Westlake Enters Final With a 67-51 Victory

Westlake High defeated Newbury Park, 67-51, Thursday night to advance to the final of the Thousand Oaks Holiday Invitational basketball tournament.

Because Westlake Coach Roy Gilmore teaches at Newbury Park, he could razz Newbury Park Coach Ken Barone about it today at school. But Gilmore said he will lay low.

“I won’t wear my Westlake jacket tomorrow,� Gilmore said, laughing.

Gilmore has coached Westlake for three years, but has taught at Newbury Park for 15 years. In fact, he was Barone’s assistant for seven years before Barone left to coach at Ventura College in 1981.

The Panthers will have two more chances at Westlake (6-2) because both teams are in the Marmonte League.

“They see us again in league,� Gilmore said. “I may have bragging rights now, but I don’t want to give them any reason to be upset next time.�

Newbury Park (2-4) trailed by only two at halftime, 29-27, but for the second straight night had trouble in the third quarter. The Panthers managed only seven points in the third after scoring only six Wednesday night against Notre Dame.

But Notre Dame shot only 30% Wednesday night. Westlake shot 55% and had four players score in double figures. The Warriors pulled away to a nine-point lead after three quarters and added 24 in the fourth.

Westlake was sparked by center Dave Heckmann, who had 12 points and 11 rebounds. The 6-8 junior had the flu and was scoreless Wednesday against Agoura.

“Dave’s still sick,� Gilmore said. “Just not as sick.�

Thousand Oaks 51, Ventura 46--Cool as cucumbers in their green and white uniforms, the Lancers made 11 of 16 free throws in the fourth quarter to gain entry to the final.

Ventura (1-3) led, 38-36, after three quarters but scored only eight points in the fourth period.

Center Jon Walker made a free throw early in the final quarter to give the Lancers a 41-40 lead. He sealed the win with two more foul shots with six seconds left.

All but two of Thousand Oaks’ last 11 points were on foul shots. Forward Tom Neumayr made 8 of 9 free throws in the game, including four straight in the fourth period.

Ventura, which beat Santa Clara Tuesday night, was supposed to be stronger underneath the basket than Thousand Oaks (3-4), but it was Walker and forwards John Schlossman and Neumayr getting most of the rebounds.

Ventura’s Kenny Milton made three long-range jump shots late in the game, but he had little help in the scoring department.

Calabasas 65, Santa Clara 57--The Coyotes recorded their first win over the Saints in the eight-year existence of Calabasas High. The win came the hard way: in overtime and from behind.

Santa Clara (4-4) led, 45-32, after three quarters and slowed the pace in the fourth period. The strategy proved costly as Calabasas (5-3) outscored the Saints, 22-9, to force the overtime.

Steve Ward, who is averaging 28 points a game for Calabasas, passed inside to center Jon Perlstein, who scored the tying basket with 18 seconds left in regulation. Ward had 32 points in the game.

The Coyotes turned it on in overtime, outscoring Santa Clara, 11-3. Santa Clara is the defending 2-A champion and was seeded first in the tournament, but suffered a quick drop in status after losing two in row.

“We made a mistake in slowing the pace against Thousand Oaks,� said Calabasas Coach Bill Bellaty, referring to Tuesday’s first-round loss to the Lancers. “Once we got the lead in overtime, I told the team, ‘Go right at them.’ �

Calabasas and Santa Clara are Frontier League rivals and will meet two more times.

Notre Dame 48, Agoura 47--Junior Guard Josh Oppenheimer, who made only one field goal, hit six straight free throws in the fourth quarter, including two with eight seconds remaining in the game, to lead Notre Dame (4-3).

Agoura (1-8) led most of the game, but five Notre Dame steals in two minutes midway through the fourth quarter were converted into eight points and a Knight advantage.

Forward Donnie Rea, Agoura’s three-sport athlete, scored a game-high 22 points and had 10 rebounds.

Thousand Oaks will meet Westlake today at 8 p.m. for the title. Ventura will play Notre Dame at 6:15 p.m. for third place and Calabasas will face Notre Dame at 4:30 p.m. for the consolation title.

WESTLAKE--Keenan 10; Zeiss 8; Heckmann 12; Welch 12; Smith 12; Robertson 2; Cangolois 2; Henderson 2; Lennehan 3; Rossok 2; Salmina 2.

NEWBURY PARK--Schlegel 9; Ryan 14; Davidheiser 0; Harrick 8; Jeffers 2; Theiler 2; Lyles 12; Ludlow 4.

VENTURA--Turner 12; Paul 4; McCaslin 8; Milton 16; Keich 4; Thomas 2.

THOUSAND OAKS--Neumayr 16; Schlossman 6; Walker 13; Shin 0; Henige 5; Watson 3; Doolittle 8.

SANTA CLARA--Gonzales 6; Jones 9; Bock 11; Santana 16; Fancher 12; Crosby 3; Loperana 1.

CALABASAS--Marchack 3; Drezner 2; Perlstein 20; Ward 32; Jaquet 4; Smith 2; Hudson 2.

NOTRE DAME--Heicke 10; Brewster 7; Perak 17 and 11 rebounds; Oppenheimer 8; Foster 4; Schmeiderer 2.

AGOURA--Rea 22 and 10 rebounds; Looney 13; Hoffman 2; Williams 8 and 5 assists; Dobrowski 2.