Simi Valley Wins With 7 Seconds Left, 55-54

The Simi Valley High dream team had a disturbing Knight-mare Saturday night.

But the Pioneers woke up just in time and turned the lights out on Notre Dame, 55-54, to win the Simi Valley Tip-off Classic Tournament. A 10-foot jump shot by junior Travis Bice with seven seconds left in the game made the difference.

After overpowering two opponents, 197-106, this week to advance to the finals, the only question that remained for Simi was whether sophomore stars Don MacLean and Shawn DeLaittre would wilt against physical frontmen. Notre Dame, led by stocky and seasoned seniors John Perak and Alex Horosny, provided a toughness test.

The 6-4, 15-year old forward exhibited old-fashioned Pioneer spirit, scoring 27 points and grabbing eight rebounds. He was uncommonly cool at the free-throw line where he hit 13 of 15.

Notre Dame led after three quarters, 40-37, and kept the lead through most of the fourth period. Perak (6-6, 215) scored 21 points for the Knights, but made only seven of 16 from the free-throw line.

After Notre Dame guard Josh Oppenheimer made a lay-up with 45 seconds remaining to give Notre Dame a 54-51 lead, DeLaittre came back 10 seconds later to pull Simi within one.

Oppenheimer missed the next time down the floor, however, and Simi called time out after controlling the rebound. Bice took a pass from guard Mike Hankins, dribbled around a defender, and tossed in the winning shot.

Royal 80, Hueneme 73--Junior forward Kevin Tate of Hueneme showed the best scoring ability in the tournament. After scoring 27 points against Simi Thursday, he added 30 more against Royal in a losing cause.

Royal finished third in the tournament by winning.

Hueneme (1-2) cut the Royal (2-1) lead to seven midway through the fourth quarter, but three baskets by Mike Woods and four clutch free throws by Tapia kept Hueneme at bay.

Birmingham 53, Antelope Valley 45--The Braves took the consolation championship of the tournament by outrunning the Antelopes.

Keith Owens led Birmingham (2-2) with 15 points and nine rebounds. Benny Carrasco added 12 points for the Braves, most coming on lay-ups after fast breaks.

Antelope Valley (1-2) cut a 42-28 Birmingham lead to 42-38 in the fourth quarter, but never caught the Braves.

BIRMINGHAM--Maxwell 4; Walker 0; Owens 15; Carrasco 12; Zuckerman 4; Whittacker 2; Johnson 6; Jones 5; Fuentes 5.

ANTELOPE VALLEY--Bronstein 6; Johnson 4; Wilson 13; Betton 10; Mahaffey 10; Ocker 2.

ROYAL--Woods 11; Noone 20; Wade 6; Tapia 21; Velasquez 8; Greene 8; Martinelli 3; Parshall 2; Yarell 1.

HUENEME--Tate 30; Nunnery 13; Powell 6; Fukaye 16; Secrest 2; Smith 6.

NOTRE DAME--Horosny 7; Heicke 8; Perak 21; Oppenheimer 9; Brewster 8; Schmeiderer 1.

SIMI VALLEY--Gates 4; Irwin 2; Jenner 4; Hankins 8; Bice 2; MacLean 8; DeLaittre 27.