Buena Rides on Young’s Shoulder

The Buena High girls’ basketball team was missing two NCAA Division I prospects.

The Bulldogs also were missing one of their top reserves.

Unfortunately for Agoura, Buena wasn’t missing all-state guard Courtney Young.

On this night, that was more than enough.

The senior came through with 23 points and 12 rebounds for the Bulldogs in a 60-48 victory Tuesday over Agoura in the opener for both teams.

Young’s performance was even more impressive considering she played with stretched ligaments in her right shoulder, an injury she said will require surgery after the season.

“My shoulder is much looser than it’s supposed to be,” Young said.

“But if [doctors]) find something I might need surgery and it would take four months of rehabilitation.”.

Young, who has committed to Tennessee, said it will take more than that to make her sit out this season.

“This is my senior year and there are so many things I want to accomplish,” she said. “I just have to do this.”

The presence of Young was comforting to the Bulldogs, the region’s top-ranked team, which played without center Kelly Greathouse and forward Courtney LaVere.

LaVere, one of the top juniors in the state, has the flu and Greathouse, who has signed with North Carolina State, has a knee injury.

Coach Joe Vaughan of Buena, who hopes both players will return by next week, said he was pleased to see how the rest of his players responded.

“I thought a lot of the kids stepped up to the challenge,” said Vaughan.

“We got a lot out of our bench, which is a good sign.”

It is not a good sign for Buena’s opponents.

The Chargers, ranked No. 5 in the region, caneattest to that.

With Greathouse and LaVere missing, Young had to rely on teammates such as sophomores Shannon Antunez and Amy Glassman, and senior Lauren Sargent for support.

Glassman finished with nine points, Antunez had eight and Sargent seven points and five assists.

All things considered, Coach Ollie Otis of Agoura said he was encouraged by his team’s performance.

The Chargers trailed by 18 points in the second quarter but narrowed the deficit to 49-41 early in the fourth quarter on a jumper by Danielle O’Neil.

Agoura also received an impressive outing from forward Jennifer Lacy, who finished with 20 points. Lacy has committed to Pepperdine.

“They didn’t have all of their superstars, but that’s no excuse,” Otis said.

“We put in a good effort and we played hard, but so did they.”

While they have yet to resemble the team that has been ranked as high as No. 6 in the nation, Vaughan said it was a good start.

“We’ll play better,” he said. “We need to play better. But under the circumstances, I thought they played well.”