N. Hollywood Girls Win Despite Missing in Action

North Hollywood High girls basketball Coach Rich Allen believes that guard Leti Carranza has not received enough recognition for her efforts on offense this season.

On Tuesday, she deserved anonymity--shooting just 36% from the field for 12 points in North Hollywood’s ugly 50-37 victory over Reseda.

But Carranza’s shooting looked good compared to her teammates and the opposition. Reseda made just 16 of 69 shots in the game, while North Hollywood was 18 of 55.

North Hollywood (7-2, 2-0) held Dana Jones, Reseda’s top scorer at 17 points a game, to 10. She was 4 of 16 from the field.

“I didn’t think they’d be that easy to beat,” Carranza said. “On defense, we just went into a 2-3 zone and tried to stop Jones from shooting.”

Last season, the teams split one-point decisions and North Hollywood lost its only league game at Reseda. But the first encounter this season wasn’t close.

“Our defense was spectacular and our press caused turnovers,” Allen said. “I can’t explain why we won like we did. I thought it would be like last year.”

Reseda opened the game cold, making only one of it first 10 shots and committing seven turnovers to trail, 12-3.

“It just wasn’t one of our better games,” said Reseda Coach Andrea Francola. “North Hollywood came out and played with a lot of hustle, and we couldn’t get our offense working.”

Reseda hit just 6 of 32 shots in the first half and trailed, 26-14, at halftime. Although the Huskies led, Allen wasn’t certain of what the third quarter would bring. He had watched it muster a six-point win over Canoga Park last week, but said the girls hadn’t put together a complete four-quarter effort in any game.

In the second half Tuesday, it briefly looked like another letdown would occur when Reseda (5-1, 1-1 in league) switched to a man-to-man defense while Carranza was playing as an off-guard.

Reseda opened with consecutive baskets from Jones and Tracy Allen, cutting the deficit to 26-18. North Hollywood, meanwhile, missed its first five free throws and went four minutes into the period before scoring a field goal.

But Allen brought Carranza back to the point guard position and the 5-7 junior broke Reseda’s full-court press with some fancy dribbling and aggressive play. She finished with 12 points.

“People just don’t know about Leti,” said Allen. “She constantly keeps our offense moving and is a great court leader.”

Senior Debbie Herz, who had a game-high 16 points for North Hollywood, scored six points in the third quarter, helping the Huskies to an 11-point lead entering the final quarter.

“We knew they were going to double-team Dana in the beginning,” Francola said. “We didn’t get nearly enough out of her. Their defense gave us some trouble, but the ball wouldn’t fall for us. It just wasn’t our day.”