Willison Steps Down as Burbank Coach

Gary Willison has resigned after two years as football coach at Burbank High.

Willison, 31, said he will pursue assistant coaching jobs at Glendale College and Cal State Northridge.

Willison, who played football at Burbank and USC, took over a struggling Bulldog program in 1996 after the resignation of John Hazelton. The Bulldogs were 2-8 and 1-9 in his two seasons.

Commitments: Courtney Miller of Westlake High has committed to the University of the Pacific women’s volleyball team. Miller, a 6-foot-2 opposite hitter, helped the Warriors win their first Southern Section title.

Mike Byer, an all-league pitcher from Royal High, has committed to St. Mary’s. Byer, a left-hander, was 7-3 with a 2.42 earned-run average for the Highlanders.

Honor: San Francisco forward Hakeem Ward, a former Ventura College standout, has been selected West Coast Conference basketball player of the week for the second time in three weeks.

Ward, a 6-6 senior, averaged 26.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in games against Portland and Gonzaga last weekend. He made 23 of 32 shots (71.9%).

Makeups: A triple-header and two double-headers will be played this week in Mission League soccer because of a backlog of rain makeups.

Today, Chaminade High will be the site for the Alemany-Chaminade boys’ game at 4:30 p.m., followed by games between the Harvard-Westlake and Chaminade girls and St. Francis and Harvard-Westlake boys.

Thursday, Alemany is the site for boys’ games between Harvard-Westlake and Chaminade as well as Loyola and Alemany. At Notre Dame, the Louisville and Notre Dame girls play at 5:30 p.m., followed by the Crespi-Notre Dame boys’ game.