SoCal High School & Prep Tourney News

Simi Valley Tournament: Santa Paula
Beats Chatsworth to Advance--(December 5,1997)

In a bunch of consolaltion round games played yesterday (Thursday) in the Simi Valley Tournament, the best had to be Santa Paula's victory over Chatsworth by one point.

In the win for Santa Paula, Joey Riccio hit a 14-foot jumper in the lane with one second left to give the Cardinals a 56-55 win over Chatsworth. Riccio, who scored 30 points in a quarterfinal loss to Chaminade on Wednesday, had 20 points and seven assists against Chatsworth which is now 2-2. Willie Zavala also had 15 points for Santa Paula, while Montae McFarland and Richard Harrison each scored 13 points for Chatsworth. .

Santa Paula will now play Hart, a 61-55 winner over South Gate, in the fifth-place game Saturday.

In another exciting one-point victory in the consolation round. Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks beat Santa Barbara, 59-58, which Dante Ward scoring eight of his 15 points in the fourth quarter to help the Knights post a come-from-behind victory at Camarillo High. Ward scored eight consecutive points to give Notre Dame, which is now 2-1, a 55-53 lead with a little more than a minute to play, and his teammate Chris Williams scored four more to give the Knights a 59-55. Santa Barbara trailed 59-55 with five seconds to play when Johnny Ortiz hit a 3-point shot. The Dons called timeout and then tied up Notre Dame to force a jump ball, gaining possession on the alternating possession rule. ``We set up a play to Sean Kelly and he was fouled on the way up, fouled on the way down and fouled as he tried a shot,'' said Santa Barbara High School Head Coach Jeff Lavender. ``But you know officials don't like to make a call to decide the game, so we didn't get the call. ``Still we did some good things in the final minute,'' he added.

The Santa Barabar Dons, now 1-2, will play for 12th place at 4:30 p.m. today at Simi Valley.

For Santa Barbara, J.R. Allen (6'-7" Sr. C) had 13 points and 12 rebounds for his second straight double-double. He also had four blocked shots and two steals and hit on 6-of-8 shots from the floor. Ben Shelton (6'-0" Jr. SG/SF) also filled in well at point guard, said Lavender, with no turnovers and seven rebounds, but unfortunately didn't score. Regular starter Daniel Worzella (5'-8" Jr. PG) missed the game due to a violation of team rules, Lavender said.

Here's the scoring:

NOTRE DAME: Murray 4, Griffin 7, Ward 15, Donnelly 8, Pearson 9,
Williams 12, Rutledge 4. Totals 22 10-13 59.

SANTA BARBARA: Ortiz 6, Maloney 12, Burke 8, Williams 2, Christ 12,
Allen 13, Shelton 0, Kelley 5. Totals 22 9-14 58.

3-point goals-SB 5 (Burke 2, Christ 2, Ortiz), ND 5 (Ward 3, Pearson,
Griffin). Total fouls-SB 14, ND 14. Fouled out-Allen.

And In the last consolation round game, Canoga Park defeated cross-valley rival Monroe, 70- 64. The Hunters blew a 13-point halftime lead before rallying for the victory at Simi Valley yesterday. Damien Ritter hit a three-point shot to give Monroe (0-4) a 62-61 lead midway through the fourth quarter, but Canoga Park, which is now 1-3 on the season, outscored the Vikings, 9-2, down the stretch for the win.

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