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Thousand Oaks Drops the Bomb on Calabasas

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Times Staff Writer

Two gunners who launch hoop-seeking missiles had a shoot-out Tuesday night.

Tom Neumayr of Thousand Oaks High and Steve Ward of Calabasas let the bombs fly in the first round of the Thousand Oaks Holiday Invitational basketball tournament.

Ward outscored Neumayr, 29 to 19, but the Lancers edged the Coyotes, 57-56, on Neumayr play that was uncharacteristic of a gunner.

With 15 seconds remaining and Thousand Oaks trailing by one, the 6-4 senior forward had the ball near the free-throw line. Everybody in the gym knew he was going to shoot, right?

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Everybody but Neumayr and teammate John Schlossman, it turned out. Neumayr passed inside to Schlossman, who tossed up a shot that hit the heel of the basket, sloshed around the hoop and finally fell in. Schlossman, a 6-4 sophomore, played with maturity down the stretch and had 14 points for the Lancers.

Ward, who made 14 of 24 field goal attempts, had a shot at winning the game with two seconds left, but his 13-foot jumper hit the heel and fell harmlessly away.

A junior guard who has played varsity for three years, Ward is averaging 28 points a game.

“I thought it was going in until it popped out,” said Ward of his last attempt. “There was a guy in my face and I was a little off balance, but I think my shots are going in every time I put the ball up.”

Spoken like a true gunner.

Neumayr, who said he had the flu, started slowly. The left-hander made only four of 11 shots in the first half, but made five of eight in the final two periods, including a 20-footer that pulled the Lancers within one point with 1:47 left.

Asked what he told his premier shooter after the slow start, Lancer Coach Ed Chevalier said: “I told him to keep shooting.

Neumayr is averaging 18 points a game and is shooting better than 50% from the floor. Most of his shots are from the 12 to 20-foot range.

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Another key match-up was between centers Jon Perlstein of Calabasas and Jon Walker of Thousand Oaks.

Perlstein, a 6-6 senior, was averaging 15 points a game but scored only nine Tuesday. Walker, a 6-8 junior, scored 12 points and had eight rebounds for Thousand Oaks.

With four minutes remaining and holding a 54-50 lead, Calabasas slowed down the pace. Coach Bill Bellatty yelled from the bench: “No hurry, no hurry. If you get in trouble, call time out.”

The strategy back-fired when the Lancers’ tight defense forced two turnovers.

After Neumayr’s 20-footer, guard Gerard Jaquet made one of two free throws to put Calabasas ahead, 56-54, with 38 seconds left. Lancer Paul Henige countered with a free throw two seconds later to cut the deficit to one point.

Calabasas was guilty of a back-court violation and Thousand Oaks had possession with 28 seconds to go. The Lancers worked the ball to Neumayr, who passed to Schlossman for the winning basket.

Thousand Oaks improved its record to 2-4, while Calabasas fell to 4-3.

Ventura 46, Santa Clara 45--Previously winless Ventura upset top-seeded Santa Clara in another opening-round game.

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Two free throws by senior Kenny Milton with 10 seconds remaining gave the Cougars a three-point lead. Santa Clara’s Dan Jones tipped in a missed shot at the buzzer, but he would have had to have drawn a foul for a chance to tie. The Cougars weren’t about to foul at that point, avoiding Jones as if he had an infectious disease.

An offensive rebound and basket by Chris Hangtin gave Ventura (1-2) a 44-43 lead with 50 seconds left.

Santa Clara (4-3), the defending 2A champion, held Ventura to four points in the second quarter to take a 21-16 halftime lead. The Saints led through most of the second half, but couldn’t score during the last two minutes of the game.

In first-round games today, Westlake meets Agoura at 6:30 p.m. and Notre Dame faces Newbury Park at 8 p.m.

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