BEVERLY HILLS TOURNAMENT : Tyner, Byrne Lead Royal to Title, 77-65

David Tyner’s 14 first-quarter points gave Royal High what figured to be an insurmountable lead in Saturday night’s championship game of the Beverly Hills tournament.

But when Redondo mounted a fourth-quarter comeback, cutting the Highlanders’ 16-point lead to two, Tyner again came to the rescue, scoring eight points in the final 3 minutes 15 seconds as Royal won the championship, 77-65.

Royal (7-1) led, 26-14, after the first quarter, 35-26 at halftime and 50-39 after three quarters. A basket by Jared Byrne, named the tournament’s most outstanding player, and two free throws and a three-point basket by Tyner boosted the lead to 57-41 early in the fourth quarter.

But the Sea Hawks (6-3) responded with a 16-2 run, cutting the lead to 59-57 with 4:37 left. Redondo’s Ted Silva and Jason Correa both missed shots that would have tied the score, and Silva missed the front end of a one and one.

Redondo again closed to within two when Silva’s basket cut Royal’s lead to 63-61 with three minutes left. Tyner, who finished with 31 points, then ignited a game-closing 14-4 spurt.

In other games:

Ventura 66, Saugus 55--The Cougars, who have won this tournament a record eight times, came away with the consolation title, breaking open what had been a close contest by scoring the game’s final eight points, all from the free-throw line.

Ventura (3-3) held Saugus (5-3) scoreless after Chris Hernandez’s layup cut the Cougar lead to 58-55 with 1:22 left.

Jon Seiler made four free throws and Larry Anter and Curtis Vaughn each hit two to seal the victory.

“We played very well,” said Ventura Coach Dan Larson, the tournament’s most valuable player when he led the Cougars to championships in 1976 and 1977. “We overcame a stupid first half. We only turned the ball over twice in the second half against a real tough defense.”

Saugus shot 33.8% from the field, making 22 of 65 attempts.

“We had the wrong guys shooting the ball, which I guess is my fault,” Saugus Coach John Clark said. “I didn’t think we were very tough down the stretch inside.”

Playing in a gym forever immortalized in the film “It’s a Wonderful Life,” Saugus led, 45-43, after three quarters. After Ventura’s Chris Rockwell and Hernandez exchanged baskets to open the quarter, the Cougars went on a 9-2 run, taking a lead they would not relinquish.

Ventura held a 28-27 lead at intermission. But the advantage and the game almost got away from the Cougars. Geoff Dains hit three three-point shots, giving Saugus a 38-30 lead. Ventura regrouped with a 7-0 spurt later in the quarter.

Seiler (17 points) led three Cougar players in double figures. Mike Ryken added 14 and Randy Martinez 12. Dains led Saugus with 17 points and foul-plagued center Greg Yumbar had 11.

Buena 81, Rolling Hills 77--Lance Fay’s three free throws in the final 42 seconds clinched the win for Buena (4-3) in the fifth-place game.

Fay, who was named to the all-tournament team, and Matt Burtolin each had 18 for Buena. Nick Houchin and Matt Egan contributed 16 and 13.

Notre Dame 54, Rio Mesa 51--Kirk Miller’s two free throws with 31 seconds left gave Notre Dame its final margin of victory in the seventh-place game.

G. C. Marcaccini had a game-high 21 points, plus 11 rebounds for Notre Dame (7-3). Monte Marcaccini, G. C.’s sophomore brother, added 11 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Manuk Kayaoglu, a foreign exchange student from Turkey, scored 16 points for Rio Mesa (1-5).

Glendale 56, Westlake 49--Jerry Armen had 19 points and six assists and Jason Harper had 12 points and 12 rebounds for Glendale (3-4) in a consolation game.