Agoura Heats Up and Cools Simi Valley, 64-57

A slow start proved to be no problem for for Agoura High in its Marmonte League boys’ basketball game Friday night against Simi Valley at Royal High.

The Chargers rallied in the second half, making 11 of 14 shots, to beat the Pioneers, 64-57.

Brian Laibow helped turn it around in the second half. He scored 12 of Agoura’s 21 points during the third quarter, when the Chargers took their first lead since the opening seconds.

“I know now that if I’m not playing well in the beginning, I can just keep shooting and it will come,” Laibow said.

Agoura rallied to tie the game midway through the third quarter, when Laibow scored all the points in a 10-2 run that gave the Chargers the lead for good.

“He just kind of took control,” Simi Valley Coach Dean Bradshaw said.

Laibow finished with 28 points.

Agoura (11-8, 8-2) remained tied for first place with Royal and Westlake, and dropped Simi Valley (16-4, 6-4) two games back.

“This was the separation game for us,” Laibow said. “We’ve got four more games and if we win them all, we’re champs.”

The Charger turnaround was not limited to Laibow. The team made 39% of its shots in the first half and 79% in the second.

Simi Valley shot 44% for the game, 46% in the first half and 42% in the second.

You wouldn’t have thought Agoura could win had you simply looked at the battle of the centers. The Chargers’ Ben Richardson was held to one point--which came in the fourth quarter--while the Pioneers’ Dan van Etten scored 24.

The Pioneers led throughout a tight first half.

The edge for Simi Valley was shutting down Richardson. With 4:32 to play in the second quarter, Richardson went down in a heap scrambling for a loose ball and bruised the right side of his head. He lay on the floor for about five minutes and did not return until the third quarter.

Laibow took over the scoring load, scoring 12 of Agoura’s 27 first-half points.

“With Ben out, I knew I had to step it up,” he said.

Agoura also had trouble shooting from the outside in the first half, missing its seven three-point shots.

Simi Valley made two of four three-point shots and 14 of 30 overall. Agoura struggled with nine-for-23 shooting in the first half.

It was a first-half reversal from the teams’ first meeting at Agoura when the Pioneers shot under 30%. Agoura made better than 55%, cruising to victory.

This time, the Pioneers led, 30-27, at halftime. But in the second half, the game looked similar to the first meeting. Agoura went to a trapping defense and forced nine turnovers in the second half. The Chargers also made four of five three-pointers.