Buena Rallies in a Hart Beat

Renae Hofmann scored nine of her 14 points in the third quarter and Kelly Greathouse scored eight of her 14 points in the fourth quarter and the Buena High girls’ basketball team rallied for a 56-39 victory over Hart in a pool-play game of the Buena tournament Friday night.

All of Hofmann’s third-quarter points came on three-point baskets and helped the Bulldogs overcome a 28-21 halftime deficit.

“That first half was definitely a reality check for us,” Hofmann said.

The Bulldogs (3-0) meet Ventura in the championship game tonight at 8. Buena is the two-time defending champion and has won the title 18 of the past 20 years. Hart (3-2) faces Alemany in the game for third place at 6:30 p.m.

Buena’s full-court press helped key the comeback. The Bulldogs forced Hart into 23 turnovers, including 15 in the second half.

“We got in their faces a lot more, and we just played hard, hard defense, “ Hofmann said. “After the first half, we picked it up a lot.”

Buena, ranked No. 2 in The Times’ regional poll, outrebounded Hart, 32-21, including 20-4 on the offensive board.

Greathouse, a 6-foot-2 freshman center, came off the bench and grabbed nine rebounds.

Hart got 16 points from Melissa Harrison.

In other tournament games:

Ventura 69, Alemany 66--Alex Gientkescored 22 points and Kristine Gleisberg had 17 points and 20 rebounds for the Cougars (3-0)in a pool-play game.

Kate Beckler had 16 points for the Indians (3-1).

Newbury Park 65, Santa Clara 64--Malia Kimball hit an eight-foot jump shot with 50 seconds left and Newbury Park (1-2) hung on to win a pool-play game.

Sosannah Hallahan, who scored a game-high 28 points, missed a shot at the buzzer for Santa Clara (1-2).

Kimball finished with a team-high 20 points and teammate A.J. Jensen had 15.

The Panthers face Camarillo today in the game for fifth place. Santa Clara plays Chatsworth for seventh place.

Camarillo 59, Chatsworth 41--Reserve Jessica Mendoza scored 13 points and had eight rebounds for Camarillo (2-3), which today plays for fifth place.

Camarillo’s Tanya Wismann scored a team-high 14 points and Lisa Donahue finished with 10 points.

Patricia Nuno led Chatsworth (2-4) with 15 points and Gina Everett scored 12 points and had 12 rebounds.