southern section highlights friday

SoCal High School & Prep Report

Friday Game Highlights: Southern
Section North: LA & Ventura--(February 1, 1998)

We've managed to collect the news, scores and highlights from Friday night's games in the various Southern Section leagues from LA and Ventura Counties, including the Frontier league, Golden League up in the high desert area of Lancaster-Palmdale, the Marmonte League in Ventura and Simi, the lone Mission League game, and the Rio Hondo and Pacific League games from Pasadena and San Gabriel Valley areas. We would normally have broken this up into separate articles, but it's arranged conveniently enough, in a single long article organized by league, alphabetically. Just scroll down until you find the team and game you're looking for. We may not have all the details you're seeking, but then hey, a little bit is better than nothing, right? And if we missed a few, we apologize.

FRONTIER LEAGUE

Moorpark 58, Santa Clara 57

The Musketeers jumped to a 10-point lead after one quarter, then held on at Santa Clara. Keith Donahue hit five of six three-pointers and finished with 19 points for Moorpark (17-6, 4-2). B.J. Ward scored 18 of his 29 points in the second half for the Saints (8-10, 2-4).

Santa Paula 62, Nordhoff 56

The Saints (17-4, 6-0) pulled away in the last few minutes when the Rangers couldn't get the ball inside to Chris Christofferson or Andy Flores at Santa Paula. Flores scored 20 points and Cristofferson added 19 points. Mike Kolveck and Willie Zavala each made baskets in the last two minutes for Santa Paula. Joey Riccio scored 16 and David Herrera had 14 for the Cardinals.

GOLDEN LEAGUE

Palmdale 82, Lancaster 69

Kerry Yates had 18 points and Aaron Winchester added 15 points and eight rebounds for the Eagles (13-8, 4-2) in a Golden League victory at Lancaster. Brady Chelette scored 16 points for Lancaster (5-14, 1-5).

Littlerock 53, Highland 51

Tony Mayes buried two free throws with 18 seconds left and the Lobos won at Littlerock. Wendell Bonner and Huberto Zamora each scored 15 for Highland (6-14, 2-4).

Antelope Valley 71, Quartz Hill 65

A new basketball drill was instituted about three weeks ago at Antelope Valley High, right around the time the Antelopes almost squandered a fourth-quarter lead by clanking a bunch of free throws. "They had us shooting free throws in practice and if we missed one, we had to run," Antelope guard Matt Parm said. The drill paid off Friday night when the Antelopes made 11 of 13 foul shots in the fourth quarter of a 71-65 Golden League victory over host Quartz Hill.

Now, defending league champion Antelope Valley (15-7, 5-1 in league play) is again running alone in first place. "When it came time to win a game, [Antelope Valley] handled themselves like Golden League champions," said Quartz Hill Coach Bernard Nichter, who earned All-Southern Section honors as a forward at Antelope Valley in 1984-85.

Quartz Hill guard Shawn Lett, the league's leading scorer with a 23.5 average, again looked like an All-Southern Section player against the Antelopes. Lett, who had 28 points in the Rebels' 66-64 loss to Antelope Valley on Jan. 9, scored 31. "Lett is a tremendous ballplayer," Antelope Coach Tom Mahan said. "He gave us trouble all night. Forward Chris Hebert added 18 points for Quartz Hill (12-10, 4-2), which led by as much as 30-22 in the first half.

The Rebels, who have not advanced to the postseason since winning the 1992-93 league title, could not answer Antelope Valley's balanced attack. Jourmaine Prater scored 17 points, and Parm and forward Roger Price each had 15. The trio combined to make all 10 of their free throws in the fourth quarter. The performance was a significant turnaround for Antelope Valley, which made only nine of 19 from the line through three quarters.

Perhaps it was no coincidence that the Rebels led through those three quarters. It also didn't hurt that Price, Antelope Valley's leading scorer and rebounder, missed 10 minutes in the first half with foul trouble. "Fortunately, we hung in there," said Price, who averages 15.4 points and 13 rebounds. "The bench helped out a lot." Antelope reserves Elek Williams, Steve Edwards, who each had five points, and Joe Manning, who scored three, outscored Quartz Hill's bench, 13-2.

The league race, however, is anything but locked up. The Antelopes' lone league loss, to last-place Littlerock, proved they are vulnerable. "But, at least now we have a cushion," Mahan said. "If we can win three of our last four, we're in there." They'll certainly make a run for it.

MARMONTE LEAGUE

Simi Valley 89, Westlake 50

The Pioneers led by 37 points after three quarters, but Simi Valley's starters continued with a full-court trap defense and weren't pulled from the game until midway through the fourth quarter at Westlake. Brett Michel scored 20 points and Rafael Berumen had 19 for Simi Valley (20-3, 9-1). Jake DeGennaro and Joey Cuppari each had 12 points for Westlake (9-11, 2-8).

Newbury Park 70, Channel Islands 53

He doesn't have the size to dominate inside like center Rafael Berumen of Simi Valley High. And he's not as quick as Channel Islands guard O.J. Thomas. But when it comes to an all-around game, no basketball player in the Marmonte League can top Daniel Bobik of Newbury Park.

The 6-foot-6 senior proved that again Friday night when he had 23 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists and seven steals in the Panthers' 70-53 victory over host Channel Islands. The Brigham Young-bound Bobik went scoreless in the first quarter, missing his only shot, but he hit 10 of 19 shots thereafter and made a slew of big plays. Two of the biggest came in the final minute of the third quarter.

Channel Islands (15-5, 6-4 in league), the No. 6-ranked team in the region, had trimmed a 30-20 halftime deficit to 46-44 with 1:35 left in the third quarter, but No. 4. Newbury Park scored the last six points of the quarter.

Brian Polen hit a pair of free throws to give the Panthers (19-4, 10-0) a 48-44 lead with 1:09 remaining and Bobik followed with an 18-foot jump shot to give Newbury Park a 50-44 advantage with 50 seconds left.

He then scored on a two-handed dunk with two seconds remaining in the quarter after stealing the ball from Thomas, who had been double-teamed by Bobik and Luther Staine.

"Any time I dunk, or someone on the team dunks, it gets us going," Bobik said. "It gets your spirits going. [That play] gave us a big lift. Basketball is a game of spirit and that gave us a lot."

Newbury Park scored the first four points of the fourth quarter to take a 56-44 lead with 6:47 left, but undermanned Channel Islands pulled to within 58-53 with 3:04 remaining after Julius Samuel put back a missed shot by Jonathan Monette.

The Raiders, who were playing their second game of the week without flu-ridden starters Dwight Sattiewhite and Paul Blair, ran out of gas after that. They missed six shots and committed two turnovers on their last seven possessions while Newbury Park hit five of their final six shots, including a 14-foot jumper by Bobik that came after his crossover dribble left a Channel Islands defender guarding air and drew a gasp from the crowd.

"He really kept us together tonight," Newbury Park Coach Steve Johnson said of Bobik. "That play at the end of the third quarter was big. If they score on a three-pointer there, it's a totally different game."

Brian Bobik, Daniel's 6-3 junior brother, scored 16 points for Newbury Park.

Camarillo 51, Thousand Oaks 48

With the Scorpions trailing 47-46, Kevin Bower scored what proved to be the winning basket with seven seconds left at Camarillo. Jeff Stuteville scored 18 points for Camarillo (8-12, 2-8).

MISSION LEAGUE

Notre Dame 63, Alemany 61

Chris Williams sank an eight-foot bank shot with five seconds remaining to give the Knights (9-11, 2-4) a victory at L.A. Baptist.

PACIFIC LEAGUE

Hoover 76, Glendale 58

The Tornadoes had 67 rebounds, including 23 by Zareh Avedian and 22 by Mark Hull, and never trailed at Hoover (14-7, 4-2).

With just five games left in the Pacific League going into Friday night's boys' basketball game between Glendale and Hoover highs, the Mark Hull Farewell Tour has begun. And nobody would like to send the Hoover senior off quicker than the Nitros. With game highs of 26 points and 16 rebounds, Hull capped his duel against the crosstown rival Nitros with his sixth straight varsity win without a loss, 76-58, in the Tornadoes' gym.

Hull had 25 points through three quarters, and spent most of the fourth quarter feeding teammates for buckets instead of looking for more points. Yet, despite the 6'-6' forward hitting just one free throw in the quarter, Hoover extended its 51-42 third-quarter lead to 70-50 with 2:30 to play. Zareh Avedian also helped Hoover pull away in the fourth quarter, scoring nine of his 17 points to go with 11 rebounds and three blocks. The Tornadoes (14-7 overall, 4-2 in league) started Hull, Avedian and Russell for a frontcourt that averaged almost 6-6. With the Nitros (10-12, 1-5) trotting out one player, Artin Adjamian, at 6-5, they had trouble on the boards, getting outrebounded, 45-27.

The Nitros welcomed back sophomore Tomik Iranosian, who sat out the last two games to rest a thigh injury. The guard came off the bench in the first quarter to lead Glendale with 17 points. Iranosian, who said it was hard sitting and watching his teammates practice and play, had plenty of time to assess the team's shortcomings. Iranosian followed Krikor Karamanoukian's 3-pointer with one of his own and an acrobatic layup for Glendale's first lead, 19-18, with 5:11 before the half. Hull later hit the first of three 3-pointers as Hoover reclaimed the lead, 23-21, and never relinquished it.

An 11-4 spurt gave the Tornadoes a 34-25 halftime lead, but the Nitros stormed back and cut it to 44-38. Erik Petrosian hit two free throws on a Hoover technical foul before saving an out-of-bounds pass and hurling it to Iranosian, whose layup brought Glendale within six points. But Hull iced the game with his 3-pointer with 2:01 left in the third quarter. The bucket started a 13-4 run that continued into the fourth quarter.

Pasadena 81, Crescenta Valley 66

Take away the first three minutes, and the boys' basketball game between Crescenta Valley and Pasadena highs could have gone down to the wire. But the Falcons dug themselves into a hole by surrendering the first 14 points to the Bulldogs en route to an 81-66 Pacific League loss Friday night at Pasadena High. During the 14-0 Bulldog run, the Falcons were pressured into three early turnovers. One of those turnovers was capped by a Kevin Richard slam dunk.

It wasn't until Kean Mallory's 3-point play with 4:50 remaining in the first quarter that put Crescenta Valley on the scoreboard . "Any time you open up the ballgame down, 14-0, you're gonna be in trouble. The last 27 minutes of the game, we're right there with them," Falcon coach Jim Smiley said.

"You can't go down that early and expect to come out on top often. We did everything we could. We had to use two time-outs in the first eight minutes of the game. We tried to adjust, but there was nothing we could do to stop the bleeding." Alex Tima led the Falcons with 22 points and pulled down 11 rebounds.

One bright spot for the Falcons was Wafeeq Hampton, who came off the bench and helped cut a 27-14 Bulldog lead down to 32-31 with 3:10 remaining before halftime with two 3-point baskets and 10 second-quarter points.

"Hampton was outstanding tonight," Smiley said. "His play kept us in the ballgame." But the Bulldogs (13-9, 3-3) closed the half with another run by using its up-tempo style, scoring the last 13 points ~ led by DeJohnette's two layups and 3-pointer ~ to stretch their lead to 45-31.

"They went back to their strengths," Smiley said, "which is running the floor, rebounding and using their athleticism. We had a tough time responding."

If anything, Smiley was pleased with the effort his team put up despite being down. "It would have been really easy for the team to quit after being down early and stop playing our game," he said. "But that's not in our make-up."

RIO HONDO LEAGUE

La Canada 81, South Pasadena 71

Ian Sullivan scored 12 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter and the Spartans pulled away at La Canada (18-5, 5-1).

If the heart of the La Canada High boys' basketball team is Matt Moore, the soul is the remaining players on the roster.

That proved to be the case Friday night as the Spartans rallied with Moore on the sidelines to defeat South Pasadena High, 81-71.

The victory was the 57th straight home Rio Hondo League win for the Spartans, who improved to 5-1 in league and 18-5 overall. The Tigers dropped to 9-10 and 1-5. Moore led the Spartans with 23 points, but was plagued with foul trouble for much of the game, and fouled out with 4:18 left in the fourth quarter.

La Canada held a tenuous 57-55 lead after Moore's exit, but managed to hold off the spirited Tigers thanks to big fourth quarters by Ian Sullivan and Derrick Yee. Sullivan scored 12 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter and Yee netted six of his 12 in the same quarter. Spartan coach Tom Hofman credited the whole team for picking up the slack in the absence of Moore and point guard Tim Chung, who was out with a sprained left ankle.

"I was very frustrated with our effort in the first half because we can't expect Matt to carry the team on his back every night," Hofman said. "But with him in foul trouble and Tim out, the rest of the players responded and we played much better in the second half. "But give South Pasadena credit because they pushed us to the limit."

The Tigers led, 31-26, at halftime thanks to some tough defense and a push-it-up-the-court offensive strategy that was designed to take advantage of Chung's absence. Tigers' point guard Sam Kim led all scorers with 32 points, 20 of those coming in the second half.

"We came in wanting to push the ball and we achieved that goal but let the game get away from us with some small mistakes down the stretch," said Tigers' coach Tim Godley. "We didn't do a good enough job of hitting our free throws when it mattered, but I'm proud of my team's effort."

The poor outside shooting that hurt the Spartans against Temple City last week surfaced again as La Canada hit just two of 18 from beyond the 3-point line. The Spartans are 3-for-38 on 3-pointers in the last two games. But the Spartans did enough of the little things right to stay with the Tigers as they led, 14-12, after the first quarter behind 10 points from Moore.

But the Tigers' smaller lineup caused problems for the Spartans in the second quarter as La Canada was outhustled for loose balls and South Pasadena converted several second-chance baskets.

TRI-VALLEY LEAGUE

Oak Park 58, St. Bonaventure 42

Zack Smith scored 24 points, and the Eagles (11-7, 4-1) outscored the Seraphs, 19-7, in the third quarter at St. Bonaventure. Patrick Devericks had 15 points for the Seraphs (9-10, 0-5).

NONLEAGUE

Montclair Prep 77, Chadwick 68

Micah Cohen had 19 points to help the Mounties (20-3) win at Chadwick (8-13).