Basketball Roundup : Freshman Directs Thousand Oaks Girls to Second-Round Victory Over Foothill

Freshman Michelle Palmisano scored a game-high 22 points and had 10 assists and 6 steals to lead Thousand Oaks High to 70-40 second-round victory over Foothill of Bakersfield on Monday night in the Thousand Oaks girls’ tournament at Thousand Oaks High.

Thousand Oaks (10-1) committed 6 turnovers in the first quarter and led only 18-17 entering the second period.

“We allowed Foothill to take advantage of our mistakes and allowed them to do things against us that they shouldn’t have,” Thousand Oaks Coach Chuck Brown said.

But behind Palmisano and senior guard Amy Chandler, who scored 10 of her 15 points in the second quarter, Thousand Oaks outscored Foothill, 19-4, to take a 37-21 halftime lead.

Behind Palmisano’s passing and junior forward Shani Smyth’s 8 third-quarter points, Thousand Oaks coasted the rest of the way. Foothill (0-5) scored only 2 points in the fourth quarter.

Foothill junior Kara Schuetz scored 21 points.

Thousand Oaks plays El Camino Real in a quarterfinal game today at 8 p.m. at Thousand Oaks High.

In other Thousand Oaks tournament games:

El Camino Real 64, Las Vegas Rancho (2) 19--The Conquistadores scored enough points (23) in the first quarter to win the second-round game at Thousand Oaks High.

The backcourt duo of Lisa Huffaker and Cathy Balint combined for 44 points. Huffaker, a senior, made 7 of 18 field-goal attempts and had 20 points. Balint, a junior, converted 12 of 19 shots and had a game-high 24 points.

El Camino Real (4-1) plays Thousand Oaks today at 8 p.m. in a quarterfinal game.

Righetti 45, Rio Mesa 44--The Spartans’ fourth-quarter rally fell short in the consolation second-round game at Thousand Oaks High.

Rio Mesa entered the final period trailing by 11 points but pulled to within 1 on a jump shot by senior forward Jackie Neder with 13 seconds left. Righetti missed its next shot but Rio Mesa turned the ball over as time ran out.

Neder had a game-high 27 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter. Ashley Whitten led Righetti (7-4) with 17 points. Rio Mesa (3-4) plays Las Vegas Rancho (2) today 1:30 p.m.

Las Vegas Rancho (1) 54, Simi Valley 45--Despite numerous rallies in the third and fourth quarter, Simi Valley could not overcome the speed and defense of undefeated Rancho (6-0) in the second-round game at Thousand Oaks High.

Simi Valley (7-4) pulled to within 2 points early in the fourth quarter on a jump shot by Josie Konsanke, who scored 8 points, but Rancho stole 2 passes to thwart the rally.

Simi Valley was led by senior Jill Schroeder, who scored 10 points. Tammy Pacheco added 9 and Konsanke finished with 8.

Revanda Whitley had a game-high 24 points for Rancho and Dion Wallace pulled down 16 rebounds.