TAFT GETS MAGIC NIGHT FOR OPENER.

Byline: GERRY GITTELSON GITTELSON BITS

If the start of the Taft High of Woodland Hills boys' basketball season is any indication how the Toreadors will finish this season, then special things are in store for a team many predict will compete for the City Section title.

Taft kicks off the season Thursday night with a glitzy celebrity fund- raiser headlined by former Lakers' great Magic Johnson.

The Magic Man, a longtime family friend of Taft star guard Larry Drew Jr., tops a guest list that includes former basketball stars Pooh Richardson, Mark Jackson, John Salley, Wayman Tisdale and former baseball great Eric Davis. Tickets, ranging from $10 general admission to $25 VIP, are available through the school.

``It's quite an amazing event,'' said Ron Green, father of Taft standout forward Garrett Green. ``It's an annual thing, and we've had Pooh and Mark Jackson in the past, and it was very popular. The gym fills up.''

The event also gives local basketball fans a first glimpse of last year's City Section finalist Taft, which is loaded with returning talent and key newcomers, and is expected to compete for a state title this season.

Meanwhile, Taft basketball rival Chatsworth opens its season Monday but doesn't play its first home game until Jan. 5 against VanNuys. On that night, principal Jeff Davis, a longtime supporter of local athletics, hopes he can coax pop star Jeffrey Osborne (father of returning All-City guard Jeffrey Jr.) to sing the national anthem, as the elder Osborne has done many times for the Lakers.

``I know he'll do it,'' Davis said.

For the 18th consecutive Thanksgiving at Hart High, morning football practice Thursday was as much a part of the holiday tradition as turkey and stuffing.

Every year since coach Mike Herrington signed on in1989, the Indians have practiced on Thanksgiving, and the Indians are 18-0 in first-round playoff games. Through the years, agrowing cadre of former players, friends and relatives come by to say hello -- everyone from Kyle Boller topolitician/ex-receiver Cameron Smythe -- as the players flex their way through a brisk workout.

``It's an old tradition we're carrying out, and I think it's great,'' receiver George Diaz said. ``To be a part of the Thanksgiving tradition is pretty cool. These guys are like my second family. We're all brothers.''

And every Thanksgiving, Herrington warns the boys not to overindulge at the dinner table the night before the quarterfinals.

``We had a defensive lineman a few years ago that ate too much turkey and got very sick during the game,'' Herrington said. ``So I tell them to take it easy and enjoy the leftovers on Saturday.''

For a few top high school football seniors yet to commit to a major college scholarship, their football lives get better after the season ends -- and their recruiting trips begin. They fly in jets to colleges such as Stanford, Notre Dame and Michigan, hang out with the college players (and coeds!), devour massive platters of steak and lobster, then eagerly compare the programs' advantages during similar recruiting visits to competing universities.

Such will be the itinerary over the coming weeks for safety Aubrey Smith of Chaminade of West Hills, defensive lineman D.J. Holt of Crespi of Encino and running back Malachi Lewis of Rio Mesa of Oxnard, among others. All are weighing multiple offers fromCalifornia's top programs and beyond.

``My advice to Aubrey was to wait and take all his trips to UNLV, Utah, Nevada,'' Chaminade coach Ben McEnroe said. ``That way, he gets to see the United States and what everyone has to offer.''

We're proud to break the news about a 7-year-old soccer phenom from Encino named Dylan Flier, who scored 42 goals in one AYSO season and is the son of prominent celebrity attorney Andrew Flier.

``Seven years old, and he's already being recruited to play on a travel team,'' the elder Flier said. ``He scores alot of goals but he's a nice kid. After he gets two or three, he takes it easy on the other team and passes off to his teammates. He's the only kid in the league who can really make a nice pass.''

One of just two area boys' basketball teams ever to finish undefeated with a 32-0 season two years ago, Campbell Hall of North Hollywood again will be hardto beat this season -- byanyone.

The defending Southern Section Div. IV-A finalist Vikings' top three scorers return -- Jrue Holiday (21.0points per game), Justin Holiday (20.0) and Robert Ford (14.8) -- joined by impact transfers Dallas Rutherford and Keegan Hornbuckle.

Rutherford, a 6-foot-2 junior, averaged 22.2 points last season at Hillcrest Christian of Granada Hills, and Hornbuckle, a touted 6-foot-5 sophomore, averaged 5.5 points and 5.5 rebounds as a ninth-grader at OaksChristian of Westlake Village.

Campbell Hall opens at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday against South East of South Gate in the first round of the Campbell Hall tournament, which raises money for cancer.

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