Simi Valley Clinches Share of Title

Greg Hess came bounding out of the visitors’ locker room at Simi Valley High with score book held high and that I’ve-found-the-cure-for-cancer look.

“Well, I just found out the real story,” the Westlake coach said with conviction. Listeners leaned forward in anticipation. “Five-for-16 from the line.”

Hess was explaining his Warriors’ 61-59 Marmonte League loss to Simi Valley on Friday night. Indeed, it was rather chilly around Westlake’s free-throw line (Simi Valley, on the other hand, made 19 of 26), but the real story was standing several yards away, entangled in one vicious high-five session.

Simi Valley’s Steve Carnes and Mike Wawryk, the high-fivers, scored 19 and 17 points, respectively, to help the Pioneers to a share of the league title. They now have won or shared four consecutive championships.

Simi Valley and Camarillo, which lost to Thousand Oaks on Friday, will play Wednesday at Camarillo where the Pioneers can win the title outright.

For Carnes and Wawryk, the win over Westlake was significant. Carnes, the lone returnee from last season’s Southern Section 4-A Division champion, admittedly has been erratic. His play Friday was confident, controlled and effective.

“Some nights I come in and the shots fall in, and other nights they won’t fall for nothing,” Carnes said. “Those things happen. I came in here knowing I had been playing inconsistently, and I just wanted to come out and play as good as I possibly could.”

The 6-1 junior scored 7 points in the fourth quarter, including 3 free throws in the final 3 minutes and 2 long-range jump shots that helped overcome a 47-45 Westlake advantage after 3 quarters.

“I think the kids really respect Steve’s athletic ability,” Simi Valley Coach Dean Bradshaw said. “He’s capable of bringing the guys to a level they’re not used to playing at.”

Wawryk gives Simi Valley (16-7, 9-2) a consistent inside threat. The 6-5 center, who had to leave the team over the summer because his family was moving, returned to Simi Valley just before the season began and 3 games ago won the starting job.

“It’s a good time for me to come out and show what I can do,” said Wawryk, who grabbed a team-high 8 rebounds and scored Simi Valley’s first 8 points of the fourth quarter, which the Pioneers opened with a 14-2 run.

Wawryk also helped contain Westlake center Kurt Schwan, who came into the game needing 3 rebounds for the single-season Westlake record (he got 9) and 11 points for the school’s career record (he got 6).

Peter Mladina led the Warriors (13-9, 6-4) with 16 points.