HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL SIMI VALLEY TOURNAMENT : Taft Puts Up Fight Before Falling to Fremont, 68-64

Taft High faced the formidable task Wednesday of playing Fremont, ranked No. 2 in the state by Cal-Hi Sports, in the second round of the Simi Valley tournament.

And for more than half the contest, the Toreadors appeared to be intimidated by the idea.

But they rallied in time to force some perspiration from the Pathfinders, who escaped with a 68-64 win. Fremont improved to 3-1 and advanced to the semifinal round Friday, when it will meet North Hollywood at Simi Valley High in a rematch of last year’s City Section 3-A Division finalists.

Taft (2-1) could not overcame its slow start. The Toreadors made only six of 27 field-goal attempts (22%) in the first half and finished 20 of 54 (37%).

Senior guard Casey Sheahan, the team’s leading scorer last season with an average of 16.6 points a game, was only four of 19 from the field and finished with 11 points. He was one of 11 from three-point range.

“We came out scared,” Taft Coach Jim Woodard said. “We were in total fear of (Fremont).”

Yet Taft came back largely because of Fremont’s inability to convert easy baskets and the Pathfinders’ 27 turnovers.

Taft trailed by as many as 15 points in the third quarter and by eight, 49-41, early in the fourth.

But the Toreadors went on a 6-0 run that was capped by Adam James’ basket with 5 minutes 29 seconds to play that pulled Taft within 49-47.

Fremont outscored Taft, 12-6, over the next 1 1/2 minutes and took a 61-53 lead. Miguel Carrillo scored four unanswered points to pull Taft within 61-57 with 2:03 left, but Fremont hit seven of 11 free throws in the final 1:37 to keep Taft at bay.

“Once we got things going, we were OK,” Woodard said. “We scrapped, and put a little fear in them.”

Rex Saputo scored 16 points and Carrillo added 14 for Taft, which will meet Royal in a consolation game tonight at 8.

In other tournament games:

North Hollywood 61, Royal 43--DeShawn Harvey scored a game-high 18 points to lead the Huskies (4-0) in a second-round game in the championship bracket.

Sophomore Damon Ollie added 10 points for the Huskies. Steve Hodge scored 15 points to lead Royal (1-1).

Simi Valley 42, Alemany 38--Danny Alexander scored a team-high 12 points to lead the Pioneers in a slow-paced game in the championship bracket.

Kevin DeJong added seven points for Simi Valley (2-0) and limited Alemany forward Richard Dice to 17 points.

Santa Clara 67, Glendale 48--Art Barron scored 23 points, Stevie Amar added 16 and Chris Cole had 15 for Santa Clara (2-0) in a championship quarterfinal. The Saints will play Simi Valley in a semifinal game tonight at 7:15.

Mike Wright had 18 points for Glendale (1-1).

Kennedy 85, Oxnard 42--Greg Richardson scored a game-high 20 points for Kennedy in a consolation game. Jasper Satterwhite scored 12 points for Oxnard (1-2). Shauhin Talesh added 18 for Kennedy, which will play Camarillo for the consolation title Saturday at 3:45.

Camarillo 52, Keppel 49--Jimmy Harbour scored 12 points for Camarillo (2-1) in a consolation game.

Granada Hills 80, Palmdale 66--Shelton Simmons had 17 points and 14 rebounds and Tyrone Jackman added 17 points for Granada Hills (1-3) in a consolation game.