Cold Shooting Costly for Buena Against National Power

Buena High, ranked first in The Times’ regional poll, fell to White County, Tenn., 56-48, Friday in the first round of the Florida Holiday Classic at the Bayfront Center Arena in St. Petersburg, Fla.

White County, ranked seventh nationally, is 12-0. Buena, ranked second in the state but unranked nationally, fell to 4-1.

Buena led by a point after the first quarter and held a 27-24 edge at halftime after making 12 of 23 field-goal attempts.

The Bulldogs, however, were only seven of 23 from the field in the second half.

Buena also was hampered by foul trouble and White County sank 18 free throws to take advantage.

The Bulldogs made seven of 10 free throws.

Senior center Nicole Greathouse, a two-time All-Southern Section selection, scored 17 points and had seven rebounds for Buena before she fouled out with six minutes to play.

Senior forward Ashley Jackson, who scored five points, also fouled out.

Stephanie Kinnear, a senior forward, added eight points, 11 rebounds and four assists for Buena.

The Bulldogs play today against the loser of a game between Norman (Okla.) and Clearwater (Fla.).

In the Simi Valley tournament:

Ventura 67, Newbury Park 30--Erin Oshita made 11 of 21 shots and scored 26 points for the Cougars in a consolation game.

Ventura led, 24-20, at halftime and opened the third quarter with an 8-0 run, turning the game into a rout.

The Cougars (6-2) outscored the Newbury Park, 43-10, in the second half.

Nadine Levsey had eight points and five rebounds for Newbury Park (2-7), which scored only two points in the third quarter and committed 25 turnovers in the game.

Ventura plays Chaminade for fifth place today at 5 p.m.

Pasadena 63, Canyon 53--Valerie Wiggins scored 16 points and Keisha Jordan added 13 for the Cowboys, who cut a 16-point deficit to five before falling in a consolation game.

Two free throws by Keisha Jordan pulled Canyon (3-5) within 46-41 with 6:50 to play.

Pasadena used a 9-1 run to build its advantage back up to to 13 points.

Jordan finished with 13 points.

Sisters Erica and Erin Hightower had 28 and 12 points for Pasadena (5-5), which made 25 of 35 free throws.

Canyon was 12 of 22 from the free-throw line.

Pasadena plays Newbury Park for seventh place at 3:30 p.m. today.

Canyon plays Burbank in the ninth-place game at 2 p.m.

In other tournament games:

Crescenta Valley 56, Las Vegas Durango 31--Michelle Greco had 22 points, 15 rebounds and eight steals, Tara Gregory eight points, eight assists and eight steals for the Falcons (10-2) in the Cheyenne Tournament in Las Vegas.

Cornerstone Christian 64, Santa Maria Valley Christian 36--Julie Siefert had 24 points, and Karri Becker had nine points and 19 rebounds to lead Cornerstone Christian (8-2) in the second round of the Valley Christian Tournament.