New York Team Hands Buena Girls 61-54 Loss

How nice of Christ The King to travel all the way from Middle Village, N.Y., and teach Buena High a lesson that Bulldog Coach Joe Vaughan has scribbled on his blackboard all season.

The Royals’ bruising, East Coast-style of play provided Buena’s girls’ team with an opportunity to see how Vaughan would like the Bulldogs to play.

Thus, even in dropping a 61-54 decision in front of a near-capacity crowd of 2,000 at Ventura College on Friday, Buena players emerged from its post-game locker room with smiles.

“Those were some good, hard-nosed kids,” Vaughan said of the Royals (11-2), who began the season ranked No. 1 in the nation by USA Today and entered the game at No. 7.

“We’ve been saying all season that we need to be aggressive like that, so it was a valuable experience for us.”

Buena (13-2) could have traded the experience for a victory had it not hit only 18 of 34 free throws. Each time the Bulldogs threatened, a missed free throw proved costly.

“If we hit our free throws, we’re right there,” Vaughan said. “We missed some critical one and ones. You have got to hit your free throws in big games, especially against somebody of their caliber.”

Buena’s difficulties began midway through the first quarter, when it turned the ball over on five consecutive possessions and watched a 10-8 lead become a 13-10 deficit.

And it became increasingly more difficult to catch the Royals, who grabbed 13 offensive rebounds in the first half. Nakia Hill (17 points and 11 rebounds), a 6-foot-3 junior, did most of the damage, scoring 11 points and grabbing five offensive rebounds.

“We’re a very aggressive team when it comes to rebounding,” Coach Vinnie Cannizzaro said.

Buena, meanwhile, committed 17 turnovers in the first half and trailed, 29-22.

“We were very careless with the ball and were not screening out on the boards,” Vaughan said. “We needed to show more poise and aggressiveness.

There’s that word again.

A follow shot by Darlene Saar (21 points) gave Christ The King a 41-31 lead with 2 minutes 33 seconds left in the third quarter, and the Royals allowed Buena to get no closer than eight until late in the fourth quarter.