Boys’ Basketball : 3rd-Quarter Spurt Lifts Van Nuys Over Sylmar, 52-49

Van Nuys High overcame a 10-point halftime deficit and rallied in the third quarter to beat Sylmar, 52-49, in an East Valley League game at home.

Van Nuys outscored Sylmar, 22-8, in the third quarter.

“In the third quarter we came out, pressed them and hung on,” Van Nuys Coach Kevin Duford said.

Sylmar had a chance to tie with less than one minute to play, but squandered the opportunity by committing a turnover.

“We took a timeout and called a play to run to Shawn Rucker, but we turned the ball over,” Sylmar Coach Billy Reed said.

Leonard Weems scored a game-high 17 points for Van Nuys and also also grabbed nine rebounds.

Van Nuys also received good performances from Alonzo Galloway (17 points and 6 assists) and Jimmy Chriss (10 points and 9 rebounds).

Rucker scored 13 points for Sylmar (5-5, 1-3) and teammate Andre Robinson added 12.

Camarillo 56, Newbury Park 47--Sean Young scored 18 points and Tom Carrillo had 12 to lead the Scorpions in a Marmonte League game at Camarillo.

Camarillo made 50% (23 of 46) of its field-goal attempts to win its third league game against two losses. The Scorpions are 8-7 overall.

Newbury Park, which has lost nine in a row, is 4-11, 0-5 in league play.

Royal 74, Thousand Oaks 66--Royal’s chances for a second-place finish in the Marmonte League improved with the league win at home.

“It’s a big step for us,” Royal Coach Joe Malkinson said. “We’re looking forward to playing Camarillo on Friday.

After trailing, 38-35, at halftime, Royal took the lead early in the third quarter. The Highlanders outscored the Lancers, 21-14, in the period.

Senior guard Kevin Martin scored a game-high 21 points for Thousand Oaks (5-9, 3-2), and also dished out four assists.

Jeff Blain led Royal (10-6, 3-2) with 15 points, and teammates Tony Strickland and John Loder each added 12.

Westlake 58, Channel Islands 54--Bill Fassl scored 22 points, including 12 in the first quarter and 4 free throws in the final minute of the game, to lead the Warriors to a Marmonte League victory at Channel Islands.

Fassl made 9 of 11 field-goal attempts and grabbed 9 rebounds as the Warriors (9-8) won their second consecutive league game after losing their first three.

Victor Caro led Channel Islands (10-7, 2-3) with 23 points, including five three-point shots.

Granada Hills 67, Canoga Park 51--Defending City Section 3-A Division champion Granada Hills extended an eight-point halftime lead into an easy Northwest Valley League win at home.

Center Alvin Brown led Granada Hills (7-4, 3-1) with 23 points and 18 rebounds and teammate Kyle Jan had 13 and 10 rebounds.

Sean Reyes scored 18 points for Canoga Park (2-12, 1-3) and teammate Dennis Huckney added 10.

Birmingham 93, Monroe 50--Birmingham shot 60.3% (38 of 63) from the field in the Northwest Valley League rout at home, while holding Monroe’s top scorer, Michael Bell, to just four points.

“I thought we just played relentless defense and were able to stop a very good player in Bell,” Birmingham Coach Elliot Turret said. “We took care of the ball and were able to hit the open man.”

Birmingham’s Greg Maxwell led all scorers with 28 points and also dished out 7 assists. Jason Moore and Glenn Sucich added 20 and 14 points, respectively, for Birmingham (6-7, 2-2).

Kennedy 72, Hamilton 58--The Golden Cougars rebounded from consecutive Valley League losses with 22 points from guard Uba Satterfield and 19 from senior center Clarence Williams.

After winning its first 11 games, including its first three league contests, Kennedy (11-3, 1-3) fell to league favorites Cleveland and Fairfax last week.

Leon Ware added 10 points for the third-place Golden Cougars.

Oak Park 65, Fillmore 49--John Sloan scored a game-high 15 points to lead the Eagles in a Tri-Valley League game at Oak Park.

Oak Park blitzed Fillmore, 22-9, in the second quarter to erase a four-point, first-quarter deficit. Mitch Harris scored 6 of his 12 points in the quarter and Mike Lobitz made two three-point shots.

Richard Chavez added 13 points for the Eagles.

Oak Park improved to 11-8, 4-2 in league play. Fillmore is 2-13, 0-5 in league play.

Poly 64, Verdugo Hills 50--Nick Lymberopoulos scored 21 points to lead Poly in an East Valley League game at Verdugo Hills.

Scott Cooper added 12 points for the Parrots and Bobby Ntoya had 11.

Lymberopoulos scored 10 points in the fourth quarter, when Poly made 7 of 12 field-goal attempts and Verdugo Hills’ ball-control offense fell apart.

Bell-Jeff 89, Salesian 65--Bell-Jeff outscored its Santa Fe League opponent, 22-8, in the first quarter and breezed to the win at home.

“We just got off to a good start,” Bell-Jeff Coach Joe Dunn said. “We were able to pass the ball well, and shoot well.”

Bell-Jeff (8-6, 4-2) was led by Nick Sanderson’s 21 points. Teammate Greg Dunn added 17 points.

Henry Polle and David had 11 and 10 points, respectively, for Bell-Jeff.

Holy Martyrs 63, Mesrobian 55--Armen Abrahamian scored 23 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to lead Holy Martyrs (10-4) to a nonleague win at home.

Viken Tchorbajian scored 18 points and had 7 assists.

West Valley Christian 76, First Lutheran 60--Forward Bobby Gaskill had 23 points, 20 rebounds and blocked 5 shots, and John Stalboerger had 18 points and 16 rebounds in the Seekers’ nonleague win at West Valley Christian.

Jim Reeve had 15 points and 9 assists for the Seekers (9-1).

Compiled by Tim Brown, Steven Fleischman, Vince Kowalick and John Ortega.