Klemm Returns Home to Buena as the Visitor

Forgive Coach Mary Klemm if she grabs a basketball and starts warming up during the shoot-around tonight.

Klemm, the coach of the Rio Mesa High girls’ basketball team, was a former player at Buena, the site of the Spartans’ Channel League game tonight.

“It’s going to be a little weird being on the visitor bench, but you do what you have to do,” said Klemm, in her first year at Rio Mesa.

Klemm, who graduated from Buena in 1988 and went on to play at Arizona, will coach against her former coach, Joe Vaughan.

“I can’t envision a better person to play against,” said Klemm, whose team will be a decisive underdog. “You’ve got to emulate a program that’s as successful as they’ve been.”

FOOTBALL

New experience: For some players, a simple recruiting trip can become an adventure into new experiences.

Kennedy defensive lineman Armand Seals had never been on a plane before going to Nevada last weekend. Nor had he seen snow.

“I don’t think he had ever been outside of the San Fernando Valley,” Kennedy Coach Bob Francola said. “I’m sure his eyes got a little big at times, but he had a great time.”

SOCCER

Surprising success: After finishing out of the playoffs last season and returning only three starters, the Ventura High boys’ soccer team was hardly a trendy pick to finish high in the Channel League.

The Cougars, however, started the week in second place before losing Tuesday to Santa Barbara and dropping to 7-3-1 and 2-1-1 in league play.

“This is actually a down year for us but it’s been a weird year,” third-year Coach Todd Tackett said. “We’re not a team that opens your eyes the first time you see us but we’ve outscored our opponents by a bunch.”

A surprise has been the standout play of freshman midfielder-forward Mike Enfield, a member of the state under-14 Olympic Development team who has nine assists.

“He has really nice moves,” Tackett said of Enfield. “It’s just taking a little while for the other guys to get used to them.”