Newbury Park Panthers reach championship game
By Wayne Harrison
wharrison@theacorm.com

The dream season lives on for the Newbury Park girls’ basketball team.

The Panthers advanced to the CIF Southern Section Division III-AA championship game by defeating host Diamond Ranch High of Pomona, 60-42, in the semifinals last Saturday night.

Nori Parvin, now in her 30th year as the Newbury Park head coach, said her team experienced growing pains early in the season because of injuries and a late start for several players from volleyball, but that she wouldn’t have had it any other way.

"This is what it’s all about, you play multiple sports," Parvin said. "In high school, you’ve got to do that. And your volleyball legs and basketball legs are a little bit different. But the kids have gotten into the basketball mode and now that we’re in the playoffs, it’s do or die and the kids are playing great."

The Panthers began the season losing five of their first nine games mainly due to an ankle injury that plagued leading scorer Brynn Cameron, a senior guard/forward, and because of the transition that took place after the volleyball team won a Marmonte League championship last fall.

Cameron was voted the most valuable player in Marmonte League girls’ volleyball and will likely earn the same distinction in basketball. She led the Panthers against Diamond Ranch with 25 points.

"Brynn is an outstanding athlete, not just basketball," Parvin said. "She could play any sport she wants to play. Right now she’s playing basketball and that’s her sport and during volleyball they won the league, too."

The Panthers won 14 of their last 16 games and Parvin credits the entire team for the turnaround.

"We have a great group of girls, its not just Brynn (Cameron)," Parvin said. "We have a good team effort."

Parvin said Christina Fick, a senior forward, scored six of the first 10 Panther points in the semis. In addition, sophomore point guard Kavita Goss had 11 points, Christina Bobik, a junior guard/forward, had eight and senior Chelsea Fleher, also had eight.

"We’re playing our best ball now," Parvin said. "Brynn picked it up and so did everybody else.

"The kids are playing well," the coach added. "We got this far and nobody expected that. It’s fun for the kids and that’s what it’s all about."

Newbury Park advanced to play top-seeded Inglewood-Morningside, which beat Alemany in the other semifinal.

The championship will be Friday or Saturday at The Pyramid in Long Beach.

Parvin expects a tough game.

"They’re quick and they’ve got a couple of kids that can rebound well," Parvin said of Morningside. "We’ve got to keep doing the things that have made us successful."

Parvin said longtime assistant Mark Yamauchi and first-year assistant Stan Cameron (Brynn’s dad) try to stress the importance of every possession.

Defense, of course, will be a key. Parvin said strong defense keyed the CIF championship that her team won in 1995.

"Defense is going to win the game," Parvin said. "Your offense stems from your defense and I’ve said that year in and year out. I stressed to my kids, ‘You’ve got to love to play defense.’ The defensive players don’t get the accolades. We’ve got some really good players on defense."

Win or lose, the Panthers have qualified for the subsequent state tournament.