GIRLS’ BASKETBALL SOUTHERN SECTION CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW : Buena Again Faces Thousand Oaks

Perhaps the Buena High girls’ basketball team has picked the wrong time for retribution. The Bulldogs play Thousand Oaks for the Southern Section Division I-A championship at 6:45 tonight at Loyola Marymount, but not only has Buena lost to the Lancers in the I-A final the past two seasons, Thousand Oaks (29-0) is the top-ranked team in the state.

Two other area teams will play in championship games today at Loyola. Ventura takes on Hacienda Heights Wilson in the Division II-A final at 1:15 p.m., and Alemany faces Morningside in the III-AA final at 11:15 a.m.

Thousand Oaks knows it will face a Buena team that is primed for revenge. “I’ll be sure and make the players aware that more than likely Buena is getting themselves pumped up about this,” Lancer Coach Chuck Brown said.

But the best antidote for emotion is talent, which the Lancers have in abundance. Senior forward Marion Jones averages 22.3 points and 14.3 rebounds a game. Melissa Wood averages 10.6 points and has made 54 three-point baskets.

Samantha Clarke is a versatile player who averages 9.2 points, 3.3 rebounds and 4.1 assists. Point guard Alissa Corey, an excellent ballhandler, averages 5.7 assists.

Buena (22-2), the Channel League champion, is led by Michelle Giordano, Julie Hardy and Amanda Falls.

However, Brown knows his team will be confident against Buena, which has been a Southern Section power the entire 18-year tenure of Coach Joe Vaughan.

“Several years ago, before we had our program built up, we would play Buena and our players wondered, ‘How bad are they going to beat us?’ ” Brown said. “Now that’s not the case. Beating them the last two years is certainly somewhat of a confidence builder.”

Ventura (23-4) will need confidence and poised play from its three sophomore starters against top-seeded Wilson.

Cougar sophomore guard Ember Brown has averaged 30.0 points in four playoff games, including a school-record 43 in the Cougars’ quarterfinal victory over Newbury Park on Feb. 27. Brown is averaging 18 points for the season.

Jennifer Dietz and Leighann Nisky also are sophomore starters for Ventura. Senior guard Tina Eckberg and junior center Jesaca Lepper each average seven points.

Alemany (25-4) won the II-A title last season and must beat top-seeded Morningside for the III-AA championship.

“They’re big inside but that’s our strength too, so I think we match up well with them there,” Alemany Coach Melissa Hearlihy said.

Forward Samantha Rigley and Zevette Mitchell are Alemany’s top players. Barbara Ward and Carly Funicello will alternate at center.

The Loyola gym will be cleared after the II-AA final, which begins at 3:15 p.m. New tickets must be purchased for the I-A and I-AA finals.