HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL SIMI VALLEY TOURNAMENT : Briggs Basket Sparks Upset of Santa Clara

The prospect of a Simi Valley High victory did not appear promising Friday night in a semifinal of the Simi Valley tournament.

The Pioneers, coming off a 9-17 season, were playing without starting guard Gordon Stolla, who sustained an ankle injury Monday. And they were facing Santa Clara, the two-time defending Southern Section Division IV champion, which had dealt Simi Valley its share of black eyes over the years.

Santa Clara had beaten Simi Valley in three of the teams’ four meetings--including a 41-point rout in the 1989 tournament.

But Ryan Briggs, a Simi Valley junior point guard, was unfazed. He capped a brilliant performance with a pull-up jump shot at the buzzer that gave Simi Valley a 52-50 win.

Simi Valley (3-0) will meet Fremont in the championship tonight at 9. Santa Clara will play North Hollywood at 7:15 in the third-place game.

Briggs, who was nine of 12 from the field and finished with a game-high 22 points, scored Simi Valley’s final nine points and brought the Pioneers back from a 50-46 deficit with 2 minutes 43 seconds left.

He hit a jump shot that pulled Simi Valley within 50-48 with 2:33 left. After Santa Clara (2-1) turned the ball over and missed the front end of a one-and-one, Briggs hit a jump shot that tied the score with 32 seconds left.

Santa Clara’s Chris Cole threw the ball out of bounds with 19 seconds left, setting up Briggs’ game-winner. Briggs, a hustling, scrappy sort, sat with his head buried in his hands during a postgame meeting. He choked back tears as his teammates offered hugs and congratulations.

“We were supposed to play our four games and just be the host of this thing,” Briggs said. “(Hitting a game-winning shot) is a dream come true. I’ll tell you, this is the greatest feeling I’ve had in a long time.”

Danny Alexander added 18 points for Simi Valley, which led, 27-21, at halftime but was blitzed, 20-9, in the third quarter. Santa Clara took a 41-36 lead heading into the final period. Simi Valley finished 22 of 37 (59.5%) from the field.

Stevie Amar scored 20 points and Cole added 13 for Santa Clara. The Saints shot only 19 of 49 (38.8%) from the field.

In other tournament games:

Fremont 66, North Hollywood 62--Fremont (5-1) built a 17-point first-half lead and hung on for the championship semifinal victory. The game was a rematch of last year’s City Section 3-A Division final, also won by Fremont.

Damon Ollie scored 19 points for North Hollywood, which pulled within 61-60 on Robert Hill’s jump shot with 1:02 left. But Todd Whitehead (14 points) answered with a basket with 48 seconds left to give Fremont a 63-60 lead.

Glendale 72, Royal 48--David Sofro scored 21 points and teammate Mike Wright had 16 points and eight rebounds as the Dynamiters (2-2) won the seventh-place game. Royal (1-3) was led by Brett Osterhoudt with 10 points.

Oxnard 52, Keppel 42--Dan Banuelos and Jasper Satterwhite each scored 13 points to lead Oxnard (2-2) to the third-place consolation title in a game that was shortened to three quarters because of a power outage. Matt Gonzales added 11 points for Oxnard.