Buena and Narbonne Aces Will Play to a Full House

If you don’t already own a ticket to Saturday night’s intersectional showdown between Buena High and Harbor City Narbonne, forget about going.

The game, featuring Buena (21-0), ranked No. 1 in the nation, and No. 3 Narbonne (16-2) is sold out.

“Don’t come and expect to get in because you won’t,” Coach Joe Vaughan of Buena said.

Buena has hosted a marquee team every season for its annual fund-raiser.

Past opponents include New York Christ the King, Peninsula, Brea Olinda and Mater Dei, and many have filled the 1,400-seat gymnasium. But none have matched the national significance of this one.

“It’s quite a matchup,” Vaughan said. “You envision something like this happening, but there’s no way of knowing for sure when you schedule it.”

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Newbury Park can clinch its second consecutive Marmonte League championship tonight with a victory at second-place Simi Valley.

The Panthers (16-7, 8-0 in league play) have won 22 consecutive Marmonte games thanks to a team that features four players averaging eight or more points.

Simi Valley (17-6, 6-3) has relied on junior Teresa Cooper to provide much of the scoring. She is averaging 20.2 points and needs 16 points tonight to move past Julie Arlotto into third place on the school’s career scoring list.

Sarah Ripley also has been a key player and the reserves have also been contributing recently.

“Our team is getting better because the bench is better,” Coach Dave Murphy said. “Other kids are getting key baskets, playing good defense and the intensity has picked up.”

Guards Mikali Bender and Joelle Murphy, and forward Nikki Pascual have improved since the start of the season, as have reserves Kayla Briers, Brittany Maguire and Patti McNichols.