Simi Valley’s Winning Streak Reaches 18 in 71-60 Victory

After Friday night, Simi Valley High still had its win streak and its Marmonte League title.

But the question is: Do the Pioneers still have the momentum a championship team must have to carry it into the playoffs?

Coach Bob Hawking pondered the question after his team beat Thousand Oaks, 71-60, in a not-so-impressive regular season finale.

“Every game is a tuneup for the next game. We definitely did not play 32 minutes of perfect basketball,” said Hawking, whose team has won 18 consecutive games and is 24-1 overall, 12-0 in league. Simi Valley completed its first undefeated league season in Hawking’s 13 years with the program. “But I don’t know if it’s because we got off to a slow start or Thousand Oaks got off to a great start.”

Probably both.

To be sure, credit Thousand Oaks, which fell to 13-9 and 8-4 in the league and qualified for the playoffs as the Marmonte third-place representative. The Lancers, who would have finished second with a win over Simi Valley, played tough from start to finish. Especially at the start.

In the first quarter, Thousand Oaks trailed, 5-4, with 6:34 left before scoring six straight points. The Lancers, who led by as many as eight points, controlled the rest of the quarter and led 19-16 after eight minutes.

“I thought the kids played with great intensity,” Thousand Oaks Coach Ed Chevalier said. “We were patient and we did the things we had to do.”

But Simi Valley center Don MacLean, limited to just four points in the first quarter, took control under the basket in the second quarter. He scored 12 of the Pioneers’ 20 points in the quarter, including a tip-in with just under four minutes left that gave Simi Valley a 27-25 lead, a lead the Pioneers never relinquished. MacLean continued to dominate in the second half, finishing with a game-high 32 points.

Thousand Oaks’ last real threat came when center Jon Walker, who led the Lancers with 13 points, scored three straight baskets midway through the third period to close the gap to 48-43.

“You’ve got to play a near-perfect game against Simi Valley if you’re going to beat them,” Chevalier said.