BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Taft Wins on Technicality, 13-2

Narbonne High Coach Darryl Bell, arguing a foul call, was assessed two technical fouls within the first five minutes of a nonconference boys’ basketball game Wednesday at Taft, ending the contest and giving a forfeit victory to Taft.

The final score in the abbreviated game was 13-2.

“I talked to [Bell], and he was a little disappointed,” Taft Coach Mark Drucker said. “I’m not sure he knew the rule. He was ready for us to shoot four technical shots. But it’s an old rule and we knew about it.

“Every coach knew about this rule, and the officials had to stand by it. They made the right call.”

The game was ended in accordance with City Section rules.

Only three players scored in the game, including Victor Purnell (nine points) and Ron Campbell (four) for Taft (1-3).

“That’s not the way we wanted to win our first game,” Drucker said. “We were off to our best start.”

Verdugo Hills 82, Belmont 75--Maurice Potter had 46 points and 19 rebounds as the visiting Dons (2-3, 1-0 in Northern Conference play) beat Belmont (0-4, 0-1). Andrew Reagan added 10 points and Charlie Coronado had four points and 10 rebounds for Verdugo Hills.

Verdugo Hills rallied from a 68-62 deficit with six minutes left.

Carson 66, Reseda 38--Mandeep Hayre led the Regents with 10 points, but Reseda (0-3), which has not led after the first quarter this season, was outscored, 18-4, in the first eight minutes of a nonleague game.

Buckley 78, Glendale 63--The Griffins led by as many as 25 points en route to a nonleague victory at Buckley. Michah Pechersky had 17 points and George Wrightster had 15. Aaron Espino led Glendale with 21 points. Buckley is 3-2.

Thousand Oaks 77, Rialto 68--Guard Aaron Shaw scored 22 points and center Scott Sheridan added 16 points and nine rebounds as the Lancers overcame a 13-point second-quarter deficit and advanced to the final of the Thousand Oaks tournament.

Thousand Oaks (4-1) trailed, 35-22, with five minutes to play in the second period, but pulled within 44-41 at the half.

The Lancers took a 49-48 edge in the third quarter and led by as many as 12 points in the final period.

Cleveland 72, Granada Hills 53--Senior forward Junior Brignac scored a game-high 24 points and center Mike Shultz added 19 to lead Cleveland in a consolation semifinal of the Thousand Oaks tournament.

Brignac scored 11 of his points in the third quarter as the Cavaliers (2-2) broke open a close game.

Senior forward Don Pauthasamon (14 points) helped Granada Hills (0-5) pull to within 23-22 late in the second quarter, but the Cavaliers drew away after that.

San Pedro 75, Valley Alternative 50--Lacy Faucett scored 17 points and Melvin Franklin had 16, but Valley Alternative couldn’t recover after being outscored, 25-4, in the first quarter in a Magnet tournament semifinal.

Buena 91, Venice 43--Ryan Howery came off the bench to score 21 points for the Bulldogs (3-2) in a Beverly Hills tournament second-round consolation bracket game.

John Tobias added 20 points for Buena, and Ceneka Shaw added 18 points and eight rebounds.

Oxnard 61, Malibu 48--Danny Sweeney scored 12 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter to break open a tie game for the Yellowjackets in the first round of the Channel Islands tournament.

Chaminade 70, Faith Baptist 36--Torey Ellis scored 13 points and Scott Long added 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Eagles (2-4) in a second-round game in the Faith Baptist tournament.

Tanasak Limphaibule, Chris Neville and Tim Greer each scored eight points for the Contenders (0-2), who were held to four points in the second quarter.

Pacific Hills 55, Holy Martyrs 33--Neno Bronsofian scored 15 points and Schant Choulakian added nine for the Armens (0-2) in a second-round game of the Faith Baptist tournament.

Guard Ivan Barahona led the Bruins (2-1) with 18 points and eight assists.

Laguna Blanca 50, St. Genevieve 46--Nelvine O’Campo scored 12 points and Mark Padilla added 11 for the Valiants (0-3) in a second-round consolation game of the Faith Baptist tournament.

Alemany 45, Serra 34--The Indians overcame the loss of three starters because of illness and an eight-point first-quarter deficit to defeat host Serra in a nonleague game.

Bobby Cromwell led Alemany with 11 points in his first start and Mario Thompson added nine points and nine rebounds.

Milken 48, Viewpoint 46--Steven Mizrahie and Jason Sellmer each sank a free throw to clinch the victory for the Wildcats (3-0). Mizrahie had 13 points and Sellmer had four points and 11 assists for Milken. Aaron Fishman added 10 points.

Rami Shaarawy had 12 points for the Patriots (1-3).

GIRLS

Taft 63, Venice 40--The Toreadors (5-0) got 15 points and 10 rebounds from Mona Calhoun, and 21 points and 10 rebounds from Vanessa Dunn. Nyoki McKeith added 11 points and eight assists in a nonleague game at Venice.

Verdugo Hills 46, Belmont 32--Freshman Daisy Lulham had 14 points and 17 rebounds to lead the Dons (2-2) past Belmont in a Northern Conference opener.

It was the first conference victory for Verdugo Hills in two seasons, according to first-year Coach Laura Redford.

Chatsworth 60, Poly 39--The Chancellors overcame a three-point first-quarter deficit by holding host Poly to only 23 points over the final three quarters.

Jodi Borenstein had 16 points to pace Chatsworth (3-0). Tynitra Wilson had 18 rebounds and 12 points, and Nancy Vincent added 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Hart 63, Chatsworth 55--Center Candace Boller scored 16 points for the Indians (1-1). Jaclyn Kuptz had 14 points, and Wendy Downen added 13.

Jodi Borenstein had 15 points, and Nancy Vincent added 13 for Chatsworth.

Grant 70, Cleveland 43--Center Nakeish Perkins had 18 points and 18 rebounds to lead the Lancers (3-0) to a nonleague victory over the Cavaliers (3-3). Poma Stevenson added 13 points, and Sharon Pai had 13 points and 10 rebounds.

El Camino Real 58, Sylmar 37--Senior guard Tami Jones had 30 points and nine steals to lead El Camino Real (2-0) to a nonleague victory over Sylmar (0-2). Sophomore point guard Aja Diamond added 17 points and eight steals for the Conquistadores.

Buena 95, East Bakersfield 17--Nicole Greathouse had 24 points and 11 rebounds, pacing Buena to the lopsided victory in a Buena tournament first-round game.

Eboni Conley had 12 points, seven assists and five steals for the Bulldogs (1-0), ranked first in the region by The Times. Stephanie Kinnear added 13 points. Buena led, 22-2, after one quarter.

Alemany 74, Santa Clara 27--The Indians (2-0) converted 11 of their first 15 field-goal attempts to fuel a rout in a first-round game of the Buena tournament.

Center Carly Funicello led Alemany with 18 points, and Jessica Bell contributed 12 points and 12 rebounds. Kim Kollenburn added 11 points.

Nielee Madrigal led the Saints with 12 points.

La Canada 50, Arcadia 40--Junior forward Becca Jones had 26 points and 11 rebounds for La Canada (2-0) in a Pasadena Poly tournament first-round game.

Oak Park 51, Santa Paula 36--Senior Natalie Davis led the Eagles (2-3) with 20 points, and Michelle Frankson added 13 points and 13 rebounds for Oak Park.

Tanya Paez scored 14 points for Santa Paula (1-3).

Ventura 59, Newbury Park 55--Sophomore guard Rhiannon Potkey scored 13 points and had eight assists, leading the Cougars (1-0) past Newbury Park. Missy Gibbs and Erin Oshita each added 11 points. Melissa Shoden had 14 points to lead the Panthers.

Bell-Jeff 57, Hueneme 33--Jaclyn Johnson had 24 points and 15 rebounds for the Guards (5-0) in a Rio Mesa tournament first-round game. Cheryl Flores added 13 points and seven assists for Bell-Jeff.

WOMEN

Azusa Pacific 75, Cal Lutheran 70--The Regals’ Melissa Wood scored 35 points, making nine of 22 shots from three-point range, both school records, in a nonconference game at home.

Wood took 31 of Cal Lutheran’s 57 shots.

Evi Orologas came off the bench to score 16 points for the Regals, who were outrebounded, 57-36.