Plans Harboured for an Uprising

It was a day later and the dust, if there was any, had cleared, but the whispers were still making their way around the gymnasium at the Buena tournament.

Camarillo High beat Alemany.

The Scorpions, winners of 13 games the last three seasons, defeated one of the area’s strongest girls’ basketball programs, 39-38.

One of the main reasons for the victory, as hypothesized by several coaches, was John Harbour, the new coach at Camarillo and an old name in Ventura County.

Harbour, who coached the Camarillo boys’ basketball team from 1980-90, is back on the sideline--this time with the girls--after a long absence.

Harbour, who coached at Hueneme in the 1970s, stepped down at Camarillo in 1990 in order to watch his son, David, play his senior year at Camarillo and at Stanford.

He returned to coaching in part because of the death in May of his mother, Gladys, an avid basketball fan who grew up in Kentucky.

“It was right about that time I decided to go back to the court,” Harbour said. “Basketball was important to her. She really had basketball in her blood and she pushed me that way [growing up].”

Harbour, who was a forward at Arizona from 1967-69, said he has had to adjust to the girls’ game.

“I’m kind of an intense, demanding, demonstrative coach,” he said. “I’m sure there are those that feel bad for the girls, but they respond. They play hard and try hard, but I’m a perfectionist. I’m sure they get tired of hearing the same thing over and over again.”

Harbour had some big victories as the boys’ coach, including a victory over Simi Valley in 1986 that was the Pioneers’ only league loss during the career of Don MacLean, Harbour said.

Harbour, 50, notched his first important girls’ victory against Alemany, using a box-and-one defense that held guard Kate Beckler of Alemany to five points.

He raves about the only senior on the Camarillo team, small forward Lisa Donahue, and likes the potential of juniors Lauren Ferreira and Tanya Wismann, but he remains humble.

“We’re far from world-beaters,” Harbour said. “We found a key to their team [against Alemany] and it worked for us for one game. We put pressure on them, got ahead and didn’t let them back into it. It was just our night.”

Harbour and his players will be tested again when Camarillo (4-3) plays Alemany (4-1) in the Simi Valley tournament Saturday.

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The Santa Barbara tournament, which features teams from 16 states and four ranked teams from the region, begins Friday..

Buena, ranked No. 1 in the region by The Times, plays Jackson, Miss., Murrah in the 16-team National Invitational Division.

Channel Islands, ranked No. 3, plays against Reno, Nev., McQueen and Ventura, ranked No. 8, plays Bakersfield Stockdale in the Gold Division.

“This tournament will let us know where we’re at as a group,” Coach Pat Bell of Channel Islands said. “It’ll be a test for us.”

Harvard-Westlake, ranked No. 4, plays Mountain View St. Francis in the Green Division.

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In a game featuring two of the top players in the region, Channel Islands defeated Moorpark, 60-52.

Guard Jaline Bradley had 29 points and made all 14 of her free throws for Channel Islands.

“Jaline was on,” Bell said. “She’s not only a scorer, but she’s a leader on the floor for us.”

Forward Damaris Hinojosa had 25 points, 17 rebounds and six assists for Moorpark, ranked No. 6 in the region by The Times.

“She’s one of the best players in [Ventura County] I’ve ever played against,” Bell said. “She can pass, she can post up and she can score from outside. Not too many players can do that.”