GIRLS' BASKETBALL: CANYON BENEFITS BY PLAYING AGAINST BOYS SUMMITT IDEA LEADS TO QUICKER, TOUGHER COWBOYS.

Byline: Gideon Rubin Special to the Daily News

CANYON COUNTRY - If Canyon High looks a little quicker and slightly tougher than the typical girls' basketball team, it is no accident.

A novel practice approach has the Cowboys spending an hour of each training session playing against the boys' junior varsity and freshman teams, and it has significantly strengthened the team, Canyon coach Stan Delus said.

The boys' and girls' teams face each other in halfcourt drills for about 30 to 40 minutes. Then they play a fullcourt game for about 20 minutes.

``What they get out of it is an understanding of the speed and the strength of the men's game, so when they go up against other girls' (teams), they have a tendency to be a little more physical, and that's really helped us because of our height,'' Delus said. ``It's helped us rebound better, and it's helped us attack the basket and accept contact to the point where most of the time we're able to overpower some teams due to the speed of (playing against) the boys.

``You can't match the speed of playing against the boys, and that gives them a mental edge when they play against the girls.''

Delus got the idea while watching a women's basketball segment on ESPN in which he learned Tennessee coaching legend Pat Summitt recruited men's basketball players from the student body to compete against her team in practices for the same reasons.

Delus said the initial response he got from his players when he brought up the idea was ``let's do this.''

Delus cites the challenging practices as a big factor in the team's success. Canyon (18-5 overall, 4-2 Foothill League), ranked No. 3 by the Daily News, is in contention for its first league title since 1973.

``We're having a good year, and it's a testament to the boys helping us out,'' Delus said. ``They don't have to do it, but they have said that it's a little more structured to where they can teach better.''

--Standout: Sophomore guard Meredith Mathis has emerged as a standout for upstart Golden Valley.

The 5-foot-9 Mathis leads the team in scoring, averaging 14.2 points per game, and in rebounding, averaging 10.0.

She also has excelled in the classroom, maintaining a 4.5 GPA.

``She's just a tremendous athlete who gets the job done in the classroom, too,'' Golden Valley coach Troy Best said.

Other top Golden Valley players include sophomore guard Alyssa Hernandez, a 3-point shooting specialist who is averaging 11.2 points and is among the Southern Section leaders with 43 3-pointers made, and sophomore guard Tera McKelvey, who is averaging 8.7 points.

The freelance Grizzlies (12-11), a first-year varsity program competing in Div. III-AA, make their Foothill League debut next season.

The team has posted enough victories to be eligible for the playoffs.

``The team has really exceeded my expectations,'' Best said. ``Their schedule was set up to get them some easy wins to build their confidence, but they've developed some great team chemistry, and they're playing really well right now.''

--Red hot: Since a stunning 54-53 Foothill League loss Jan. 10 to Burroughs of Burbank, Hart (18-4, 5-1) has won six consecutive games, by an average margin of 29.2 points.

Hart, the Daily News' top-ranked team, beat Burbank 62-21 in a league game Friday. The Indians defeated Brentwood 69-54 in a nonleague game last Wednesday.

Gideon Rubin, [phone]

gideon.rubin(at)dailynews.com