GIRLS' BASKETBALL PLAYOFF NOTEBOOK: AREA'S BEST FACING BEST.Byline: Ramona Shelburne Ramona Shelburne is an American sports journalist currently writing for the Los Angeles Daily News. Shelburne was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She attended El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills, California where she was a class valedictorian. Staff Writer A pretty good argument can be made that Division I-AA and Division II-AA are the toughest divisions, top to bottom, in Southern Section girls' basketball. Unlucky, then, that the area's two best teams - Palmdale and Antelope Valley high schools - play in those divisions. They are the only teams from the Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley still alive after Lancaster, Littlerock, Paraclete and Quartz Hill lost last week. Palmdale (23-5) got past its first hurdle in the Division I-AA playoffs with a 49-42 victory over Valencia, despite playing without star center Teiosha George. The team then won a coin flip and will host Schurr tonight in the second round. George will George Frederick Will (born May 4, 1941) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning, conservative American newspaper columnist, journalist, and author. Education and early career Will was born in Champaign, Illinois, the son of Frederick L. Will and Louise Hendrickson Will. be back for tonight's game and the rest of the playoffs, much to the relief of her teammates. ``I'm real glad Teiosha's back because it cuts down other teams' dribble penetration on defense because all the guards are scared to go in there and have her block their shot,'' senior wing Shanna Demus said. ``And on offense, Teiosha opens up a lot of outside shots for us.'' On Saturday against Valencia, Demus and shooting guard The Shooting guard (SG), also known as the two or off guard,[1] is one of five traditional positions on a basketball team. Players of the position are often shorter, leaner, and quicker than forwards. McKena Richardson spent a lot of time posting up and trying to score points inside. That's normally George's spot in the offense, but rather than change their whole offensive scheme, coach George Corisis tried out all of his guards as post players in practice and inserted them into that spot in the offense. Demus ended up with a game-high 16 points, most of which came off free throws she drew from post moves. A.V., on the other hand, has had a surprisingly easy time in its first two games, beating Pasadena and Santa Fe Santa Fe, city, Argentina Santa Fe, city (1991 pop. 341,000), capital of Santa Fe prov., NE Argentina, a river port near the Paraná, with which it is connected by canal. by a combined 32 points heading into the quarterfinals today against top-seeded Troy of Fullerton, last year's Southern Section champion. There will be nothing easy about tonight's game against Troy, except for the walk over to the A.V. gym. The Antelopes are hosting because Troy was at home in the second round after a first-round bye. A.V. was on the road against Santa Fe in the second round. But aside from the homecourt advantage Noun 1. homecourt advantage - the advantage of playing on your home court in front of fans who are rooting for you advantage, vantage - the quality of having a superior or more favorable position; "the experience gave him the advantage over me" , A.V. (22-7) will have few other things in its favor. Troy is taller, more experienced and has better shooters. But the Antelopes are athletic and have proven they can win big games with good defense and if senior guards Shaquina Mosley and Sheena Crenshaw cren·shaw also cran·shaw n. A variety of winter melon (Cucumis melo var. inodorus) having a greenish-yellow rind and sweet, usually salmon-pink flesh. [Origin unknown.] have big games. In early January, A.V. upset then-No. 3 Hart of Newhall 56-55, with Mosley scoring 27 points. Hart is now ranked No. 1 by the Daily News. Stopping Troy will mean finding an answer for senior post player Amanda Livingston, who has signed to play at UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX next season, and Megan Maguire, a 6-foot shooting guard. A.V.'s tallest player is Lacee Frazier at 5-11, but the Antelopes have beaten taller teams before with pressure defense. ``If a team is just taller and they don't move well, it's fine, we can beat them,'' A.V. coach April Davenport said. ``But if they're taller and pretty athletic, it's tough for us.'' --Odds and ends from A.V.-Santa Fe: A.V.'s Ebony Howard made two 3- pointers and point guard Keisha Adams had five steals. ... Junior varsity junior varsity n. Abbr. JV A high-school or college team that competes in interschool sports on the level below varsity. Noun 1. call-up Sabrea Culver also made the first basket of her varsity career. ... Mosley had 10 of her 19 points in the first half and Crenshaw scored all 15 of her points in the second half. --Odds and ends from Palmdale-Valencia: Palmdale point guard Sandy Perry tied with Demus for the game high in points with 16 and shot 9 of 11 from the free-throw line free-throw line n. See foul line. . ... Palmdale made 24 of 36 free throws (67 percent) for the game while Valencia made only 4 of 8. ... Junior forward Brittany Blankenship had nine points and 10 rebounds. ... Palmdale made only 3 of 20 shots (15 percent) from behind the 3-point arc. ... Palmdale shot 14 of 76 (18 percent) from the field. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Palmdale's Teiosha George will be on the court when the Falcons host Schurr tonight. George missed Palmdale's first-round playoff game Noun 1. playoff game - one game in the series of games constituting a playoff game - a single play of a sport or other contest; "the game lasted two hours" playoff - any final competition to determine a championship after being suspended for fighting on the court. Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News |
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