Simi Valley Is Sluggish in Victory : MacLean Scores 27 to Pace 67-46 Win

As Notre Dame High Coach Mickey Cady fidgeted near the bench and watched the talented Simi Valley basketball team go through pregame warmups, he wondered aloud about his team’s recent poor luck in the all-important, lottery-style tournament draw.

“They are a very, very good team,” Cady said. “You’d think that in a 16-team tournament we could draw somebody else.”

Drawing good teams in tournaments is something Notre Dame (2-7) is getting used to. A few games back, the team drew Granada Hills (7-1) and Alemany (7-3) in consecutive tournaments. But Simi Valley--the defending tournament champion--was the toughest opponent yet, Cady said.

So much for the luck of the draw, and for that matter, the luck of the Irish.

Simi Valley crushed Notre Dame, 67-46, in the first round of the Hart tournament on Friday. Simi Valley (9-1) advanced to tonight’s quarterfinals, where it faces Quartz Hill (7-3), a 52-40 winner Friday over Burroughs.

Whether he knew it, Cady had something in common with Simi Valley Coach Bob Hawking: Neither was satisfied with the outcome, although for somewhat different reasons. While Notre Dame is trying to head off a losing season, Hawking is trying to mold Simi Valley into the playoff juggernaut most expect it to be.

Despite the lopsided victory, a near-perfect record and a team shooting percentage of 58% this season, Hawking’s wares aren’t producing as well as he’d like.

“This was a classic post-Christmas effort,” Hawking said. “A little lethargic, a little flat. We’re still trying to get this team on track, to play together as a unit. I don’t think today was much of an improvement. It was a step sideways.”

But 6-10 junior center Don MacLean looked at it differently.

“I think we took a step forward today,” said MacLean, who had 27 points and 10 rebounds. “I think we are turning the corner to where we want to be, and we’re playing better as a unit.

“Being a team is where we need the most work.”

Whether the Simi Valley win marked a step forward, sideways or even backward, the game was never much of an issue. It was an absolute walkover.

Simi Valley never trailed, taking a 32-14 lead at the half behind MacLean’s 14 points.

The Pioneers held off a brief Notre Dame rally in the third quarter when the Knights scored 11 straight to cut the lead to 48-33. But a 17-point fourth quarter by Simi Valley sent Notre Dame to a consolation bracket game against Burroughs today at 10:30 a.m.

The Simi Valley substitutes needed to play a big role in the win. Hawking benched standout forward Shawn DeLaittre, who finished with just eight points, for much of the game in an effort “to help shake things loose a bit.”

Butch Hawking scored eight points, and Travis Bice and Darren Aurand added six as 10 Pioneers scored.

“Call it a ‘CD’ if you want,” Hawking said, “A coaching decision. We have to give some other guys a chance to play when the game is on the line if we are going to win consistently. We have to be able to go deeper than five.”

But has DeLaittre, an all-tournament selection last year, been given the deep six? Are things getting seamy in Simi Valley?

Hawking side-stepped the question.

“You guys make what you want of it,” he said. “What there is to it isn’t worth wasting print space on.”

This time it was Hawking’s turn to fidget.

Alemany 57, Hueneme 53--The Indians trailed at the half, 30-22, before outscoring Hueneme 16-7 in the third quarter in the first-round game of the Hart tournament. Dave Swanson scored 23 points for Alemany (6-3), which will play Hart in a quarterfinal game tonight at 6:30.

Alemany’s Fred Dear and Swanson combined for 19 rebounds.

Hart 74, Palmdale 55--Junior guard Steve Valenzuela scored 16 points for tournament host Hart in the first-round game. Hart scored on 18 of 33 shots in the first half, and hit 22 of 24 free throws in the game. Hart led, 44-21, at the half after outscoring Palmdale in the first quarter, 20-6.

Saugus 74, Crescenta Valley 58--Saugus (7-4) will face Marshall in a semifinal game today at 3:30 p.m. Senior forwards Rusty Morse (22 points) and John Thomas (12 points) led Saugus past Crescenta Valley (5-5), which will face Beverly Hills in a consolation game today at 9 a.m.

Marshall 39, Beverly Hills 35--Beverly Hills (7-5) scored just eight points in the first half as Marshall (3-4) held on to advance to a semifinal game with Saugus today at 3:30 p.m.

Quartz Hill 52, Burroughs 40--Center Dan Baldeo scored 12 points as Quartz Hill (7-3) overwhelmed an outsized Burroughs (2-5). Quartz Hill will face Simi Valley tonight at 5 p.m. in the semifinals.

Reserve guard Tom Kelly led Burroughs with 14 points. Burroughs will face Notre Dame Hills in a consolation game today at 10:30 a.m.

San Fernando 66, St. Francis 41--Shelton Boykin scored 19 points to lead San Fernando into a quarterfinal game with Westlake tonight at 8.

St. Francis will play Canyon in the consolation bracket at 1:30 p.m.

Sean Declouet added 16 for San Fernando.

Westlake 90, Canyon 76--Senior guard Paul Keenan scored a game-high 32 points and backcourt partner Rick Welch added 27 as Westlake moved into a quarterfinals game against San Fernando tonight at 8 p.m.

Keenan and Welch offset a 25-point performance by Canyon’s Andy Paskwietz. Canyon faces St. Francis today at 1:30 p.m.