Southern Section Playoffs : Camarillo Scorpions Are Healthy, Set for a Different Finish

All four seeded teams in each division of the Southern Section’s boys basketball playoff led a charmed life in the first round last week.

Not one of them lost.

But that situation could change tonight, because as any gambler knows, hot streaks come to an end.

For Glendale (24-0), the top- seeded team in the 4-A playoffs, tonight’s game at Hoover against Camarillo (19-5) is a rematch of a first-round playoff game from last year. That game was won handily by Glendale, 51-30.

Steve Banales, a 6-1 guard, leads Camarillo’s Scorpions, along with senior forwards Mitch Parrott and Glen Dutro, who combined for 15 rebounds in Friday’s blowout of Santa Barbara. Last year, each player missed practice the week before the Glendale game because of illness and was ineffective as the Dynamiters dominated the game.

After scoring 24 points against Santa Barbara Friday night, Banales said that the rematch would be a different story.

“Last year, they said that even though we (Banales, Parrott, Dutro) were sick, they would have beaten us anyway. We’re going to take it to them this time,” Banales said.

But Camarillo is going to need more than determination to beat Glendale, which features a front line of 6-8 center Jan Svoboda, 6-7 forward Bob Mulcahey and 6-5 forward Fred Bickett.

In the 3-A, second-seeded Hacienda Heights Wilson (21-4) plays Damien (19-8) at Glendora High.

Wilson sports 6-8 center Scott Williams, who scored 22 points in Friday’s 70-65 first round victory over Garden Grove. But as Coach Mike Lowe points out, they are far from being a one-man team.

Scott Richardson added 12 points and David Daganpat had 11 assists in the Garden Grove game. But their offense, which is more than adequate, is not what wins games for the Wildcats; it is their defense, which has held opponents below 60 points in a game all but three times. One of HH Wilson’s four losses was to Lynwood (24-1), the No. 4 seeded 4-A Division team, 45-44.

“We base everything we do around our defense,” said Lowe.

Damien has no one to match Williams, but they match up well at the other positions. Efram Leonard, a 6-1 guard, scored 17 points Friday against La Serna despite foul trouble, while forward Kevin Partington added 18 in a 74-61 victory.

“We’ve played against big guys,” Coach Mike Leduc said. “We think we can play with anyone. (To win) we have got to play a lot better defense and we can’t give up second shots.”

The 2-A finds top-seeded Santa Clara (23-3) traveling from Oxnard to face Elsinore (17-7) at Hemet High. And Tiger Coach Roger Blake is not fooling himself about Santa Clara’s outside shooting ability.

“We’re in deep water,” said Blake. “They need a new zip code from where they are shooting.”

Both teams feature outstanding 6-3 guards. Eric James sparks Elsinore, while the Saints are led by Stacey Cvijanovich. That is where the comparison between the two teams ends.

“I think Santa Clara has five solid players. Realistically, to win we’re gonna have to play super and force them to play poorly,” Blake said.

“If we both play well, then the score will be 100-50,” he added.