Hart Shuts Down Thousand Oaks

It might have been unusually cold outside Saturday night, but inside the Hart High gymnasium it was hot.

Really hot--as in the heat of battle.

Hart wanted to avenge a loss to Thousand Oaks earlier this season; the Lancers wanted to prove that they could beat the Indians again. And both wanted to advance to the girls’ Southern Section 5-A Division basketball quarterfinals.

Hart earned the berth by thumping the Lancers, 60-42.

The Indians embarked on an 8-2 run with 4 minutes 26 seconds remaining in the third quarter to pull ahead, 43-37. The Lancers never caught up.

Hart held high-scoring Thousand Oaks guard Michelle Palmisano scoreless in the fourth quarter, a period in which the Indians (22-4) made 11 free throws and increased their lead to the final 18-point margin. Palmisano finished with 19 points.

“We know how good she is,” said Hart’s Anjanette Dionne, who scored 22 points and had six assists. “She got 50 points in her last game (a 74-51 win over Santa Maria). We knew that our defense had to work around her.”

Hart led, 8-4, but Palmisano scored two quick three-point baskets to give Thousand Oaks (15-12) the lead.

“All week in practice we worked on containing her (Palmisano), but those two shots really caught us off guard,” said Sara Wilson, Hart’s All-American center who scored a game-high 23 points.

Wilson scored six consecutive points, but Nicole Orr made a layup to tie the score, 12-12, with 2:26 left in the first quarter.

Thousand Oaks then scored seven unanswered points, including another three-point basket by Palmisano to lead, 19-14, after one quarter.

But it was all Hart in the second quarter. Dionne opened with a three-point basket and made a layup to tie the score, 19-19, with 7:20 left in the period. Hart went on to take a 35-26 halftime lead.