Simi Valley Measures Up, Reaches Final

Rafael Berumen was in foul trouble and Brett Michel had to defend a player five inches taller, but even with a kink in its defense Simi Valley High posted another impressive victory Tuesday.

The Pioneers, ranked No. 1 in the region by The Times, beat Wolfson of Jacksonville, Fla., 63-50, in the semifinals of the Great Florida Shootout in Kissimmee and advanced to the championship game today against Salmen of Louisiana.

Berumen, a 6-foot-9 senior center, scored 21 points but left the game with three minutes left in the third quarter after drawing his fourth foul, forcing Michel to guard 6-10 Kenny Walker during an eight-minute stretch in the third and fourth quarters.

Walker scored 22 points but was unable to capitalize on his height advantage over Michel, who finished with 17 points and seven rebounds.

“Brett switched over and did a really good job,” Simi Valley Coach Dean Bradshaw said. “He really battled [Walker].”

Simi Valley (7-0) trailed Wolfson (7-2), 33-30, at halftime, but rallied behind the precise shooting of Michel. The junior forward made five of nine three-pointers, and the Pioneers shot 62% from the floor.

Berumen, who returned with five minutes left in the fourth quarter, made nine of 11 shots and had six rebounds. Sean Michel had 11 assists.

Branduinn Fullove added 10 points for Simi Valley, which outscored Wolfson, 13-5, in the fourth quarter.

“The kids really played well,” Bradshaw said. “They really stepped it up. There are some great teams here and we’ve just come together.”

In other games:

Sylmar 60, Harvard-Westlake 46--Jeremiah Turner scored 12 points and T.K. Reed added 10 to lead the Spartans in the Las Vegas tournament at Cimarron-Memorial High.

Sylmar (8-2) opened a 37-19 halftime advantage against the Wolverines (5-5).

The Spartans’ defense held Harvard-Westlake to 24% shooting in the first half.

Russell Lakey scored 12 points for Harvard-Westlake.

Lynwood 50, Crespi 49--William Welch made a layup with four seconds left to lift the Knights (9-3) in a Westlake tournament semifinal.

Crespi (5-2) overcame a 12-point halftime deficit and took the lead with 13 seconds left on a layup by Marcin Jagoda, who finished with 20 points.

Marshall 49, Westlake 44--The Barristers (5-2) rallied from a six-point, fourth-quarter deficit, outscoring the Warriors, 19-8, in the final eight minutes, to advance to the championship game of the Westlake tournament.

Jake DeGennaro had 12 points and Tyler Adamczyk had 11 points and eight rebounds for Westlake (5-4).

Glendale 74, Carson Graham (Canada) 39--Erik Petrosyan scored eight of his 10 points in the second quarter and the Dynamiters pulled away in the third-place game of the La Canada tournament.

Krikor Karamanoukian scored eight of his 10 points in the fourth quarter for Glendale (5-5).

Grant 80, Pasadena Marshall 67--Gilbert Arenas scored 41 points, making 15 of 20 shots, and the Lancers (7-2) won the third-place game in the Bell-Jeff tournament.

Marshall made 13 three-pointers but could not overcome a poor second quarter in which it was outscored, 19-9.

Arenas had six steals and Justin Buttikofer scored all 12 of his points in the second half for Grant.

Hart 89, Bell-Jeff 56--Liam Waters scored 29 points and the Indians (6-4) outscored the Guards in every quarter in the fifth-place game of the Bell-Jeff tournament.

Mike Yildiz had 22 points for Bell-Jeff (5-5).

Santa Clara 76, Channel Islands 55--Nick Jones and B.J. Ward each scored nine first-quarter points to help Santa Clara to a fast start in a pool play of the Ventura tournament.

Jones and Ward each finished with 24 points for Santa Clara (8-1), which held a 45-19 halftime lead.

Dwight Sattiewhite scored 26 points for Channel Islands.

Birmingham 64, Valencia 56--Jarel Hall, a 6-2 sophomore, had 15 points and 18 rebounds to lead the Patriots (2-8) in pool play of the Ventura tournament.