Depleted Rosters Put Dent in Girls’ All-Star Showcase

The Ventura County girls’ all-star basketball game will feature the finest players in the area. Or, to the dismay of the coaches, the finest players who have not already left for vacation or who did not have prior commitments.

Both coaches, Thousand Oaks High’s Chuck Brown for the South and Buena’s Joe Vaughan for the North, have been forced to deal with sparse and dwindling practice attendance.

“It’s always very, very tough to get people out to practice,” said Brown, who had five players at his first practice and four at another. The eight or nine will include three members of Thousand Oaks’ Marmonte League championship team: center Barbara Tanner, forward Cindy Wiley and guard Lina Mascarenas.

Point guard Mary Klemm, the Ventura County Player of the Year from Buena, heads the North team, which includes Bulldog teammates Stephanie Rainwater, Gia Giordano and Jennifer Baldwin.

The most notable absentee is Simone Cain, a Hueneme forward who would have played for the North. A sprinter who also has qualified for the Olympic Trials in July, Cain instead will compete in the 100 and 200 meters in The Athletics Congress Junior National track championships in Tallahassee, Fla., this weekend.

Cain was replaced by Rio Mesa guard Mary Bittner. Baldwin was also a late replacement.

The game is scheduled for 6:30 tonight at Ventura High, with the boys’ game to follow.