CHATTER: MARMONTE PRIMED FOR INTENSE TOURNEY FINISH.

Byline: Vincent Bonsignore Staff Writer

The Marmonte League boys' and girls' basketball teams are in for an extremely interesting finish to the regular season.

Here is the situation: Now that Calabasas High is in - making the Marmonte an eight-team league - they've split the league into two four-team divisions and will decide final playoff seeds during a one-day, season- ending tournament.

The divisions break down this way: Royal of Simi Valley, Agoura, Calabasas and Simi Valley are in one, and Westlake, Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park and Moorpark are in the other.

Each team plays twice against teams in its own division and once against teams in the other.

At the end of the year, the No. 1s from each division will play to decide the first and second playoff seeds, the No. 2s will play to decide third and fourth and so on.

The boys' tournament will be at Westlake High.

``It's interesting, that's for sure,'' Simi Valley head coach Christian Aurand said. ``If you're a 6-4 No. 1 from one division and you play a 10-0 No. 1 from the other, you've got a shot for an upset to get that No. 1 seed. On the other hand, if you're that 10-0 team, that makes for a pretty stressful situation.''

All in all, it will provide basketball fans in the region a chance to watch a handful of important games to end the regular season.

``From that standpoint, it's going to make things interesting,'' Westlake coach Tom Donahue said. ``It'll be a great day for the fans.'' ...

For the second year in a row, Pepperdine outside hitter Katie Wilkins was named a second-team All-American by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. The junior, who was also selected as the West Coast Conference player of the year, averaged 4.6 kills per match as the Waves advanced to the regional final of the NCAA Tournament. Wilkins is the first player in Pepperdine history to twice be selected as an All-American.

Jerome Wright did just about everything expected of him this season for the Antelope Valley College football team.

The wide receiver set six school records and had team highs in yards receiving (1,003), all-purpose yardage (1,882) and touchdowns (six), while providing valuable leadership to the more than 50 freshmen on this year's team.

About all that's left for Wright now is deciding where he'll play next season as a junior. The Highland High of Palmdale graduate leaves Friday for Utah State, his first official recruiting trip.

``This is just the beginning,'' Wright said. ``I talked with (Utah State coach Mick Dennehy) and he really wants me to be successful, and the school wants to be a part of that. It's going to be a whole new environment.''

Kansas, Kansas State, Oregon State and Hawaii have also expressed interest in the 6-foot, 170-pounder, who plans to make his decision within the next month. ...

Staff Writer Sean Ceglinsky contributed to this report.