Westchester Earns Top Billing in Games : Prep basketball: Defending City 4-A Division champion among Westside teams competing in LA Watts Summer Games.

It is nice to win a championship in the LA Watts Summer Games, but it is also nice to get together with teams and athletes that you never see during the regular season, according to coaches of three Westside boys’ prep basketball teams that should be factors in the games.

Most of the games will be held Saturday and Sunday and June 29-30 at 24 Southern California locations. Swimming was held last week.

Ed Azzam, coach of the top-seeded Westchester boys’ basketball team, said he thinks the tournament “is very well run” by the sponsoring Los Angeles Junior Chamber of Commerce. The games, which developed as a response to the 1965 Watts Riots, bring together 12,000 Southern California high school athletes in 13 sports.

“The spirit behind the games is even more important,” Azzam said. “I wouldn’t miss it. I’ve fought and argued and want to be in it. It’s important for kids to realize it is a game and a means to their ends, but it’s still a game. You go there and compete, and when it’s over, it’s over.”

The theme of the games is “Interaction Among People,” and there is plenty of that. In basketball alone, there are 114 boys’ teams and 64 women’s teams.

But the games do serve other purposes according to boys’ basketball coaches Harvey Kitani of seventh-seeded Fairfax and Leo Klemm of 24th-seeded St. Monica.

“It’s nice to do well in it, but not too many people remember that Fairfax won it in 1989 and Fremont won in 1990,” Kitani said. “To the winner it means something, but to everyone else it’s a time to play some teams (before) the season and to learn about (other) teams.”

But he said the tournament also gives coaches the opportunity “to learn about their own squads, to find out what their deficiencies are and go on from there.”

Klemm, The Times’ 1991 Westside Coach of the Year, said he thinks the tournament “is a good test for us. It helps us prepare for away games, helps us prepare for adverse conditions (on the road).”

Azzam, whose Comets won the Los Angeles City 4-A Division championship last season and finished 22-8, said Westchester “should be one of the top teams” in the tournament.

“We have nine guys coming back, and I don’t know anyone who would be ranked higher than us in the City,” he said.

The only Westchester regulars who will have graduated are center LeRoi O’Brien, The Times’ Westside Player of the Year last season, and forward Albert Jones.

Returning Comets and their classes as of next term include senior point guard James Gray, who made The Times’ All-Westside first team; 6-foot-9 senior center Marty Cotwright, twin senior forwards LaValle and Lorenzo Ball, junior guard Jason Sanders, junior center Walter Walker, senior guard James Towns and junior guard Maurice Robinson.

Westchester will be a site for opening-round basketball games on Saturday and Sunday. The Comets have a bye on Saturday and will play the winner of a first-round game between Bellarmine-Jefferson and Yucaipa at 9 a.m. Sunday.

Fairfax is losing three starters to graduation: center Ryan Hickman, a Times’ All-Westside first-team selection last season; guard Roderick Sullivan and point guard Jerome Johnson.

But guard Burt Harris, who was named to The Times’ All-Westside first team after he led the Lions in scoring with an average of 21.7 points, will return for his senior season and will take over at point guard.

Kitani said he may use as many as four guards in the lineup at the same time. Back court players include seniors Donti Ceruti and Jahi Bacon and juniors Robert Foster and Travis Taylor.

Bacon, a Times’ All-Westside first-team selection at St. Monica in 1990, had back surgery for a slipped disk and did not play last season. Foster and Taylor were the top scorers for an undefeated junior varsity last season.

Senior Hamp Lee, a 6-6 1/2 starting forward, returns, as does senior forward Jermaine Swanson, a reserve last season.

Kitani said that “this group of guys has the potential to mature not only in basketball but also in lots of areas off the court. If that takes place, we have a darn good chance of doing well” next season.

Fairfax has an opening-round bye and will meet the winner of the game between Mid-City and Montebello at noon Sunday in the second round at L.A. Jordan.

St. Monica, led by All-Westside first-team point guard Alex Davis, may be much better than its No. 24 seeding. Last season Klemm said he chose to play at the IV-A level rather than compete at the highest level, 1-AA, because the Mariners were young and inexperienced.

But Klemm, whose team won the 1991 Southern Section IV-A championship and advanced to the semifinals of the Southern California Division IV championships, said St. Monica may return to the top level of competition next season.

Klemm’s only graduation losses are forward Keith Walk-Green, who was named to the All-Division IV first team with Davis, and All-Camino Real League first-team guard Mike Avery.

Klemm said that Davis, who will be a junior, “is just looking outstanding.” Last season he averaged 16.7 points and 5.3 assists. Other regulars returning include 6-5 senior forward-center Jarrett Wendt, junior guard Marshawn Hogans and senior forward Justin Snowden.

Sophomore forward Herman Schultz, who went from the junior varsity to the varsity for last season’s playoffs, could be a starter. Also pushing for playing time will be junior guard Nissan Thomas, junior guard-forward Winston Hardson and freshman guard Gabe Pagtama.

In its opener, St. Monica will play Narbonne at 4 p.m. Saturday at Inglewood High.

Other Saturday first-round games featuring Westside teams:

No. 25 Culver City-Paraclete at 10 a.m. at Inglewood High; Santa Monica-Monroe at 3 p.m. at the El Camino College South gymnasium; No. 19 Dorsey-Moorpark at 9 a.m. at Dorsey High; Venice-Bosco Tech at 11 a.m. at Fremont High; No. 23 St. Bernard-Chadwick at 10 a.m. at Los Angeles Jordan and University-South Torrance at 10 a.m. and Hamilton-Santa Paula at 2 p.m. at Crenshaw High.

No. 6 Crenshaw, which has a bye in the first round at its own gym, will play the University-South Torrance winner at 9 a.m. Sunday in a second-round game at the El Camino North gym.

In girls’ basketball, St. Bernard, which won the 1991 III-A Southern Section title, is seeded 10th. The Vikings had The Times’ Westside Coach of the Year in Lori Pawinski and also the top player in Joi Turner, who will be a junior.

In Saturday openers for local girls’ teams, Venice will meet Los Alamitos at 10 a.m. and St. Bernard will play Ontario Chaffey at 1 p.m. at Los Angeles Washington High; Culver City will play Manual Arts at 9 a.m. and No. 14 Crenshaw will play Diamond Bar at 10 a.m. at Manual Arts and Hamilton will play Garden Grove Rancho Alamitos at 9 a.m. at Los Angeles High.

Other sports include baseball, football (passing only), gymnastics, soccer, softball, tennis, track and field, volleyball, water polo and wrestling. There is also competition in cheerleading.

Beverly Hills could make a big impact in football and soccer.

The Beverly Hills football team features quarterback Ziv Gottlieb, one of the Southern Section’s most productive passers last year. The Normans will open against the winner of a morning game between Newhall Hart and Washington at 2:15 p.m. Saturday at North Torrance High.

The Norman soccer team, which reached the Southern Section 4-A final last season before losing to Santa Ana, 5-1, will meet San Fernando in the first round at 11 a.m. Saturday at Field 1 at the Rose Bowl.