THOUSAND OAKS TOURNAMENT : Lancers Lay Claim to Own Tournament for 1st Time

When the Thousand Oaks High basketball team’s run-and-gun machine sputtered Friday night in the championship game of the Thousand Oaks tournament, the Lancers found an unlikely spark plug.

Shane Graham, a 6-foot-6, 220-pound junior center, came off the bench in the second half to score 12 of his 14 points in leading Thousand Oaks to an 84-80 victory over Nogales and its first championship in the 19-year history of the tournament.

Thousand Oaks (3-0) had scored 193 points in the first two games of the tournament.

“We struggled tonight,” Thousand Oaks Coach Ed Chevalier said. “Graham came in and got some crucial rebounds and made some real key free throws.”

Graham hit a short jump shot at the end of the third quarter to break a 61-61 tie and scored five of Thousand Oaks’ first eight points in the fourth period. He also hit a free throw to give the Lancers a 75-65 advantage with 2 minutes 6 seconds to play.

“I missed some easy shots early in the game and wanted to redeem myself,” Graham said. “I was real tired and wanted to come out, but we were determined to win the championship for the first time.”

Thousand Oaks’ Chris Loll, a senior forward who was playing on a severely sprained ankle, scored a game-high 26 points and had 84 in the three games. Loll was selected the tournament’s most valuable player.

Thousand Oaks led, 79-77, with 51 seconds to play. Loll converted four free throws down the stretch to help put the game out of reach with seven seconds to play.

Nogales (5-2) trailed, 76-69, with 1:06 left, but Carne Wilson scored eight points within 47 seconds on two three-point baskets and a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to 81-77 with 19 seconds to play.

Andrew Borg scored 17 points and Graham and Dusty Lysobey each had eight rebounds.

“Nogales is a good team,” Chevalier said. “They’re quick and made us work for our victory. I’m proud of our effort. It was a real good test for us.”

In other tournament games:

Agoura 84, Alemany 68--Sean Martin poured in 31 points, including 17 in the first half, and Richard Corridori had 24 to lead Agoura in the third-place game.

Martin, a 6-foot guard who scored 49 points in a loss to Nogales in the semifinals, has scored 146 points in his past four games.

Agoura (3-2) led by as many as 22 in the third quarter, but Alemany (4-3) closed to within 14 midway through the fourth period.

Richard Dice and Will Burr had 26 and 20 points for Alemany.

Newbury Park 92, Hueneme 72--Tim Lane scored 23 points and Robert Fick added 19 to lead Newbury Park (2-4) in the seventh-place game. Tony Smith paced Hueneme (3-6) with 23 points and Wendell Nunnery had 18.

Calabasas 67, Oxnard 47--Calabasas (3-4) led, 22-3, after one quarter in the consolation final.