Southern Section Basketball Playoffs : Simi Valley Upsets Capistrano Valley

The Capistrano Valley High School basketball team, which starts five seniors--including three who have accepted basketball scholarships to Division I colleges and another who is headed for Stanford on a football scholarship--was beaten by a couple of sophomores Tuesday night.

Don MacLean, a 6-foot 8-inch center, and Shawn DeLaittre, a 6-4 forward, each scored 30 points to lead Simi Valley to a 97-69 upset over the top-seeded Cougars in a CIF Southern Section 4-A semifinal game played before 3,000 fans in Pepperdine University’s Firestone Fieldhouse.

The victory gives the Pioneers their first berth in a Southern Section basketball championship game in 30 years. Simi Valley (27-2) will meet the winner of tonight’s Muir-Dominguez game in Saturday’s final at the Sports Arena. The Cougars closed at 27-3.

The Pioneers opened a 43-26 halftime lead and were not threatened in the second half.

MacLean made 9 of 13 shots from the floor and 12 of 12 from the free-throw line, while DeLaittre made 11 of 19 field-goal attempts and 8 of 9 from the line.