Unbeaten Newbury Park Coasts to 78-56 Win

Newbury Park High cruised to a 78-56 victory over Alemany in the first round of the Thousand Oaks tournament Tuesday night, but the verdict is still out on the undefeated Panthers, who won their sixth game without a loss.

“I think we’re a good ballclub,” said senior forward Wayne Cook, who scored 29 points--17 in the first half--against the winless Indians. “But we can still improve a lot.”

Newbury Park will play Marmonte League rival Camarillo, in a semifinal game at 7 tonight.

Camarillo held off Agoura, 52-51, in another opening-round game Tuesday.

It was difficult to tell how good Newbury Park was against Alemany (0-6). At times, the Panthers looked very good, for instance, when they went on a 12-0 run in a 2:25 span in the second quarter.

At other times, however, Newbury Park looked ordinary, for instance, when Alemany trimmed a 24-point Panther lead to 14 midway through the second quarter.

“I was worried about our intensity coming in,” Panther Coach Ken Barone said. “We’ve had a tendency to let down at times and we did again tonight in the fourth quarter.

“We played very intense basketball in the first half, but then we slacked off in the second.”

Alemany, ignited by Jon Beauchemin’s 29 points, narrowed the Newbury Park lead to 66-52 with 3:35 to play, but the Panthers put the game away with a 6-0 run keyed by 4 points from Cook and 2 from reserve Amir Elfara.

Brian Swanson added 10 points for Alemany, which plays Agoura in a consolation semifinal at 5:30 tonight.

Camarillo 52, Agoura 51--Agoura forward Jeff Ingalls missed the second of 2 free throws with no time remaining in another first-round game.

Ingalls had been fouled by Jason Hunt while attempting a 23-foot jump shot at the buzzer. Ingalls’ second free throw would have capped a superb run by Agoura (1-6) in the last 2 minutes.

The Chargers trailed, 52-46, with 2:07 remaining, but John Thoe made a jump shot and Gabe Bennett followed with a layup before Ingalls’ final attempt.

Camarillo (4-2) was led by sophomore guard David Harbour, who scored a game-high 20 points, and Frank Dews, who added 17.