Boys’ Basketball : Taft Wins a Battle but Loses a Leader in 58-57 Shoot-Out

Taft High won its battle, beating Valley League rival El Camino Real, 58-57 in double overtime at Taft on Wednesday, but the Toreadors could be without their top field general for two important road games.

Dedan Thomas, a junior point guard, dislocated the little finger and chipped a bone on his left hand in the third quarter. Coach Jim Woodard said Thomas, who was averaging 13.9 points and 9.7 assists a game, won’t practice this week and could miss next week’s crucial league games at Cleveland and Fairfax if his finger doesn’t heal.

“If we have to play Cleveland or Fairfax without Dedan, it could be brutal,” Woodard said.

Taft’s Keith Thomas, who is not related to Dedan, hit a three-point shot with two seconds left in regulation to tie the score, then made a 15-footer with four seconds left in the second overtime as Taft improved to 11-3, 2-2 in league play.

Taft’s Quincy Watts led all scorers with 21 points and Brent Lofton scored a team-high 20 points for El Camino Real (3-8, 2-2).

Van Nuys 58, Poly 51--Alonzo Galloway led a second-half comeback by Van Nuys in the East Valley League game at home. Galloway, who had 15 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists, sat out the second quarter with two fouls after leading the Wolves to a 16-10 first-period lead. Poly took advantage of his absence and managed a 27-22 halftime lead by forcing 10 turnovers.

Van Nuys (4-5, 1-1) regained the lead early in the fourth quarter behind Galloway and Troy Gibson. Gibson, who finished with 13 points, made two key three-point shots.

San Fernando 75, Monroe 65--Tory Stephens had 37 points and 10 rebounds for San Fernando (8-4, 2-0) in the Northwest Valley League game at Monroe.

Fairfax 80, Reseda 50--Ilan Levy-Mayer scored a game-high 24 points to lead the Lions to a Valley League victory at Fairfax.

Chris Mills, Fairfax’s All-American forward, did not play. He was suspended for one game after being involved in a fight in a game last week, Fairfax Coach Harvey Kitani said. Reseda (2-10, 0-4) was led by Sam Edwards, who scored 22 points, and Omar Wilson (21).

North Hollywood 76, Verdugo Hills 40--Danny Klein, a senior guard, made 9 of 14 shots and scored 20 points to lead North Hollywood in the East Valley League game at home. Klein also had eight assists.

Dominic Nappi added 15 for the Huskies as part of a team effort in which 11 players scored. Verdugo Hills (2-8, 0-2) had 26 turnovers, and North Hollywood (9-3, 2-0) registered 17 steals. Alan Breslauer and Tommy Byrdsong each had five steals for the Huskies and sophomore Dana Jones blocked five shots.

Rashe Dorsey, a transfer from Van Nuys, played in his first game for the Huskies and scored eight points off the bench.

Grant 59, Sylmar 39--Adi Saker had 14 points for Grant (10-2, 2-0) in the East Valley League game at home and Sean Watkins added 12 points.

Royal 67, Newbury Park 65 (OT)--Tony Strickland made two free throws with eight seconds left in overtime for the Highlanders in the Marmonte League game at Newbury Park.

The Panthers, who trailed by 11 at halftime, had stormed back to take a 59-54 with 55 seconds remaining in regulation, but couldn’t hold off Royal.

Russell Myers’ two free throws cut the lead to three with 55 seconds left and Chris Noyes’ three-pointer with six seconds left tied the game, 59-59.

Newbury Park (4-9, 0-3) had a chance to win, but Dave Angulo’s 10-footer and Wayne Cook’s tip-in missed in the final seconds.

Simi Valley 86, Westlake 71--Don MacLean scored 36 points and grabbed 17 rebounds to lead Simi Valley in the Marmonte League game at home. Shawn DeLaittre added 23 points for Simi Valley (13-3, 4-0).

Birmingham 66, Canoga Park 57--The Braves used a half-court trap defense to take control of the contest in the second period of the Northwest Valley League game at Birmingham.