NOTEBOOK / SEAN WATERS : Nordhoff Girls Demonstrate They Can Be Heartbreakers

Nordhoff High did the unexpected and ended Santa Clara’s long winning streak in the Frontier League.

No, it wasn’t the boys’ team.

Santa Clara humbled those Rangers, 71-47, to extend its winning streak to 28 games and 43 in league play.

It was a different story in the girls’ game.

Nordhoff made five free throws, including three by Erin Johnson, in the fourth quarter to edge Santa Clara, 33-31, Friday. Johnson had a game-high 11 points.

The victory ended the Saints’ 73-game winning streak in the Frontier League.

That’s some feat considering the streak dates to 1981 and was the third longest in Southern Section history.

And it was the league opener, no less.

Add Saintly streak: The Saints actually dropped into fourth place for consecutive league victories. Morningside, the top team in the state according to Cal-Hi Sports Weekly, swept North Torrance and Redondo last week to move one win ahead of Santa Clara. Riverside Poly holds the record with 97 and San Gabriel is second with 80.

Son knows best: The Buena boys have been struggling shooting from the field lately, but still managed to win two of their first three Channel League games. The Bulldogs made 33% of their shots in a 53-50 win over Ventura and 35% in a 66-55 loss to Santa Barbara on Friday. Monday, they shot 59% and beat Oxnard, 88-83.

Scott Hannah, the 6-year-old son of Buena Coach Glen Hannah, summed up Buena’s scoring woes.

“Dad, the sophomore team is more fun to watch because they score more,” Scott said.

Replied the elder Hannah: “Unfortunately, they did score more.”

Getting younger everyday: Nordhoff sophomore guard Kevin Cochran started for the first time last week and scored 16 points against St. Bonaventure. He replaced senior Jacob Kunde.

With Cochran and sophomore guard Tim Sebek, the Rangers have one of the youngest backcourts in the state.

“It was nothing that Jacob was doing wrong,” Nordhoff Coach Dick Sebek said. “We just seem to click with Kevin in the lineup. He’s more consistent and we play better defensively.”

Sidelined referee: Buena football Coach Rick Scott, who moonlights as a referee during basketball season, has been sidelined by an ankle injury.

Scott suffered a partial tear of the Achilles tendon in his right ankle during the Camarillo-Nordhoff game in the Ventura tournament.

Scott said he slipped on a puddle of water spilled by a Camarillo player following a timeout.

“Whammo!” Scott said. “I went straight down. I’m not sure if coaches are glad to get rid of me or not.”

Lost in a crowd: Jamie Medrano may be the tallest and best player on the Santa Paula team, but first-year Coach Chuck Yuncker fears his senior center may not get any postseason recognition.

The Cardinals have struggled to an 0-12 start and the 6-foot-0 Medrano has been forced to play out of position because of the team’s lack of height.

“Jamie goes against bigger guys every night and he never complains,” Yuncker said. “He’s a true athlete on and off the court. He handles criticism like a man. He’s not a whiner or complainer. I think he deserves some type of honor. But we’re in the rebuilding phase and I think our record may prevent him from receiving some sort of recognition.”

Medrano leads the team in scoring with a 9.3 average.

Going long: St. Bonaventure moved to the court’s outer edges to beat defending champion Mission Prep, 78-59, Friday to snap a four-game losing streak.

The Seraphs made nine of 14 three-point attempts, including seven in a row during the second and third quarters. Senior Chris Ruffinelli had four three-point baskets to lead the team. Senior forward Ryan Wright led St. Bonaventure (5-6) with a career-high 24 points.

Back-to-back sweeps: For the first time in at least 16 years, Hueneme High’s three levels of basketball teams swept Channel League opponents on back-to-back dates. The Vikings freshman-sophomore, junior varsity and varsity teams won three games at Dos Pueblos on Friday and then swept Ventura at Hueneme on Monday.

Last year, the Viking program combined to win four league games for the season--varsity (three games), junior varsity (zero) and frosh-soph (one). This season, Hueneme won seven games in three days.

National recognition: Freddie Bradley and Sean Cheevers of Moorpark led two categories in the final national community college football statistical rankings.

Bradley, a second-team All-American running back, scored 23 regular-season touchdowns and averaged 13.8 points a game to lead the nation in scoring average by a scant tenth of a point. Bradley, a freshman, finished 13th in the country in rushing with a 126.6 yards-a-game average and ninth in all-purpose rushing at 169.6.

Cheevers, a sophomore, led the country in kick scoring average. Cheevers kicked 40 extra points and made 12 of 15 field-goal attempts to average 7.6 points a game. He also topped all active kickers in career scoring with 7.4 a contest.

Moorpark sophomore quarterback Jayson Merrill also found his way onto the national lists. Merrill completed 10.7 passes a game, good for 41st, and was ranked 31st in passing efficiency with a 121.5 rating.

Moorpark (9-2) was ranked seventh in team offense (423.7) and sixth in team defense (183.7).

Ventura (7-4) was the 34th-ranked team in total defense 261.6.

No Ventura individuals were listed in the rankings, which did not include bowl statistics.

Delay of game: Most basketball players think of a jam as something one throws down on opposing defenses, but the Moorpark men’s basketball team witnessed a jam that made Michael Jordan’s best dunks seem like minor stuff. Moorpark was caught in such an enormous traffic jam Saturday that it missed its Western State Conference opener at Cuesta.

The Raiders were northbound on U. S. 101 when they were brought to a standstill by the backup behind a tanker truck that had overturned between Carpinteria and Santa Barbara and spilled 40 gallons of fuel oil onto the road.

The tanker tipped over at 12:53 p.m., and the road was closed until 9 p.m. The traffic jam eventually extended to Camarillo.

Moorpark, which left at 1:30 that afternoon for a 7 p.m. game, finally did get off the freeway but was unable to proceed north on a frontage road and was forced to return home.

“They were just bummed out,” Moorpark Coach Al Nordquist said of his players after their daylong detour.

The game has been rescheduled for Monday at 7 p.m.