Too many basketball games, too little time and space
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Have you ever wished you were in two places at once? Well, my wish on Tuesday night was to be in five places at the same time.
Don’t get me wrong -- I enjoyed blogging from the Harvard-Westlake showdown last night, but with so many big playoff games going on I just wanted to be at every one. Too bad this isn’t star date whatever and Scotty isn’t my transportation officer.
Here’s a quick rundown of Tuesday’s big SF Valley/North games:
Walk in the Park -- It would have been pretty cool to see Dos Pueblos’ Sean Park drop 22 points in a 61-51 Division I-A victory over Los Alamitos. It also would have been great to see the Chargers’ 22-3 run in the first half against the Sunset League champions. Hopefully, Park and Ryan Beall can work some more scoring magic on the road against Etiwanda on Friday.
Simi Valley out -- The Pioneers’ 78-76 loss to Long Beach Wilson was a complete shock. In fact, earlier in the day while blogging from the Crespi soccer game, I told Crespi senior forward Joseph Fauria that Simi Valley ‘would wipe the floor with Wilson,’ and he agreed. Obviously, I don’t get out to Long Beach much other than for the Champ Car race every year. Still, I can take some solace in realizing I wasn’t the only media man to get this one wrong.
And then there was one -- Foothill League cohorts Saugus and Valencia both played interesting games, but only the Vikings survived the night. John Otavka capped off a 16-point night with a game-clinching three-pointer with 2.1 seconds left to lift Valencia to a 51-48 Division II-AA comeback victory over Fullerton. Unfortunately, an injury-depleted Saugus team had to make the long trek down the 405 to Torrance to lose, 70-58, to Bishop Montgomery. Leading scorer Cameron Diorio didn’t play because of an ankle injury and that could have been the difference in this one. Also, West Ranch lost its first home playoff game.
Oak Park heights -- This may sound like some fictional hood out of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, but Bobby Hillard and the boys showed off their mad skillz in Oak Park‘s 67-56 Division III-AA triumph over Schurr. Hillard netted a game-high 22 points as the Eagles soared into the quarterfinals. But can this team beat Windward?
Nothin’ but Shark bait -- Does it really surprise anyone Malibu made chum out of Kern Valley to make the Division V-A semifinals for the first time? Well, it shouldn’t because with guys like Ryan Walczuk, Chris Peck and Chandler Abbott, Malibu has to be considered a title favorite. Friday’s showdown against Raymund Bernas and the rest of the Rosamond boys will definitely be a challenge, though.
It’s only a matter of time before we’ll know who the next divisional champions will be. And speaking of time, space and ancient alien monoliths, check out the greatest opening scene of a movie ever made:
-- Austin Knoblauch
