REGARD REKINDLED; PURDOM, LANIER ENEMIES NO LONGER.

Byline: Scott Magoloff Staff Writer

VALENCIA - It was not too long ago when College of the Canyons women's basketball players Kameelah Purdom and Vonetta Lanier gave each other the ``evil eye.''

Purdom was a senior at Highland High of Palmdale and Lanier was a junior at rival Palmdale when the looks of discontent were exchanged regularly. The two were friends when they attended Juniper Intermediate School and ran track together before embarking on their separate high school careers.

Fueled by the traditional rivalry between the two high schools, any friendship Purdom and Lanier had in middle school was long gone, replaced by intense competition and quiet animosity. Other than the nasty looks they would give each other, Purdom and Lanier chose to not speak during high school.

That all changed when Lanier showed up at one of COC coach Greg Herrick's summer open-gym sessions, which his new recruits usually participate in with his returning players. Since that first awkward pick-up game, Purdom, a sophomore at COC, and Lanier, a freshman, have reinstated their friendship.

``I knew Vonetta in junior high school and we were good friends,'' Purdom said. ``At high school we just had to stick with our school and it led to escalated incidents. We'd just get the evil eye.''

The malicious looks Purdom and Lanier used to give each other stemmed from a number of factors, beginning with a 56-6 thrashing of Highland by Palmdale when Purdom was a junior. Lanier was a sophomore and hadn't begun playing basketball yet (she started as a junior), but she was at the game as a spectator.

Lanier said Purdom and her Highland teammates had revenge on their minds ever since that game and it all came to a head the season following the Palmdale blowout. Purdom, then a senior, led Highland to victory in the final game of the season, breaking Palmdale's league winning streak at 42 games.

Purdom was quoted in a newspaper the day after Highland's victory, saying, in effect, she refused to recognize the Falcons as Golden League champions despite the fact that they were. Palmdale students made a banner chastising Purdom for making the comment and displayed it at midcourt before the boys' game between the two schools.

``It was funny,'' Lanier said of the incident. ``She deserved it because of what she said.''

Purdom and Lanier can speak about those days with a certain degree of laughter now. Being teammates on a successful team - COC (20-6, 8-0) sits atop the Western State Conference - tends to heal old wounds. And the healing began when Lanier showed up for that summer pick-up game and Purdom asked if she'd like to get into the next game.

``I felt I should be the person to squash all that stuff in the past,'' said Purdom, who is averaging 11.2 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. ``We were friends before and I had no problem being friends again.''

Assistant coach Harlan Perlman said the animosity might have spilled over to college had they been in the same class. But since Purdom is a sophomore, she was already focused on the goals set at COC. In fact, Purdom said she was happy to find out that Lanier (8.1 ppg., 3.3 rpg.) might be attending COC.

Purdom's roommate and teammate last year, Lanika Manning, is Lanier's cousin. Purdom found out through Manning that Lanier would in fact be coming to COC. Before thinking about their past, Purdom only thought about the skills Lanier would bring to COC.

Now, Purdom and Lanier, both small forwards, commute together between their homes in Palmdale and COC.

``We still laugh about how we used to run track at Juniper,'' Lanier said.

Purdom has talked Lanier into joining the COC track team with her this season. Through basketball, the two are reverting to the friendship which had emerged from an innocent love of sports but was later damaged by a heated rivalry. Did Purdom ever think their relationship would evolve this way?

``I never imagined we'd be on the same (college team),'' Purdom said. ``She's a very talented player and I figured she'd go to a good program and we'd probably wind up having that evil eye again.''

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Photo: Kameelah Purdom has welcomed former rival Vonetta Lanier to the College of the Canyons basketball team.

Phil McCarten/Staff Photographer