Kennedy Girls Beat Taft to the Punch

Hostilities between the Kennedy and Taft High girls’ basketball teams boiled over Wednesday afternoon at Kennedy.

The Golden Cougars used a 19-0 run to open the second half and defeated Taft, 59-35, in a West Valley League game that was called with 30 seconds to play because of an altercation between opposing players who are former teammates.

It was the first meeting between the teams since Kennedy’s Monia Calhoun, Vanessa Dunn, Rosa Ortiz and Tammy Barber transferred from Taft in the fall.

Taft’s Tynisha Howze, who finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds, drove for a layup against Calhoun with 30 seconds left. No foul was called, but both ended up on the floor and a fight ensued.

Kennedy (19-3, 7-0 in league play) led by two points at halftime, but outscored the Toreadors (7-9, 2-5), 26-7, in the third quarter. Kennedy’s Vanessa Dunn finished with 18 points.

In other Northwest Valley Conference games:

El Camino Real 44, Chatsworth 34--Lydia Mellado scored 12 points, Chrissy McClain had 11 points and 11 rebounds, and Justina Williams had 10 points and 13 rebounds for the Conquistadores (12-1, 6-1) at El Camino Real.

Patricia Nuno had 14 points for the Chancellors (9-11, 3-4).

Cleveland 35, Birmingham 34--Stacey Harris’ layup with 20 seconds to play lifted the Cavaliers (4-11, 3-4) at Cleveland.

In other games:

North Hollywood 62, Grant 41--Claudia Villa scored 17 points for the Huskies (18-3, 7-0) in a Valley Pac-8 Conference game at North Hollywood.

North Hollywood used an 11-0 run to pull away from Grant (14-7, 5-2), which narrowed its deficit to six early in the fourth quarter.

Poly 48, Reseda 36--Ciara Jeffries scored 22 points for the Parrots (9-8, 6-1) in a Valley Pac-8 Conference game at Reseda.

Monroe 42, Van Nuys 39--The Vikings (8-10, 4-3) rallied for a Valley Pac-8 Conference victory at Monroe.

Shirlee Low had eight points, eight assists and six steals for Monroe.

Vicky Ramos led the Wolves with 15 points.

BOYS

Birmingham 38, San Fernando 29--Raymond Kizzee scored 13 points to lead the Braves (16-6, 6-1) in a Northwest Valley Conference game at Birmingham.

Luis De La Rosa was held to four points for the Tigers (9-11, 4-3).

Granada Hills 78, El Camino Real 77--Dory Dauod made 13 of 14 free throws and scored 23 points for the Highlanders (12-9, 4-3) in a Northwest Valley Conference game at Granada Hills that included 58 fouls and 84 free throws.

Elan Buller had 29 points and Ryan Moss 20 for the Conquistadores (6-13, 1-6).

Kennedy 73, Chatsworth 61--Michael Calloway scored 23 points and Clayton Powdrill had 22 points and nine assists for the Golden Cougars (9-9, 5-2) in a Northwest Valley Conference game at Chatsworth.

Harold Shevlin scored 24 for Chatsworth (7-11, 1-6).

North Hollywood 74, Canoga Park 63--Keron Wilkerson had 22 points and DeJon Lee added 15 for the Huskies (9-11, 3-4) in a Valley Pac-8 Conference game at Canoga Park.

Carloes Harper had 38 points and 11 rebounds for Canoga Park (12-10, 4-3), which played without David Redmond, who is academically ineligible.

Grant 73, Monroe 67--Gilbert Arenas scored 31 points and the Lancers (7-12, 4-3) rallied from nine points down in the fourth quarter of a Valley Pac-8 Conference game at Grant.

Verdugo Hills 68, Wilson 65--Lee Quigley scored 22 points for the Dons (4-18, 2-9) in a Northern Conference game at Verdugo Hills.

Channel Islands 81, Thousand Oaks 62--Charles Merricks scored 12 of his 20 points in the second quarter, when the Raiders (16-5, 6-5) broke open a Marmonte League game at Channel Islands.

Royal 82, Westlake 72--Ryan Nielsen scored 23 points for the Highlanders (14-9, 6-5) in a Marmonte League game at Westlake.

Jake Stewart had 15 points and 14 rebounds for Westlake (11-11, 4-7).

Camarillo 64, Agoura 50--Joe Borchard had 18 points and six steals to lead the Chargers (5-6, 8-11) in a Marmonte League game at Camarillo (10-10, 4-7).

Harvard-Westlake 119, Alemany 52--The Wolverines (25-1, 9-0) tied a school record for total points in a Mission League game at Harvard-Westlake.

Jason Collins scored 24 points and had 14 rebounds and Ryan Smiley had 18 points for Harvard-Westlake, the Times’ No. 1-ranked team in the region.

Chaminade 57, Crespi 41--Scott Long made 14 of 15 free throws en route to 22 points in a Mission League game at Chaminade.

Chaminade (17-5, 8-1), the sixth-ranked team in the Times’ regional poll, made just one basket in the second half.

Crespi (8-14, 4-6) was outscored, 15-2, in the first quarter and made just two baskets in the first half.

La Canada 65, San Marino 55--Matt Moore led the Spartans (16-7, 6-1) with 21 points in a Rio Hondo League game at San Marino. David Hyun added 17 points.