BOYS SOUTHERN SECTION PLAYOFFS : Worden Sparks Win for Rio Mesa, 38-33

Garrett Worden scored seven points in the third period to spark Rio Mesa High to a 38-33 come-from-behind victory Friday night over Thousand Oaks in a first-round playoff game held in Oxnard. That earned the Spartans (19-5) a chance to play Culver City in the next round.

Rio Mesa outscored the Lancers, 15-5, in the third quarter to overcome a nine-point halftime deficit. Center Jerry Dawson added six points in the fourth period to hold off Thousand Oaks (10-14). The Spartans made only 15 of 48 field-goal attempts, but took 20 more shots than the Lancers, who were 12 of 28 from the floor.

Dawson led Rio Mesa with nine points. Craig Wong added eight. Thousand Oaks was led by Tom Neumayr, who scored a game-high 14 points.

4-A Division

Santa Barbara 96, Westlake 86--Westlake could boast of its highest offensive output of the season, but no victory in this game at Santa Barbara.

The Warriors (18-8) trailed by as many as 16 points early in the fourth quarter, but cut the margin to eight and had possession of the ball with a minute to go. It was as close as they would come to Santa Barbara (18-7).

3-A Division

Burbank 57, Bonita 43--Tyson Manning sank nine free throws in the fourth quarter and teammate Tom Clansen added 14 points to lift host Burbank to a 57-43 victory over Bonita.

Leading by just two points at the start of the fourth quarter, Burbank, sparked by reserve guard Abo Velasco’s two steals and four points surged to a 10-point lead.

El Dorado 66, Canyon 64--Despite squandering a 19-point halftime lead, the Hawks (20-5)hung on to win their playoff opener on a layup by senior center Herb Krapf with three seconds to play. Canyons’ inbounds pass was then intercepted at midcourt as time expired.

Forward Jim Sammon led El Dorado with 34 points. Forward Butch Mettinger had 24 points for Canyon (17-8), whose season ended on its home court.

Ganesha 74, Burroughs (B) 50--Ganesha ran its winning streak to 16 and its season record to 25-1.

Kevin Cutler, Ganesha’s 6-7 center, had a game-high 18 points and was also the leading rebounder with 11.

2-A Division

Righetti 55, Bell-Jeff 45--Righetti (17-6) went scoreless for the first six minutes of the third quarter, but came back to win on its home court.

Righetti had runs of 7-0, 6-0 and 5-0 to build a commanding 29-18 halftime lead.

Bell-Jeff scored the first nine points of the second half to pull within two at 29-27, but that’s as close as the Guards would get.

Calabasas 99, St. Joseph 94--Led by Steve Ward’s 36 points, including 15 in the third quarter, Calabasas (15-7) won at home. Mike Smith helped to hold off St. Joseph (16-8) with nine free throws in 10 attempts in the fourth quarter en route to 18 points. Jon Perlstein added 31 points to the victory.

Mike Demeter (35 points, including 23 in the second half) and Darrell Black (22) kept St. Joseph close.

San Luis Obispo 46, St. Genevieve 32--Senior center Pete DelVaglio scored 23 points, sinking 11 of 12 field goals, and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Tigers (12-10) to a victory over visiting St. Genevieve (15-8).

San Luis Obispo made 64% of its shots from the floor, while its pressure man-to-man defense held St. Genevieve to just 33%.

1-A Division

L.A. Baptist 60, Santa Ynez 53--Third-ranked Alpha League champion L.A. Baptist, enjoying its home-court advantage, defeated Santa Ynez behind Robert Dodson’s 16 points.

Center Mark Williamson added 14 for the Knights, including 12 in the second half, and Mark Wise scored 11, including seven of eight free throws in the fourth quarter.

Senior forward Craig McCullough led Santa Ynez with 12 points, but fouled out with 3:09 to play.

Tehachapi 60, Buckley 59--Buckley tied the game with 18 seconds left in the game, but Tehachapi pulled out the win at home.

Buckley forward Steve Beckman had 21 points. Center Steve Kadenacy had 16 for the Griffins.

Small Schools

Simi Lutheran 53, Oakwood 51--Johathan Doering hit a 15-foot jump shot with three seconds left in the second overtime to lift visiting Simi Lutheran to an upset victory over Oakwood (17-4).