Meet the Chargers' not-so-secret weapon

Taylor Lord The secret is out- Agoura High senior Taylor Lord is a pretty good basketball player.

In her first year on the varsity squad last season, the 6foot forward/center averaged 16.7 points and 11 rebounds per game for the Chargers. With stats like that, Lord's coach doesn't expect her to fall under the radar again.

"Nobody really knew who she was last season," Agoura head coach Steve Scifries said. "This year everyone knows who she is.

"Other teams look at her numbers from last season and then they look at our young team, and they realize she's the one to stop. Her biggest challenge will be how she reacts to other teams putting a lot of pressure on her."

Lord, one of only two seniors on the Charger roster, was named to the preseason All-Southern Section first-team by CalHiSports.com. As a result of her high profile on the court, the senior has been double- and triple-teamed by squads such as Moorpark High early on.

"It's nice to hear that I made the first team, and it's nice to know coaches see me as a real threat, but I just want to take this season one game at a time," Lord said. "I just see the double teams as another challenge and a reason to keep working my tail off in practice."

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers TALENTED- AHS senior forward/center Taylor Lord drives to the basket during practice this week. Lord led the Chargers in points (16.7) and rebounds (11) per game during the 2006-07 season. Although Scifries is in his first year coaching the girls' squad at Agoura, he is no stranger to Lord, having seen her on campus while he coached the boys' team.

"She has a little bit of a reputation around here," Scifries said.

"As a player, she's basically second to none. After I began coaching her every day, however, I was surprised with how much time she would spend after our practices working on her game. I think very highly of that, and I love how she practices just as hard as she plays in games."

Lord said she often practices with her father, David, after school.

"My dad helps me every day with my post-up skills," Lord said. "Not so much with my shooting as with my footwork and my movement. He also helps with my rebounding."

Previously, Lord had played softball and volleyball at Agoura but has since quit the other two sports to focus on basketball. The senior said she was given the option of playing on the varsity team her sophomore year, but she decided to stay on the junior varsity squad.

"The reason I play basketball is the other girls on the team," Lord said. "For some reason, I just felt more comfortable with them than the girls in other sports. I'm one that likes to stay with my friends, and my sophomore year I was more comfortable playing on the junior varsity team with those girls."

Lord said the transition from the JV level to the varsity team was seamless.

"The first game, I had the usual butterflies and didn't do much," Lord said. "But the second game was when I started to notice, 'Hey, I'm just as good as most of these girls.'"

With Lord on the varsity squad, the Chargers started to win more often last season. After two years in which AHS won a combined three Marmonte League games, the Chargers improved their league record to 6-8 a year ago. Although Agoura will return only three players from last season, Scifries is hoping the team can continue to improve with Lord as the number one option.

"We want to build on last year's improvement, and (Lord) is going to be the one that gets us there," Scifries said. "We only have two seniors this year, so we will rely on her heavily. We're only going to go as far as she leads us."

Lord said that before the season started, she made a personal goal to average 25 points and 15 rebounds per game. Although Agoura is 1-3 to start the year, Lord is confident the team can make the playoffs in her final season at the school.

"We are young with a lot of players coming up from the JV level, but our team chemistry is very good," Lord said. "That bond is going to lead us to a good year."

Agoura plays Friday at Rio Mesa High in the Gold Coast Classic. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.