Youth Serving Up Playoff Victories for Antelope Valley

April Davenport looked at her team and was struck by a youth movement.

Davenport, third-year girls’ basketball coach at Antelope Valley High, was playing three freshmen and two juniors in the second half of a playoff game against San Luis Obispo.

One of the freshmen, Shaquina Mosley, was playing in her third game since being called up from the junior varsity.

The Antelopes (21-4) played like veterans and defeated San Luis Obispo, 61-54, in a second-round game of the Southern Section Division II-A playoffs Saturday.

Mosley, a 5-foot-6 shooting guard, scored 24 points.

“She hasn’t practiced with us all year, then she comes up and does that,” Davenport said.

The Antelopes, who won their first Golden League title since 1988, continue their surprising season tonight against Newbury Park (23-4) in the quarterfinals.

“We’re just excited to be here,” Davenport said. “When we lose, I can’t be mad. When--if--it happens and our run’s over, we’ll regroup and get ready for next year.”

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The Littlerock girls’ team wanted to make history, too.

A day after the boys’ team won Littlerock’s first playoff game in any sport, the girls upset Rim of the World, 55-44, in the first round of the Division II-AA playoffs Saturday.

Jolene Haywood and Rashawna Mays each scored 17 points for Littlerock (18-9), which first competed in varsity sports in 1991.

“We’ve had some playoff games where we had a chance to win, but it was that thing, that whole playoff mystique, that [stopped us],” Coach Tom Hegre of Littlerock said. “Hopefully, we got that out of their minds now.”

Littlerock, which allowed only 14 second-half points against Rim of the World (21-5), hosts Norco tonight in the second round.

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There’s no rest for the weary. None for the Village Christian girls’ team, anyway.

The Crusaders defeated Mojave, 67-59, in overtime in a Division IV-A playoff opener Saturday.

They play tonight at top-seeded St. Bernard.

Karri Keeble, who made five three-point shots and had 19 points against Mojave, will try to lead the Crusaders (13-13) to an upset.

“We’re just going to have to slow things down and take 15-20 seconds off the clock every time,” Coach Fred Largent said. “We’ll have to get back in transition, not make mistakes and not get into foul trouble.”