Keenan Leads Westlake to 58-56 Victory

A tape of Henry Mancini’s Christmas Orchestra and Chorus sent soft sounds through the gym Friday between the consolation games of the Thousand Oaks High Holiday Invitational basketball tournament.

But when Westlake and Thousand Oaks took the floor to warm up for the final, Mancini was replaced by Iron Maiden’s power-rocking “Number of the Beast.”

The change proved appropriate because there was a beast on the floor. The number on his Westlake jersey is 43, his name is Paul Keenan and he led Westlake to a 58-56 win over Thousand Oaks.

A 6-4 junior forward, Keenan pulled the Warriors out of second-half doldrums by scoring their first nine points and getting 16 of his team-high 20 after halftime.

“Paul is an excellent clutch shooter,” Westlake Coach Roy Gilmore said. “And we all saw him come through tonight.”

Said Keenan: “I just took the open shots. They couldn’t match up to us one-on-one and I was open more than anyone else.”

Keenan, who was named tournament most valuable player, hit two free throws with 1:05 remaining to put Westlake up, 55-52.

Tom Neumayr, who had a game-high 23 points for Thousand Oaks (3-5), matched Keenan with two free throws with 48 seconds left. But guard Rick Welch countered with 30 seconds to go with two more foul shots, and Westlake (7-2) led by three once again.

“We have some great foul shooters,” Gilmore said. “I’ll take Keenan, Welch or Greg Smith on the line anytime.”

Smith was another sharp-shooter, scoring 18 points, mostly on long-range jump shots. Welch had 11 points.

Thousand Oaks stayed close the entire game behind the shooting of Neumayr, who was eight of 11 from the field, and the inside baskets of center Jon Walker. A 6-8 junior center, Walker had 18 points and 12 rebounds, several after missed Lancer shots.

With 2:39 left in the third quarter and a 44-42 lead, Westlake went into a four-corners stall to bring Thousand Oaks out of its zone defense. No more points were scored in the third.

Leading, 51-50, with four minutes left in the game, the Warriors again slowed the pace. More effective than the stall tactic was Westlake’s full-court press, which forced three Lancer turnovers in the fourth quarter.

Named to the all-tournament team were: John Perak, Notre Dame; Neumayr and Walker, Thousand Oaks; Steve Ward, Calabasas; Mark Schlegel, Newbury Park; Kenny Milton, Ventura; and Smith, Welch and Keenan, Westlake.

Ventura 78, Newbury Park 53--After holding Notre Dame to a tournament-low 30 points in the first round, Newbury Park surrendered more points to Ventura than any team scored.

Senior guard Kenny Milton scored 16 points, had eight rebounds and seven assists for Ventura (2-3).

Despite falling behind, 39-22, by halftime, Panther guards showed the ability to score from outside. Glenn Harrick and Donovan Lyles, both juniors, hit long-range jumpers on their way to eight and 12 points, respectively.

Newbury Park (2-5) had scored only 14 points in the third quarters of its first two games in the tournament. The Panthers outscored Ventura, 18-13, in the third, but were outscored by plenty in each of the other three periods.

Ventura made 26 of 37 free throws and Newbury Park made 17 off 22.

Calabasas 61, Notre Dame 57--For a team that suffered a tough one-point loss in the first round of the tournament, Calabasas certainly made of the most of its two games in the consolation bracket.

On the heels of Thursday’s come-from behind win over Frontier League rival Santa Clara, the Coyotes edged Notre Dame behind 30 points from guard Steve Ward.

The points from Ward were expected: He averaged 30.3 a game in the tournament and is averaging 28.4 on the season. But a win by 2A Calabasas (6-3) over 5A Notre Dame (4-4) was an upset.

Ward made 12 free throws without a miss, including four in the final minute.

Notre Dame had been unsuccessfull in getting the ball to 6-6, 220-pound center John Perak in its first two games this week. Perak got 21 points and 13 rebounds against Calabasas, but had only two in the fourth quarter.