more218

SoCal High School & Prep Report

More Pre-Playoff Ramblings:
A Little Bit Of Ecstasy. Or Is It Estasy?--(February 18, 1998)

Perhaps the funniest piece from the Times yesterday was the quote from Burbank Burroughs coach Art Sullivan. The Times had him as saying about Burroughs making the playoffs: "I'm estatic [sic] to get a home game. . . But I'm estatic [sic] to just be in."

We are too.

Doesn't anyone know how to spell anymore? Don't these guys read what they write?

In the same article, quoting Agoura Coach Bill Sanchez, whose team will play Dos Pueblos in the First Round on Friday, the Times described him as "being ecstatic" about upsetting Simi Valley last week in the next to last Marmonte Leauge game. At least someone understands the difference. Agoura Coach Bill Sanchez experienced the highs and lows of his profession last week. He was up when Agoura upset Simi Valley, 70-69, in a Marmonte League game Wednesday, and was disappointed when the Chargers lost to Westlake, 61-46, in the final game of the regular season Friday. "We had a big, big letdown," Sanchez told the Times. "We should have beaten Westlake and gone into the playoffs on a high note. Instead, we backed in." Fourth-place Agoura (13-11, 7-7) will play at Channel League champion Dos Pueblos (22-4, 12-2) in a Division II-A playoff opener Friday.

Seriously though, Burroughs should be happy. The Indians, considered a Foothill League title contender until an 0-3 league start, are hosting a first-round game Friday night against Temple City. Burroughs is 17-9 overall and 6-4 in league play, and won six of its last seven games, including a victory over Foothill champion Hart, to finish in third place. Pivotal to the run was the team's ability to take care of the ball. In their last two games, both victories, the Indians had only seven turnovers. Point guard Mario Fernandez, who led Foothill players with a 4.7 assist average, had one turnover in the last two games. You'd be in estasy too. Really.

And you didn't think we'd pass up another opportunity to give you some news about Harvard-Westlake did you? The Times also featured a small piece on the Wolverines who are playing Lompoc Cabrillo (12-11 overall) in a first Round Division III-A game on Friday. Harvard-Westlake, the defending state Division III champion, impressed a lot of people early this year when they won 13 of their first 15 games this season after losing four starters to graduation, including 6'-10" Jason and Jarron Collins. But it was not until the team lost senior point guard Victor Munoz, the only returning starter, that the Wolverines discovered they were just another "average." team. We didn't use the word "average" the Times and Coach Hilliard supposedly did.

"You know what you're losing when you lose a Jason or Jarron, but sometimes with [losing] a small guy you don't realize the impact it will have on the team," Coach Greg Hilliard told the Times. "But we learned this season that a point guard is pretty crucial." Without Munoz, who had knee surgery Friday, the Wolverines were 6-5 and didn't win successive games until the final week of the season. "We just figured that was the kind of team we were," Hilliard said. "Then we put two wins together at the end and we're pretty excited." The Wolverines (19-7), who were 95-6 in the three previous seasons, finished third in the Mission League and will play at Lompoc Cabrillo (12-11) in a first-round Division III-A playoff game Friday.

We're in estasy. Really.