Buena Hits With Game on Line

VENTURA —  It was billed as the biggest girls’ basketball game in region history and it lived up to the hype.

With an overflow crowd of 1,400 that included dozens of college coaches and scouts, Buena High, the No. 1 team in the nation, outlasted No. 3 and defending national champion Narbonne, 71-61, on Saturday night in an intersectional game at Buena.

Buena (23-0) built a 15-point first-half lead, watched it deteriorate into a one-point fourth-quarter deficit, then closed with a flurry.

The Bulldogs outscored Narbonne, 23-13, in the fourth quarter, making 13 of 17 free throws.

“They took our best shot in the third quarter and came back to knock us out in the fourth,” Coach James Anderson of Narbonne said.

Coaches from UCLA, Stanford, California and several others, as well as a national television network, watched as Tennessee-bound guards Courtney Young of Buena and Loree Moore of Narbonne faced off in one of the game’s many subplots.

“This is a game we’ve been looking to all season,” said Young, who scored 22 points and twice brought the raucous crowd to its feet with sizzling moves.

Moore scored 12 points for the Gauchos (18-3).

“This definitely was, in my opinion, the biggest game in the nation this year,” Coach Joe Vaughan of Buena said.

“Hopefully, if we don’t step on our foot, we could play each other again and that would be of even bigger magnitude because it would be in the state playoffs.”

Buena, favored to win the Southern Section Division I-A title, and Narbonne, the favorite to win its second consecutive City Section championship, could meet March 10 in the Southern California Regional final at the Great Western Forum.

“It was an intense game all the way through,” Moore said. “We’ll see them again.”

Lisa Willis scored 13 points for the Gauchos and Wilnett Crockett added 12.

Kelly Greathouse of the Bulldogs, who has committed to North Carolina State, scored 15 points before fouling out.

Courtney LaVere, Buena’s 6-2 junior forward, scored 14, including a three-pointer at the first-quarter buzzer to provide Buena with a 26-11 lead.

The Gauchos outscored the Bulldogs, 37-22, through the next 16 minutes to tie it, and a free throw by Amber Fouse to begin the fourth quarter gave Narbonne its only lead, 49-48.

“We let down, but we stepped back up and everyone contributed,” LaVere said.

Junior guard Emily Lewis of Buena scored seven of her nine points in the fourth quarter, all on free throws. Senior guard Lauren Sargent added 11 points.

Buena made 32 of 39 free throws.

“It seemed like they made us pay every time,” said Anderson, whose Gauchos were 19 for 28 from the line.

Each season, Buena schedules a powerhouse to come to its gym for its annual fund-raiser. Past opponents included New York Christ the King, Peninsula, Brea Olinda and Mater Dei.

But none bigger than this.

With a possible national title on the line, fans began packing the tiny gymnasium almost three hours early for a game that had been sold out for weeks.

“It was crazy,” Young said. “I’m just glad we won. We needed to prove to everyone that we’re for real and wanted everyone to believe in us as a team.”

Narbonne’s bench outscored Buena’s, 28-0, but it didn’t matter.

“A game like this is a great atmosphere for girls’ basketball,” UCLA Coach Kathy Olivier said. “You had to get here really early just to get a seat, and it played up to every bit of its billing.”