Royal Ends Simi Valley Dominance : Myers Scores 31 as Highlanders Halt 8-Game Skid

Royal High, Marmonte League basketball misfit for so long, basketball undesirables in Simi Valley for so long, is a stepchild no longer.

The Highlanders had to sit and watch as intracity rival Simi Valley--separated from Royal by a mere 5-mile stretch of the 118 Freeway, garnered 3 consecutive Marmonte League titles and a Southern Section 4-A Division title.

Royal, in the meantime, could muster only gallant efforts against its nemesis. But all the moral victories still added up to 8 consecutive losses against the Pioneers, dating to 1985.

But behind a career-high 31 points by center Russell Myers, Royal ended that streak with a 71-67 victory Wednesday night at Royal. And with the win, the Highlanders perhaps finally put behind them a frustrating period of basketball disrepair.

“It’s tough, it’s tough,” second-year Royal Coach Joe Malkinson said. “But we have to earn our stripes. We have to start at the bottom and earn the respect to get the press and get the kids thinking about it. You have to earn it.”

Simi Valley is 8-2 in league play and still in first place; Royal is 5-5 and still on the brink of playoff elimination. But the feeling that the Highlanders had taken a substantial stride in the direction of prosperity was strong.

“It’s just as high as you could possibly think of,” Royal forward J. P. Ouellette said. “The team finally played good for four quarters. I’m just on a real high right now.”

Ouellette, a senior who had never played on a team that had beaten Simi Valley, scored 21 points, including 4 from the free-throw line in the final 23 seconds to clinch the victory. Simi Valley, which never led after early in the second quarter, closed to within 3 points twice in the fourth quarter. Both times Myers answered with key shots.

“I think Russell is, in my opinion, a big-time player,” Malkinson said. “I don’t think anyone can guard him. He’s too quick.”

Certainly no one for Simi Valley had much luck. Myers did all of his damage inside.

“I think the type of shots they got was a key to the ballgame,” Simi Valley Coach Dean Bradshaw said. “We obviously broke down internally and made Russell Myers look like a high school All-American.”

Myers made 12 of 14 field-goal attempts, Ouellette 6 of 10 and Royal 24 of 44 as a team. The Highlanders led by as many as 7 points in the second quarter, during which Ouellette scored 10 points.

Simi Valley made only 26 of 61 field-goal attempts.

Royal (10-12 overall) needs to win its remaining games--against Newbury Park and Thousand Oaks--to have a chance at the playoffs. That fact was not lost on the Royal players.

“We had to win all three of them,” Ouellette said. “We got one down and two to go.”

Imagine that--Royal still talking playoffs with two games left. It’s not so far-fetched anymore.