HIGH SCHOOL NOTEBOOK

Harvard-Westlake will host a familiar opponent tonight in a girls’ Division III regional opener.

Bakersfield Liberty, the Central Section runner-up, lost to Harvard-Westlake, 51-29, in December at the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions.

Harvard-Westlake (26-5), which upset top-seeded Bishop Montgomery on Friday for the Southern Section Division III-AA title, is seeded No. 1 in the eight-team regional. Liberty is seeded No. 8.

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Buena’s girls aren’t giving up hope, not for a state championship or a national title.

The Bulldogs, ranked No. 1 in the nation for more than eight weeks, suffered their first loss, 58-51, to Fullerton Troy on Saturday for the Division I-A title.

“If we win state, we could still have a shot at [the national championship],” senior center Kelly Greathouse said. “We want to win state and finish strong.”

That’s going to have to happen on the road.

The loss dropped Buena (28-1) to the No. 4-seeded team in the Division I regional and means the Bulldogs must travel to No. 5 Fresno Clovis West (25-5) tonight for an opener.

If the Bulldogs win, they will likely travel to City Section champion and top-seeded Harbor City Narbonne, the defending national champion, on Thursday.

“Don’t count them out,” Troy Coach Kevin Kiernan said Saturday night. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they still won it all.”

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Montclair Prep (27-0), which won its first girls’ Division V-AA championship, has come a long way.

Coach Bob Webb, who has been involved with the athletic program for 15 years, remembers when things weren’t so rosy.

“When I got here in 1985, they had uniforms with their numbers penciled on their jerseys,” he said.

The Mounties, the region’s only unbeaten team, was seeded No. 2 in its regional and will host San Diego Santa Fe Christian tonight.

The Mounties could face La Jolla Country Day, the state’s No. 1 Division V team, on Saturday in the regional final at the Pyramid in Long Beach.