Despite Tarver’s 18 Points, West Suffers 112-110 Loss to South in Basketball Opener

Shon Tarver, formerly of Santa Clara High, scored 18 points to keep the West team close, but the South pulled out a 112-110 victory in a first-round basketball game at the U.S. Olympic Festival on Saturday.

Lucious Harris, a former Cleveland High standout, had a chance to win the game for the West, but the 6-foot-5 forward missed a three-point shot from the baseline with two seconds remaining.

“After 15 minutes (on the bench), I got kind of cold,” said Harris, the Big West Conference Freshman of the Year at Cal State Long Beach last season. “Even so, I still thought I made the shot. When I let it go, it felt good.”

That Harris even had a chance to decide the game was largely due to the play of Tarver, a 6-5 guard who will attend Nevada Las Vegas.

Tarver, playing with a hyperextended right thumb, scored 14 second-half points.

“Even with that thumb, he had the hot hand,” said Dedan Thomas, the former Taft High and Antelope Valley College point guard who also is a Runnin’ Rebel-to-be. “When somebody is hot, you get him the ball.”

Thomas, who had three assists and two steals in 23 minutes, did just that for Tarver as the West roared back from a 63-48 deficit at halftime.

Tarver, who led Santa Clara High to the state Small Schools Division championship last season, said his injury was never a factor.

“As the game goes on, being an athlete, you’re used to distractions,” he said. “You just concentrate on doing your job.”

But for Tarver that job included trying to ignore one very large problem--7-1 Shaquille O’Neal, the South’s center.

O’Neal, of Louisiana State, had 10 blocked shots, but Tarver was not intimidated.

Tarver said he considered O’Neal just another part of his Olympic Festival learning experience.

“I got to get used to playing with these big guys like Shaquille,” Tarver said, “because next year I got (UNLV All-American) Larry Johnson to go through in practice.”

However, neither Tarver nor anyone else could stop the 285-pound O’Neal on offense. He finished with a game-high 26 points along with nine rebounds.

Travis Ford, a 5-10 point guard who will play for Missouri, added 25 points for the South, although he was kept in check when guarded by Thomas.

Harris, who struggled in making only four of 12 field-goal attempts and finished with 11 points, said he plans to keep shooting.

“I’ve been lighting it up in practice, just not today,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of bad games in my life.”

But rarely two in a row.

BASEBALL

Andrew Lorraine pitched 3 1/3 innings of hitless relief to earn a save in the first round of baseball competition, leading the West to an 8-5 victory over the South at the University of Minnesota.

With the West holding a 6-5 lead, Lorraine relieved Arizona-bound starter Mike Schiefelbien (1-0) with runners on first and third and two out in the sixth.

Lorraine, who graduated from Hart High last month, recorded a strikeout to end the inning and allowed just one baserunner over the final three innings.

CANOE/KAYAK

Dave and Fred Spaulding, brothers from Ventura, won a gold medal in the men’s 1,000-meter canoe doubles race with a time of 3 minutes 55.16 seconds. Joe Harper of Ventura teamed with Steward Carr of Indianapolis to finish seventh in the event in 4:22.14.

CYCLING

Scott Skellenger of Thousand Oaks won a silver medal in the men’s one-kilometer race, finishing in 1:13.60.

Paul Abrahams of Santa Ana won the race in 1:11.95.

He also placed second in the 3,000-meter pursuit qualifier.

Andy Wagher of Lancaster was sixth in the one-kilometer in 1:15.75.

FIELD HOCKEY

Brian Spencer, a 1984 Olympian from Palmdale, scored both goals as the West defeated the North, 2-1.

Spencer scored his first goal 17 minutes into the game, finishing an attack that was started by Tommy Hoang, from Westlake Village.

FIGURE SKATING (Singles)

Tish Walker of Thousands Oaks turned in a crowd-pleasing performance in the original program to place fourth among 16 women’s skaters.

SOFTBALL

Glendale’s Barbara Booth, catcher for the South, had two singles and scored a run in her team’s 9-3 loss to the East.