Elan Buller

Montae McFarland scored 20 points and Chatsworth upset Kennedy, 53-52, in a Northwest Valley Conference game Friday night at Kennedy. By losing to the Chancellors (8-13, 1-9 in league play), Kennedy (12-10, 7-3) must share the West Valley League title with Cleveland. Waking Bailey had 16 points for the Golden Cougars (12-10, 7-3).

Pepperdine point guard Elan Buller isn't exactly a rebel, but he won't take no for an answer. He goes along with the program. He's as coachable as they come. He doesn't have a selfish cell in his body. But tell him he can't do something and he'll bust through the barrier like a bull, which happens to be his nickname. Division I basketball was beyond the barrier, a place supposedly occupied by bigger, quicker and better players.

Pepperdine point guard Elan Buller isn't exactly a rebel, but he won't take no for an answer. He goes along with the program. He's as coachable as they come. He doesn't have a selfish cell in his body. But tell him he can't do something and he'll bust through the barrier like a bull, which happens to be his nickname. Division I basketball was beyond the barrier, a place supposedly occupied by bigger, quicker and better players.

Montae McFarland scored 20 points and Chatsworth upset Kennedy, 53-52, in a Northwest Valley Conference game Friday night at Kennedy. By losing to the Chancellors (8-13, 1-9 in league play), Kennedy (12-10, 7-3) must share the West Valley League title with Cleveland. Waking Bailey had 16 points for the Golden Cougars (12-10, 7-3).

A high school guard who loves to slash and drive with the ball, twisting for layups and drawing fouls, might be someone expected to appreciate referees. Perhaps that's why Elan Buller, an El Camino Real High senior averaging 21.7 points, drapes a whistle around his neck on Saturdays and officiates youth games in the Woodland Hills Recreation Center league. That makes him something of a kindred spirit with the guys in striped shirts who call fouls on him during Conquistadore games.

Carloes Harper of Canoga Park High, Donald Holt of Cleveland and Michael Callaway of Kennedy were among 16 players chosen to the All-City 4-A Division basketball team. Kevin Bradley of Crenshaw, a 6-foot-1 senior, was selected the division's most valuable player. Four other players from the region also were selected to the All-City team by a panel of sportswriters. Harper, a 6-4 swingman bound for Cal State Northridge, led all City players from the region with an average of 28.6 points a game.

* Blaine Bussey, who won the boys' 400 meters for Taft High in the state championships in June, began school at Long Beach City College last week. Bussey, a two-time City Section champion in the 400, set a region record of 46.3 in the Northwest Valley Conference finals in May. He has a best of 21.56 in the 200 and finished second in the City championships in May.

Several members of the Birmingham High boys' basketball team were feeling the effects of flu as they headed into Wednesday's Northwest Valley Conference game against El Camino Real. But the Braves felt much better after they turned back a fourth-quarter rally to beat El Camino Real, 61-57, at Birmingham. Birmingham (14-6, 4-1) was led by guard Fahim Hassankhail, forward Stanley Fletcher and center Raymond Kizzee, all of whom have been ill this week.

To make a long story short, it was a standoff for nearly half of the fourth quarter and Cleveland High, without two of its top six players, escaped with another victory on Wednesday. Cleveland's Daniel Yang held the ball near the bench at midcourt for more than 3 1/2 minutes in the fourth quarter and Donald Holt made five of seven free throws after the stall to help the Cavaliers beat El Camino Real, 59-54, in a Northwest Valley Conference boys' basketball game at Cleveland.

Pride, respect, bonding, attention to academics. Ask Andre Chevalier about the Cleveland High boys' basketball team he coaches and his answers are peppered with such terms. Winning doesn't come up much, although that's the result everyone who follows the Cavalier program expects. So far, so good.

Frustration is rarely quantified, but this was clearly five pounds' worth. That's how often Coach Jan van Breda Kolff of Pepperdine thumped his fist on the scorer's table next to his seat at Firestone Fieldhouse, each time producing a startling bang. The cold-shooting Waves were locked in a close, low-scoring battle with Northwestern. Wave stars Brandon Armstrong and Kelvin Gibbs were ineffective. A 13-game home winning streak was at stake. "Nothing was going our way," Van Breda Kolff said.