It won’t take 30 years for the Normans to win a playoff game

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Some losses crush hearts. Some destroy dynasties.

But some defeats define a team for what it’s accomplished, not what it let slip away. The Beverly Hills girls’ basketball team is one of those squads. On Saturday, the Normans lost in the Southern Section Division II-AA quarterfinals to Norco -- and lost in heat-twisting style when they rallied out of a 17-point third-quarter hole only to lose by two points -- but the defeat showed the Southland of what Beverly Hills has: spunk, toughness and a pretty darn good program.

The Normans had not traipsed this far into the playoffs in at least 30 years. It won and won this year, finishing 10 games over .500. And expect the Normans not to wait another three decades to win a couple playoff games, not with returning stars like freshman Morgan Mason and junior Sophie Payson.

-- Anthony Stitt

- Image from blog.bmykey.com