Winter Notebook / Sean Waters : Hard-Luck Buena Girls Lose Ishikawa to Ankle Injury

Sophomore basketball player Lianne Ishikawa of Buena High has never broken a bone and she won’t let her spirits be broken either, despite suffering a possible season-ending injury last week.

Ishikawa, 15, tore several ligaments and dislocated her left ankle when she was pushed from behind on a breakaway layup against San Marcos. She underwent surgery Friday at Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura. Ishikawa left the hospital Monday and will begin rehabilitation this week that will keep her sidelined at least until the beginning of playoffs.

“Doctors have told me that it was unusual that I dislocated my ankle and didn’t break any bones,” Ishikawa said. “Well, I hope that means it will heal quickly. I’m going to work twice as hard to get back into shape because I don’t want my season to end this way.”

It’s rare for a championship-caliber team like Buena to have a sophomore in the lineup. But the Bulldogs have an unusually young team and Ishikawa is 1 of 3 sophomores who start. She was averaging 9 assists and 5 takeaways a game before the injury.

This was the third major injury suffered by a Bulldog basketball player. Nicole Ellis and Jennifer Goodwin suffered knee injuries that prevented them from playing this season.

Ishikawa’s teammates tried to ease the pain by making frequent visits to the hospital during her 3-day stay. “My friends gave me a lot of support,” Ishikawa said. “They would bring balloons and stuffed animals.”

From Panther to Bruin: Newbury Park senior quarterback Wayne Cook has chosen to continue his football career at nearby UCLA and made a verbal commitment to sign a letter of intent with the Pac-10 school.

Cook, an All-Marmonte League selection, passed for 2,529 yards and 21 touchdowns in 2 seasons with the Panthers despite playing with an unimpressive supporting cast. Last season, Cook threw for 1,197 yards and 8 touchdowns although he missed 3 games with a broken bone in his thumb.

“It’s like a dream,” Cook said. “They’re definitely one of the top schools in the nation. There’s going to be a lot of competition, but it’ll be worth it.”

Spreading it around: Santa Clara basketball Coach Lou Cvijanovich will never be accused of not playing his reserves.

In one-sided victories over Santa Ynez and Santa Paula, Santa Clara set a school record for having every one of its 14 players score.

3-point turnaround: St. Bonaventure Coach Marc Groff believes his team is no longer a long shot to win a Tri-Valley League title because the Seraphs have become better long-range shooters.

St. Bonaventure made 5 of 25 3-point attempts (20%) and lost 2 of its first 4 games. In their last 10 games, the Seraphs have made 78 of 225 (35%). They have won 4 in a row and 6 of 7 entering this week.

“We’re no longer shooting desperation 3-point shots like we were earlier in the season,” Groff said.

Slump snapped: Cedric Ceballos, last year’s Western State Conference Most Valuable Player for Ventura College, snapped out of a slump with 31 points for Cal State Fullerton against Nevada Las Vegas on Monday.

Ceballos, who was the game’s leading scorer in the Titans’ 66-63 loss to UNLV, had been held to 58 points in the 5 games prior to Monday. He was averaging 25 points over the first 7 games.

Ceballos, a 6-foot, 7-inch forward, has seen his scoring average drop to 20.3 points after averaging 28 points last month.

Streak intact: The Ventura College men’s basketball team extended its win streak to 4 to remain perfect in WSC play. The Pirates were 19-3, 4-0 in conference play entering Wednesday’s game at Bakersfield.

Reggie Betton is averaging 15.3 points to lead Ventura.

Staff writers Tim Brown and Ralph Nichols contributed to this notebook.