Camarillo Gets Other Side of Coin Against Hart, 61-31

The Camarillo High girls’ basketball team was tossed into the playoffs on Friday.

On Wednesday night, Hart tossed the Scorpions out.

Camarillo, which qualified for the Southern Section Division I-A playoffs by winning a three-way coin flip for the Marmonte League’s final berth, was trounced by the Indians, 61-31, in a first-round game at Valencia High.

The Indians (21-5) will meet third-seeded Fountain Valley (20-5) in a second-round game Saturday at Fountain Valley. Hart has not advanced past the second round since 1989-90, when it won a Southern Section title.

It took the Indians a while to warm up. Amanda Hoaglund hit a shot from the lane and LaCresha Clark added a steal and three-point basket for a 15-6 lead after one quarter.

“I think that three-pointer snapped us back to reality,” said Clark, a senior guard who had 17 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals.

Clark scored eight points in the second quarter as the Indians continued a 25-8 blitz that broke the game open.

It also didn’t hurt that Camarillo (7-17) made two of 28 shots and committed 19 turnovers in a span of 21 minutes.

“It wasn’t a pretty game,” Camarillo Coach Tara McLean-Emery said. “They had us at every angle.”

Hoaglund, a sophomore, scored 14 points for Hart. Wendy Downen added 11 points and Jaime Broneer had eight points, six assists and five steals.

It was just another reversal for Camarillo, which began the season 1-10 and was 1-5 in Marmonte League play before winning six of its last 12 games.