Cicciari Teaching Valuable Lessons

A smorgasbord of notes, quotes and opinions from across the San Fernando Valley and its surrounding communities:

When it comes to coaches who deserve admiration, Granada Hills High’s Lou Cicciari ranks near the top of the list.

This week, he begins his fifth season as basketball coach.

He has been in a wheelchair since his legs were amputated when he was 7 because of a disease that destroys blood vessels in the legs. Surely, no obstacle could be more difficult to overcome.

Cicciari spent 10 years as an assistant basketball coach at Granada Hills. He spent five years getting a teaching credential. Nothing came easy.

But he made it, and his players are the lucky ones receiving lessons about basketball and life from a 38-year-old who has become one of the Valley’s most respected coaches.

“I love the game, I love coaching,” he said. “I get up in the morning and I look forward to coming to work. This is fun for me.”

Said Granada Hills forward Leon Pimky: “He’s a great motivator. Everyone listens when he speaks.”

The best sign of Cicciari’s impact at Granada Hills comes from how players treat him.

“After they know me for awhile, the chair becomes invisible and they know me as a coach and a friend,” Cicciari said. . . .

Agoura cornerback Garrett Lepisto might want to make a highlight tape of his effort in running down Notre Dame’s Justin Fargas last week.

Lepisto had a slight angle when he took off trying to prevent Fargas, the state 100-meter champion, from scoring on a 72-yard run. He caught Fargas from behind, diving at the last moment to trip him up.

“I’ll be remembering that for awhile,” Lepisto said. “I’m like, ‘I can’t catch that guy.’ The next day, I was like, ‘Wait a second. I ran down Fargas.’ ”

Lepisto is a 6-foot-3 junior with 4.6-second speed in the 40-yard dash. He’s expected to be honored as an All-Marmonte League selection and rates as a college prospect for 1999.

The big question is how Lepisto got away from Taft Coach Troy Starr. Lepisto’s mother, Sue, is an assistant principal at Taft, and Lepisto used to watch Taft games growing up. . . .

Bring binoculars to Friday’s Taft-Sylmar football playoff game just so you can be entertained by the two head coaches going nuts on the sidelines.

“I would like to say I’m going to be calm and cool, but that’s not going to happen, and you know he’s [Starr] not,” Sylmar’s Jeff Engilman said. . . .

Notre Dame must play at Righetti in Santa Maria on Saturday. Since it’s a 2 1/2-hour drive, my recommendation for Notre Dame fans is to bring warm clothing, make a stopover in Buellton for split-pea soup and pray it doesn’t rain. . . .

With Kennedy’s Jack Cassel (baseball) and Chatsworth’s Matt Cassel (football, baseball) gaining attention for their athletic skills, another Cassel brother, seventh-grader Justin, could be the best of all.

Justin passed for 160 yards and one touchdown to lead the 10-0 Northridge Knights to the Valley Youth Conference Midget Division football title last week. Justin, who already stands 5-10, is set to follow Jack to Kennedy in 1999.

The Castaic Cougars won the Pee Wee Division title behind tailback Tim Gregory, who rushed for 220 yards and scored three touchdowns. Gregory is the younger brother of Canyon’s Matt Gregory. Quarterback Jimmy Neill, younger brother of Hart quarterback David Neill, passed for 140 yards and one touchdown. . . .

Asked what it means for Granada Hills to convince former football coaches Darryl Stroh and Tom Harp to come out of retirement, Taft’s Starr said, “Instant credibility.” . . .

Any pitcher who shuts out Chatsworth in a seven-inning baseball game this spring deserves automatic All-City recognition. Chatsworth has a devastating lineup, led by power-hitting outfielder Tom Morefield. . . .

How good is Chaminade junior softball pitcher Maureen LeCocq? “She’s gone from being a very good pitcher to studly,” Thousand Oaks Coach Gary Walin said. . . .

Come 1999, if former Canyon softball star Crystl Bustos is able to play at Cal State Northridge as expected, the crowds for games are going to be enormous. She’s a one-of-a-kind player who can lift the Matadors to national prominence. UCLA and Arizona won’t have any hitters as dominating. . . .

Emulating NBA players is not good for high school players. Chatsworth’s Marlik Morris had lots of enthusiasm in his basketball opener Tuesday against Canoga Park, but he also picked up a technical for taunting and another following a dunk. . . .

Valley College’s basketball team has more assistant coaches than some teams have players. The Monarchs need 17 chairs for their 10 players and seven coaches. “That’s the first thing we do when we walk into the gym--count the chairs,” Coach Doug Michelson said. . . .

Chaminade sophomore Jonathan Taylor Thomas, the actor from “Home Improvement,” has the family genes to sink three-point shots. His older brother, Josh Weiss, was a star guard at Agoura. Too bad Jonathan doesn’t have time to play basketball.

Eric Sondheimer’s local column appears Wednesday and Sunday. He can be reached at (818) 772-3422.