Thousand Oaks girls basketball survives physical battle with Oaks Christian

THOUSAND OAKS — Make it happen.

That’s more than just a saying on the back of the warm-up shirts for the Thousand Oaks girls basketball team. Junior Aryanna Lopez buys into the mindset.

Despite a rough shooting night, she didn’t hesitate to let it fly from beyond the arc when the pressure was on Friday. She drilled a 3-pointer that helped Thousand Oaks defeat Oaks Christian 42-35 in a Marmonte League game.

The win extended Thousand Oaks’ winning streak to eight games. The Lancers are 23-2 overall and 7-0 in league. Oaks Christian dropped to 15-7, 5-2.

“She’ll be in shooting slumps, but at the end of the day, I have total faith and confidence that she will make one,” Thousand Oaks head coach Ashley Ontiveros said of Lopez. “And you know, what better time to make one than when we needed it most. So I’m proud of her for still shooting the ball.”

The game featured physical defense from both teams. Full-court press, players diving for balls and tight defensive coverage gave both teams trouble throughout the night and resulted in a low-scoring affair.

Forty-two points from the Lancers is their lowest point total of the season.

In Thousand Oaks’ first league matchup against Oaks Christian, the team won by over 30 points.

The Lions knew something had to change in the second matchup and came in with a clear plan: surprise Thousand Oaks with physicality.

It worked.

“The physicality caught us off guard a little bit,” Ontiveros said. “Usually you’ll have calls going sometimes in your favor, not in your favor, but these girls like to play just as physical. So when they get another team that kind of wants to get physical with them, they don’t mind at all. They love it.”

Senior Jillian McGillivray led Thousand Oaks with 14 points.

McGillivray typically finds success in the paint with mid-range jumpers, but the Oaks Christian defense denied her for most of the game.

McGillivray drained a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter and impacted the game with her defense. She had two blocks and two steals.

“I’m never worried that she will ever have a bad shooting night,” Ontiveros said of McGillivray, “because she can do it on both ends of the floor. But she knows that she always has the green light … She’ll find a way to still make an impact just as big on either end of the floor. So she’s huge. She’s captain for a reason, and she plays the entire game for a reason.”