Greathouse as Good as Her Name

VENTURA — She scored more than 1,500 points and grabbed more than 1,000 rebounds during her last three seasons at Buena High.

The Bulldogs won three Southern Section Division I-A titles and posted a record of 106-12 for a winning percentage of .898 during her four seasons.

But ask UC Santa Barbara-bound Nicole Greathouse what she’ll cherish most about her glory days at Buena High and she’ll tell you it’s the relationships she established.

“There are a lot of things I’ll remember and they’re not necessarily all the championships and all the wins,” said Greathouse, The Times’ Ventura County player of the year. “I think I’ll remember all the relationships with my teammates and with Mr. [Joe] Vaughan. I’ll remember those things more than the fact that we beat Mater Dei here or [Crescenta Valley] there.”

Vaughan is one of the most highly respected girls’ basketball coaches in the state.

Vaughan’s teams have won two state and six Southern Section titles and compiled a 533-55 record during his 22-year tenure at Buena.

He calls the 6-foot-2 Greathouse one of the top five players to come out of the Bulldog program.

“She’s a dominating player, a physical specimen,” he said.

Although Greathouse is comfortable banging on the boards, there is more to her game than brute strength. She passes the ball well and can go outside and score with a 15-foot jump shot.

“What I like about her is her great court sense and she’s got a great outside shot,” said Marc Ward, whose Crescenta Valley team lost to Buena, 59-55, in this year’s Southern Section Division I-A title game.

“We tried to defend her inside last year and she drained shot after shot from 15 feet.”

Greathouse, who averaged 19.1 points and 11.4 rebounds a game this season for the Bulldogs (27-3), has one thing missing from her resume--a state Division I title.

Buena reached the semifinals or championship game of the Southern California Regional in each of Greathouse’s four seasons, but never made it to the state title game.

The Bulldogs appeared to have a good chance this season but Harbor City Narbonne upset them, 60-55, in the regional semifinals.