Louisville Thriving With Injury-Plagued Duo Together Again

Megan Wiser scored 21 points and Sarah Kelso added six in Louisville High’s 74-60 Mission League girls’ victory over Notre Dame on Friday night.

The fact the injury-plagued seniors are playing is remarkable.

In the last 11 months, the All-Mission League players have combined for three torn anterior cruciate ligaments, torn cartilage and a broken foot.

Kelso tore her right ACL and cartilage late last season. Surgery repaired that injury, but during the off-season she sustained a similar injury, this time to her left ACL.

Kelso, a forward, decided to put off surgery on her left knee until after the season and continues to play with a brace.

“As far as I’m concerned, [Kelso is] one of the toughest girls I’ve ever seen,” said Coach Kevin Wiser, Megan’s father. “To see her playing with a torn ACL is incredible.”

Megan Wiser, a guard, injured her knee last season in the playoffs, then broke her foot in a preseason scrimmage in November, requiring her to wear a boot cast until early this month.

Kelso and Wiser, who combined to average 36 points last season, have been in the lineup together the last three games, which is cause for optimism at Louisville (9-9, 2-2 in league play).

“We’re feeling really good right now,” Kevin Wiser said. “The whole team is playing well. It’s been a struggle, but it looks like [Sarah and Megan] are going to get to play out their senior year.”

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Jevay Grooms of Kennedy just missed a second consecutive quadruple-double on Friday in a 49-31 Valley Mission League victory over Reseda.

Grooms, a 6-foot-1 junior, had 22 points, 20 rebounds, 11 blocked shots and nine steals. On Tuesday, she had 24 points, 18 rebounds, 13 blocked shots and 10 steals in a 49-41 victory over Van Nuys.

In four league games, she is averaging 20 points and 19.8 rebounds.

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The Marmonte League has long been one of the region’s toughest and most balanced girls’ leagues. Five of the seven teams have already won the required 11 games to qualify for the playoffs.

That’s what makes Newbury Park’s recent dominance so remarkable.

The Panthers (14-7, 6-0), ranked No. 7 in the region by The Times, have won 20 consecutive league games, dating to 1999.

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Melissa Escobar and Kaipresha Price of North Hollywood picked the perfect night to have breakout games: Friday in a 65-50 rout of defending Sunset Six League champion Grant.

The Huskies previously had relied on senior forward Richelle Sherman, who is averaging 21 points and 10 rebounds.

Price, who averaged 17.3 points last season as a sophomore, was averaging only 9.9 this season. Escobar, a forward who transferred from Canada, has struggled with ankle problems.

Against Grant (11-8, 3-1), Price scored 16 points and Escobar added 14 points and 14 rebounds, her best game of the season. Sherman had 19 points and 10 rebounds.

“The other kids really stepped up,” said Coach Rich Allen of North Hollywood (11-8, 4-0). “We put it all together that game.”

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Ventura has already made 154 three-point baskets, fourth-best in region history. Crescenta Valley holds the region mark, making 218 in 1995-96.

All-Ventura County guard Katy O’Brien, who has sat out the Cougars’ last two games with a sprained ankle, is expected back Thursday for a Channel League game against rival Buena.

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Chaminade (15-2, 3-1) hosts Harvard-Westlake (16-5, 4-0) on Thursday for first place in the Mission League.

On Jan. 4, Harvard-Westlake routed the Eagles, 57-36.

“That was the first big game these girls have played in,” said Chaminade Coach Kelly DiMuro, who has no seniors on her roster. “I looked in their eyes and they looked scared.”

It showed. The Wolverines led, 42-12, at halftime.

DiMuro is hopeful her team is more confident the second time around.

“The nerves have [subsided],” she said. “The big game is out of the way.”