Free Throw Becomes a Foul Shot

Go figure Gabe Higa, a senior forward for Quartz Hill High and one of the Valley’s best free-throw shooters.

Higa, last season’s Golden League Player of the Year, had made 96 of 102 (94%) from the line this season--before a two-for-nine performance in Friday’s league opener against Palmdale.

Capping his dismal showing, Higa missed the second of two free throws with five seconds left, blowing an opportunity to force overtime and leaving the Rebels on the short end of a 56-55 decision.

“He was hurting real bad about it,” Coach Don Moore said. “But I don’t know who else I would rather have up there.

“He’s the (team’s) best free-throw shooter. I don’t know what happened. He just kinda choked a little bit at the end, I guess.”

Breaking tradition: Harvard Coach Greg Hilliard is enjoying his team’s 13-2 start but adds that the Saracens can look awkward if their blitzkrieg break isn’t clicking.

“When somebody catches you on a bad night, it’s like, ‘Geez, they don’t have any discipline,’ ” Hilliard said.

“We used to make seven passes before we shot,” he said. “Now, we wait about seven seconds before we shoot.”

Short-handed: Many basketball teams have been decimated by the latest flu bug. The Highland Hall girls have taken it a step further.

In a recent game against Claremont of Garden Grove, the Hawks’ roster of eight was pared to four. One player was out with pneumonia, one with the flu and one with a broken finger. Monica Palma, who averages a team-high 15 points, was snowbound in Wyoming.

Coach Dave Desmond recruited a fifth girl from campus, but another player had a work-experience project off campus and did not arrive until five minutes before tipoff.

“We had four girls in our stretching drill,” Desmond said. “Usually, you make them line up or get in a huge circle. We just made a box. We had three girls shooting and one rebounding. Real intimidating, huh?”

Apparently so. Highland Hall won, 39-12.

Staff writers Sam Farmer and Vince Kowalick contributed to this notebook.