BOSCO TECH TOURNAMENT : Camarillo Plays Poorly in 62-59 Loss to Schurr

Any type of Camarillo High loss is sour to Coach John Harbour’s taste, but Thursday’s 62-59 defeat at the hands of Schurr in the championship quarterfinals of the Bosco Tech tournament was particularly distasteful.

Camarillo (5-2), playing without ailing starters Rick Schnell and Scott Foster, struggled behind a 33% shooting effort from the field and what Harbour felt was poor defense.

“We were horrible,” Harbour said, after a postgame team meeting that lasted 30 minutes. “I can live with losing, but not the way we did.”

Camarillo trailed by as many as seven points in the final quarter but rallied behind David Harbour. Harbour, who scored a school-record 50 points Tuesday, scored five points in 31 seconds to pull Camarillo within 60-59 with 1:28 left.

After Scott Higa missed the front end of a one-and-one, Camarillo blew an opportunity to take the lead when Harbour missed a three-point shot with 48 seconds left. Schurr’s Aaron Kovacs hit both ends of a one-and-one with 22 seconds left to give Schurr a 62-59 lead, and Harbour missed a 23-foot jump shot with 11 seconds left.

Harbour finished with a game-high 31 points but hit only nine of 28 shots. Camarillo was just 17 of 52 from the field and passed the ball around the perimeter too much for John Harbour’s satisfaction.

“The other kids can’t expect David to do it all,” he said. “They’re afraid. They stand out there and throw the ball around, and nobody will penetrate.”

Camarillo missed the scoring and rebounding of Foster, a 6-5 senior forward who is out two to six weeks because of mononucleosis. The Scorpions also lost Schnell, a 5-10 point guard, for two to four weeks after he underwent an emergency appendectomy Tuesday.

Also, backup center Geoff Gordon was in Michigan visiting family members, which left Camarillo with an inexperienced and undermanned team since the Scorpions won the Page (Ariz.) tournament last week.

“We were trying to get guys to do some things that they’ve never done,” John Harbour said. “We were outta whack.”

Camarillo will meet Dorsey at 5 p.m. today, the winner playing for fifth place Saturday. For his sanity’s sake, Harbour hopes a different Camarillo team takes the floor. “It’s frustrating because I know what we’re headed for when we play our local teams; they’re three times as tough as Schurr,” he said.

In another tournament quarterfinal:

Hart 87, Venice 78--Hart (6-2) used a strong third quarter to overcome a six-point halftime deficit and held on.

Micah Ohlman scored a game-high 34 points, including five three-point baskets, and made eight of nine free throws in the fourth quarter to key the comeback. Renato Rivas added 22 points for Hart.

Ohlman hit three three-point shots in the fourth quarter, including one with four minutes remaining to give the Indians a 77-66 advantage. However, Venice (4-6) went on a 6-0 run to pull within five with 2:35 remaining.

Ohlman hit eight free throws down the stretch to kill the rally.

Venice led at the half, 45-39, and scored the first basket of the third quarter. However, Hart went on a 13-2 run in a three-minute span to take a 52-49 advantage with 3:44 left in the quarter.

Rivas’ jump shot with 16 seconds left in the quarter gave Hart a 62-56 lead.