Girls’ basketball: A larger purpose at stake this weekend

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You may remember from a previous blog that Long Beach Poly Coach Carl Buggs has not returned the phone calls of my colleague, Anthony Stitt. It’s probably nothing personal, but ...

I don’t have that problem.

So Carl -- I call him Carl both in person and on the phone -- was telling me about the weekend of his team’s third consecutive state basketball championship game.

‘It’s awesome that we have so many new teams going up,’ Buggs said. ‘Magnolia, Mira Costa.’

Magnolia Coach Michael Anderson has to prepare his Sentinels for the undefeated consensus No. 1 team in the nation, San Francisco Sacred Heart Cathedral, which beat Poly, 74-58. ‘He asked if I had any ideas because it’s their first time,’ said Buggs, who was happy to oblige with some information. ‘What kind of hotel, practice plan, when to go up, routine. Now we’re all part of the same team. It’s Southern California vs. Northern California.’

Team SoCal has fared considerably better since 2004, when the North won all five girls’ games. SoCal won two in 200, and three times each in 2006 and 2007.

-- Martin Henderson