Eight Will Be Enough for Hearlihy, Alemany

Melissa Hearlihy is eight victories shy of 300 in her 13-year career as coach at Alemany High, but a landmark victory is not her primary motivation.

The Indians (20-6), top seeded in the Southern Section Division III-AA playoffs, need eight victories to claim a state championship.

“Eight games to the state title is a lot more exciting than being eight games away from 300 wins,” Hearlihy said.

Alemany begins its quest tonight when it hosts South Hills at L.A. Baptist High.

The Indians are attempting to reach a section final for the sixth time in seven seasons.

Alemany has not been top seeded entering the postseason since 1994, the last time it captured a section title. The Indians also won a championship in 1992.

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Harvard-Westlake Coach Brian Taylor hopes what happened to him Monday is an omen.

Taylor’s car blew a tire on the trip home from the Southern Section office, where playoff pairings were announced.

Harvard-Westlake (22-5), which advanced to the postseason for the first time last season, was top seeded in Division III-A.

“Now it’s our turn to do some of the blowing out,” Taylor said.

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Newbury Park tied with Simi Valley for fourth place in the Marmonte League and almost certainly would have been awarded a berth in the Division II-A playoffs, where top-seeded Bishop Amat has a bye in the opening round.

But Coach Nori Parvin elected not to petition the Southern Section for a berth.

“If we would have played better, I would have,” said Parvin, whose team lost its last five games to finish 11-13. “You want to be playing your best basketball at the end of the season and we just hit the skids.”

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Hart senior forward Melissa Harrison, hampered by an ankle injury late in the season, appears to have recovered.

It was rumored last week that Harrison would rest her sprained left ankle and miss the Indians’ Foothill League finale against Valencia.

But Harrison had 22 points in a 54-44 victory.

“That’s the best game I’d ever seen her play,” Valencia Coach Greg Hayes said. “She was dominating. I knew she’d play because her team needed her.”

Hart opens Division I-A play tonight at home against Riverside Poly.

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Sierra Hauser-Price leads Notre Dame in scoring but don’t expect to see her in the starting lineup tonight when the Knights host South Pasadena in a Division III-A opener.

Hauser-Price, a freshman who averages 10.3 points, is a backup to seniors Michelle Barraza and Judy Diaz. She hasn’t started all season.

“Maybe that’s a stupid strategy on my part, but she still gets her minutes,” first-year Coach Keith Case said.

“The only time she’s not in the game is the first three minutes of each half.”

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Alicia Parra, a Paraclete senior, had her planned return postponed.

Parra, who has been sidelined all season, failed to gain medical clearance to play on her surgically repaired left knee after tests Wednesday showed it to be at only 75% of full strength.

“She’s devastated,” Paraclete Coach Susan Hervey said. “It’s killing her, and that’s what hurts so much.”

The Spirits (18-5), who play at Morro Bay tonight in a Division IV-AA quarterfinal, are doing their best to heal the hurt.

“They just keep saying they’re going to keep winning for her, that if they can keep extending the season long enough, maybe she can come back,” Hervey said.

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Jackie Kolesar, a freshman guard, leads Paraclete with averages of 13.6 points and 3.4 assists per game.

She is second on the team with averages of 6.4 rebounds and 3.7 steals.

Senior guard Kate Robinson has averaged nearly 10 points and three assists and four steals per game.

Christine Lambert, a 6-foot-2 junior center, averages 12.5 points and a team-leading 10.9 rebounds.

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Cornerstone Christian Coach Marty Young said he will retire after this season to concentrate on his duties as principal.

Young, 58, became the Eagles’ fourth coach in four years this season, leading them to 13-6 record and the team’s fourth consecutive Condor League championship.

The Eagles play West Valley Christian in a Division V-A game tonight at 7:30 at Pleasant Valley Baptist Church in Camarillo.

Correspondents Dave Desmond, Lauren Peterson and Mike Bresnahan contributed to this notebook.