SOUTHERN SECTION4-A Playoffs : Glendale Is Grande Again as Camarillo Comes Up Just a Bit Short

Beating Glendale High, the Southern Section’s top-ranked 4-A team, is a tall order.

The Dynamiters’ front line measures 6-8, 6-7 and 6-5 and there’s a point guard making his way to USC by hitting off-balance jumpers from everywhere on the court.

Camarillo found itself in the unenviable position of trying to win anyway Tuesday at Hoover but, like Glendale’s 24 previous opponents, was not able. It lost its second-round playoff game, 61-56.

Scorpion Coach John Harbour said before the game that he would be happy if Camarillo could just hold its own in rebounding. It did. Although outsized, the front line of Mitch Parrot (6-4), Phil Hahn (6-4) and Glen Dutro (6-3) grabbed 15 rebounds, equaling the total of Glendale’s Jan Svoboda, Bob Mulcahey and Fred Bickett.

What it couldn’t do was control point guard Rich Grande. Grande, a 6-2 senior who has already signed a letter of intent to attend USC, scored a game-high 26 points and missed only 3 of 14 shots from the field.

Despite Grande’s impressive play, Camarillo almost pulled off an upset. Trailing, 49-36, with six minutes left in the game, the Scorpions went on a 16-7 run to close the margin, 56-53, with 1:02 remaining. But reserve guard Sung Chai hit four free throws in the final minute to put the game out of reach.

The rally had Grande concerned.

“I was a little worried there for a while, but when it got down to crunch time, we got it done and really held our composure.”

Guard Steve Banales scored 13 of Camarillo’s 16 points during the rally and finished with a team-high 23 points, while Parrot added 19 points and 9 rebounds, but Harbour conceded that Grande’s performance was the difference.

“He’s a hell of a player,” he said. “We just couldn’t contain him. From what I saw tonight, Grande is the 4-A player of the year.”

Last season, the Dynamiters and Scorpions met in the first round of the playoffs and, with Banales, Parrot and Dutro suffering from illnesses that kept them from a full week of practice, Glendale won in a blow-out, 51-30. Harbour said that his team had something to prove. Although Camarillo lost, Parrot believed the Scorpions proved something.

“We knew they were a very good team,” he said. “but we didn’t know how good. We’ve both improved since last year and we wanted another chance at them. I’m not disappointed in how we played, though. They’re the No. 1 team in the CIF and we came within five points of beating them.”

With the victory, Glendale (25-0) will advance to the quarterfinals. It will meet the winner of Tuesday night’s Estancia-Capistrano Valley game. Camarillo finished 19-6.