Boys’ basketball: Former UCLA guard Rod Foster wins first game as Windward coach

Rod Foster is 55 years old and long past his UCLA days when he was nicknamed “Rocket.” He was a freshman on UCLA’s 1980 team that lost to Louisville in the NCAA final.

Last week, he was named the basketball coach at L.A. Windward, and on Thursday night, he earned his first win as a high school coach when the Wildcats defeated Paraclete, 66-49. Jules Bernard scored 18 points.

Foster has been running a local basketball training business. Windward needed a replacement for Steve Smith, who decided to take an assistant coaching position in the WNBA.

“It was a situation that seemed so perfect but it happened so fast,” Foster said. “They want to go forward, and I hope and pray I’m the right person for that.”

Foster still hasn’t lost his shooting touch in practice.

“I can still shoot,” he said. “You never lose your jumper.”

Campbell Hall received 32 points from Jordan Cohen to defeat Brentwood, 61-45. Christian Juzang scored 30 points in Viewpoint’s 77-64 win ocer Crossroads.

In an important nonleague girls’ game, Sierra Canyon knocked off the No. 1 team in the City Section, Legacy, 65-49.

For the latest on high school sports, follow @LATSondheimer on Twitter