Camarillo, Oxnard Are Among Contenders Learning to Share

There could be a lot of sharing when it comes to girls’ basketball league championships this week.

Camarillo and Oxnard highs need victories today to finish tied for the Pacific View League title. Oxnard (12-11, 6-1 in league play) hosts Rio Mesa (10-14, 2-5) and Camarillo (19-5, 6-1) travels to Channel Islands (8-13, 3-4) tonight.

The West Valley Leagues could finish in a three-way tie.

If Chatsworth (16-7, 6-2) beats El Camino Real (14-5, 7-1) today and El Camino Real beats Taft (18-1, 7-1) on Friday, it could leave all three with 8-2 records and the City Section with logistical headaches entering Saturday’s playoff seeding meeting.

Hart (16-6, 5-3) needed a victory over Saugus (19-4, 6-2) on Tuesday night to create a similar possibility in the Foothill League.

Hart would need a victory by Valencia (19-5, 6-2) over Saugus on Thursday to leave all three with 7-3 records.

Hart defeated Saugus, 50-39, on Jan. 23. Saugus outlasted Valencia, 44-39, in a Jan. 19 game that was tied, 39-39, with under two minutes left.

North Hollywood (15-8, 8-0) hosts Grant (15-8, 7-1) today for the Sunset Six League title. If defending champion Grant can avenge a 65-50 loss to the Huskies on Jan. 19, they would finish in a tie.

Newbury Park (Marmonte), Harvard-Westlake (Mission), Buena (Channel) and Muir (Pacific) are among the teams that have clinched outright league championships.

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Chatsworth is expected to be bolstered this week by the return of senior forward Jenni Lang, who has been out since injuring a knee in a Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions game in December.

Last week, sophomore swing player Summer Johnson returned to the lineup after sitting out 21 games because of a broken left arm suffered during a preseason skateboarding accident.

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The date of the Battle of the Valley All-Star boys’ and girls’ games has been moved to May 12 at Cal State Northridge.

The girls’ game will begin at 5 p.m., with the boys’ game at 7:30.

The event, sponsored by the Valley Sports Foundation, features the top seniors from the region.

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Guard Gillian Lillich of Camarillo, among the region’s top free-throw shooters in the first half of the season, made 232 of 250 attempts during a preseason fund-raiser.

But a recent slump has dropped her season percentage to 74.4% (148 for 199).

“I’ve been working on it,” said Lillich, who was nine for 15 in a 52-44 victory over Oxnard on Monday night. “It’s being fixed. I’m spending two extra hours every weekend on it.”

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Several teams from the region are jockeying for favorable seedings in the Southern Section playoffs, which begin Feb. 15 and 17.

Buena (24-0) figures to receive the No. 1 seeding and Ventura No. 4 in Division I-A; Newbury Park (18-7) is ranked No. 4 in Division II-A; Harvard-Westlake (21-5) is in line for a No. 3 seeding in Division III-AA; Oak Park (15-5) is No. 4 in Division IV-AA and Montclair Prep (21-0) is No. 3 in V-AA.

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The festivities surrounding Saturday’s Buena-Narbonne girls’ showdown included a barbecue dinner hosted by Buena boosters in the school cafeteria.

Among the decorations were life-sized color photographs of all 12 Buena players created by the mother of guard Lauren Sargent.

“They look so real,” said Peggy Greathouse, mother of All-American center Kelly Greathouse. “Now if only these things did housework. . .”