Foothill Attempting to Play Its Way Out of Slump

One of the biggest turnarounds this season--and not in a positive way--has been with the girls’ basketball team at Foothill High.

Though the Knights stretched their Century League winning streak to 22 games, they have since lost twice, to Santa Ana Valley and Villa Park.

Coach Ty Watkins called the Villa Park contest Friday a must-win game for his Knights, but they lost, 43-41, falling to 12-9 overall, 3-2 in league.

Why such a turnaround for a team that was a couple minutes from upsetting Brea Olinda in early December and features the county’s dominant player, Kristen Mann?

There are several reasons, Watkins said.

Mann, who injured her ankle in the third quarter against Esperanza in an Orange County Championship game in December, still hasn’t recovered, and it is affecting her mobility. “She can’t cut, she can’t jump, but she still plays,” Watkins said. “She’s not practicing much, but she’s playing every minute of every game.”

Point guard Bridget Keto sprained her ankle a week ago, against Rosary. “Hopefully, she’ll be back within 1 1/2 weeks,” Watkins said.

Last year, Foothill could have expected to have several talented guards, with Jackie Williams, Kelsi Sousa and Keto. But Williams is at Hillview High and Sousa transferred to Woodbridge within a week after Foothill’s loss in a Southern Section Division II-AA semifinal.

“When you develop your whole program around two guards and they don’t play, it’s hard,” Watkins said. “Bridget has been great for us, but we don’t have her either. It’s a double-whammy.”

Consequently, turnovers at critical times have dogged Foothill. Then again, there is one more factor.

“Both Valley and Villa Park are much more improved,” Watkins said, “and we’ve tapered off from the Brea tournament. . . . We’ve played as good as we can [in early December], but we need to get back to that point.”

THEIR BURDEN TO BEAR

Esperanza’s girls got a real appreciation for the burden of being the top-ranked team in the county when the Aztecs began Sunset League play.

“Everybody’s playing us really tough in the first and second quarter,” Coach Marc Hill said. “In the past, the teams you expected to beat, you’d get the game under control. Against Los Alamitos, we were behind. Against Marina, we were behind. Against Huntington Beach, we were behind. It’s a different feel.

“They’re playing us with much more emotion. Teams like Brea, who have some history [at No. 1] understand that. The first three games, it was quite a shock.”

Would it be easier if the Aztecs were No. 2?

“No,” guard Lindsay Helvey said. “We like being No. 1.”

The Aztecs beat No. 7 Edison Tuesday, 58-29.

WEEKEND EXTRAVAGANZA

This will be a weekend of opportunity for several county boys’ teams.

Magnolia gets a chance to give Coach Al Walin his 400th victory in his 27th year at the school if the Sentinels (11-9 overall, 3-1 in Orange League play) can defeat Anaheim (8-12, 0-4) today and Western (7-11, 1-3) Friday.

Mater Dei (19-2), the top-ranked team in the county, gets a chance to avenge one of its three defeats from last season when it plays Miami Northwest Christian at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the Nike Extravaganza at the Long Beach State Pyramid. Northwest Christian later had to forfeit its 72-56 victory over the Monarchs for using an ineligible player.

Mater Dei’s second defeat last season came in the Nike Extravaganza, where the Monarchs lost to eventual Division I state champion Concord De La Salle. Mater Dei’s third defeat came to Fresno Clovis West in the Southern California Regional championship.

The Extravaganza features several other intriguing matchups. Villa Park, ranked seventh in the county, plays Westchester, The Times’ top-ranked team in the Southland, at 6 p.m. Ocean View, ranked sixth in the county, plays defending Southern Section Division I-AA champion Long Beach Poly at 4:30 p.m.

Second-ranked Santa Margarita, third-ranked Capistrano Valley, Los Alamitos, Servite and Costa Mesa also play in the Extravaganza, which opens with Servite-Glendora at 8:30 a.m.

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Staff writer Ben Bolch contributed to this report.