Camarillo Retains League Title Hopes With 71-66 Win : Simi Valley Fails to Clinch Crown Outright After Taking 9-Point Third-Quarter Lead

David Harbour flashed into the lane early in a Marmonte League game against Simi Valley High Wednesday night and scored on a left-handed layup.

And when the Camarillo sophomore emerged from the other side, his jersey was shredded--sliced clean between the R and I in Camarillo, through the 2 and 1 on his uniform number. Through the mesh it looked as though his heart had been removed.

Maybe coincidentally, Harbour, Camarillo’s leading scorer, missed all but two of his final nine field-goal attempts. But with the heart of the Scorpions’ scoring attack misfiring, Frank Dews and Rick Schnell stepped in to lead Camarillo to a crucial 71-66 victory at Camarillo.

If the Scorpions win at Newbury Park on Friday night, they will share the league title with Simi Valley, the three-time defending champion.

“This is what everyone has wanted all year,” said Schnell, who scored eight points in the final 5:35 to finish with 14. “One more win and we’re co-champions. Look, everyone’s walking around with smiles on their faces.”

Not the least of whom was Dews, a senior forward who scored a game-high 23 points--nine in the final quarter. He made all three of his field-goal attempts and added two free throws with 14 seconds left that gave Camarillo a 70-66 lead.

“It was Frank Dews and Rick Schnell who made the difference down the stretch offensively,” Camarillo Coach John Harbour said. “Some steals, pressure defense and three-point shots made the difference. Frankly, there were many times in the game I didn’t think we’d get over the hump.”

It looked most bleak for Camarillo early in the third quarter, when Simi Valley started the half with a 10-2 run to take a 45-36 lead. The Scorpions struck back with a 14-4 dash for a 50-49 advantage 30 seconds into the fourth quarter.

“We made our run and they matched it,” Simi Valley Coach Dean Bradshaw said.

From there, the lead changed hands four times before Simi Valley’s Jeff Marciano scored the last of his 21 points on a three-point shot with 48 seconds left that tied the score, 66-66.

Dews, however, scored from 17 feet away 26 seconds later and Camarillo led, 68-66.

In the Pioneers’ next possession, Steve Carnes drove the lane and plowed into Camarillo’s Scott Foster. It was called a charge, and from there Camarillo made three of five free throws to seal their first win over Simi Valley since 1986.

“I didn’t even see him,” said Carnes, who minutes earlier had made two key defensive plays. “It’s real disappointing. We wanted to come in here, we wanted to win this game, but we just couldn’t do it.”

Simi Valley ends the regular season 16-8, 9-3 in the league--better than most thought when preseason predictions were issued.

“We wanted to do it ourselves,” Bradshaw said. “But we’re happy. These kids have had more pressure on them than any other team at this school because of the past history. And we didn’t back down from that challenge.”

Camarillo (16-6, 8-3) was the last team other than Simi Valley to win a league title, and its chance to take part of it back nearly slipped away when the Pioneers began to pull away in the third quarter.

“We saw they were going on their run,” David Harbour said, “and realized if we wanted any chance to share the league championship we had better start putting on the pressure.”

The Scorpions made 29 of 56 field-goal attempts, including 12 of 17 in the first quarter and eight of 11 in the fourth. Simi Valley made 22 of 46, but hit only 17 of 29 free throws.

Mike Wawryk added 19 points for Simi Valley and Kenny Hood had 11 off the bench.

For Camarillo, Ed Lane scored 10 points and Harbour, after scoring seven in the first quarter, finished with 11 points and one tattered jersey that proved more symbolic than anything.