Team Neighbor wins two, takes title

A 50-18 rout of Fullerton wraps up 7-0 conference run.Despite playing the season with just six players, Team Neighbor -- a National Junior Basketball girls’ eighth-grade All-Net team -- won the Green Conference Fall League championship.

Team Neighbor won two games an hour apart Sunday and defeated Laguna Hills, 47-46, and Fullerton, 50-18, to wrap up the title.

Team Neighbor finished conference play with a 7-0 record.

“I rate the performance today as courageous,” Team Neighbor coach Tim Brennan said of his team’s performances.

In slipping past Laguna Hills at Columbus Park in Tustin, Team Neighbor overcame a 30-13 halftime deficit to stun a Laguna Hills team that had won its first five league games by an average of 30 points.

“Seeing as how short-handed we were, Laguna Hills employed a full court press in an effort to wear us out,” Brennan said. “But in the end, our tough and relentless man-to-man defense ended up wearing them down. That same defense allowed us to catch up and eventually win.”

All six Team Neighbor players broke into the scoring column: Meghan White scored 13 points, Renee Lindquist 12, Analese Trejo 11, Janet Kim five, Brittany Frers four and Nikki Fukuzawa two.

There was no doubt in the outcome of Team Neighbor’s second game: They routed the Fullerton Starzz, 50-18, at Foothill High in Tustin.

Lindquist led the scoring with 15 points, White had 12, Frers eight, Kim seven, Trejo five and Fukuzawa three.

Brennan said Team Neighbor is still seeking players to add to its roster. Players must be in the sixth-, seventh- or eighth-grade.

Interested players can call Brennan at (714) 846-9076 or Brian White at (714) 848-4774.