Bice Helps Simi Valley to 76-67 Win

They call Travis Bice “Casper,” and it’s not because he doesn’t have a tan.

“It’s because I’m so skinny, no one can see me on the court,” the 6-2, 140-pound junior guard explained.

He drew more than his share of attention Wednesday night, however, as he came off the bench to break open a close game and lead Simi Valley to a 76-67 Marmonte League victory over Westlake.

Bice entered the fourth quarter with the Pioneers (20-1 overall, 8-0 in league) leading, 49-47. He missed his first shot and then hit his next five--all from at least 17 feet--as Simi Valley pulled away to a comfortable margin. All 11 of his points came in the fourth period.

“He did a great job for us tonight,” Pioneer Coach Bob Hawking said. “Everybody has a green light to shoot for us. For Travis, that’s the shot he can hit.”

He also took some pressure off of Simi Valley’s two sophomore stars, center Don MacLean and forward Shawn DeLaittre.

MacLean dominated the first half, scoring 12 points and controlling the inside of the key on both ends of the court. But Westlake (13-7, 3-4) shut him down in the third quarter, limiting him to only two points.

Once Bice got hot, things opened up more inside, and MacLean came on to score seven points in the fourth period. He finished with 21 points and 16 rebounds. DeLaittre had 15 points.

Hawking acknowledged the importance of having a good outside shooting game to compliment the play of MacLean and DeLaittre underneath.

“It’s invaluable,” he said. “It’s something we work hard at. All of our guys know that it is a very important thing for us.”

The Pioneers led, 31-30, at halftime, but Westlake hit four straight shots midway through the third quarter to take a 44-41 advantage.

Simi Valley then scored the next eight points to take a 49-44 lead and never trailed again.

Junior guard Rick Welch paced the Warriors with a game-high 25 points, while forward Paul Keenan and guard Greg Smith added 15 and 12 points.