Birmingham Player Passes His Screen Test

The opening moments of the motion picture “Jerry Maguire” include a grinning high school basketball player deftly dribbling and making flashy shots, with the sports agent played by Tom Cruise talking about how he knows the potential of every kid in the country.

The hoopster was played by Michael Johnson, a member of the Birmingham High junior varsity team.

“I was sitting in the theater, saw Michael, and thought, ‘No way,’ ” said Al Bennett, the Birmingham varsity coach. “After the movie I waited for the credits and, sure enough, it was him. It was hysterical.”

Johnson, a sophomore, has honest-to-goodness potential, according to Bennett, although perhaps not enough to merit a high-powered agent.

“He’s not a bad player,” Bennett said. “He should make the varsity next year. He’s got some talent.”

Friendly foes: After winning its last six games by at least 41 points, the Bell-Jeff High girls’ basketball team finally had a competitive game Wednesday.

The Guards played themselves.

Guard Coach Jim Couch divided his team into seniors and non-seniors for a 15-minute scrimmage.

“You’ve got to do things like that to keep everybody sharp,” Couch said. “And you’ve got to see what you have for next year, too.”

The underclassmen built a 10-point lead and held on to defeat the Jaclyn Johnson-led seniors.

“They were a little upset,” Couch said of the seniors. “But it’s good to see them work hard.”

Lowered expectations: Sylmar High boys’ soccer Coach Manuel Vega figured the Spartans were a cinch to capture their third Valley Pac-8 Conference title based on his team’s seventh-place finish in the 80-team Watts Games tournament last summer.

But the team has since lost four starters and Vega simply hopes his team (2-1, 2-1 in conference) reaches the City Section playoffs.

Senior midfielder Francisco Vasquez, who helped Sylmar advance to last season’s section semifinals, is academically ineligible and no longer in school. Sophomore forward Ruben Andrade is academically ineligible. Senior forward Eduardo Acuchi was found to have used up his high school eligibility and sophomore goalkeeper-forward Cameron Damwijk transferred to Kennedy.

“We really struggle,” Vega said. “But with those four guys we would have been as good as last season. I saw them together this summer and thought we had another dream team.”

Hot and cold: With eight players who missed a significant portion of the season because they played in the football playoffs, it’s not surprising that the St. Bonaventure boys’ basketball team has shot erratically.

The high: the Seraphs (6-9) shot 66% in a loss to highly regarded L.A. Baptist. The low: a 29% shooting performance and a 41% effort at the free-throw line in a five-point loss to Nordhoff.

Blackout: The lights went out in Ojai on Tuesday night, postponing three boys’ basketball games between Malibu and Nordhoff.

Nordhoff Athletic Director Cliff Farrar said the freshman game had just started a little after 4 p.m. when the gym went dark. Electric company officials told Farrar power would likely not be restored until 9 p.m. and the games were rescheduled for Jan. 28.

“That’s three hours in a bus for our kids and a $300 bus fee down the drain,” Malibu Athletic Director Rich Lawson said.

Bowing out: Art Gomez, second-year coach of the Lancaster High boys’ soccer team, said he will resign at the end of the season to concentrate on coaching in a club organization.