Lions sink teeth into Lady Ranger netters
By Jesse Phelps

The Nordhoff's girls' varsity basketball team lost a tough game at San Marcos in Santa Barbara, 66-54, last Thursday night.
Though the Lady Rangers led for most of the first half, the Lions' press bothered NHS in the fourth and final period and San Marcos topped that off with exceptional shooting from the field - eight for 10 - down the stretch.
Sarah Lagos kept Nordhoff in it throughout the game, nailing two of her four three-point shots in the latter part of the match. She finished with a game-high 16 points on five of seven shooting.
Star center Alison Bennett added seven points, 11 boards and seven assists, including a trio of beauties in the second period when Nordhoff opened a four-point halftime lead.
Alexis Kenyon added eight points and Tahnie Benitez had seven points and contributed eight boards. Arianne Roache and Johanna Rothermel contributed five points each, while Sarah Nylander netted six.
The Lady Rangers are now 6-9 on the year as they look to improve their standing during league play.
Nordhoff's schedule so far this year has presented a considerable challenge. The Lady Rangers have consistently played schools with far larger student bodies than Nordhoff from which to pick a team.
"I think it's good for us to play bigger, better schools like this to toughen us up for league," said Nordhoff coach Ted Cotti. "I can already see it paying dividends. San Marcos is a tough place to play and we handled it well."
Cotti wants to see his team rewarded by the challenges already faced with improved play against upcoming foes. "I'd like to see us put together a win streak here going into league. If we sweep, and we can if we take care of the basketball and commit ourselves to practicing hard and playing hard 32 minutes every time-out, that would get us over the .500 mark, which was one of my preseason goals," Cotti added.
Nordhoff plays today at home against Valencia at 3:30 p.m. Valencia, 7-1 overall, should provide another stiff challenge for Cotti's troops, but the battle tested Lady Rangers obviously won't be facing their first tough hurdle of the year.
Nordhoff features a balanced attack - Bennett is the only Ranger scoring in double figures on the year, right at 10 points per game. Three others average between eight and 10. Bennett is also the team leader in rebounds with 11.5 per contest. Ariane Roache is the team leader in assists with nearly five per game.

© 2003 The Ojai Valley News

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