Oxnard Shows Savvy in Beating Camarillo

Their coach expects them to hit the books, the floor and the boards.

Weekly grade checks ensure the players on the Oxnard High girls’ basketball team excel in the classroom.

Knee pads are mandatory for the frequent dives after loose balls. Hustle and grit explain the almost-nightly rebounding advantage.

Give the Yellowjackets passing grades again.

They defeated host Camarillo, 54-47, on Tuesday night in a game for first place in the Pacific View League.

“There’s a lot of discipline in our program,” Coach Ryle Lynch-Cole said. “We expect a lot from these girls.”

It doesn’t take an A student to understand that a league championship is among those expectations.

They’re well on their way. Lynch-Cole won’t admit that, but Camarillo was more than willing.

Oxnard, Camarillo and Channel Islands tied for the title last season, each defeating the others with home-court advantage.

Oxnard (12-5, 2-0 in league play), ranked No. 6 in the region by The Times, has now traveled to No. 7 Channel Islands and No. 8 Camarillo (11-6, 1-1) and won.

The Yellowjackets have done it without top player Memory Rhone, who sat out the Channel Islands game with an injured ankle and played sparingly against the Scorpions.

“Two wins on the road. . . Oxnard is gone,” Coach John Harbour of Camarillo said. “They’ve taken off and they’re not going to back up.”

Perhaps, but the Scorpions still had Oxnard in its sights in the final minute Tuesday.

Trailing, 48-45, Camarillo had the ball under its basket when Yellowjacket Michelle Morgan stole the inbounds pass and sealed the victory with a layup at the other end.

Sophomore Sienna Abraham scored all 13 of her points by halftime, when Oxnard had a 29-21 lead. Tiffany Walker added 10 points and Morgan and freshman Jacqui Heck each had eight.

Lauren Ferreira had 22 points and 11 rebounds, and Gillian Lillich added 10 points for Camarillo, which dominated the first quarter and led, 13-6.

Oxnard responded with a 17-4 run in the second quarter, forcing six turnovers in five minutes.

Defense has been a Yellowjacket trademark all season.

Oxnard is allowing only 40 points a game. Last week, high-scoring Channel Islands shot 19 percent against the Yellowjackets in a 58-46 loss.

Oxnard’s quick man-to-man defense constantly harassed Camarillo’s guards, giving them little time to set up for a shot or feed the ball into Ferreira.

The Scorpions didn’t fare much better than Channel Islands, shooting 29 percent (13 of 44). They made 19 of 23 free throws to stay close.

“They played tremendous defense,” Harbour said. “They just come at you, come at you and come at you.”

Oxnard has a 3.2 varsity grade-point average and a 3.5 GPA in its program. It’s a group intelligent enough to realize that they must continue to hit the books, floor and boards, or they might hit the skids.

“We still have to stay focused,” Lynch-Cole said. “It’s not over yet.”