A CHANCE FOR REDEMPTION; SIMI VALLEY TO OPEN PLAYOFFS AFTER DISAPPOINTING FINISH.Byline: Jim Inghram Daily News Staff Writer Of the five area teams that qualified for the postseason, Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. is the team that earned the easiest matchup. The Pioneers (22-5), the third-seeded team in I-AA, open with at-large entrant Santa Maria Santa Maria, city, Brazil Santa Maria (sän`tə mərē`ə), city (1991 pop. 217,592), Rio Grande do Sul state, S Brazil. It is a major railroad terminus and the site of an important military base. . The Saints (9-14) finished in third place in the Northern League and have one player in their top six over 6-foot-1. Junior center Mike Thompson For other persons named Mike Thompson, see Mike Thompson (disambiguation). C. Michael Thompson (born January 24, 1951), American politician, has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1999, representing California's At-large (6-3) is the tallest player for Santa Maria. He'll likely have a long night trying to stay with the Pioneers' Rafael Berumen. Berumen, one of the better juniors in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, , will enjoy a six-inch height advantage. Simi Valley will enjoy the height advantage at every position except point guard, where the Saints' Mike Gonzales is 5-foot-11. The Pioneers' point guard is Branden Foster (5-8). Gonzales leads Santa Maria with a 15.6 points-per-game average. Six-foot-1 forward Jason Johnson
Jason Michael Johnson (born October 27, 1973 in Santa Barbara, California) is a right-handed starting pitcher with the Seibu Lions. He is six foot six (1. is second with 13.4 per game. The Pioneers have stumbled of late. The team lost two of its last three Marmonte League The Marmonte League is a high school sports league primarily made up of schools from Ventura County. The Marmonte Leauge is part of the CIF Southern Section. Click here to view the league schedule. contests. In the playoffs, however, expect the Pioneers, who are well-coached, play good fundamental basketball, have two shooters (Branduinn Fullove and Brett Michel) and a force inside (Berumen), to be competitive with any team they might draw. Santa Maria should offer little resistance, but the following round will provide a big challenge. Newbury Park: The Panthers captured the rugged Marmonte League - went undefeated, in fact - but inexplicably were not seeded. The Atascadero Greyhounds - Newbury Park's first-round opponents - are a bit of a mystery to the Panthers, but coach Steve Johnson Steve Johnson is the name of:
``Really,'' Johnson said, ``our job is to worry about how we play. If we play at the level we're capable of, we can play with a lot of teams.'' The mystery factor is something that the Panthers have already dealt with this year when they played in the Las Vegas Las Vegas (läs vā`gəs), city (1990 pop. 258,295), seat of Clark co., S Nev.; inc. 1911. It is the largest city in Nevada and the center of one of the fastest-growing urban areas in the United States. Prep Classic in December. Their participation in that tournament was expected to pay dividends once the playoffs started. ``That tournament really helped us,'' Johnson said, ``the type of teams we played, the atmosphere. Our first game was against the team that will probably win the state championship in Arizona (Mountain View). Playing in games like that are a great experience.'' Atascadero, an at-large team from the Los Padres
Not to be confused with San Diego Padres. League, finished the regular season with an 11-11 record. The Panthers are led by Daniel Bobik, the favorite to capture the league MVP (Multimedia Video Processor) A high-speed DSP chip from Texas Instruments, introduced in 1994. Officially introduced as the TMS320C80, it combines RISC technology with the functionality of four DSPs on one chip. award, and guard Luther Staine. How far the Panthers go will depend on the play of the supporting cast - Mike Meru and Robert Congelliere inside and Brian Bobik in the backcourt. The Panthers should get past the Greyhounds and will take on either Agoura or Dos Pueblos of Goleta in the second round. Newbury Park defeated Agoura twice this season and lost to Dos Pueblos in the Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. tournament. In that loss, Staine, the team's defensive stopper, didn't play. Agoura: Agoura enters into the playoffs as the fourth-place team from the Marmonte League and is matched up against Dos Pueblos, the Channel League champion. Dos Pueblos is led by junior point guard ShanTay Legans. Legans, 5-foot-10, is rated as the eight-best player in Southern California by the Recruiting SoCal newsletter. He averages 19 points a game and helped Dos Pueblos to a 21-4 record. On paper, it looks like a difficult matchup for Agoura, but Newbury Park coach Steve Johnson thinks Agoura can earn the victory. ``Agoura is a talented team,'' Johnson said, ``with good size and they play good defense. I wouldn't be surprised if they won that game.'' Agoura, remember, has shown flashes of brilliance. The team knocked off Simi Valley at Simi Valley earlier this month. Agoura's success largely depends on the play of multi-talented Marcus Helfman. Helfman, a 6-foot-6 forward who signed with Cal to play tight end, is the team's leading scorer. He'll need help from Garrett Lepisto, Brandon Meyer and Matt Dianella, but if Helfman is on and stays out of foul trouble Agoura might be the surprise victor. Moorpark: The Musketeers (21-6) host Culver City Culver City, city (1990 pop. 38,793), Los Angeles co., S Calif., a residential suburb of Los Angeles; inc. 1917. It is a center of the U.S. motion-picture industry, whose roots in the city date to c.1915. Its chief manufactures are rubber products and computers. (12-12) today. It's a game that will be a clash of styles. Moorpark is the more patient, deliberate team and the Centaurs like to push the offense and play an up-tempo style. ``They have a great player (Antonio Chumway),'' Moorpark coach Tim Bednar said. ``He's a Kris Johnson type. He's tough inside and can shoot it outside.'' Bednar fears matchup problems with Chumway and the rest of the athletic Centaurs. ``Our defensive stopper is Chad Willis,'' Bednar said, ``but he's 5-foot-11. We'll probably go with Byron Burnett (6-3) against him. Kevin (Lawrence) is athletic enough to go against him so he's a possibility, too.'' Culver City is only .500, but Bednar feels that the Centaurs played a tough schedule. The team finished third in the Ocean League, behind Redondo Union and Morningside. ``They play in a tough league,'' Bednar said. ``So I expect them to be very good for 12-12. We'll have to help on defense, make sure we get offensive and defensive rebounds and stop (their offensive) penetration.'' Oak Park: The Eagles (14-9) play Duarte (15-9) in what seems to be a relatively even matchup. The Eagles have an excellent inside-outside combination with John Murphy A number of people have been named John Murphy
Oak Park finished second in the Tri-Valley League. Duarte was second in the Montview League. CAPTION(S): 2 Photos PHOTO (1) Moorpark's Kevin Lawrence Terri Thuente / Daily News (2) Newbury Park's Luther Staine Tom Mendoza Tom Mendoza joined Network Appliance, Inc. in 1994 and has served as its President since 2000. Mr. Mendoza has more than 31 years as a high technology executive and has served in an advisory capacity on the board of directors of Netscreen (acquired by Juniper), Rhapsody (acquired by / Daily News |
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