Newbury Park Rallies Without Its Top Scorer

Playing without its leading scorer, the Newbury Park High girls’ basketball team rallied Wednesday to overcome Simi Valley in the final minutes, 50-45, in a semifinal game of the Simi Valley tournament.

The Panthers will face Alemany--a 52-35 winner over Ventura in the other semifinal game--for the championship tonight at 8:30.

Newbury Park (9-1), which has won eight consecutive games since losing to Alemany, 60-36, in the Alemany tournament, played without junior playmaker Julie Wastell, who reinjured her left ankle in a quarterfinal game Tueday.

While Wastell sat on the bench in street clothes, her teammates tried to fill the void. It wasn’t until late in the fourth quarter, however, that the Panthers proved they could play without her.

“This team is a young team and they made some mistakes, but they didn’t let up,” said Newbury Park Coach Nori Parvin, who started five non-seniors. “We knew if we kept it close enough, we could (win).”

Simi Valley (4-3), which set the pace in the first three periods, held a 40-36 lead to start the fourth.

Newbury Park, plagued by 10 turnovers in the first quarter, turned the ball over six more times in the first three minutes of the final period as its comeback attempt stalled.

But Christine Arguyo (11 points) made two free throws to tie it, 42-42, and later hit a 15-foot baseline jump shot to tie it again, 44-44, with 2 minutes 35 seconds remaining.

Then Simi Valley shooters went cold. The Pioneers, who were two of 20 from the field in the fourth quarter, had several scoring opportunities but could not convert.

Simi Valley sophomore Jamie Griffin, who scored a game-high 15 points, intercepted a pass at midcourt and had a breakaway layup, but missed the shot with the Pioneers down by one and less than a minute remaining.

Meanwhile, Newbury Park converted four of eight free throws in the final 91 seconds to clinch the victory.

Alemany 52, Ventura 35--Junior forward Samantha Rigley scored 21 points, including nine on three-point shots, to lead Alemany (10-0).

Kelly McKay and Carly Funicello each added 12 points for Alemany.