BRIEFLY : Canyon Student Awaits Decision

Canyon High officials have yet to decide whether to take further disciplinary action against a student accused of throwing a punch at a Burroughs of Ridgecrest coach, the school’s principal said Wednesday. The student, Chad Zeigler, has already been suspended for three days.

William White said Canyon was not finished with its investigation of Zeigler’s involvement in a brawl Friday after a basketball game against Burroughs. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department will decide by Monday whether Zeigler, 16, is to be charged with battery. Robert Campbell, the Burroughs assistant basketball coach who was struck, filed a complaint with the department on Tuesday.

Canyon Coach Greg Hayes on Wednesday expressed concern that the fight has overshadowed one of the biggest basketball wins in the school’s history. The 75-69 win in overtime gave Canyons first place in league.

“Obviously, what happened is very regrettable,” Hayes said. “But it was a tremendous basketball game--high school basketball at its best. If there hadn’t been a fight, I think people would still be talking about this game, and I think that’s a tribute to both schools.

“What bothers me most is that the fight drew away from a very positive event. That’s how it should be remembered. Not for a bad couple of minutes but for a class two hours.”

On Tuesday, the Cowboys (8-1, 16-7) moved a step closer to a Golden League title by defeating Palmdale, 84-37.

Burbank Loses Van Dam

Senior forward David Van Dam, Burbank High’s biggest scoring threat since the league season began, has been declared academically ineligible and will miss the rest of the season.

Van Dam, who averaged 12.8 points and six rebounds a game on the season, led the Bulldogs to an 8-1 Foothill League record with an average of 17 points a game.

Burbank Coach Russ Keith said Van Dam had the required 2.0 grade-point average, but got two U’s in citizenship, making him ineligible according to district guidelines.

“It’s going to be tough to go on without him,” Keith said. “We’ve won two games without him, but the scores were indicative of how much we’ll miss him.”

Burbank won its last two games at home over Hart, 62-56, and Alhambra, 45-43. Burbank had beaten Hart, 81-54, and Alhambra, 64-50, with Van Dam.

Chris Buck, Burbank’s first player off the bench, also was ruled academically ineligible.

Burbank (18-5) is tied for first with Schurr in the Foothill League.

UCLA Signs Tomkus

Daiva Tomkus, the Valley area’s top high school girls volleyball player, signed a letter of intent with UCLA on Wednesday.

The 6-1 middle blocker from Chaminade High was a three-time San Fernando Valley League MVP.

Valley Teams Seeded

Cleveland High will be one of the seeded teams when the City basketball playoffs begin Feb. 21. The Cavaliers (12-6) lead the Valley 4-A League with a 9-1 record. Fairfax (15-4, 8-2) trails by one game with two to play.

Cleveland will be seeded third if it wins the league. If Fairfax is the champion and Cleveland finishes second, the Cavaliers will be seeded fourth.

Granada Hills (15-3, 8-0) will be seeded second the 3-A Division.

The Kennedy girls team (16-2, 8-0) is seeded first in the 4-A and will be heavily favored to win a City championship.

In the Playoffs--at Last

St. Genevieve, a team with no home court and no starter taller than 6-1, will make its third boys basketball playoff appearance in 28 years.

The Valiants kept alive their hopes for a share of the Santa Fe League championship with a 55-49 victory Tuesday night over Chaminade. St. Genevieve (9-2) trails Daniel Murphy (10-1) by one game with one to play.

The Valiants play host to sixth-place Cathedral on Friday night, while Murphy plays at third-place Bell-Jeff.