Sheiks Have 'Unfinished Business'

The girls' basketball team enters Friday's away game with a 9-0 record in the Central League and just one win away from clinching first place.

There's plenty to be excited about for the Sheiks, but don't expect a big celebration if they beat USC-Mast on Friday.

The ambitions are higher for Hollywood this season. The Sheiks' seniors have won the league title before. Now, playing in the final games of their high school careers, they've set their sights on a run they hope will take them all the way to the City Section  championship game.

"We decided we needed to come back this year, being senior year for many of us, and say this is about unfinished business," senior star said. "We wanted to come back this year, win the league title again and go all the way."

Ah, unfinished business. It's a phrase head coach isn't shy about using — he'll invoke it several times over the course of a 15-minute conversation. Herron is in his 11th year coaching the Sheiks, a highly successful run that has included league titles in 2003-04 and 2007-08.

Hollywood fell just short of winning league last year; their late-season loss to eventual-champion West Adams representing the genesis of the unfinished business the coach and his players constantly refer to.

Herron ranks this Sheiks team as one of the most talented he's ever had, and certainly the most resilient. It's that mixture of skill and determination that has the coach feeling he has a squad that can play deep into February.

"With the group of girls I have, with their get-knocked-down and get-back-up approach to winning games, I think we have a really good shot," Herron said. "This is a veteran team. They're scrappy. They're hungry. They want it. We talked about it all summer."

Herron has never had a team go undefeated in league, something the Sheiks can do with wins over USC-Mast, Esteban Torres, and Belmont to close out the regular season.

"I'm excited to win the league title, excited about the idea of going undefeated, but we're about unfinished business," said Herron, using those two magic words again. "We're not done yet. We're far from done. We want to make some noise in the playoffs."

Shooting guard is one of four Sheiks on the verge of winning a second league title in their time at the varsity level. She's one of seven seniors on the roster, many of them in their third or fourth year on varsity. A common talking point since the summer was the idea of a deep postseason run.

"We've gone to the playoffs several times, but we haven't gone as far as we've wanted to," said the sharp-shooting Ortiz, who averages 12 points a game off the bench. "We think that this year there's a possibility because we've worked really hard, and played in some tournaments where we've beaten some pretty good teams. I think we have a pretty good shot if we get there."

Point guard keys the guard play that Herron considers the lifeblood of the offensive attack. She believes the camaraderie of the team sets it apart from other Sheiks teams she's been on.

"This team feels like a family more than the other teams I've been on," she said. "We all pull for each other."

Leading the pull is Gomez, the center who Herron calls the "heart and soul" of the Sheiks. She's averaging 16 points and 10 rebounds per game and serves as the emotional center of the team as well.

"It's a blessing, we've worked so hard for it, I know we deserve it," Gomez said. "It's overwhelming sometimes to think how long we've played together. I'm very proud and happy."

For Herron, one of his biggest jobs as coach has been to make the girls aware of the opportunity that sits in front of them.

"This is their last shot," Herron said. "I've been preaching to them, 'This is it.' We don't get another chance to look back and say, 'If we could have done this,' or 'If we could have done that.' We have to do it now. It's now or never for us."

Hollywood's chance to finish its business is about to begin.