PREP BASKETBALL : Rolling Hills Overpowers Ventura, 80-62, in Cage Tourney at Beverly Hills

In many basketball games it’s difficult to pinpoint the key to a victory.

That, however, was not the case in Rolling Hills’ 80-62 victory over Ventura on Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the 47th annual Beverly Hills Invitational.

Each coach alluded to the few minutes following a 43-43 tie as the key to the outcome. And Rolling Hills Coach Cliff Warren had the more pleasant explanation.

“I thought Steve Clover’s two steals were the key,” said Warren, who called a timeout with the teams deadlocked midway through the third quarter. “Up to that point I think we realized we were in a game against a solid team. After that we seemed to turn it up a notch.”

Ventura had erased an 11-point deficit with a 17-6 run and moved ahead, 45-44, with 3:40 remaining in the third quarter when Clover stole the ball and was fouled after an easy layup. He missed the free throw, but John Hardy scored on the rebound. Clover again stole the ball for an easy basket and Rolling Hills (5-0) never looked back.

“When we finally got ahead we went into the four corners and it ended up working against us,” said Ventura Coach Roy Gilmore. “But things like that happen in game situations. Once we got down 7 points, we just kind of lost heart and couldn’t get back into it.”

The Titans hit nine 3-point shots. Mark Tesar (19 points) led the charge with five 3-pointers, while Steve Clover (25 points) buried three. Hardy knocked down a game-high 29 points for Rolling Hills.

“We played a pretty solid game,” Warren said. “But we still have a long way to go to improve.”

Harvey Jones paced Ventura (3-2) with 14 points and Shawn Esgate contributed 13.

Rolling Hills plays Buena on Friday night. Buena defeated Notre Dame on Wednesday, 58-50.

St. Bernard 74, Palisades 62--Center Ed Stokes scored 12 of his game-high 27 points in the fourth quarter as the Vikings (5-1) survived the upset bid.

The Vikings trailed by as many as 6 points midway through the third quarter, but Stokes, who had just 4 points at halftime, caught fire.

Juno Armstrong chipped in with 19 points and Mark Raveling had 18.

Jason Edwards paced Palisades with 22.

St. Bernard scored the first 6 points of the game, but Palisades roared back to take a 34-30 halftime lead. Edwards led the Dolphins first-half charge with 17 points, including three 3-point shots.

Redondo 74, Saugus 48--Redondo (4-2) broke up a close game with a 22-9 second quarter and coasted to victory in the consolation quarterfinals of the Beverly Hills Tournament.

Four Sea Hawks scored in double figures with Mike Houck leading with 20, including four 3-pointers. David Dinnell tallied 18 and Ian Martin and Emmett Richardson 10 apiece.

Gardena 79, Hawthorne 67--Forward Curtis Greene scored 17 points to lead four Gardena players in double figures as the Mohicans (5-1) advanced to the consolation quarterfinals of the Goodman Tournament at Cal State Los Angeles. Hawthorne dropped to 1-4.

Forward Kevin Sanders and point guard Chris Thompson, who had four 3-point baskets, each added 16 for Gardena. Guard Darryl McMillan scored 15 as the Mohicans rebounded from a 78-75 first-round loss to L.A. Jordan on Tuesday.

South Bay’s Basketball Top 10 Selected by Times Sportswriters Records Through Tuesday’s Games Rank, School, League: Record 1 Westchester (Westn.): 2-1 2 Rolling Hills (Bay): 5-0 3 St. Bernard (Camino Real): 4-1 4 Morningside (Ocean): 3-2 5 Gardena (Southern): 4-1 6 Redondo (Pioneer): 3-2 7 Carson (Pacific): 3-4 8 Banning (Pacific): 4-2 9 Inglewood (Bay): 2-2 10 Bishop Mont. (Angelus): 5-2