DAY IN SPORTS; BUENA SURVIVES AGAINST WOLVERINES.

Byline: Daily News

Even in defeat, the Harvard-Westlake High girls' basketball team made a believer out of its coach as well as one of the country's top teams.

Facing nationally ranked Buena of Ventura, the Wolverines led early in the fourth quarter but fell just short in a 51-46 nonleague loss Saturday at Harvard-Westlake of North Hollywood.

``I saw (Buena) play up in Santa Barbara, and I honestly didn't think we had a chance,'' Bryan Taylor said. ``Of course I didn't tell my team that. I'm very pleased with our effort, and there were just a few little things that we did wrong.''

Chantal Kazay, who had scored only two points through three quarters, entered the game three minutes into the fourth quarter and scored the Wolverines' next six points, cutting the Bulldogs' five-point lead to one with 1:22 remaining.

Buena (12-4) pushed the lead back to three on a putback by Courtney LaVere, and after a shot-clock violation by the Wolverines, Buena's Courtney Young made four free-throw attempts in the final minute to clinch the game.

Brooke Porter scored 10 of her team-high 18 points in the third quarter to help the Wolverines (12-5) erase a six-point lead and tie the game 36-36 going into the fourth quarter.

But Young took over and scored 13 of the Bulldogs' 15 points in the quarter. She finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds, while Kelly Greathouse added 13 points and eight rebounds. The Bulldogs used a significant height advantage for a 34-20 rebounding edge.

The Wolverines looked sharp early, as L'Tanya Robnett scored 10 of her 14 points in the first quarter to help Harvard-Westlake to a 12-7 lead. The Bulldogs made three consecutive 3-pointers in the first three minutes to tie the game, and would take a two-point halftime lead.

- Rich Hammond 

In other girls' basketball:

--Controlling the boards: LeeAnn Culbertson dragged down 20 rebounds, including 15 offensive boards, to go along with her eight points in Village Christian of Sun Valley's 52-30 win over visiting Big Bear in a nonleague game. Cheryl Yaussi had 10 points, 13 rebounds and six steals and Karri Keeble and Erin Vegas added 11 points apiece, all for the Crusaders (6-9).

In boys' basketball:

--Casey at the hoops: Casey Markovic had 24 points and 11 rebounds while going 4 for 5 from the 3-point line as host Bell-Jeff of Burbank opened up Santa Fe League play with a 68-58 win over Cathedral High of Los Angeles. Andy Bunning added 13 points and 15 rebounds while Mike Yildiz contributed 10 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, both for the Guards (11-4, 1-0), who played most of the game without leading scorer and rebounder Carlos Arroyo. Arroyo got in foul trouble early on and was later ejected in the third quarter for arguing with an opposing player.

--Triple-double for Lakey: Russell Lakey had 27 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists and six steals as visiting Harvard-Westlake of North Hollywood held off Alemany of Mission Hills 78-76 in a Mission League game. Eric Geffner led the Wolverines (11-4, 2-0) with 29 points and 13 rebounds. The Indians (6-9, 1-1) were led by Byron Joseph, who had 27 points and seven rebounds. Robert Maynard added 23 points and eight rebounds for Alemany.

In boys' soccer:

--Still perfect: Host Frazier Mountain of Lebec remained undefeated with a 3-0 victory over winless Vasquez of Acton in a High Desert League game. Justin Castanon had two goals and Jason Tompkins added another for the Falcons (10-0-1, 2-0). The Mustangs, who were winless last year, fell to 0-12-2, 0-1-2.

In girls' soccer:

--Cordova, Cavs win: Nichole Cordova had two goals as Cleveland of Reseda (5-1-1) knocked off Monroe of North Hills 2-0 in the third-place game of the Monroe tournament.

In prep wrestling:

--Pioneers place: Simi Valley had two wrestlers place in the Tournament of Champions at North Torrance High. At 191 pounds, Tyson Hadduck placed fourth, finishing with a 4-2 record and one pin. In the heavyweight division, Dan Kankes placed sixth, finishing with a 3-3 record and three pins. Kankes defaulted his final two matches after suffering an ankle injury in the semifinals.