Hit-and-Miss Thousand Oaks Gets a Split

Shaky free-throw shooting cost Thousand Oaks High a victory Monday night against Fairfax, and nearly cost the Lancers again Tuesday.

Thousand Oaks made only four of eight free throws in the fourth quarter but hung on to defeat South Lake Tahoe, 61-60, in a consolation game of the Above the Rim tournament.

The Lancers (6-3) took a 58-51 lead with 1 minute 30 seconds left on a basket by Michael Lauer.

But Thousand Oaks missed the front end of two one-and-one opportunities, and Lake Tahoe sank three three-point shots, the last with three seconds left.

“That’s been the way this team’s been,” Thousand Oaks Coach Ed Chevalier said. “Free-throw shooting’s a problem, and we need to address it.”

The Lancers missed 12 of 19 free throws in a 70-56 loss to Fairfax and were 18 for 27 against South Lake Tahoe.

Jason Hartman, coming off a 25-point, 18-rebound game against Fairfax, had 17 points and eight rebounds against South Lake Tahoe. Peter Lauer had 22 points.

After losing to Oak Hill Academy, Va. (ranked sixth in the nation by USA Today), 106-43, Chatsworth fared better Tuesday, beating Monsignor Bonner from Drexel Hill, Pa., 65-60.

Chatsworth (7-4) lost all of a 40-16 first-half lead by the end of the third quarter, when Bonner pulled into a 49-49 tie on a barrage of three-pointers. The Chancellors scored the first four points of the fourth quarter and maintained their lead.

Chatsworth’s Eddie Miller had 16 points and six rebounds, and Trenell Floyd added 12 points and eight rebounds.