Ragged Start Doesn’t Dampen Sylmar Coach’s Outlook

The Sylmar boys’ basketball team is off to a disappointing 6-7 start with a veteran squad that was expected to challenge for the City Section 3-A Division title.

But Coach Bort Escoto isn’t ready to call it a season.

“To be honest with you, if we stay healthy and play hard, I don’t know if there is a team that can beat us,” he said. “If we don’t play hard we can lose to anyone.”

With players out because of illness or vacation, the Spartans played their last seven games with only eight players and went 3-4.

When Sylmar was at full strength, however, there were other problems.

“After we won three [games] in a row, they got kind of cocky,” Escoto said.

Still, the Spartans are off to their best start since Escoto arrived. Sylmar was 7-34 the previous two seasons.

Down and out: Considering its recent history, the Van Nuys boys’ basketball team shouldn’t be discouraged by its 5-7 start.

Last season, the Wolves started 5-7 before winning 12 of their final 14 games, including the City 3-A final.

But Coach Kevin Kanemura doesn’t expect a repeat. Same start, different ending, he said.

“Basically we’re at the same point as last year, but this is a totally different ball club,” Kanemura said. “We’re not that good . . . and I’m not blowing smoke [this time].”

Taking charge: Saugus High has named Jim Phillips interim football coach, replacing Jack Bowman, who resigned last week. Phillips was 30-16-3 in five seasons as the freshman coach.

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Girls Basketball Top 10

Rankings of regional high schools by sportswriters of The Times:

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RK LW TEAM (League) REC. 1 1 Buena (Channel) 10-1 2 2 Crescenta Valley (Pacific) 14-2 3 3 Palmdale (Golden) 15-3 4 4 Quartz Hill (Golden) 10-1 5 5 Bell-Jeff (Camino Real) 16-1 6 6 Moorpark (Frontier) 14-1 7 8 Alemany (Mission) 13-2 8 9 No. Hollywood (Valley Pac-8) 11-3 9 10 Kennedy (Northwest Valley) 12-3 10 NR Harvard-Westlake (Mission) 13-6

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Boys Basketball Top 10

Rankings of regional high schools by sportswriters of The Times:

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RK LW TEAM (League) REC. 1 1 Harvard-Westlake (Mission) 18-1 2 2 Simi Valley (Marmonte) 14-0 3 3 Antelope Valley (Golden) 13-5 4 4 Cleveland (Northwest Valley) 12-3 5 NR Rio Mesa (Channel) 10-3 6 6 Canoga Park (Valley Pac-8) 8-7 7 8 Royal (Marmonte) 10-6 8 5 Channel Islands (Marmonte) 11-3 9 10 L.A. Baptist (Alpha) 14-1 10 NR Chaminade (Mission) 11-4

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