Hawking, Aurand Take Charge for Simi Valley, 92-67

One of the byproducts of a state basketball tournament is a certain unfamiliarity with one’s opponent.

Most pregame descriptions follow along these lines:

Coach No. 1: “Well, they’ve got a big guy who can rebound, and a little guy who can shoot.”

Coach No. 2: “Hmm, they’ve got a big feller who can rebound, and a little feller who can shoot.”

Now the postgame description, moments after Simi Valley High defeated Santana of Santee, 92-67, in the first round of the CIF-Southern California Division I regional playoffs Tuesday at Simi Valley.

“I honestly thought we stopped their All-American,” Santana point guard Tim Barry said. “I was really impressed with that little guy, No. 11. I’ve never played against a guy that shot that well in my whole life.”

That No. 11, Simi Valley’s Butch Hawking, scored a team-high 20 points--18 on three-point shots. It was the first time Hawking had led the Pioneers in scoring this season, primarily because of their All-American, Don MacLean, and Shawn DeLaittre.

DeLaittre finished with 18 points and 14 rebounds. MacLean had 19 points, nearly 13 below his season average. In part, it was because of foul trouble and a sore left ankle. He picked up his fourth foul with 4:18 left and Simi Valley holding a precarious 70-61 lead.

“When he went out late in the ballgame, I thought he fouled out,” Hawking said. “I just felt if I could hit a couple of three-pointers I could seal it for us.”

As it turned out, Hawking did not hit another three-point shot, but the Pioneers were in the midst of an 18-2 run that buried the Grossmont League champions.

Darren Aurand scored 6 points for Simi Valley during its crucial spurt, and Santana turned the ball over 8 times in the final 4 minutes.

Simi Valley, which won a school-record 28th game against 3 losses, plays Manual Arts Thursday at Simi Valley in the semifinals. Manual Arts defeated Bishop Amat, 94-91, Tuesday night in its first-round game.

Careless Santana, upbeat behind center Stu Back’s 24 points and Barry’s 13 to that point, finally hit a sour note after trailing by only 5 at halftime and 8 after 3 quarters.

The Sultans were three days removed from their 67-62 victory over Morse in the San Diego Section title game Friday and had won 12 in a row. Simi Valley, winner of 19 in a row, defeated Capistrano Valley, 70-64, in Saturday’s 4-A Division championship.

“It’s asking a lot of a high school kid to go out of your section and play in someone else’s gym,” Santana Coach John Bobof said. “Our best game we left Friday at the Sports Arena. Hell, the NBA can’t play on the road.”

While Hawking, MacLean and DeLaittre filled the basket for Simi Valley, Aurand filled the defensive void. Aurand clung to Santana’s Barry, the Grossmont League’s player of the year.

Barry scored those 13 points, about 6 below his average, on 5-of-15 shooting and fouled out with 1:54 left.

“The kid gets no credit for the contributions he makes all year,” Simi Valley Coach Bob Hawking said of Aurand. “There’s nothing in the box score about defense. He took their key guy, who happens to be their point guard, out of the game.”

Aurand scored 8 points, including a dunk in the middle of Simi Valley’s fourth-quarter run.

The Sultans (25-3) made 26 of 60 field-goal attempts but only 11 of 33 in the second half. The Pioneers were 36 of 58 from the field--20 of 31 in the second half.