High School Basketball : Balanced Attack Lifts Taft, 83-42

Four Taft High basketball players scored in double figures as the Toreadors routed Venice, 83-42, Wednesday in the first round of Hamilton tournament.

Leading Taft were senior forward Tony Middleton and junior forward Jason Deyoe, who each had 17 points and 11 rebounds. Guard Dedan Thomas fell shy of a triple-double with 15 points, 10 assists and 9 steals. Center Gill Ruff added 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Taft jumped out to a 22-5 lead at the end of the first quarter and cruised to its fifth consecutive win against no losses.

In other games:

Kennedy 63, Van Nuys 51----Forward Randy Brown scored 15 points and teammate Garret Anderson added 12 as Kennedy cruised in the first round of the Hamilton tournament.

The Wolves were held to 2 field goals in the first quarter and Kennedy jumped out to a 35-22 halftime lead. Joe Eddings led Van Nuys with 10 points.

Newbury Park 60, Agoura 50--Unbeaten Newbury Park trailed by one before rallying to outscore winless Agoura, 22-11, in the fourth quarter at Newbury Park.

Senior Wayne Cook continues to prove he is one of the dominant players in the Marmonte League with a game-high 19-points for Newbury Park (5-0). Cook, who had 13 rebounds and 7 steals, was 8 of 15 from the field.

“They did a good job defensing us and it took us awhile to get going,” Newbury Park Coach Ken Barone said.

Panther sophomore Chris Falzone came off the bench to add 18 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter. Sean Martin had 17 points for Agoura (0-5).

GIRLS

The Cleveland Cavaliers have been a thorn in the paw of the North Hollywood Huskies in recent seasons. North Hollywood changed all that, using a tough defense and relentless offensive attack to beat Cleveland for the first time in 3 seasons, 56-31.

The Huskies (5-1) led, 14-10, after the first quarter as Cleveland (1-3) applied a stingy man-to-man defense.

“They always give us a tough time,” North Hollywood Coach Rich Allen said. “We have a five-man team with five starters averaging in double figures. We have good balance.”

That balance began to show as the Lady Huskies opened up a 7-point lead on 2 free throws by Claudia Rocha. Though Cleveland outrebounded North Hollywood, 12-9, in the second quarter, the Cavaliers turned the ball over twice as many times as the Lady Huskies and North Hollywood led, 27-18, at the half.

“At the half, we felt like the pace was too slow,” Allen said. “So we went from a zone to a man-to-man, and a man-to-man is our game.”

The effectiveness of North Hollywood’s defense became apparent midway through the third quarter. With the Lady Huskies ahead, 33-22, Melinda Anger knocked a Cleveland inbounds pass out of bounds. North Hollywood then knocked 2 more inbounds passes away before Michelle Cabaldon stole the fourth try and passed to teammate Shelby Serpa for an easy layup. Cleveland was held scoreless during the last 5 minutes of the third quarter.