Tarver Sparkles to Lead North Win : High school basketball: Santa Clara guard scores 38 points to break all-star mark set by MacLean in 1988.

Shon Tarver, making his final appearance before he joins the glitter of Las Vegas, enjoyed his final night with his name on the marquee in Ventura County.

Tarver, a 6-foot-5 guard from Santa Clara High who has committed to play for Nevada Las Vegas, scored a record 38 points as the North handed the South a 112-104 defeat in the Ventura County Coaches Assn. boys’ all-star game Friday night at Ventura High.

And it seemed only fitting that the Ventura County Coaches Assn. had honored Tarver between the first and second quarters.

“I wanted to play in Ventura County one last time,” Tarver said as he signed autographs afterward. “I enjoy the crowd here, and felt I owed it to them.”

Tarver had just used about seven of the first-quarter’s 10 minutes to display why he was accepting the award as the county’s Player of the Year. The two-time state Division IV Player of the Year, Tarver had leaped, cut, and sped past the South for 12 points.

His game total eclipsed the mark of 36 set by Don MacLean of Simi Valley in 1988.

The South players, however, did not not join the standing-room-only crowd as awed bystanders.

The South erased an eight-point deficit and took its first lead of the game, 72-71, on a basket from Moorpark’s Mike Granderson.

This time, the North, which previously had played sluggishly without Tarver, overcame its woes without him. It went on a 14-9 run to close the quarter with an 86-81 lead.

And Tarver added the finishing touches in the fourth. His third dunk gave the North an 88-81 lead and his third three-point basket gave the North its biggest lead at 100-89. When the South pulled within six at 108-102, Tarver came off the bench--he was saddled with five fouls (the game allows six personal fouls)--and added a jump shot and a pair of free throws to extend the North’s lead to 110-102.

Rio Mesa’s Eric Thomas complemented Tarver with 16 points, Buena’s Darren Shearer had 13, Buena’s Jeff Oliver added 11 and Hueneme’s Mike Spears scored 10.

Westlake’s B.J. Sena scored 20 points to lead five South players in double figures.

The North won the girls’ contest, 77-54, in a game that stretched the term all-star to its limit. The South, its roster patched together like a quilt, began the game with five players and three players joined the team at halftime.

The North, which never trailed, used the depth of its 10-player roster to its advantage. Vanessa Hackett (Hueneme) scored six of her 16 points to lead the North to a 20-17 lead after one quarter. The North led, 44-34, at halftime.

The South stayed close behind the play of Channel Islands’ Dani Brooks and Camarillo’s Nicole Victoria, who scored 13 and 11 first-half points. Victoria, The Times’ county player of the year, scored a game-high 18 points before fouling out with 1:30 to play.