TIMES’ ALL-STAR BASKETBALL TEAMS : GIRLS’ ALL-VALLEY : Friendships Form Between 3-A Rivals

Sandrine Rocher was almost too embarrassed to admit it to North Hollywood girls’ basketball Coach Rich Allen.

“Coach, don’t get mad,” the 5-9 senior forward said recently, “but I think I like them.”

She was talking about the Reseda players she and some of her teammates are playing with in a spring league.

“They’ve become kind of buddies now,” Allen said.

A similar discussion occurred at Reseda. “It’s really strange. Here we’ve been so competitive and now we’re playing with them,” Reseda Coach Andrea Francola said. “It’s kind of a kick.”

And just the latest chapter in what has become one of the Valley-area’s most competitive and well-known rivalries over the past two years.

Because no other City Section 3-A Division team in the Valley can compete with the Regents or Huskies, the two have become natural adversaries. And like two boxing heavyweights, Reseda and North Hollywood have gone toe to toe in their past six meetings.

“Without question, we are the top two teams in the City 3-A,” Francola said. “We just happen to come out of the same league.”

North Hollywood won the first two West Valley League meetings last year, but Reseda beat the Huskies in the City Section championship at the Sports Arena. The Regents swept three meetings this season, including another confrontation at the Sports Arena for the title.

“Everyone thinks it’s a part of the Clippers’ schedule--Reseda versus North Hollywood,” Allen said.

Two years ago, the Reseda-North Hollywood match-up looked about as competitive as a Lakers-Clippers series. North Hollywood, the defending league champion, beat the Regents, 50-37, in their first meeting.

“We bullied them,” Allen said. “It was really a blowout.”

A few weeks later, the Regents took an eight-point lead into halftime before losing, 64-62, on a layup with 16 seconds left. North Hollywood’s Debbie Herz, who was named the league’s most valuable player after the Huskies swept all competition aside with a 10-0 record, scored the game-winner and was the main reason North Hollywood was favored to win the 3-A title.

But by the time North Hollywood got to the championship game, Herz had bronchial pneumonia and the Huskies had doubts. “There were two things in the back our our minds,” Allen said. “Number one . . . we knew beating them three times would be difficult. And number two . . . we didn’t know if Debbie would even play.”

Herz played, but North Hollywood lost, 69-65.

“We worked a lot harder,” Francola said. “Our game plans and strategies were different.”

Dana Jones, a senior guard who played at San Jose State last year, led Reseda with 23 points and was named co-MVP in the 3-A Division.

With graduation taking Jones from Reseda and Herz from North Hollywood, many people expected the teams’ level of play to decline this year.

Instead, it got better.

Both teams had to adjust, going from one-dimensional teams to a more balanced offense. Reseda’s adjustments were more effective and the Regents proved it by beating the Huskies twice during league play. But North Hollywood showed that it was nearly as good, losing by only one point in each game.

“Both losses could have been North Hollywood wins,” Allen said.

Reseda won the first meeting, 65-64, in overtime. In their second meeting, the Regents won, 53-52, when Dominique O’Neal’s 7-foot shot bounced around the rim and fell out as the buzzer sounded.

North Hollywood was coming off a five-game home stand and took a while to adjust to playing on another court.

“We couldn’t do anything in the first half,” said Allen, whose team trailed by 12 points at halftime. “But we were so dominating in the second half that if we would have played another quarter, we would have won by 15. It was two games in one.”

It was also a good indication that if North Hollywood and Reseda met in the championship again, the Huskies could win. After all, even though Reseda won the first two meetings of the year, North Hollywood had won the first two meetings the year before but still lost in the championship.

“It was a perfect storybook ending,” Allen said, “except we ruined it.”

Or rather, Reseda ruined it. The Regents won, 64-52, providing yet another frustrating ending for North Hollywood.

“Last year, we were disappointed but we didn’t feel like we were losers,” Allen said. “This year, we were more upset that we didn’t win.”

Does Reseda’s four consecutive wins mean they are the better team?

“We had two one-point games and we beat them two times last year,” Allen said. “ With any kind of luck, it would be four straight wins for us. There’s been no domination, we’ve lost a couple of tough games.”

Francola agrees that it has not been easy but thinks that the Regents deserve top billing.

“We feel that we’re a better team,” Francola said.

Five players return for North Hollywood next year, including O’Neal and Michelle Cabaldon, who led the team with a 15-point average.

Four players will return for Reseda, including Cheryl Hightower, who averaged a team-high 16 points a game and 5-11 forward Aggie Garcia, who scored a team-high 15 points in this season’s City championship game.

But there may not be a Reseda-North Hollywood III. With the newly proposed City leagues, Reseda and North Hollywood move up to a City 4-A league with Van Nuys and Monroe. And although they have two more league games to look forward to, Reseda and North Hollywood will find the playoff road difficult against Kennedy, Washington, Westchester and other 4-A powers.

“I know we can compete in the league and the conference, but beyond that, it’s anyone’s guess,” Francola said.

But could they meet in the City 4-A championship?

“I can’t think of anything that would be more unique than playing them in the 4-A championship,” Allen said.

Said Francola: “Wouldn’t that be a hoot.”

GIRLS’ ALL-VALLEY Andrea Banducci Notre Dame Junior 20.1 ppg, 15.2 rpg Sharlene Cirrito Reseda Senior 15 ppg, 13 rpg Jennifer Gomez Burbank Senior 14.6 ppg, 5 steals April Ham Kennedy Senior 21.3 ppg Millie Junio Alemany Senior 9 ppg, 5 assists Kerrie Marshall El Camino Real Senior 21 ppg, 13.2 rpg Debbie Penney Burroughs Senior 11 ppg, 9 rpg Kim Posey Hart Junior 9.5 ppg, 5 rpg Sandrine Rocher North Hollywood Senior 18.3 ppg, 12.5 rpg Dawn Stewart Cleveland Senior 20 ppg, 15 rpg GIRLS’ ALL-VALLEY Second Team

Player School Yr. Ht. Ps. Kristin Carpenter Louisville Sr. 5-11 F Sylvia Castenada Alemany Jr. 5-7 G Carlyn Couch Bell-Jeff Sr. 5-8 F C. Hightower Reseda Jr. 5-6 G Laura Kirkpatrick Buckley Sr. 5-10 C Sandy Kuranishi Granada Hlls Sr. 5-4 G Becky Long Louisville Sr. 5-7 G Chris Rumfola Burbank Sr. 5-8 F Nancy Steil Chatsworth Sr. 5-9 F Quaifferlee VanBenschoten Burroughs Sr. 6-2 C