GIRLS: TRADITIONAL VALUES PAST KEY FOR PALMDALE STAR LLOYD.

Byline: RAMONA SHELBURNE and VINCENT BONSIGNORE Staff Writers

Last season was a bit lonely for Palmdale's Brittany Lloyd. As the only freshman on the varsity girls' basketball team, it was difficult for her to find people to relate to. Senior guard Brittney Blankenship seemed to recognize Lloyd's predicament and took her under her wing. A few years ago it had been Blankenship struggling to find friends among much older, accomplished teammates.

The two players became fast friends. More older sister and younger sister than equals, but both admired the talent and competitiveness in the other.

``She taught me a lot,'' Lloyd said. ``Just the way she prepared herself for games, how hard she worked in practice, it taught me a lot.''

Blankenship, the Golden League's MVP last season who is now playing at Cal State Los Angeles, delivered her final lesson to Lloyd over the summer.

``She told me it was my turn, that my team needed me to be the big scorer next year,'' Lloyd recalled. ``We talked about it a lot.''

But it wasn't until she was sitting on the bench for the last 10 minutes of Palmdale's 52-49 loss to Lancaster on Jan. 8, having fouled out of her team's most important game of the season, that Lloyd realized all the responsibility that came with being the go-to player and filling Blankenship's shoes.

Palmdale's 22-game Golden League winning streak was broken in that game and its best player was on the bench during crunch time.

``I felt really helpless,'' Lloyd said. ``I knew my team needed me out there because I'm the leading scorer and I'd fouled out. It felt like losing was my fault. ...I'm never going to foul out again.''

Most would correctly argue senior guard Sandy Perry is Palmdale's most valuable player because of her leadership and intensity, but when it comes down to sheer offensive talent, Lloyd is a clear choice.

Even Perry agrees.

``Before the season, I felt like Brittany Lloyd was the one who was going to have to step up,'' Perry said. ``I was going to try and up my scoring too, because I knew we needed it, but she's the one I thought could do it and she has been coming around really well.''

After losing to Lancaster, Lloyd started to work on fulfilling her responsibilities. She scored 24 points in her next game to lead Palmdale to a victory over a scrappy Quartz Hill team.

In Tuesday's 55-19 victory against Highland, she scored 15 in limited action, because of the lopsided score.

And Monday, when Palmdale gets its rematch against Lancaster, Lloyd is coming in with a different approach.

``We need to start building a new tradition,'' she said. ``I didn't follow Palmdale too much growing up, but I knew about all the great players and tradition they had and that means a lot. When we lost that game and broke the 22-game winning streak, I felt really bad. ... Since then, we've been working so much harder to get that back.''

Ramona Shelburne, [phone]

ramona.shelburne(at)dailynews.com

BOYS: Winning not enough for coach

A.V. Christian's success a virtue of setting higher goals

As Antelope Valley Christian boys' basketball coach David Nurse reviewed tapes the morning after the Eagles' 101-67 victory over Victor Valley Christian, two things stood out.

First, Antelope Valley Christian center Chawn Johnson was clearly playing his best game of the season, dominating Victor Valley with 30 points, 14 rebounds and nine blocked shots.

``I'm watching him throw down a dunk on an alley-oop right now,'' Nurse said. ``He's really putting it together.''

Second, and more importantly, Nurse was not satisfied with the Eagles' performance, choosing to overlook the huge 34-point margin of victory while focusing on weaker points of the team's effort.

Such as defense and rebounding.

``We can do a lot better in those areas,'' Nurse said. ``We have to do better in those areas.''

Make no mistake, Nurse is pleased with the way Antelope Valley Christian is playing. After all, the Eagles (13-5, 3-0) are tied with Hesperia Christian (8-9, 3-0) for first place in the Agape League and there is reason to believe they will cruise through the league undefeated.

It's just that Nurse has high aspirations for his team - goals that soar above and beyond winning a league championship.

In fact, he won't be satisfied until the Eagles finally win a Southern Section title after falling in the championship game four times.

``We don't want to just get to the championship game, we want to win it,'' Nurse said.

Johnson, was transferred to Antelope Valley Christian from Antelope Valley and gives the Eagles a much-needed presence in the middle. He also shares his coach's vision.

``The goal is to win the championship,'' Johnson said. ``That's the way it's got to be.''

And that explains why Nurse can find faults in a 34-point victory.

One thing he is doing lately is giving his bench players more time on the court. The Eagles came into the season with a lack of experience from its non-starters, and he knows the reserves will have to provide a lift at some point in the season.

Sonny Lee has given the Eagles a spark in recent games with his strong play off the bench, a trend Nurse hopes will continue.

Of course, the real key is the continued strong play of Johnson (19.3 ppg, 10 rebounds per game) J'whon James (17.6 ppg), Shawn Walker (15.1 ppg) and A.J. Armstrong Jr. (14.3).

``Things are coming together, and we're starting to feel a lot more comfortable with our game,'' Johnson said. ``Hopefully we'll keep it up. We want to win a championship.''

Vincent Bonsignore, [phone]

vincent.bonsignore(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, 5 boxes

Photo:

(1) Palmdale High's Brittany Lloyd knows her team needs her on the floor, not the bench.

(2) Antelope Valley Christian's Chawn Johnson scored 30 points Wednesday in a win over Victor Valley Christian.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer

Box:

(1) TIME OUT

(2) STANDINGS

(3) COMING UP

(4) BOYS: GAME OF THE WEEK

(5) GIRLS: GAME OF THE WEEK