CITY SECTION TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP: G.H. BEATS CARSON, CAPTURES CITY TITLE.Byline: Lauren Gustus Staff Writer The Granada Hills High girls' tennis team smeared green stripes under its eyes to block the sun's glare in the City Section championship Friday afternoon at Balboa Park, which led coach Ron Wood to remark his team was ready for battle. ``They wore Indian war paint,'' Wood said. ``So I told them just make sure it was the Battle of Little Big Horn and not the Battle of Wounded Knee Wounded Knee, creek, rising in SW S.Dak. and flowing NW to the White River; site of the last major battle of the Indian wars. After the death of Sitting Bull, a band of Sioux, led by Big Foot, fled into the badlands, where they were captured by the 7th Cavalry on Dec. 28, 1890, and brought to the creek. On Dec. 29, the Sioux were ordered disarmed; but when a medicine man threw dust into the air, a warrior pulled a gun and wounded an officer. The U.S..'' The Highlanders strained and pulled against Carson in a close contest but emerged as City champions with a 4-3 victory over the Colts. Granada Hills jumped out to a three-point lead after its two, three and four singles players - Canna canna [Lat.,=cane], any plant of the genus Canna, tropical and subtropical perennials, grown in temperate regions in parks and gardens for the large foliage and spikelike, usually red or yellow blossoms. Today, most cultivated cannas are hybrids, but two species are found wild in the S United States, one called Indian shot because of the hard shotlike seeds. C. Futura, Yuka Otaka and Ramya Sreepathi - won in straight sets, 6-0, 6-0. But Granada Hills struggled in doubles and at the No. 1 singles spot and wasn't guaranteed a victory even though it needed just one more point to clinch. No. 1 singles player Christine Dao, who originally decided not to play at the high school level in order to focus on private tournaments, rejoined the team halfway through the season after encouragement from her teammates. ``Me and (Dao) are really good friends,'' Otaka, the Highlanders' captain, said. ``I kept telling her how amazing this team was. I told her I knew she was going to regret it if she didn't come back.'' Even though Dao lost to Carson's Dianne Matias in three sets Friday, the Highlanders wouldn't have won without her. ``By her playing at the top it allows everyone below her a better chance,'' Wood said. ``But in a win like this, everyone contributes. It doesn't matter where you get your points, as long as you get them.'' Carson moved some of its singles players down to doubles, and the strategy almost worked for the Colts, who took the first and second doubles matches. But Granada Hills' Randi Levine and Alexandra Mareolin beat Cielo Domingo and Sheila Pacleb 6-0, 6-2 to secure the Highlanders' victory. Carson and Granada Hills are no strangers; the teams have met in the final each of the previous four years. The Highlanders lost to Carson last year and in 2000 since winning their most recent title in 1999. The girls, according to Wood, didn't want a repeat of last year, and worked on their games in the offseason. ``The majority of those who played last year remembered how it felt,'' Wood said. In the City Section Invitational final, Eagle Rock beat Taft of Woodland Hills 4-3 in another match determined on the doubles courts. The Eagles (10-5) won all three doubles matches in straight sets, and No. 2 singles player Monica Lee defeated Taft of Woodland Hills's Zenina Rashed 6-1, 5-7, 6-1 for Eagle Rock's final point. ``We've been really strong in doubles all season,'' Eagles coach Mike Lew said. ``It's always been our key.'' |
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