly touted 6-foot-6 freshman at Notre Dame High who had been sidelined this season because of a broken bone in his back, had been scheduled to see his doctor last Friday morning for an X-ray and possible clearance to play.

Problem was, when he got to the doctor, he had forgotten his medical insurance card. No card, no X-ray.

Coach Mick Cady, who has eagerly awaited Miller’s debut, scrambled. He took Miller to a doctor who had worked with the team and he examined Miller later that day.

“It was really an 11th-hour thing,” Cady said.

The doctor gave Miller clearance and he played against Bishop Montgomery on Friday night.

After having missed practice all season, Miller played about five minutes and did not score.

DISAPPEARING ACT

In this case, absence did not make the heart grow fonder.

Dismayed by his team’s slumbering performance in last week’s 80-43 loss to San Fernando, and even more upset about the officiating, Reseda Coach Jeff Halpern left the bench and walked out the door during the third quarter. He returned a few minutes later.

“If I hadn’t walked out of there, I probably would have been T’d out of there,” Halpern said, referring to technical fouls. “Then we would have forfeited.”

Junior varsity Coach Brad Katz ran the team during Halpern’s absence. Halpern called a team meeting before Reseda played El Camino Real on Friday, and the team addressed some grievances, he said.

“We needed to air out some things,” he said. “I was ready to just cash it in. We needed to talk things out.”

Whatever was said must have helped. In one of the more abrupt about-faces of the season, Reseda upset El Camino Real two days later, 76-69.

HEADS UP

Reseda’s jump shots weren’t falling, but almost everything else was.

During Reseda’s lopsided loss at San Fernando last week, repair work was being done on the gym roof. Halpern said pieces of the ceiling were falling inside while workers inspected the outside surface.

“Stuff was falling on people’s heads in the stands,” Halpern said. “A couple of times, tar leaked through and fell on the floor during the game.”

Roofing work at San Fernando was being done inside the gym Friday, prompting a game between the Tigers and Granada Hills to be moved to Monday at Granada Hills.

CONTROL OFFENSE

A barn burner? Not exactly. An offensive explosion, it wasn’t.

In last week’s Mid-Valley League game, Birmingham and Poly combined for 63 points in the Braves’ 32-31 overtime victory. Each team scored only eight points in the third and fourth quarters combined. Birmingham attempted 24 shots in the 35-minute contest, Poly 28.

Birmingham Coach Al Bennett said he doesn’t classify the contest as low-scoring.

“We’re talking about two teams very similar in style,” Bennett said. “They’re a real ball-control passing team.”

CALL THE SHOT?

Sandy Greentree has a prediction, and he has a hard time feeling bad about voicing it.

Today at 4 p.m., Chatsworth (12-8, 6-0) will play host to Cleveland (12-6, 6-0) in a key game between unbeaten West Valley League teams.

Each has a six-game winning streak. The teams have emerged as the clear cream of the Northwest Valley Conference. In fact, every other team in the eight-team conference has at least two losses.

Who do you like?

“Call me cocky,” said Greentree, the Chatsworth coach. “But I really like our chances. If I didn’t feel like we could win, I guess I shouldn’t be coaching.”

In a manner of speaking, Chatsworth has been pointing to this game all season. Early on, Greentree played the entire roster while trying to decide which players fit best at what positions. The Chancellors stumbled out of the gate with a 1-5 mark.

Two months later, the team has won 11 of 14 and played well in the Las Vegas Holiday Prep and North Hollywood tournaments against superior competition.

“With all the good teams we’ve played, we should be ready for Cleveland, hopefully, and ready for the playoffs, hopefully,” Greentree said.

Greentree said Chatsworth’s success could hinge on one element: weathering Cleveland’s press.

“If we can get the ball up the floor, we’ll be OK,” he said. “(Shawn) Bankhead will get his 25 points, but we should be able to handle that.”

TOUGHING IT OUT

Hueneme center David Andrade suffered a broken nose last week after catching an elbow under the basket against San Marcos. The injury, however, has not forced Andrade from the lineup.

Andrade is as tough as they come.

At a cost of $50, Coach Howard Davis ordered a nose guard for Andrade that was shipped to the school from a manufacturer in Wisconsin. Andrade didn’t like it.

“He got it and he said he couldn’t see out of it very well,” Davis said. “He says he doesn’t want to wear it.”

Maybe Andrade has grown accustomed to being flattened. He played quarterback for the Vikings, who went 0-10 last fall.

“No linemen,” Davis mused, “and he didn’t get his face busted all year.”

QUOTEBOOK

Oxnard dropped to 2-10 in Channel League play after being hammered last week by league powers Ventura (96-50) and Santa Barbara (101-60). But first-year Coach Henry Lobo hasn’t lost his sense of humor.

Said Lobo: “They gotta go through Oxnard to get to the playoffs.”

SCRATCH AND CLAW

Buena kept its playoff hopes alive Friday with a 76-69 upset of Channel League rival Santa Barbara. The Bulldogs (6-15) are 5-7 in league play, a game behind San Marcos with two to play. Last month, Santa Barbara hammered Buena, 96-50. “It didn’t look like we were in a good position,” Buena Coach Glen Hannah said.

They are now. This week, Buena will play Oxnard and Rio Mesa, and San Marcos will play Santa Barbara and Oxnard.

Should Buena and San Marcos finish tied for fourth, they’ll meet in a playoff game Saturday at a site to be determined.

Said Hannah: “Our league is the only league I know of that does it right.”

SUPER SUB

When Hart needs a spark, Coach Mike May looks to senior guard Scott Obermeyer, who usually provides just what is needed.

Obermeyer is the Indians’ sixth man. He is a good long-range shooter, but he is most valuable on defense.

Obermeyer’s tenacious play helped limit Burroughs standout guard Gabe Colon to 13 points in the teams’ last meeting, Hart’s 76-64 Foothill victory. Colon, a three-point specialist, scorched Burroughs for 46 points--including 12 three-point baskets--when Hart held on to defeat the Indians, 82-80, in their previous meeting. May said that while Obermeyer’s effort against Colon was superb, he is never surprised by Obermeyer’s defense.

“He just played great defense against Colon, who can really shoot,” May said. “He plays tough (defense) every night, which is what you really like to see off the bench.”

REBOUND MAN

Burbank senior forward Mike Merina has a knack for getting to the ball.

At 6-5, Merina is the Bulldogs’ main inside threat. Entering this week, Merina is leading the team in rebounding with an average of 8.6 and is second in scoring (14.3).

“He’s really been hitting the boards for us all season,” Burroughs Coach Art Sullivan said. “He’s the main reason we have been in so many games.

“He’s one of those kids who has made rebounding a mission. He has so many important put-backs for us.”

SURPRISE!

Guess who is making a run at the Tri-Valley League title?

Believe it or not, it is the former also-ran of the league: Oak Park.

After finishing last in the league the past two seasons, the Eagles (11-8, 4-2 in league play) trail first-place Carpinteria by a half game. Oak Park won one league game the previous two seasons.

“Well, I know no one else expected us to be here--but we sure thought we could be,” third-year Coach Rob Hall said. “We thought we had a good shot of making some noise this year.

“We’re right about where we hoped we would be.”

A BIG HELP

Just about all Bell-Jeff Coach Steve Wahl needed to know about Jason Gueringer was this: He’s 6-8. And in the Camino Real League, 6-8 players are cherished as much as Popsicles in the desert.

A senior, Gueringer transferred to Bell-Jeff from North Hollywood in December. For a variety of reasons--one being that the powerful Huskies didn’t need him--he never played at North Hollywood.

Now that Wahl has gotten Gueringer onto the court at Bell-Jeff, he is making an impact. He scored 19 points last week against Cantwell Sacred Heart.

“He’s getting better and better but it’s almost too late, and that’s too bad,” said Wahl, whose team has only two games remaining.

HOME-COURT ADVANTAGE?

One Mission League coach says the gym at Chaminade is a difficult one in which to play.

“It is,” Chaminade Coach Rob Kurowski said. “Sometimes we have a lot of people, but it’s real quiet. So it’s kind of eerie. Sometimes (opponents) don’t like our rims. Sometimes we have nobody there, so that’s kind of weird.”

Tough gym, huh? It can’t be that bad. Chaminade is 1-5 at home in league games.

SHOWTIME

Delphic League member Brentwood’s lineup includes the following surnames: Abdul-Jabbar, Scott and Green.

Staff writers Steve Elling, Jeff Fletcher, Vince Kowalick, Paige A. Leech and Jason H. Reid contributed to this notebook.