Lighthouse point guard doesn't disappoint

Jeri Ballard's buddies rued his absence on the football team this year, but he's making up for it by starring at point guard on Lighthouse Christian Academy's basketball team, which won yesterday against Highland Hall Waldorf School in Northridge.

It wasn't the successive concussions from boxing that kept him out of football, he says. It was the wrist and ankle injuries from the year prior.

An uninjured Jeri was darting nimbly all over the court, stealing balls, pressing forward, firing off passes, shots and layups. He led LCA to 55-20 victory Tuesday.

"We expected to be a little rusty coming out of the (winter) break," said Coach David Horowitz. "We didn't have any practices. We focused on working together, getting our team chemistry early. The guys executed the play well. They didn't get upset if they made a mistake. They learned from it, recovered from it. I saw them grow over the course of the game."

The Saints dominated on rebounds and snuffed Highland Hall on defense. They stole balls and made fast breaks for layups.

Jeri credits his past with boxing for his success in basketball.

"Boxing really translates into life lessons and athleticism which really transfers over to a lot of sports," Jerry said. "It's been a lot of fun playing with the guys."

Lighthouse is undefeated in its season so far but faces its stiffest challenge Thursday against AGBU Manoogian-Demirdjian School, which was a playoff contender last year.

"I started playing basketball again" this year, Jerry said. "I got obsessed with it again, like when I was a kid."