GIRLS BASKETBALL BEAT\PLAYER SPOTLIGHT.

Byline: Dave Desmond, Vincent Bonsignore

Scorching scorer: Overcoming almost nightly size disadvantages is a small task for Megan Carmola.

Westlake's 5-foot-9 forward is regularly matched up against the biggest and best post players in the rugged Marmonte League. She has responded with a 21.5 scoring average, including 39 in the Warriors' 44-43 victory over Channel Islands on Tuesday. Her 14-foot jumper with one second left won it.

Carmola has faced much larger foes. She underwent heart surgery at the age of 5 and overcame cancer only two years ago.

"Without a doubt, it's helped me a great deal," she said of her past. "It's made me more aware of what's going on around me."

TREND WATCH

A magical comeback: On the same evening that Magic Johnson returned to the Lakers, Jaclyn Johnson returned to Bell-Jeff's lineup.

Johnson, an All-Southern Section forward who had missed 15 games with a stress fracture in her leg, had seven points, five rebounds and six assists in only six minutes of the Guards' Camino Real League victory over Mary Star on Tuesday.

Short only on experience: Freshman Michelle Ferrucci, a 6-foot forward for Granada Hills, may be a force down the road.

She grabbed 11 rebounds in a recent game for the Highlanders.

Coach Carolyn Gunny says that once Ferrucci picks up a few moves and learns to resist the temptation of putting the ball on the floor, she will star in the Northwest Valley Conference.

"She needs to know that she is tall," Gunny said. "Right now, she's playing like a shorter person."

No harm, absolutely no fouls: At 1-12, Hoover had plodded through a pretty forgettable season prior to last Friday's Pacific League game against No. 3 Crescenta Valley.

The Tornadoes' 67-24 loss to the Falcons also would have fallen in the ho-hum department had they not managed to survive the entire 32-minute contest without committing a single foul. None.

"That has got to be a record of some sort," Crescenta Valley coach Marc Ward said.

Wanted - players: Reseda coach Bob Wallace's roster recently fell to six players before he summoned help from the JVs.

"We're cruising at eight players right now," he said. "For us, that's a lot of bodies."

One player who has stayed in the lineup throughout is 6-foot-5 senior center LaShonda Holland, who is averaging 20 points per game.

Instant rivalry: Prior to this season, Notre Dame and Louisville both viewed No. 4 Alemany as their top rival. That may have changed.

But, after splitting this season's series with each other, Notre Dame-Louisville has quickly become one of the area's fiercest rivalries.

"I think it has," Lousville coach Paula Getty-Shearer said. "I know when we discussed our pre-season team goals, Notre Dame was definitely mentioned."

They auto start a business: Nyoki McKeith, Vanessa Dunn and Monia Calhoun have taken turns leading 16-0 Taft in scoring from game to game.

Coach Stephanie Blin is considering a nickname for the three-some.

"Manny, Moe and Jack would be a good one," she said.

High-flying Eagles: Several area teams are currently ranked near the top of their respective Southern Section divisions, but only one school enjoys a No. 1 rating. Tiny Cornerstone Christian of Camarillo (enrollment 90) is top-ranked in Division V-A.

Hart of the lineup: Jelene Daney has taken over the point guard duties at Hart. With only Candace Boller averaging in double figures, the No. 9 Indians were in need of another scorer and Daney has responded with three straight eight-point performances.

"She's definitely given us a little extra scoring punch," coach Dave Munroe said.

Coming home: Lindsay Sotero-Higa returned to Monroe last week for her first game against her former teammates.

Sotero-Higa, who transferred to No. 6 North Hollywood after last season, scored seven of her 11 points in a pivotal third quarter as the Huskies' pulled away to a 61-47 Valley Pac-8 victory.

Three's company: Grant's Bahaneh Maani made five 3-pointers against Canoga Park last week, giving her a school-record 38 for the season. She also extended her streak to 22 games in which she has made at leat one 3-pointer.

Maani and teammate Poma Stevenson (29 3-pointers) have been the key long-distance operators for the Lancers, who now have a school-record 72 3-pointers as a team.

Record quest: No. 1 Simi Valley (21-2) is averaging 71.2 points per game and is on pace to break the school record of 1,956 set last season.

Leaving the Village: Sarah Sutton, a part-time starter for Village Christian, has quit the team because of personal reasons.

Intriguing match-ups: Next week is the final week of the regular season and presents some key showdowns in various league races, barring any upsets late this week.

Second-place Muir will travel to first-place Crescenta Valley on Tuesday for the Pacific title and second-place Quartz Hill plays at first-place Palmdale for the Golden championship next Thursday.

OFFBEAT 

A sucker story: No. 1 Simi Valley and No. 5 Thousand Oaks are two of the area's best teams, and certainly no lollipops.

But when Thousand Oaks attempted to drum up interest in last week's Marmonte League showdown with the Pioneers, at least one area newspaper got suckered by the Lancers' promotional gimmick.

The published report claimed that Simi Valley players were upset by inflamatory pre-game notes passed from Thousand Oaks players to Simi Valley players.

According to Thousand Oaks coach Chuck Brown, parts of the school were littered by small pieces of paper that were previously attached to suckers.

The inflamatory note?

"Help us lick Simi."

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