AWARD WINNERSWestchester High quarterback Seka Edwards was...

AWARD WINNERS

Westchester High quarterback Seka Edwards was selected 1993 City Section 4-A Division co-player of the year by members of the Amateur Athletic Foundation.

Edwards shared the award with Sylmar running back Tyrone Crenshaw, who also won in 1992. Edwards passed for 2,053 yards and 28 touchdowns during the season and had two-year totals of 3,599 yards and 52 touchdowns. He was twice named The Times’ Westside back of the year.

Bryan Castaneda of San Pedro was selected the 3-A player of the year.

Tight end Tony Griffin (Westchester), running back Robert Hayes (Venice) and defensive back Larry Atkins (Venice) were also selected to the 4-A first team.

Quarterback Lal Knight (University), defensive lineman LeShaun Bell (University), linebacker Gary Martinez (Hamilton) and defensive back Mike Williams (University) were selected to the 3-A team.

CALLED FOR TRAVELING

Next basketball season, St. Bernard will be competing in a newly formed league with five other Catholic schools: Bishop Amat, Bishop Montgomery, St. John Bosco, St. Paul and Serra.

The league has not been named. One suggestion would be to call it the Rapid Transfer District League because several players shuffle in and out of these schools.

Freshman Schea Cotton is the latest player to move, transferring to Mater Dei from St. John Bosco last week. Ricky Price, who signed early with Duke, left St. Anthony to attend Serra before the start of the season. Two years ago, Jayson Sanders started at St. Anthony and ultimately found his home at Bishop Montgomery, while highly touted guard Jelani Gardner transferred to St. John Bosco from Bishop Amat. (Note: Gardner’s older brother Sean played basketball at Palisades).

St. Bernard Coach Jim McClune made light of the Cotton situation, but is concerned about his team’s ability to compete in the new league.

“I’ve never seen Cotton play, but I hear he is as legitimate a star as there ever was to play in this area,” McClune said. “Obviously, I’m heartbroken that we won’t get to see him play during the next three years.

“It is a little frustrating. I wish potential All-Americans would transfer into our school or NBA-type all-stars, if that’s accurate.”

GUESS WHO?

Although most high school teams compete in tournaments to get away from local competition, Crossroads feels like it has never left the Santa Monica area.

In two tournaments, the Roadrunners have played seven games, but faced only three opponents. The Roadrunners have beaten St. Monica twice, lost to Fairfax twice and won one of three games against Santa Monica.

Things get worse next week when Crossroads plays in the Chaminade tournament. Also entered in the tournament are St. Monica and Santa Monica. Luckily, the Roadrunners are grouped with three teams other than their Santa Monica counterparts in pool-play competition.

Said Crossroads Coach Daryl Roper: “God bless it. We play someone different. Someone who doesn’t know our stuff.”

BEATING THEMSELVES

As is the case of most tournaments, the host team often has to play its junior varsity players to fill out a bracket. Last week, Hamilton Coach Dave Uyeshima divided his varsity and junior varsity into two teams to fill out the eight-team Hamilton invitational.

It proved to be a nightmare for Yankee opponents.

The Yankee green team beat Van Nuys and Kennedy and the white team beat Birmingham and University to set up an all-Hamilton final.

In the final, Uyeshima reassembled his players back to varsity and junior varsity teams. The varsity prevailed, 103-54.

“I was pleased to see my teams did well in the finals,” Uyeshima said, sheepishly.

EQUALIZERS

University (3-6) defeated Kennedy, 36-34, to take third place in the Hamilton tournament Friday and Warrior Coach Jim Nakabara was surprised by how the two teams were so evenly matched.

“Both had good defense and poor shooting,” Nakabara said. “We were true equals.”

University sophomore point guard Antonio Hood, who is averaging 6.5 points, made six free throws for the Warriors in the fourth quarter.

“Early on he wasn’t that familiar with our plays but now he’s been coming along and leading the team well,” Nakabara said.

FOULED-UP

With the game on the line, Palisades lost to Reseda on Friday.

The Regents converted 33 of 37 free throw attempts and the Dolphins made only four of 11. That 29-point differential helped lead to the Dolphins’ 72-61 loss.

“I told the (Reseda) coach his team needs to practice shooting free throws,” Palisades Coach James Paleno said. “They missed four free throws.”

Palisades led, 57-54, with three minutes 25 seconds left before the Regents went on a 10-0 run. The Dolphins began to commit fouls in an attempt to get back into the game. Archie Williams, a transfer from Santa Monica, led Reseda with 20 points.

“We got behind and started to foul,” Paleno said. “You expect them to miss a few front ends of one-and-one shots, but they never did.”

The Dolphins (6-3) will try to defend their Eagle Rock tournament title beginning Monday against South Gate. Last season, Palisades beat Taft in the final to win their only tournament title under Paleno, in his third season as coach.

TAKING ON THE BEST

At the Las Vegas tournament, Venice (7-5) defeated Reed of Sparks, Nev., 62-52.

Gondolier Coach Thermon Moore gave guard Larry Atkins much of the credit for the victory. Atkins, a senior, played despite having the flu and finished with 15 points, 11 rebounds, three blocked shots and three steals.

“Larry was the MVP of the game and it was his best performance yet,” Moore said. “This is what he’s capable of.”

Venice played its second game later that night and lost, 96-57, to Oak Hill Academy of Mouth of Wilson, Va., ranked No. 1 in the nation by USA Today.

“After about two or three minutes, our energy level went down and we were just overmatched,” Moore said. “They (would) go to their bench and bring in a senior, while we would go to our bench and bring in a first-year varsity player.”

Gondolier senior point guard Rasheed Hazzard led Venice with 25 points, and Atkins, who played only 18 minutes, had 10 points and eight rebounds.

“Oak Hill is just a fantastically talented team,” Moore said. “Rasheed and Larry were the only players at their level.”

ROAD TO RECOVERY

With senior point guard Chris Ellison returning to the lineup after suffering a deep thigh bruise, Culver City (4-4) is rounding into top form. On Friday, the Centaurs defeated Murphy, 78-51, and Coach Jeff Perry praised Ellison’s play.

“It was his first game with full mobility,” Perry said. “He brings out the best in us. And with him distributing the ball, 10 players scored. He’s our catalyst.”

Perry also was pleased with the Centaurs’ 35 rebounds, a season high.

“The strength of our game is on the open floor, but we have to rebound before we can get to run,” Perry said. “It had been a problem and we showed improvement. In the first four games, Louie Baity was our leading rebounder. And he’s 5-foot-10.”

COURT SMARTS

Yeshiva (2-2), which won its Liberty League opener last week by defeating Queen of Angels, 65-57, has a starting lineup with a collective 3.5 grade-point average. Guard Josh Katzin and forward Michael Strapp, who have 4.0 GPAs and scored over 1,400 on their Scholastic Aptitude Tests, received early admissions to Columbia.

The Yeshiva school day runs from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., with religious studies in the morning and a general curriculum in the afternoon.

INJURY REPORT

Pacific Hills played last week without leading scorer Bryan Sterling, who has the chicken pox. Expect a quick recovery. The Bruins begin play Monday in the Roosevelt tournament in Honolulu. . . . Fairfax 6-6 center Tomar Yachini sprained his left ankle and has missed the past three games. The Lions (7-0), however, used a lineup of five guards to remain undefeated. . . . Crossroads freshman point guard Baron Davis has recovered from a broken right thumb and had 24 points in two games against Fairfax and Santa Monica in the Pacific Open tournament. St. Monica’s Tyler Murphy missed three games because of the flu, but is back with the team. . . . The St. Monica girls’ basketball team will be without freshman guard Stephanie Seiler, who is on vacation. Said St. Monica Coach Alan Mindell: “Her family planned the trip before she made the team. They thought she was going to play on the junior varsity team, but it turns out she is our best player.”