Tiny Windward Delivers a Blow to Millikan

It was little more than a blip in the grand scheme at the Nike Tournament of Champions in Chandler, Ariz., but one of the biggest victories of the tournament belonged to tiny Los Angeles Windward, which upset the Southland’s No. 14 team, Long Beach Millikan, 46-43.

Junior Hailey Dunham scored 21 points and had seven assists for Windward, a Southern Section Division IV-A school with 240 students. Dunham is one of two returning starters from last season’s 21-9 team, along with 6-foot-1 junior Erica Latimer.

Millikan was a Division I-AA semifinalist with three starters returning from a 21-9 team.

The Wildcats, behind Latimer’s 17 points, won a quarterfinal game over Longmont (Colo.) Niwot, 62-39.

This season, Windward was beaten, 53-50, in its other game against a ranked team from the Southland, No. 25 Los Angeles Marlborough.

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Through the first two rounds of the Nike tournament, Southland teams had faced three of USA Today’s top four nationally ranked teams.

With a healthy Jennifer Risper in the lineup for the first time, Moreno Valley Canyon Springs beat No. 4 Forestville (Md.) Bishop McNamara, 76-52. Newhall Hart lost to No. 1 Piedmont (Calif.), 62-51 -- after trailing, 55-51, with two minutes to play -- and Fullerton Troy lost to No. 2 Middle Village (N.Y.) Christ the King, 47-44, after leading by one with 1:30 left.

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Joe Vaughan reached 700 victories on Dec. 14 when Ventura Buena defeated Ojai Nordhoff, 58-50, at the Ventura Optimist Invitational.

Only 21 coaches have won more in girls’ basketball. The all-time leader is Jim Smiddy, who won 1,217 games at Charleston (Tenn.) Cleveland Bradley Central from 1948 to 1993.

“I still really enjoy coaching and teaching,” said Vaughan, 60, who is in his 31st year at Buena. “I’m really grateful to the players who put in a lot of hard work. That’s the No. 1 ingredient. I’ve been very fortunate.”

He was denied No. 700 a few days earlier in the championship game of his own tournament against Ventura, a team coached by one of his former players and assistants, Ann Larson. Both of Buena’s losses are to Ventura, both in tournament title games.

With a 48-35 victory over Orange Lutheran on Tuesday, he is now 704-96.