SOUTHERN SECTION BOYS' BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS: LAST-SECOND LAYUP LIFTS POLY OVER VALENCIA.

Byline: Daily News

There was a lot of second-guessing by Jason Lott of Valencia after a 66-64 loss at Long Beach Poly in the Vikings' Southern Section Division I-AA first-round playoff game on Friday night.

There was no doubt that Lott and wild-card entrant Valencia gave second-seeded Poly all it could handle after trailing by 19 points in the third quarter.

But Poly's Marcus Lewis scored on a layup with one second left to break a 64-64 tie to spoil a 31-point effort by the senior guard.

Lott made seven 3-point baskets, including a bank shot with 24 seconds left that tied the score at 64-64. On its next possession, Poly's Curtis Allen drove down the lane before dishing off to Lewis for the winning basket.

A desperation shot from Tony Kerr at half-court fell short to allow Poly (24-3) to move into the second round on Tuesday against Fontana.

``I knew it was going to be a tough game to play somebody as good as them,'' Lott said. ``All I was thinking was, `Don't let it be a blowout.' That was all I was thinking. Now, I am thinking how we could have won.''

It didn't seem probable with Poly leading 37-18 two minutes into the second half. Poly was ahead 63-59 with 1:45 to play, but Teddy Goetz had a tip-in to bring Valencia (16-12) to within 63-61 with 56 seconds left. Poly's Allen converted a free throw for a 64-41 lead 18 seconds later.

Lott tied the score on an off-balance 3-point shot that left him incredulous.

``We weren't even expecting to do half as good,'' Lott said. ``We basically proved everybody wrong. We made adjustments and did the best we could.''

Alan Husted had 14 points for Valencia, including three 3-point baskets, and Chad Allan scored scored eight.

- Kirby Lee

DIV. I-A

--Simi Valley 52, Crescenta Valley 41: Visiting Simi Valley broke open a 28-27 game with an 18-0 run during a six-minute span of the second half and upset the Pacific League Champions.

Simi Valley (19-8), third place in the Marmonte League, will host second- seeded Glendora on Tuesday in a second round game.

John Schock scored eight of his 11 points during the decisive run and finished with 10 rebounds, eight in the second half. Shane Shoemaker and Mark Wells each scored 12 points for Simi Valley.

Zack Garcia had 19 points and nine rebounds for Crescenta Valley (20-8), which was attempting to earn fifth-year coach Jim Smiley his 100th career victory.

Sevada Bandari added 11 points.

Simi Valley was far more successful beyond the 3-point arc than inside of it. Led by Shoemaker's four 3-pointers, the Pioneers made 9 of 19. They made only 11 of 28 two-point shots.

Crescenta Valley, which trailed 49-29 before closing with a 12-3 run, made 17 of 48 field goal attempts (35 percent) and finished with a season- low four points.

- Dave Desmond

--Thousand Oaks 72, Pacifica 67:Chad Acerboni had 27 points as Thousand Oaks held off visiting Pacifica of Oxnard in a first round game.

Thousand Oaks, the Marmonte League champion, shot 55 percent from the field and had four players in double figures.

Thousand Oaks led 51-46 at the end of the third quarter and took its biggest lead with 6:55 remaining in the fourth 55-46.

Pacifica battled back and made it 53-53 on a three point shot by David Vansomeren with 2:29 remaining.

Thousand Oaks took the lead for good with 1:20 remaining on a Acerboni 3-pointer.

Thousand Oaks made 6 of 8 free throws in the final two minutes to clinch the victory.

- Jason Tarr

--El Toro 70, Canyon 56: Jess Guidroz led all scorers with 24 points for Canyon (16-11) but it wasn't enough to prevent a loss on the road.

Tyler Gottstein had 20 points and 12 rebounds, Shon Waite added 19 points, including four 3-pointers, and Kelvin Kim had 17 points for El Toro (22-5).

--Saugus 66, Ventura 38: Neil Diorio had 16 points for Saugus (20-7) in its victory at home against Ventura, which finishes its season at 14-10.

DIV. II-AA

--Dos Pueblos 57, Moorpark 47: Moorpark couldn't overcome a cold first half and lost a first-round game at Dos Pueblos of Goleta (16-6).

Scoring just 14 points in the first half, Moorpark (12-14) trailed Dos Pueblos 28-14 going into the third quarter and seemed destined to make a quiet exit from postseason play.

But coach Tim Bednar's team came out with aggressive defense in the third period, holding Dos Pueblos to just three points through the first six minutes as it cut the lead to 31-27 behind nine points from junior guard Jonathan Aiwazian.

Dos Pueblos rallied in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, going on a 15-7 run to take a 49-34 lead midway through the period. Moorpark fought back but couldn't get closer than nine points the rest of the way.

Senior guard Chad Meechan led Moorpark with 17 points. Junior forward Phil Friesen had 17 points for Dos Pueblos.

- Bill Schlotter

DIV. II-A

--Mater Dei 79, Burroughs 57: Joey Paysinger scored 20 points and Levon Maronyan added 12 points, but Burroughs of Burbank got little or no scoring help outside the tandem in a loss to the hosts.

Burroughs (15-13) was also hindered by a six-point second quarter and never recovered, falling behind by 15 points at the half. It played much better in the third, but Mater Dei of Santa Ana (22-4) was ultimately too strong.

DIV. III-AA

--Calabasas 71, Workman 40 Host Calabasas had three players score in double digits in a easy first-round victory at home over Workman of the City of Industry (13-13), which received an at-large berth.

Steve Saunders scored 13 points, Mark Einhorn scored 11 and Drew Housman added 10 for the Coyotes (23-4), which jumped out to a 15-point halftime lead.

Calabasas was relentless to open the third quarter, outscoring its opponent by 10 points over an eight-minute stretch and limited Workman to eight points in the fourth.

DIV. III-A

--Chaminade 59, San Dimas 44: Marcus Everett scored 18 points for host Chaminade of West Hills in an opening round victory.

With San Dimas playing zone defense and not allowing Chaminade to set up an inside game, the Eagles turned into sharpshooters. They hit four of six 3-point attempts and finished 9 of 15 from the field.

Chaminade (15-15) opened the third period on a 7-0 run to open up a 35-26 lead. Everett hit two of his four 3-pointers and David Havskjold and Michael Pillar (10 points) made one apiece.

San Dimas came back and got to within 38-32 when Michael Ryan-Flores, who scored a game-high 22 points, hit a 3-pointer in the middle of the period.

That would be as close as San Dimas would get as Chaminade went on an 11-4 run to open the fourth period.

- Alex Valladares

--Harvard-Westlake 71, El Segundo 50: Bryce Taylor scored 25 points and was equally effective on the defensive end of the floor, finishing with five steals for Harvard-Westlake of Studio City (19-7) in a victory at home.

Harvard-Westlake was aggressive throughout but particularly so in the first quarter when it outscored its opponent 24-13. It didn't let up in the second quarter either, staking itself to a 12-point halftime lead.

Ed White scored 17 points and added nine assists and teammate Evan Harris scored 12 points for Harvard-Westlake.

DIV. IV-AA

--Oaks Christian 71, Village Christian 56: Mike Hornbuckle had a team-high 22 points and brother Matt scored 16 of his 20 points in the first half for host Oaks Christian of Westlake Village in a first round victory over Village Christian of Sun Valley.

Oaks Christian (23-4), the defending Div. IV-AA champion, used an 18-4 scoring run at the start of the second quarter to build a commanding lead at 34-14 with 3:37 remaining in the first half.

``I hate to be cliche, but this really was a total team effort tonight,'' Oaks Christian coach Ryan Moore said. ``We are not great at any one thing but when we work hard and play with the intensity that we played with tonight, we can do a lot of good things on the court.''

Jacob Briggs, a 6-foot-4 forward, had a game-high 26 points, including 16 in the second half for Village Christian (21-6), which narrowed the lead to 54-42 at the end of the third quarter but couldn't get any closer than 12 points.

``Our kids were a couple steps quicker tonight, anticipating what Village was going to do before the did it and that was due to the great job of scouting by my assistants,'' Moore said.

``Down to the last man on this team, all 16 have a united purpose of seeing us win the CIF championship and repeat.''

- George Vranau

--Campbell Hall 76, L.A. Baptist 36: It was a milestone for Joe Ford, who had 25 points, five rebounds and four assists, for third-seeded Campbell Hall of North Hollywood (26-2) in a second round victory over the hosts.

Ford, who made 10 of 19 shots in the game, surpassed the 1,000-point plateau in his career at Campbell Hall. The junior has scored 1,002 points.

``He's the kind of kid you love to coach because he's got an inside game, an outside game, and he's a complete player,'' Campbell Hall coach Terry Kelly said.

Campbell Hall was also sparked by Jason Heard, who had 16 points, five rebounds and five blocks. Sam Handler added 13 points and Conor Turley had 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Point guard Steven Tolbert also finished with a game-high seven assists for Campbell Hall.

``I think tonight might have been the first time in our 28 games that we put a total game together,'' Terry Kelly said.

L.A. Baptist (16-11), which trailed 17-8 after the first quarter and never got any closer, didn't help itself by committing 24 turnovers. Kiki Dufus was the lone L.A. Baptist player in double figures, finishing with 18 points.

Campbell Hall, which reached the Div. IV-A final last season, plays 29 Palms/St. Bernard in Tuesday's quarterfinal at a site to be determined.

- Mitch Pollin

DIV. IV-A

--Buckley 75, Arrowhead Christian 58: Riley Scannell scored 34 points and seven assists for Buckley of Sherman Oaks (17-7), which used a 10-point halftime lead to take the visitors out of the game.

Teammate Roger Gorog added 12 points and 13 rebounds and Robert Kardashian added a double-double of his own, finishing with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

DIV. V-A 

--Delphi Academy 84, Baker Valley 28: Shawn Allen scored 18 of his 24 points before the half, for host Delphi Academy of La Canada, which opened up an insurmountable 42-7 lead at the half and won at Lake View Terrace Recreational Center.

Delphi Academy (14-9), which went undefeated in International League play this season, advances to Tuesday's second round to face Maricopa.

- Jacob H. Pollon