Newbury Park on Verge of Naming a New Coach

Newbury Park High has pared to five its list of candidates to replace Ken Barone as boys’ basketball coach, Athletic Director Bill Manzer said Thursday.

Manzer said that he hoped to have interviews concluded by Monday and a decision by that afternoon.

The candidates are: Rich Endress, a Newbury Park assistant for the past seven seasons and recommended by Barone for the job; Dennis McKeown, Newbury Park varsity coach for four seasons while Barone coached at Ventura College; Greg Ropes, a teacher at Thousand Oaks High who coached at Camarillo for one season; Tim Bednar, the sophomore coach at Thousand Oaks; and Roy Gilmore, who coached previously at Westlake and Ventura.

Manzer declined to indicate a front-runner, although both Endress and McKeown teach at Newbury Park. An on-campus teacher was a primary factor when the school recently hired George Hurley to coach football.

Barone resigned Feb. 22 after two coaching stints covering 11 years at Newbury Park.

Heavyweight John Bray of Van Nuys dropped a 5-0 decision to Javier Alvarez of San Antonio in the semifinals of the U. S. Amateur Boxing Championships on Thursday in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Alvarez will meet Eugene Gill of Flint, Mich., who decisioned Brian Sloan of Augusta, Ga., 3-2, in the 201-pound final today.

Bryan Wagner, a former punter and placekicker at Cal State Northridge, was signed Thursday by the Cleveland Browns as an unprotected free agent. Wagner played last season with the Chicago Bears.

Phil Lombardi, a former Kennedy High catcher who was bidding for a position on the New York Mets’ major league roster, was optioned to the team’s triple-A affiliate in Tidewater, Va.

Catcher Casey Burrill has given an oral agreement to attend USC in the fall, Hart Coach Bud Murray confirmed. Burrill leads the Indians with a .500 batting average and 15 runs batted in.

Senior basketball players representing schools from the Glendale, Burbank and East Valley area are scheduled to participate in a boys’ and girls’ doubleheader Saturday at Woodbury University in Burbank. The girls’ game starts at 6:30 p.m. and the boys play at 8:15 p.m.

Among the seniors representing the boys’ West team are Times All-Valley players Kenny Hicks of Notre Dame and Nick Sanderson of Bell-Jeff. Among the girls’ selected is All-Valley pick Michelle Cabaldon of North Hollywood.

Tickets are $5 for adults, $3 for students and $2 for children under 12. Proceeds will benefit community sports and recreation facilities.