Pain Evident in Newbury Park Loss

Newbury Park High’s injured guard Daryle Hawkins winced as he watched the team play Tuesday night.

“It hurts,” Hawkins complained. “And it’s not just my ankle.”

Hawkins, Glenn Harrick and forward Dan Ryan watched from courtside as Newbury Park committed 18 turnovers and shot just 33% in a 52-37 opening-round loss to Ventura at the Thousand Oaks tournament.

With three usual starters all sidelined by ankle injuries, Coach Ken Barone was forced to employ a makeshift lineup. But the result left Hawkins, Harrick and Ryan wondering which felt worse--their injured ankles or watching the team get creamed.

Meanwhile, Barone was just wondering what might have been.

“Our best shooter didn’t play, our point guard has a broken ankle, and one of our other guards is out with a sprained ankle,” Barone said of Ryan, Harrick and Hawkins, respectively. “That can tend to bog down one’s offense a little.”

The loss of Ryan, who had been averaging 22.5 points per start, was especially hard for the Panthers to overcome, as Newbury Park’s substitutes couldn’t keep pace with the bigger Ventura team.

Ventura (3-1) took a 24-18 lead at the half as each team struggled offensively. But Ventura snapped out of its slump in the third quarter, taking a 35-26 lead into the final period.

Newbury Park forward Matt Ludlow led a brief Panther comeback attempt by scoring the team’s first seven points in the quarter as Newbury Park closed to within six with four minutes left.

The only good news for Newbury Park (2-4) was that Barone expects Hawkins and Ryan back by Thursday. But the bad news was that the team will be playing in the consolation bracket against Agoura at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday.

In another first-round game, Westlake hit 12 of 16 free throws in the fourth quarter, including four straight by guard Rick Welch after technical fouls with four minutes left, as the Warriors (3-4) defeated Agoura, 81-65.

Down, 61-56, with 5:40 remaining, Westlake’s scored 12 unanswered points, including Welch’s foul shots, to put the game out of reach.

Westlake center Dave Heckmann led all scorers with 21 points. Westlake will face Ventura in the semifinal game at 6:30 on Thursday. Agoura fell to 2-5.