Capistrano Valley Lets Air Out of Poway, 67-60 : Division I: With standout Tom Airey sidelined, defensive specialist Aaron Rhoades picks up Cougars on offense.

Capistrano Valley looked within for some help Tuesday night and found it.

The Cougars, playing without three-point ace Tom Airey, found a new star in Aaron Rhoades. He filled Airey’s shoes--not to mention the basket--helping Capistrano Valley pull off a 67-60 victory over Poway in the first round of the Southern California Division I boys’ basketball regionals.

Rhoades was his usual demon on defense as well, shutting down Kyle Milling, Poway’s leading scorer. But he took his game to the offensive end to advance the Cougars into Thursday’s second round against Westchester, which beat Riverside North, 78-69.

He scored 20 points, including four three-pointers. Rhoades’ production helped to lessen the blow of losing Airey, who had 127 three-pointers on the season but broke a foot in Saturday’s Southern Section I-AA championship game.

“Rhoades was tremendous,” Capistrano Valley Coach Mark Thornton said. “He turned the game around.”

Rhoades, a 6-foot-3 swingman, did his best work on defense. In the second half, he was put on the 6-7 Milling and limited him to three points.

Milling, who has signed with UC Santa Barbara, scored 10 points in the first half, but was tied up in knots by Rhoades and held well below his 25-point average. Four times in the second half, Milling appeared to have good position inside, but each time Rhoades forced a turnover.

“He seemed like the type of player who gets real frustrated,” Rhoades said. “I like to bang with people a little more then most players, so that’s what I did. It really got to him.”

Rhoades was equally annoying on offense, where the Cougars needed a lift. He woke the offense up in the first quarter, scoring eight points after the Cougars had fallen behind, 16-4.

Capistrano Valley (29-3) led by as many as eight in the second half before Poway (26-9) made a late run. The Titans closed to with two, 61-59, but Rhoades made two free throws with 22 seconds to give the Cougars a little breathing room.

Center Steve Ransom then made four free throws in the final 14 seconds to to clinch the victory.

Ransom, who played only one-minute in the first half because of foul trouble, scored 10 points in the second half--all on free throws. Not bad, considering he’s on a team that shoots less than 60% from the foul line.

Reserve forward Jeff Rosales, a forgotten player toward the end of the season, scored eight points in helping the Cougars to a 39-33 halftime lead. He made two three-pointers, both after having one contact lens knocked out.

Corey Kost, who started in Airey’s spot, and Eric Seiffert each scored 10 points.

“I don’t think they missed Airey,” Poway Coach Doug Wealch said. “Not the way they were putting the ball in the basket.”