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Chargers take perfect season to the Pyramid
Agoura faces Inglewood with section title in the balance
The head coach of Inglewood High’s girls’ basketball team knows his squad faces a colossal challenge against the unbeaten Agoura Chargers in Saturday’s CIF-Southern Section Division 3AA title game at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach. “I told my kids the other day, ‘This team is 29-0. Can you believe that?’” Scott said. “They are the only team in the state of California, in the Southern Section, that’s undefeated. The only other team that’s undefeated is (the University of Connecticut). How do you measure that? “It’s crazy to be 29-0, just crazy. If it was Brea Olinda, Long Beach Poly, Mater Dei, I could understand that. But this is Agoura, a team that’s 29-0, and they’re in our division. It’s a little scary. We’ve never had to prepare for a team that shoots the three this well before.” Don’t expect Inglewood (26-5) to back down and roll over while the Chargers collect their CIF rings. This is a program, after all, that advanced to last year’s CIFSS Division 3A final before losing to Foothill of Santa Ana. Following that defeat, the Sentinels captured the Southern California Division 3 regional title before falling to St. Mary’s of Stockton in the state championship game. Inglewood has a premier point guard in Loyola Marymountbound senior Hazel Ramirez, who averages 12.4 points, five assists and 3.6 steals per contest. Where the Sentinels really excel, however, is in the paint, where 6-foot-1 junior forward Deajanae Scurry averages nearly a double-double (10.4 ppg, 8.2 rpg). “The one thing I’ve noticed is that they have a lot of size,” said Steve Scifres, Agoura’s third-year head coach. “They can definitely run an up-tempo style, but you have to compliment them on their ability to get the ball inside to a post player who can get us in big trouble.” Agoura’s ride thus far has been nothing short of phenomenal. Led by six rock-solid seniors—Sasha Borenstein, Amanda Burch, Elizabeth Levy, Carol Fisher, Allie Lord and Brittany Oster—the current Chargers have turned around a program that finished dead last in the Marmonte League just four seasons ago. Juniors Samantha Fisher and Camille Mahlknecht, sophomore Kylie Cunningham and freshman Sydney Bennett have all played important roles in reaching the pinnacle of the league standings. These days, team members are recognized and congratulated while visiting local businesses. Heck, even the non-sports fans in the hallways at school know who they are and respect what they’ve accomplished. “Almost anywhere some of us go a lot of people will stop us and say, ‘Hey, I saw the game on Saturday and you guys did great,’” said Lord, a three-year varsity member. “At school, the adults and parents are really getting into us and following how we’re doing.” Scifres also credits the program’s coaches for the dramatic turnaround. Varsity assistants Patrick Cunningham and Blair Galbreath have been there every step of the way. Steven Fisher, the frosh/soph head coach, has added hoops knowledge in the postseason, as has Scott McCreary, who works with the junior varsity squad. Competing in a spacious area like the Walter Pyramid, where there’s much more distance between the backboard and the stands than a normal high school gym, can be a challenge for a sharpshooting bunch like Agoura. Fortunately for the Chargers, they played seven games at the arena during a summer tournament. “We have some good experience playing in that building during the preseason,” Scifres said. “We played in some big arenas during the Nike Tournament of Champions as well.” Added Lord: “It’s always nice to go to a gym that you know and have experience in because you’re not overwhelmed by the size when you first get there. When we first walked in there it was a huge gym, but now we should be very comfortable playing there.” Agoura enters the game ranked 13th in the state by MaxPreps.com. They are the only undefeated team in the top 25. Inglewood is ranked 20th in the same poll. Scifres said many on the Charger team, including the coaches, enjoy sleeping in on Saturdays. The 11:15 a.m. tipoff might not be an ideal time slot for a basketball game, he said, but everyone should have plenty of adrenaline pumping through their veins when the bus rolls into Long Beach. “We’ll be wide awake when that game tips off,” the coach said. “It won’t be a problem.”
Agoura has arranged transportation for students to the game Saturday morning. Buses are scheduled to leave campus at 9:15 a.m. Bus tickets are on sale this week at AHS. |
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