Prep Basketball SOUTHERN SECTION BOYS : Royal Buried Deep in ‘Valley’

Both Newbury Park High and Royal High had a problem in Wednesday night’s Marmonte League game. Both were strong defensively, but lacked one element fundamental to winning basketball games. They had trouble making baskets.

Fortunately for Newbury Park, it made more than Royal and won, 50-45.

Newbury Park hit a meager 20 of 44 from the floor (45%). Royal was worse, making only 19 of 54 (35%). The win improved the Panthers league record to 2-5 and 5-11 overall. Royal dropped to 3-4 in league and 7-10 overall.

“We’ve had our peaks and valleys this year,� said first-year Royal varsity Coach Jack McCrory. “This was a valley.� McCrory coached Royal’s JV team to an 11-0 season last season.

The Highlanders capitalized on Newbury Park turnovers to take a 17-10 first-quarter lead. But Royal was hurt by second-quarter turnovers of their own. With 3:45 left in that quarter, the Panthers made four unanswered baskets to take a one-point lead. Chad Staples, a 6-6 senior, made three of those and wound up leading the way for his team with 17 points and 13 rebounds.

Royal, behind the shooting of 6-0 junior Brent Tapia, tied the score at 23 by halftime. Tapia hit 9 of 18 from the field to finish with a game-high 19 points.

Royal took a short-lived lead early in the third quarter. But the Panthers, much like the second quarter, scored nine unanswered points to take the lead for good.

Centennial 68, Harvard 47

Kinzie Scott scored 29 points as Centennial improved its Pioneer league record to 5-0 and its overall mark to 13-5.

Harvard, 0-5 in league play and 1-15 overall, jumped out to a surprising 6-0 lead but the Apaches scored 12 of the next 14 points and never relinquished the lead.

Crescenta Valley 71, Arcadia 63

Arcadia High was down by only three points at the end of the first quarter, but Crescenta Valley High pulled away in the second period and prevented the Apaches from getting their first Pacific league win.

All-Southern Section guard Harvey Mason led Crescenta Valley with 31 points. Falcon guard Drew Haberl had 18 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds.

Crescenta Valley improves its mark to 3-2 in league action and 14-6 overall. Arcadia is winless in five games.

W.V. Chr. 57, Grace Church 25

Grace Community Church was never in the game as it scored only two points in the first quarter and couldn’t catch up.

John Henderson, a 6-4 sophomore center, scored 22 points and had seven points to lead West Valley Christian in the non-league contest. Jamie Ward had 15 points for Grace Community.

West Valley is now 2-5 overall.

Camarillo 59, Thousand Oaks 38

The Scorpions, led by Mitch Parrott’s 15 points, had three players in double figures.

Camarillo broke out to a 13-4 lead after the first quarter and coasted from there. Steve Banales scored 12 points and David Anderson had 10 for the Scorpions. Thousand Oaks was paced by Dan Birg, who had 11 points.

The win improves Camarillo’s record to 6-1 in the Marmonte league and 14-4 overall. Thousand Oaks drops to 1-6 and 4-14.

Simi Valley 66, Westlake 47

Mark Robinson scored 23 points and Sean Harrigan added 18 points as Simi Valley rolled to an easy Marmonte League win over Westlake. The Pioneers improved their league record to 5-2 while Westlake fell to 4-3.