A Split Decision in Ventura

VENTURA — There was little rebounding underneath the basket and no rebounding from a double-digit deficit.

That was about the size of things for the South team as the North relied on its height advantage and rolled to a 72-41 victory in the Ventura County Coaches’ All-Star girls’ basketball game Saturday night at Ventura High.

Led by UC Santa Barbara-bound Nicole Greathouse of Buena High, the North outrebounded the South, 10-4, in the first quarter and 18-9 in the first half en route to a 17-point advantage late in the second quarter.

The South’s fortunes went south from there.

With the 6-foot-2 Greathouse at center and no starter under 5-8, the North outrebounded the South, 41-20, overall.

“All of us haven’t played together very much, so we just kind of went out and did whatever,” Greathouse said. “But we’re all smart enough to know that if you have a height advantage, you better use it.”

The 31-point final margin was the largest for the North, which led by 25 in the third quarter.

Greathouse had 22 points and 12 rebounds for the North, which also got 18 points and seven rebounds from April Kozar of Fillmore, seven rebounds from Buena’s Stephanie Kinnear and seven points and four rebounds from Santa Clara guard Niecee Madrigal.

The South, which had just two players taller than 5-8, got 10 points and five rebounds from Moorpark’s Tracey Milburn and eight points from Lani Harimoto of Thousand Oaks.

“We didn’t have a board game to match theirs and we had a hard time keeping them off the boards,” said South Coach Mike Kohl of Royal. “But I think the girls did as well as they could under the circumstances.”