Buena Girls Look North for Quality Opponents

When a coach’s team has won more than 90% of its games in 22 seasons, the quest is less for victories than it is for competition.

Joe Vaughan, coach of the Buena High girls’ basketball team, seeks the best opposition the rules and his budget will allow. An ideal schedule in his mind would be to play each of the Top 20 teams in the nation.

Buena sailed through its own tournament two weeks ago, the Bulldogs whipping Alemany by 29 points in the final. So much for the most highly regarded opponent in the region.

The Bulldogs set their sights on Northern California this week as the only Southern California entry in the 16-team Archbishop Mitty tournament in San Jose.

Among the top teams are Sacred Heart, the Division I state champion last season, and Archbishop Mitty, which beat Newbury Park for the Division III state title. Both teams have three starters back, as does Buena, which fell to Mater Dei in the Southern Section Division I final.

“We’re trying to play a lot of good teams, that’s our objective,” said Vaughan, who has a career record of 475-49.

Channel League games should be a cinch for Buena, but two nonleague games will keep the Bulldogs’ interest until the playoffs begin. Buena travels to Del Campo High in Fair Oaks to face nationally ranked Fairfield on Jan. 20, then plays host to Southern Section power Irvine Woodbridge on Feb. 3.

The Woodbridge game will be preceded by a barbecue and will serve as Buena’s annual fund-raiser. Previous opponents have included Christ the King of New York, Peninsula, Brea Olinda, Del Campo and Mater Dei.

The Bulldogs defeated Mater Dei last season, only to fall to the Monarchs in the Southern Section final.

Win or lose, the objective of facing quality opponents is met.

“These games make our season until the playoffs begin,” said Vaughan, who is frustrated that his team can’t play in more tournaments.

The Southern Section restricts teams to 20 games, with tournaments counting as two. Because the Channel League schedule is 14 games, Buena can only enter two tournaments along with the two showcase nonleague games.

“We’ve been idle for two weeks because we have to stay under 20 games,” Vaughan said. “That hasn’t helped.”

With players such as 6-foot-2 center Nicole Greathouse and experienced guards Ebony Conley and Kori Sebek, however, the Bulldogs should be going at full throttle in no time.

“We’re excited about this trip,” Vaughan said. “It will tell us a lot about ourselves.”

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Brock Diediker, who had just lifted a forkful of food to his face, nearly choked on the words he heard from his brother.

Normally it is difficult for one twin to surprise the other, but no amount of intuitiveness had prepared Brock for what Brant told dinner guest Barry Lamb a week ago.

“As of right now, I want to go to BYU,” Brant told Lamb, a football recruiter for Brigham Young.

Lamb asked Brant if that was a commitment and Brant replied that, well, yes, it was.

Not that Brock has anything against BYU. His parents graduated from the school, the Diediker family is Mormon and the Cougars have pursued the 230-pound Newbury Park High linebackers with great intensity.

But there was that trip to Nevada on Jan. 5. And the one to San Diego State a couple weeks later.

“I’m still looking at other schools to have a more clear idea of my options,” said Brock, who admits to feeling pressure from his parents to attend their alma mater.

Whether Brant will take the trips with his brother is unclear. When the signing period begins Feb. 7 for high school players, Lamb will return to the Diediker home with a letter of intent.

In fact, he’ll surely have two letters. One for Brant, the other. . . .

“If Brant is going there, that’s another reason in favor of BYU,” Brock said.

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It’s not even Christmas, yet every Marmonte League boys’ basketball team has been defeated by another Marmonte League boys’ basketball team. Except one.

Channel Islands (7-1, 2-0) remains unscathed, having lost only to City Section power Dorsey despite fielding a lineup that averages 5 feet 11.

When league play resumes after New Year’s Day, will the other teams finally get shorty?

“I’m not making any predictions,” Channel Islands Coach Gary Abraham said. “This league is so balanced that for any team to get through a week without losing is tough.”