GIRLS’ BASKETBALL / SIMI VALLEY TOURNAMENT : Thorpe Puts Simi Valley to Sleep Semifinals: Newbury Park forward wakes up with 10 points in fourth quarter as Panthers rally for 59-46 victory.

For the better part of three quarters Thursday night, Newbury Park High’s Jann Thorpe was tougher to find than Waldo.

The senior forward was shut out, both in the scorebook and on the backboards, as her Panthers struggled to keep pace with Simi Valley.

Thorpe, however, scored 10 of her 14 points in the fourth quarter to lead Newbury Park to a 59-46 victory over the Pioneers in a semifinal of the Simi Valley tournament at Rancho Santa Susana Community Center.

The victory sets up a rematch of last season’s championship game against Alemany, a 53-40 winner over Ventura.

And Newbury Park wouldn’t be there if it weren’t for Thorpe and reserve Amy Berman.

Simi Valley (10-3) entered the fourth quarter with a 36-34 lead before Berman (10 points) hit two three-point attempts and teammate Julie Wastell added another for a 43-36 Panther advantage.

“With a team like Newbury, you have to keep up with them for four quarters,” said Pioneer forward Tawnee Cooper (11 points). “Tonight, we only stayed with them for three.”

Then the Panthers, ranked 10th in the state, took off on a 19-3 run to put away their ninth straight victory over their Marmonte League rivals.

“Someone had to wake our team up,” said Thorpe, who had all four of her rebounds in the final eight minutes. “Amy did just that.”

Simi Valley guard Angela Mosesso had the same effect on her team a quarter earlier. She connected for three consecutive three-pointers to give the Pioneers a 36-32 lead.

Mosesso had 12 points, while teammate Jamie Griffin added nine.

Wastell scored 14 points and Kara McKeown contributed 10 points and nine rebounds for Newbury Park (11-1).

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Alemany 54, Ventura 40--Carly Funicello scored 23 points for the Indians (7-0) in the other semifinal. Alemany will attempt to win its third consecutive Simi Valley tournament championship.

Kelly McKay added 14 points for Alemany, while Ventura’s Ember Brown scored 13.

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North Hollywood 67, Kennedy 57--Anna Celaya had 28 points to become North Hollywood’s career scoring leader in a fifth-place semifinal game.

Celaya, a senior guard, has 961 career points, surpassing the mark of 938 set by Jacinda Sweet from 1989-91.

Bobbie Celaya added 13 points for the Huskies (4-2). Kennedy (8-5) was paced by Tamaya Morris, who scored 19 points.

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Chaminade 48, Channel Islands 47--Nicole Rossi scored with 53 seconds left for Chaminade (7-4) in the fifth-place semifinals.

Rossi finished with 11 points, while teammate Shawnte Mitchell led all scorers with 21 points. Eleanor Ecoffey scored 16 points and Judy Tuimoloau added 14 for Channel Islands (5-4).

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Bell-Jeff 53, Louisville 48--Stacy Cobb scored 16 points and Felicia Flores added 14 for the Guards (6-3) in a consolation semifinal. Becky Witt had 14 points and six steals for Louisville (5-5).

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Hart 46, Pasadena 30--Jaclyn Kuptz scored 13 points and LaCresha Clark added 12 to lead Hart in a consolation semifinal.

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Canyon 48, Royal 40--Laura Tweedy scored 15 points, while Tanya McLaughlin and Danya Driggs each added 11 for Canyon in the 13th-place game. Jessica Cruz scored 12 points for Royal.

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Culver City 43, Burbank 41--Culver City outscored the Bulldogs, 15-9, in the fourth quarter to win the 15th-place game.