BASKETBALL NOTES: HULL-LESS HOOVER TEAM FINDS A WAY.

Byline: Vincent Bonsignore Daily News Staff Writer

When Mark Hull left Hoover High for UC Irvine, Tornadoes coach Kirt Kohlmeier was understandably worried.

After all, Hull had averaged 29 points and 14 rebounds.

Well, Kohlmeier can rest easy, and not just because Hoover has opened with five wins in six games.

Kohlmeier is especially relieved that three players have made significant progress since last year, enough so the loss of Hull has been nicely absorbed.

One player in particular stands out. Zareh Avedian, a 6-foot-5 senior forward, has played so well he's drawing favorable comparisons to Hull, consistently putting up 25 to 30 points per game while taking 15 rebounds.

Avedian showed signs this summer that he was ready to step up, averaging 32 points per game. But summer is one thing, the regular season something else entirely.

His play so far has Kohlmeier understandably excited.

``Just from last year to this year he's come along in many areas,'' Kohlmeier said. ``His leadership, confidence and assuredness are all so much better. It's really great to see.''

Two others have played well. Kris Rubio has stepped in nicely at point guard, and Narbeh Doloukhanian is doing a solid job at forward.

``All three have shown a lot of maturity,'' Kohlmeier said. ``I think Mark taught these guys really well.''

Crespi adjusts: Crespi coach Dick Dornan is pleased with the Celts' 3-1 record, especially considering their three top players are out.

``I think a lot of it has to do with the summer. We played 45 games and I think those games provided a lot of game experience for those guys,'' Dornan said. ``Everybody knows that when (the injured players) come back we'll be that much stronger.''

Crespi has four players averaging in double figures, and the team's defense has been tremendous, according to Dornan.

``We've had two games that the defense did a tremendous job in,'' Dornan said. ``They were two of the best (defensive) games I've seen in a long time.''

Crespi thinks Greg Gunther (stress fracture), Pat Casella (sprained ankle) and Michael Luderer (sprained ankle) should be back in time for league play in January.

The key so far has been the play of guards Pat Dornan, Tim McDonough, Andrew Moore, Blake Tibbetts and forward Marcin Jagoda (15 points, nine rebounds per game.)

``Those five guys played the entire second half against Harvard-Westlake (a 63-50 Crespi win),'' Dornan said. ``I've never done that before.''

Carry on: Not too many teams can lose their top two post players, plus their point guard, and still carry on.

But that's exactly what Thousand Oaks has done.

The Lancers (7-2) reached the final of their tournament last week despite the fact they played most of the time without power forwards Dan Babauta (out for the year with a broken hand) and Marcus Ellis (knee injury) plus talented freshman point guard Dave Anderson (sprained ankle).

``Despite it all we're still playing pretty well,'' Thousand Oaks coach Rich Endres said.

The key for the Lancers is terrific outside shooting, which has been able to offset the problems upfront.

Guards Tim Chevalier, a junior, has been in double figures in most games, and sophomore Kyle Kegley played well enough to earn all-tournament honors at the Thousand Oaks tournament.

Endres isn't worried about the outside shooting suddenly going cold. Thousand Oaks has at least five players who shoot well outside. When one or two have an off-night, the other three can usually compensate.

``And the nice thing is we're sharing the ball and getting a lot of guys in double figures,'' Endres said.

Taking over: Though they didn't win the Golden League title last year, the Highland girls had the top player - Kameelah Purdom, who is now a starter at College of the Canyons.

Taking Purdom's place as a dominator in the middle is junior Lamarra Burleson, who had a school-record eight blocked shots in the Bulldogs' 40-39 win over Saugus last week. Burleson, who is 6-0, also had 15 points and 15 rebounds.

Growing pains: Ruben Douglas would barely recognize the Bell-Jeff team he left behind when he left for the University of Arizona. The Guards' only two returning players from last year were deep bench players.

Their 2-2 start reflects the loss of Douglas and the brand new roster. The encouraging thing is that each of the Guards' games has come down to the last second, proving they're more than competitive.

One player to keep an eye on is 6-3 sophomore Casey Markovic; coach Eli Essa says Markovic has a better outside shot than Douglas did at a comparable stage.

``He's going to be big-time,'' Essa said. ``He's not quite as explosive as Ruben is, but he's a tremendous outside shooter and he's an excellent leaper.''

Staff Writer Chris Branam contributed to this report.