HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL : Knight’s Night Helps Ramona Upset El Camino

Ramona center Travis Knight made his share of big plays Friday night against El Camino.

But none was bigger than the pass he knocked away from El Camino center Shaun Scurry in the closing seconds of Ramona’s 71-69 upset of top-ranked El Camino.

Scurry scrambled for the loose ball, but Knight knocked it off Scurry’s head and out of bounds. The play typified the performances of Knight and Scurry.

After averaging 26 points over his last four games, Scurry scored but seven points and grabbed six rebounds while playing about half the game.

Knight, coming off a three-point performance Wednesday against San Marcos, scored 22 points, grabbed 18 rebounds and blocked seven shots.

The Ramona victory created a three-way tie for first place in the Avocado League--Ramona, El Camino and San Pasqual are 8-2 with four games remaining. El Camino and San Pasqual meet Wednesday at San Pasqual.

Scurry hyperextended his knee in practice this week and was clearly favoring it, but he refused to use his injury as an excuse.

“It wasn’t bothering me,” said Scurry, who made only two of 13 shots from the field. “For some reason, I wasn’t ready to come out and play. I stood around too much. Coach did the right thing by sitting me down. I wasn’t contributing.”

But Scurry wasn’t the only El Camino player to have an off night. After scoring 33 points in El Camino’s first meeting with Ramona--an 84-72 Wildcat victory--shooting guard Jeff Reeves, playing with a jammed thumb on his shooting hand, was only six-for-23 from the field and finished with 19 points.

Ramona controlled the game throughout, building leads of 10, 11 and 13 in the first, third and fourth quarters. But each time it looked like El Camino (15-4) was going to get blown away, it fought back by pressuring Ramona into forced shots and turnovers.

Ramona (12-5) led 60-47 with six minutes left in the game, but Reeves scored nine of the Wildcats’ 13 points in a run that trimmed the lead to 64-60 with 4:17 left. All of Reeves’ points came on three-pointers, the last of which was launched from about 30 feet.

El Camino trailed 69-63 with 2:38 remaining, but a Russell White tip-in and a Heath McCoy (18 points) layup off a steal of Ramona guard Alfonso De La Nuez (18 points) made it 69-67 with 2:02 left.

Reeves had a chance to tie it at 69 with 1:05 left, but he missed an open baseline jumper.

El Camino Coach Ray Johnson said the game was lost before Reeves’ missed jumper and Knight’s defensive play.

“We played like the Tin Man--we came out with no heart,” he said. “I thought we were beyond that.”