BOYS' BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK: LANCASTER FOCUSES ON ITS OFFENSE.

Byline: Vincent Bonsignore Staff Writer

The Lancaster High boys' basketball team hopes to go on the offensive this week.

The Eagles, who play in the Chaminade of West Hills tournament Dec. 26-30, have played excellent defense through 10 games this year but their offense has been spotty.

Now Lancaster coach Jessie Parker hopes the offense catches up to the defense.

``It's not a surprise that we're playing better defensively right now, because you can always control how well you play on that end of the court. It's effort and desire,'' Parker said. ``Offensively, there are subtle things that can disrupt what you're doing - a missed pick, and blown assignment. The good thing is, correcting that is just practice and playing.''

The Eagles (5-5) run a motion offense that can create shots anywhere on the court, for any player. But clearly forward Deonte Huff is Lancaster's most efficient scorer, and a player the Eagles continually look to.

``As he goes, so we go,'' Parker said. ``That's not to say we don't have other guys who can score, because we do, but he's definitely our go-to player.''

Still, Parker is hoping for consistent scoring from Chad McDaniel and James Bolden as the year moves on.

``They definitely have to step up,'' Parker said. ``It's been hit and miss at times so far, but I'm not worried. We have some time to get things squared away.''

--Welcome back: Slowly but surely, Antelope Valley is putting its complete roster together after getting six players back from a long football season.

Three of the football players are starters, which helps explain the Antelopes' 2-7 record. But now that Mychal Bogan, Andre Crenshaw and Michael Casey are getting their basketball legs and wind back, Antelope Valley has a chance to turn things around.

``We're definitely getting there,'' first-year coach Mike Vargas said. ``We're getting better and better each day.''

That's why Vargas isn't worried about the Antelopes' record, knowing full well the true shape of his team is a work in progress.

It also helps that Antelope Valley has played to the end of games in just about every contest.

``We've been right there the whole time,'' Vargas said. ``We're a young team, and a lot of those games came down to the very end, which is when experience really helps. It's been a missed free throw or a key turnover late in the game that have hurt us most.''

Now that the Antelopes have their starting lineup in place, expect those things to improve.

--Practice makes perfect: The Antelopes will also benefit from extra practice time together. Between the lack of players and a hectic tournament and game schedule, Vargas has had little time for instruction.

On some teams that might not be a problem, but the Antelopes are young, making practice time all the more critical.

``The football players were basically going out there in games and playing on pure skills,'' Vargas said. ``There just wasn't enough time to work on strategy and things like that. Now that we got some practice time under our belt, I feel a lot better.''

Vincent Bonsignore, [phone]

vincent.bonsignore(at)dailynews.com

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Forward Deonte Huff is Lancaster's ``go-to player,'' coach Jessie Parker said, but the Eagles (5-5) are looking for more contributions on offense to go along with their steady defense.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer