Southern Section Boys’ Basketball : Defensive Tricks Fail as Crescenta Valley Rolls Past Muir, 66-53

Although Crescenta Valley High guard Raffie Eskandarian scored a game-high 21 points in the Falcons’ 66-53 win over Muir on Wednesday night, his biggest contribution might have been his press-breaking capabilities.

“They played this crazy press and we just attacked it real well,” Falcon Coach John Goffredo said.

It did not take long for Crescenta Valley to dismantle the unorthodox defensive scheme as it took a 14-0 lead in the Pacific League opener.

Muir battled back, however, and outscored the Falcons by 7 in the second quarter to cut the deficit to 10 at the intermission, 35-25.

The Mustangs trimmed the lead to 37-31 early in the third quarter but were unable to sustain the rally. Muir’s poor free-throw shooting did not help its cause. The Mustangs made 6 of 16 and Crescenta Valley hit 25 of 34.

In another Pacific League opener:

Arcadia 45, Hoover 42--John Hillman scored 22 points for Hoover.

Hoover converted just 15 of 59 field-goal attempts.

MARMONTE LEAGUE

Newbury Park 61, Thousand Oaks 51--Newbury Park parlayed a 17-3 third-quarter edge at Thousand Oaks into its first Marmonte League win.

Leading, 32-30, at halftime, the Panthers (10-4, 1-2) pressured Thousand Oaks (6-8, 1-2) into 8 third-quarter turnovers. “That’s been our big quarter all year,” Newbury Park Coach Ken Barone said.

Wayne Cook, who scored a game-high 17 points, and sophomore Chris Falzone (16), each scored 6 points in the third quarter. Sophomore point guard Tim Lane recorded 11 assists for Newbury Park and Cook added 10 rebounds.

John Bushart--who scored 16 points to lead Thousand Oaks--and John McMaster (13) led a fourth-quarter rally as the Lancers outscored Newbury Park, 18-12.

Camarillo 77, Channel Islands 47--Guard David Harbour scored a season-high 37 points and teammates Frank Dews and Scott Foster scored 12 each as the Scorpions cruised to a Marmonte League victory at Channel Islands.

Camarillo, unbeaten in league play, led by 6 at the intermission but exploded in the second half to outscore the Raiders by 24.

Jerry Williams and Walter Matthews shared team-high honors for Channel Islands with 10 each. The Raiders are 0-4 in league play.

TRI-VALLEY LEAGUE

Oak Park 53, Fillmore 49 (2 OTs)--Scott Ziegler made 4 free throws in the second overtime to lift Oak Park in the Tri-Valley League opener at Oak Park.

Fillmore’s Ivan Ybarra hit consecutive 3-point shots in the final minute of the fourth quarter to tie the score, 44-44.

Ziegler and Ben Feick each scored 12 to lead Oak Park (5-10).