Westlake in Hot Pursuit of Leader : Warriors Forge Tie for Second After Fourth Win in a Row, 72-49

Today’s Valley sports trivia question: Which is the hottest basketball team in the Marmonte League--other than runaway league-leader Simi Valley High?

Did you say Westlake?

The Warriors rolled to their fourth consecutive win Wednesday night, routing Camarillo, 72-49, to move into a tie for second place behind Simi Valley, which is 7-0.

Both Camarillo (9-8 overall) and Westlake (11-8) sport 4-3 league marks.

Camarillo, which fell behind, 20-6, to Royal last week but came back to win, dug another early hole for itself against Westlake, and this time the Scorpions were buried. The Warriors made 5 of their first 6 shots, jumped to a 10-0 lead, and led, 25-9, after one period.

“We’ve been coming out every game waiting around,” Camarillo Coach John Harbour said. “Today it caught up with us. It’s just what I was afraid of.”

Westlake forwards Bill Fassl and Kevin Logan each scored 16 points and center Kurt Schwan had 10. Guard Bob Grandpre, who also muscled into the lane for several buckets, led all scorers with 17 points for Westlake.

“I thought it would be a much closer game,” said Westlake Coach Greg Hess, whose club lost to Camarillo by 17 in an earlier Marmonte game. “Once it started to roll for us, we got excited. We posted up like we meant business.”

Camarillo did not score until 4:50 remained in the first period, when center Tom Carrillo drove the middle to make it 10-2. Westlake extended its advantage to 16 points by the end of the quarter.

Camarillo made 5 of 20 shots in the first half. The Scorpions were 1 of 10 in the second period when they scored just six points and turned the ball over seven times.

“We should at least go 5-1 this round,” Schwan said. “And we’ve got a good chance of beating Simi Valley this time around, too.”

Westlake plays host to Simi Valley next Wednesday.