SIMI VALLEY GIRLS’ TOURNAMENT : Westlake Downs Simi Valley to Reach Title Game

That Westlake High has never been to the championship game of a girls’ basketball tournament showed a little on Friday. The Warriors were scheduled to face Simi Valley in the semifinals of the Simi Valley tournament with a berth in the final on the line.

With that much at stake, few coaches would schedule another game that same day. But Westlake ran over St. Monica, 90-12, in an opening-round game in the Thousand Oaks tournament early Friday before slipping past the Pioneers, 59-46, in the tail end of the doubleheader.

“We looked at the first game as more of a practice,” said junior guard Dani O’Byrne, who scored a game-high 20 points against Simi Valley.

Indeed, Westlake (8-0) hardly broke a sweat against St. Monica, and no starter played more than 12 minutes. But Simi Valley (6-4) made the Warriors work in the nightcap.

Westlake led by as many as 14 points in the first half, but the Pioneers twice cut the gap to five points in the third quarter.

That’s when O’Byrne, an All-Southern Section selection as a sophomore last season, took over. During one span in the second half, she connected on five consecutive shots, each from about 15 feet.

Lauren Goldstine added 15 points and Melissa Gische tossed in 13 to help pace the Warriors, who will meet Buena tonight for the title.

Tammi Pacheco paced the Pioneers with 13 points. Simi Valley will meet Hart, a 48-30 loser to Buena, in the third-place game.

Buena 48, Hart 30--Sara Wilson scored 10 points for Hart (8-2) and teammate Anjanette Dionne was limited to seven.

Newbury Park 66, Canoga Park 43--Kym Hagemann scored 27 points and Marcie James added 18 as the Panthers routed the Hunters in a fifth-place semifinal. Caryl Lee scored 15 points and Joo Yoon added 10 for Canoga Park (4-2).

Santa Clara 38, Burbank 24--Five players scored at least five points to lead Santa Clara in the consolation semifinal. Tiffany Miller led the Saints (2-8), who will play La Reina for the consolation title. Burbank (1-6) was led by Renata Vavrusa, who scored six points.

La Reina 46, Dos Pueblos 33--Heather Freeman scored 12 points to lead La Reina (5-5).