Tisha Duran is heading back to her old stomping grounds.
The Buena High graduate has been hired to coach her alma mater's softball team. Duran was an all-Channel League player at Buena before heading to Ventura College, where she was an all-WSC standout. Duran finished her softball career at UC Santa Barbara, where she earned all-Big West Conference honors.
Duran has been serving as an assistant coach at Ventura College for the last few years and giving private lessons.
"We had three great candidates, and Tisha really stood out," Buena athletic director Craig Williams said. "We are glad to have Tisha as our coach. She has so much passion."

Mark Magdaleno has been hired as the baseball coach at Buena High, announced athletic director Craig Williams today.

Four area teams survived the first round of the CIF Southern California Regional playoffs and will play in the second round on Thursday night.

In Division III girls, Buena plays at top-seeded Santa Margarita at 6 p.m. and fourth-seeded Agoura hosts Bishop Amat at 7 p.m.

In Division IV boys, Oaks Christian plays at top-seeded Price at 7.

In Division V boys, Besant Hill is at Windward at 7.

The all-area CIF-Southern Section Division III-AA girls' basketball semifinal playoff game between Agoura and Buena will be held at Oak Park High on Saturday at 7 p.m.

The Division II-AA semifinal game between Ventura and Brea Olinda will be held at Buena High on Saturday at 7 p.m.

The Division IV-AA semifinal game between Oak Park and Harvard-Westlake will be held at Notre Dame-Sherman Oaks on Saturday at 7 p.m.

The site for the Division IV-A semifinal game between Oaks Christian and St. Joseph/Santa Maria has yet to be named. Oaks Christian is the home team.

Santa Barbara High has been a major thorn in the side of the Buena and Ventura girls' basketball teams this season.

Both teams have suffered Channel League losses against the Dons, including Ventura's 52-51 loss last night on a free throw by Jackie Kerns with 0.7 seconds remaining.

It marks the first time Santa Barbara (20-5, 6-1) has defeated Buena (16-8, 5-1) and Ventura (21-3, 4-2) in the same season since 2003, and makes the Channel League race much more interesting entering the final week.

Buena and Ventura meet on Monday night at Buena High. If Ventura beats Buena, Santa Barbara will claim at least a share of its first Channel League title since 1988.

If Buena wins, it will come down to Wednesday night's winner-take-all showdown between Buena and Santa Barbara at Buena High in the final regular-season game.

The Ventura High boys basketball team defeated crosstown rival Buena 63-48 Friday night behind 15 points and eight rebounds from guard Dylan Houck, who was energized by the capacity crowd at Ventura College:

"How could you not want to play hard in this kind of atmosphere?"

"Playing two games against Buena here is the highlight to our season. We're glad to finally get this first one behind us."

Buena High girls basketball coach Dave Guenther on the Bulldogs 47-36 win over crosstown rival and previously unbeaten Ventura Thursday night:

"We just played well defensively. We only gave up two cheap baskets that I could think of and didn't give up any curls to the basket or back cuts. That can change a game if teams do that to you. It's a backbreaker. So it really started defensively for us to hold them down and then we were able to finish."

Devon Blackledge broke a 57-yard gain on third and 2 to sett up a 2-yard Logan Meyer touchdown sneak and a 31-13 St. Bonaventure lead with 3:47 left in the third quarter.

But Buena, aided by 45 yards of St. Bonaventure personal fouls, marched right down the field to pull within 31-19 on Tyler Perry's miraculous 23-yard diving catch of Robert Munoz's fourth down double reverse pass.

Opening the second half, St. Bonaventure running back Devon Blackledge picks up four straight first downs on runs of 14, 29, 11 and a 12-yard screen pass to the Buena 4.

His 9-yard touchdown run, following a delay of game penalty, gives St. Bonaventure a 24-13 lead with 7:29 left in the third quarter. Blackledge has 182 yards rushing and 91 receiving.

Devon Blackledge rips off a 30-yard gain on third and 1 from the Seraphs 44-yard line to move St. Bonaventure to the Buena 26 in the final minute of the half.

St. Bonaventure looked set for a game-tying field goal try, but a roughing the passer flag on a third-down incompletion cost Buena.

One play later, Logan Meyer scrambled for a 10-yard touchdown run and a 17-13 SB lead with 17 seconds left in the half.

UPDATE: St. Bonaventure leads 17-13 at the half. Blackledge has 198 yards from scrimmage on 13 carries and two receptions. St. Bonaventure has four lost fumbles.

Buena quarterback Munoz hits receiver Kevin Leiser across the middle for a 24-yard gain. A personal foul moves the ball to the St. Bonaventure 25.

Two plays later, Munoz finds tight end Tyler Perry for a 26-yard scoring strike on a double pass.

The PAT fails. Buena leads, 13-10, with 1:55 left in the first half

Tyler Perry punts from his own end zone and St. Bonaventure turns the ball over on punt return for the third time in the first quarter, which ends tied 7-7.

St. Bonaventure cornerback Troy Hill gets the ball back with an interception. It's the fifth turnover of the first game.

St. Bonaventure moves the ball to the Buena 9 on six straight Devon Blackledge carries. But Matt Arve sacks Logan Meyer on first and goal for a 14-yard loss.

Two incompletions later, the Seraphs are forced to settle for Mason Kirk's 39-yard field goal and a 10-7 lead with 4:51 left in the half.

Buena's Kyle Robles recovers St. Bonaventure's second fumbled punt of the first quarter on the Seraphs 20-yard line.

One play later, quarterback Robert Munoz hits tight end Tyler Perry in the back of the end zone for a 7-0 Buena lead over St. Bonaventure with 3:53 left in the first quarter.

UPDATE: The Seraphs immediately answer with quarterback Logan Meyer's 80-yard touchdown pass to running back Devin Blackledge, who caught the ball sprinting down the sideline.

In its battle of 5-1 teams, Buena started slowly, going backwards 14 yards on a fumbled snap on the first play from scrimmage and following that inauspicious debut with two incomplete passes.

But St. Bonaventure fumbled the punt. Junior Bret Coleman recovered. Buena quarter Robert Munoz connected with tight end Tyler Perry for 17 yards on a third down. The subsequent late hit gave Buena the ball on the Seraphs 25.

But Buena couldn't convert on second or third and short and missed the 33-yard field goal to spurn the opportunity.

Oxnard's first regular-season loss in 23 games cost the Yellowjackets a place in the Northern Division rankings.

Carly Roberg really goes the extra mile on game days for the Ventura High girls' volleyball team. The junior middle blocker not only starts for the Cougars, she also sings the national anthem. Roberg belted out a great rendition last night before Ventura's game against Buena.
"And that's after she has warmed up and run around a little bit and needs to catch her breath," Ventura coach Jared Godinez said. "She is very good. It's pretty impressive."
If the volleyball thing doesn't work out as a player, Roberg can surely find teams willing to have her sing the anthem at their games any time.

Northern Division

Buena 27, Thousand Oaks 20: Buena passes big test by Derry Eads in Ventura.
Newbury Park 34, Rio Mesa 6: Newbury Park adjusts well by Joe Curley in Newbury Park.
Pacifica 56, Simi Valley 27: Mondol, Pacifica roll past Simi Valley by Sean Ceglinsky in Oxnard.
Camarillo 49, Agoura 14: Camarillo clicks against Agoura by Jeffrey Dransfeld in Camarillo.
Hueneme 33, Calabasas 0: Hueneme blanks Calabasas by Ted Cotti in Hueneme.
Westlake 42, Saugus 20: Isham powers Westlake over Saugus by Bob Buttitta in Santa Clarita.
Chaminade 33, Royal 14: Chaminade too much for Royal by David Lassen in Los Angeles.

Northwest Division

Santa Paula 23, Golden Valley 13: Santa Paula earns first win by Steve Pratt in Canyon Country.
Morro Bay 28, Oak Park 13: Morro Bay holds off Oak Park by Lance O'Fallon in Oak Park.

Thanks to the Jewish New Year - Rosh Hashanah, which begins tonight at sundown - we get two nights of high school football this week.

Here are the news, notes and highlights from last night's games:

Buena 27, Thousand Oaks 20: It was only a matter of time before Cliff Farrar turned the Buena program into a winner again. But this quick? Wow. In Farrar's second season at the helm, the Bulldogs recorded their biggest win in several years. Buena QB Robert Munoz completed 15 of 19 passes for 218 yards as Buena improved to 2-0 against a Thousand Oaks team that played Valencia down to the wire last week. The Lancers were without the services of RB Richard Minyard.

Camarillo 49, Agoura 14: On the same day the school conducted tryouts for its loudest students, Camarillo gave them plenty to scream about. Ossie Toc - could there be much better of a name? - rushed for 155 yards and two touchdowns. Ryan Molesworth caught three touchdown passes from Jeff Mathews in the route. If you espouse the Kevin Bacon theory, Ventura might be in for a handfull tonight against Moorpark. The Cougars lost to Agoura 12-0 in the opener last week.

Newbury Park 34, Rio Mesa 6: The Panthers scored 34 unanswered points and held Rio Mesa to just 37 yards of total offense in the second half. Newbury Park QB Jake Geringer threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more.

Westlake 42, Saugus 20: Nick Isham knows what perfection feels like. The Westlake QB finished an eye-popping 16 of 16 for 153 yards and four touchdowns. If that wasn't enough, Isham also caught four passes for 27 yards and returned an interception 75 yards for a touchdown as the Warriors posted 42 points for the second straight game. Tavior Mowry rushed 13 times for 103 yards. 

Pacifica 56, Simi Valley 27: This game was over by halftime as QB transfer Max Mondol completed 9 of his first 10 passes, including four touchdowns. Mondol finished the game 13 of 15 for 190 yards and his second incompletion of the game didn't come until less than 10 minutes remained in the fourth quarter.

Chaminade 33, Royal 14: Chaminade led 33-0 before Royal finally put together a few scoring drives. Royal QB Zach Collins completed 24 of 43 passes for 270 yards and Connor Wolcott had 11 receptions for 166 yards.

Hueneme 33, Calabasas 0: Sure the Vikings haven't played the toughest schedule, but 3-0 sure feels good after not winning a single game last season. Speaking of that, Calabasas can relate to losing streak. The Coyotes have had a few of their own over the years. Senior RB Trashaun Nixon had a stellar performance for Hueneme, rushing for 269 yards on 16 carries and scoring three touchdowns. Nixon broke off TD runs of 76 and 93 yards in the fourth quarter.

Morro Bay 28, Oak Park 13: The Eagles had to dig deep to find a starting QB last night. Brad Taylor was out with headaches and his backup Connor Hill was out with a hernia. Oak Park turned to WR-turned-QB Dereck Deakin, who completed 3 of 8 passes, including a 66-yard touchdown pass to Aiki Zapati (another classic name for the vault).

Santa Paula 23, Golden Valley 13: Santa Paula registered its first win behind Ivan Ledesma. The senior returned a kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown and went 69 yards on a screen pass thrown by sophomore Kameron Klein for another touchdown. Ledesma finished with five catches for 125 yards. 

 

Looks like the Ventura and Buena girls' volleyball teams are on the upswing this season.

Both recorded impressive wins last night with Ventura sweeping Oak Park and Buena beating La Reina in four games.

Ventura has put together an impressive coaching staff. First-year coach Jared Godinez is a former volleyball standout for the Cougars and his assistants are Maurice Shimabaku, Debbie Litten and Melissa Yeto.

Shimabaku once led Hueneme High to a state title, Litten is Ventura's former successful head and Yeto was an assistant at Ventura College.

Buena and Ventura compete in the always-tough Channel League and will have to contend with the powers up North, especially Dos Pueblos. Ventura hasn't made the playoffs since Litten was at the helm.

CIF-SS Division II playoffs, first round

Cypress 11, Buena 10

CIF-SS Division IV playoffs, first round

St. Bonaventure 6, San Marino 5: Strikeouts by Nolan Rodarte left the bases loaded in the sixth and seventh innings as the senior recorded his school-record 10th save of the season and guided the Seraphs into the second round for the fifth straight season. Senior J.J. Lasalle picked up the win in relief to improve to 6-2. Senior catcher Mike Marrietta was 3 for 4 with two RBIs and two runs scored. St. Bonaventure faces La Quinta Tuesday.

St. Paul 2, Oaks Christian 1 (8 inn.): Nick Pann went 2 for 3 with a double and an RBI, Drew Hacker scored a run and had a stolen base and Travis Radke pitched seven innings, allowing two earned runs with three strikeouts, for the Lions (12-9).

Palm Desert 6, Oak Park 0

CIF-SS Division VI playoffs, first round

Santa Paula 6, Rio Hondo 0: Allen Gwynn went 2 for 3 with two runs scored, a home run, double and an RBI for the Cardinals (20-8). Gwynn also threw a shutout with 12 strikeouts. C.J. Castaneda went 3 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored. Justin Macias had two RBIs, a run scored, a double and a hit.

Nordhoff 9, Kern Valley 1: Tom Quackenbush went 3 for 3, including a two-run double that was part of a five-run second inning, and Dan Stoner scattered nine hits while allowing just one run in a complete-game effort. Nordoff (9-10) picked up its eighth win in 10 games.

Poly/Pasadena 8, Grace Brethren 4