`PYRAMID' KEY TO LANCASTER'S STRONG SEASON CLOSE TEAM TIES PAID OFF ON THE FIELD.

Byline: GIDEON RUBIN Special to the Daily News

Late summer is a time in the high school football season when players prepare to compete for positions and learn their new roles -- and when coaches develop a sense of their personnel.

But before Lancaster High's team had its first August workout in full pads, coach Jeff Cortez had the players assemble in the school gym for an overnight.

There would be plenty of time for the team to refine its blocking schemes and for players to memorize the playbook.

But for one night, Cortez had his players focus on developing camaraderie in a team-bonding exercise he's done since taking over the program in 2003.

And although Lancaster's season ended with the haphazard bounce of a ball in a wild 26-19 double-overtime loss to visiting Chaminade of West Hills in a Southern Section Western Division quarterfinal game Friday, Cortez believes the foundation for getting his team as far it did was established on the overnight.

Cortez said he's made it a priority to emphasize the team concept since he was an assistant at Crespi of Encino and met with former UCLA basketball coaching legend in the late 1990s.

``We talked about what being successful means. We focused on what foundation of the `pyramid' is,'' Cortez said, alluding to Coach John Wooden's formula known in coaching circles as the ``Pyramid of Success.''

Lancaster's season ended on a strange play, when receiver Jacob Potts fumbled a slick ball at the 3 just as he was about to leap into the end zone for a score that would have given Lancaster a chance to tie the game with an extra point conversion.

The ball trickled right and was just inches out of bounds when an official called a game-ending touchback.

``In a lot of ways we reached our full potential this year,'' Cortez said. ``Even though we ended up losing, there were so many positives in how we played the way we were supposed to.''

Cortez believes his team's legacy is that his players embraced the team concept, not the random bounce of a ball.

``We were so close and that's a testament to the way the kids played for the guy next to them,'' Cortez said. ``Even though we really wish we were playing in December, we have a lot to be happy about.''

Lancaster overcame a glaring lack of size to remain competitive this year despite heavy graduation losses.

``We weren't the biggest team by any stretch, but we worked hard to overcome our deficiencies, and that goes to the pyramid of success.''

Early exit

Although several area teams had strong showings, for the first time in more than 10 years no Antelope Valley team advanced to the semifinals.

The region sent four teams to the quarterfinals: two out of the Golden League (Lancaster and Highland), one out of the High Desert (Rosamond) and one out of the Desert Mountain (Boron).

Highland got off to a nice start, scoring first against top-seeded Dominguez of Compton. But Highland was unable to keep up in a 33-15 Western Division quarterfinal.

Rosamond lost to top-seeded Big Bear 49-13, and Boron, a No. 2 seed, was upset by Brentwood 14-6 in East Valley and Northeast Division quarterfinal games, respectively.