Balanced Huskies Stick It to Locke

NORTH HOLLYWOOD —  The North Hollywood High girls’ basketball team isn’t held together with spit and glue.

More like sweat and glue.

Senior guard Lindsay Sotero-Higa, who answers to the nicknames “Sweaty” and “Glue,” keyed an early run and North Hollywood had no problem beating Locke, 91-34, in a first-round game of the City Section 4-A Division playoffs Friday night at North Hollywood.

Sotero-Higa doesn’t get the publicity of teammates Markia Derby and Tashean Thomas, but she proved she can do more than her usual ball-handling role.

Sotero-Higa scored eight consecutive points in the middle of a 21-0 run to start the game for third-seeded North Hollywood (24-2).

“She keeps this team together,” North Hollywood Coach Rich Allen said of Sotero-Higa, giving credence to her “Glue” moniker.

“She’s not [an NCAA] Division I player, but she’s got a Division I heart and a Division I brain.”

Sotero-Higa, who made three-point baskets on consecutive possessions during the decisive run, doesn’t mind giving way to her teammates on most nights.

“If that’s what we need, that’s fine with me,” Sotero-Higa said. “I don’t mind being in the background.

“If they’re on, I’m just going to give [Derby and Thomas] the ball. Why stop them?”

Derby, who scored a school-record 36 points in the Huskies’ regular-season finale against Monroe, was sharp again Friday, finishing with 22 points and 11 rebounds. She scored 14 in the first quarter.

Thomas had 12 points and 11 rebounds for North Hollywood, which held Locke to 15-of-69 shooting (21.7%).

Three years ago, the Huskies needed a last-second basket by Samantha Fargeon to defeat Locke in a first-round playoff game.

There was no need for a dramatic finish this time. North Hollywood led at halftime, 47-11.

Locke (14-10), seeded 14th, made only one of 20 shots in the second quarter. Maya Jenkins led the Saints with 12 points and Janelle Girard scored nine.

Next up for North Hollywood is an old nemesis--the quarterfinals.

In the previous four seasons, the Huskies have won a first-round game only to be bounced from the playoffs in the next round. They face sixth-seeded Garfield on Wednesday at North Hollywood.

“If they don’t make it to the [semifinals], I don’t know what happened,” Locke Coach Karen Anderson said. “Anything less than that would be a disappointment for them.”

Sotero-Higa agreed.

‘We’ve come a long way,” she said. “We weren’t sure what kind of team we were going to be at first, but we’ve all decided we want to get to the finals.”