Simi Valley Travels Back to Future : Glendale Is Beaten, 67-56, as MacLean and DeLaittre Flex Potential

Glendale High basketball Coach Steve Keith sees many similarities between the current Simi Valley team and his 1980 Dynamiters’ team.

“They have that one-two punch of power and finesse,” Keith said Friday night after the Pioneers had defeated Glendale, 67-56, in the opening round of the Southern Section 4-A playoffs at Simi Valley.

Keith’s power and finesse in 1980 came in the form of Duane Bickett, a power forward who was an All-American football player at USC, and Mike Martin, a 6-8 center who earned a basketball scholarship to UC Santa Barbara.

In Keith’s eyes, Shawn DeLaittre, a 6-4 forward, is the power for this season’s Simi Valley team. Don MacLean, a 6-8 center, is the finesse.

The Glendale coach sees another similarity between the two teams. “Realistically,” he said, “they might be a year away from taking the whole thing.”

Keith’s 1980 team advanced to the 2-A quarterfinals before losing. His 1981 team, led by seniors Bickett and Martin, won the 2-A title.

The Pioneers could be a year or two away, as Keith suggested, but Simi Valley Coach Bob Hawking isn’t thinking that way. “The magic number,” he said, “is four.”

Before the game, the number Simi Valley had been staring at was 20. That’s how many years it has been since the Pioneers won a playoff game.

“I think the people outside the program had made a bigger deal of it than us,” Hawking said of the two-decade drought. “I never felt like there was any monkey on our backs.”

It’s unlikely that Simi Valley will go another 20 years before winning a playoff game. MacLean, who had a game-high 22 points, and DeLaittre, who had 14, are both sophomores.

With a three-inch height advantage over Glendale center Geoff Foote, MacLean didn’t have to venture far from the basket to shoot. He made 9 of 14 shots, most coming within 10 feet of the hoop.

MacLean made four of his five shots in the first quarter, as the Pioneers came out smoking. They made 9 of 12 shots, jumping out to an 18-14 lead. Simi Valley was 7 for 10 in the second quarter and shot 73% in the first half. Simi Valley shot 61% for the game.

The Pioneers led, 34-22, at the half and were never seriously threatened by Glendale, last season’s 4-A champion, in the second half.

The Dynamiters (14-10) could never get closer than seven points in the second half. That came when Steve Acton, who had a team-high 20 points, made two free throws with 4:14 left in the game.

But Mike Hankins quickly hit a jumper and two free throws to ease any anxiety among the Pioneers fans in the packed gym.

Hankins, a 5-11 senior guard, scored 19 points, on 7-of-11 shooting. Hankins had eight points in the first quarter, hitting all four of his shots.

Simi Valley (24-2) plays Santa Ana, a 57-54 winner over Redlands, in the second round Tuesday. A coin toss today will determine the home team.

As hot as the Pioneers were in the first half, so were the officials’ whistles when it came to calling three-second violations. The Dynamiters were hit with six calls, and the Pioneers had three.