ventura tourney final

SoCal High School & Prep Report

Ventura Holiday Tournament:
Westlake Wins--(December 29, 1997)

This one was over and done with Saturday night, December 27, 1997, before we got back into town. So don't worry, you're not missing anything, and most of the teams who played here have now moved on to other tournaments.

But the big news of this tourney was the comeback for Westlake High of Westlake Village/Thousand Oaks. Their first two games against Thousand Oaks and Newbury Park, in Marmonte League season play resulted in losses, and Westlake High is 0-2 in League. But they'll probably be a bit more confident after they beat up on Calabasas by 29 points in the finals of the Ventura Holiday Tournament Classic, winning 96-67 Saturday night. They might not be ready or capable of beating Simi, but at least their season has one bright spot.

Joey Cuppari scored 24 points after being held scoreless in the first quarter. The Warriors, who improved to 7-5, will resume league play Jan. 7 against Simi Valley. Cuppari, who was selected the tournament most valuable player, keyed a 14-4 run to end the first half, making a three-point basket and, on the Warriors' next possession, converting a three-point play with a layup and a free throw. The Warriors led at halftime, 46-24. "We realize we're going against a college team, so we'll do the best we can," Westlake Coach Gary Grayson told the LA Times. "If we play well against Simi Valley College, we'll be OK," said Grayson jokingly.

"We wanted to score quickly and end it quickly," Cuppari told the Times. The Warriors were listless in a pool-play loss Friday night against Ventura, but were much more active against Calabasas. "We knew we played badly Friday night," Cuppari said. This is the second meeting of these teams, and the Warriors previously beat the Calabasas Coyotes earlier this month 69-68 in the first round of the Westlake tournament.

In other Ventura Tournament final round games:

Crespi 61, Agoura 58.

As the Times put it, "If Chaminade and Harvard-Westlake glance in the Mission League rear-view mirror, they might see the Celts hanging around." Crespi, now 6-6 with this win, has won six of its past eight games, and took third-place by winning this game, thanks to a fourth-quarter scoring frenzy by Howard Johnson and Andy Owings. The Celts trailed by 12 entering the final quarter, but closed the gap with the help of three-pointers by Howard Johnson and Andy Owings. The Celts led, 59-58, with 11 seconds left when all-tournament selection Blake Tibbetts broke free and caught a length-of-the-court inbounds pass for a layup. Tibbetts and Robert Muller each scored 12 for Crespi, which begins Mission League play Jan. 7 against Alemany. "I think teams better take us seriously," Crespi Coach Dick Dornan told the LA Times. "We have a chance at any time because we have so much depth."

Santa Clara 59, Buena 47.

B.J. Ward, whom we wrote about earlier this year at the ARC High School Varsity Tournament which took place a few months ago at North Hollywood High (actually in the pre-pre-season, between summer and winter league), who was an all-tournament selection, scored 20 points for the Saints. Santa Clara improved to 4-5 with the win in the fifth-place game. Scott Sorich added 16 for Santa Clara.

Ventura 65, Highland 56

Jeff Staniland, an all-tournament selection, scored 23 points for the Cougars (3-8) in the seventh-place game. Ventura made 10 of 12 free throws in the fourth quarter, with Staniland making eight of 10. Wendell Bonner scored 23 points for Highland (3-10).

And that's it, and that's that. So there.