Newbury Park Takes Best Shot in Title Game

With assorted injuries and talented teammates, Jesse Roche of Newbury Park High has spent most of his career in obscurity.

But with injuries to injuries to Aaron Bobik and Nick Czernek, Roche is finally getting his chance to play and making the most of it.

The 5-foot-10 guard broke loose for 25 points to spark the Panthers (2-1) to a 78-68 victory over Harvard-Westlake in pool play of the Thousand Oaks tournament Thursday night at Thousand Oaks High.

Roche made five three-point baskets for Newbury Park, which will play Thousand Oaks for the tournament title at 8 tonight.

While Roche might have caught the Wolverines (3-1) off guard, Coach Steve Johnson of Newbury Park is well aware of his ability.

“He’s one of the best shooters I’ve seen,” Johnson said. “It’s not a surprise to us that he can light it up like that.”

The Panthers were nursing a 47-44 lead but Roche, Will Svitek and John Harris stepped up in the final quarter.

Svitek scored all 10 of his points in the quarter, Harris added nine of his 12 and Roche had seven.

Russell Lakey scored 24 points for Harvard-Westlake, including six three-pointers, but the Panthers held him to three in the fourth quarter.

“We didn’t have a chance to practice for this, but we talked about making Lakey work for everything,” Johnson said. “I think we did a pretty good job.”

Alex Minn had 18 points for Harvard-Westlake.

The Wolverines, who won the tournament the last two years, had their 10-game winning streak in the tournament broken.

In other Thousand Oaks tournament games:

Crespi 54, Calabasas 53--Spencer Hariton missed a desperation jumper with two seconds left and the Celts held on for a victory.

Marcin Jagoda scored 17 points for Crespi (2-1).

Hariton scored 18 for Calabasas (3-4).

Oak Park 41, Oxnard 35--Scott Jones made four free throws in the final minute to seal the victory for the Eagles (2-3).

Jones had eight points for Oak Park (2-3), which led by nine points in the second quarter.

Damian Tafoya scored 14 points and Gary Eberhardt had 12 for the Yellowjackets (4-3).

In other games:

Chatsworth 63, North Hollywood 54--Ronald Ruffin scored 19 of his 22 points in the first half, Bobby Bowlin added 18 points, and the Chancellors (4-2) won a nonleague game at Chatsworth.

Ramell Johnson scored 15 points for the Huskies.

St. Bonaventure 62, L.A. Baptist 61--The Seraphs rallied from a 10-point third-quarter deficit to win in the first round of the Fillmore tournament.

Michael Emard had 23 points and 10 rebounds for St. Bonaventure (6-0).

Monroe 66, San Fernando 55--Eric Serna scored 15 of his 22 points in the second half and the Vikings won a nonleague game at Monroe.

Robert Palafox had 13 points and six steals for the Vikings (3-2).

Channel Islands 74, Moorpark 73--Jay Monette made two free throws with two seconds remaining to seal a victory for the Raiders in round-robin play at the Channel Islands tournament.

Todd Tomlinson sank a three-point basket at the buzzer for Moorpark.

Dwight Sattiewhite scored 28 points for Channel Islands (4-1), including five three-pointers.

Littlerock 52, Ridgecrest Burroughs 48--Gene Myvett’s steal and basket with 43 seconds put the Lobos ahead to stay in a nonleague game at Littlerock.

Myvett, who had 28 points and eight steals, made 11 of 19 shots and had five assists.

Matt White’s three-point play with six seconds remaining clinched the victory.