Brown Finds the Right Mix; Thousand Oaks Ties for First

Chuck Brown has spent 16 years coaching girls’ basketball and teaching science at Thousand Oaks High.

His final season, however, may best be remembered for chemistry.

Brown, who announced his coaching retirement last summer, began this season with only marginal talent by Marmonte League standards, but also with a simple formula for success.

“I just told the kids at the beginning that we may not be ranked, but that if we worked hard, everything would work out in the end,” he said.

Brown was correct.

The Lancers’ 45-32 victory over visiting Royal on Wednesday night created a tie between the teams for first place with one game to play.

“Chemistry has had very much to do with [our success] this season,” said Brown, who has won two Southern Section titles. “This team is very close.”

Thousand Oaks players are not only close to each other, but also to their third consecutive league co-championship.

They shared the 1995-96 title with Simi Valley and the ‘96-97 crown with Channel Islands.

The Lancers (16-7, 11-2 in league play) can secure at least a portion of the championship with a victory over Newbury Park Friday.

Royal (22-3, 11-2), which hasn’t won a Marmonte League championship since 1981-82, can clinch a tie with a victory over rival Simi Valley on Friday.

The Highlanders struggled to beat Simi Valley, 43-42, on Jan. 21, but Thousand Oaks isn’t ordering any banners yet.

“We can’t say it’s over until it actually is,” said Lancer forward Liz Nesbitt, who scored a team-high 12 points.

Amy Haslam had nine points for the Lancers, while Sara Pederson had seven.

“This wasn’t just another win,” said Brown, who recorded his 318th. “This was a pretty big one.”

It was Nesbitt’s disputed 16-footer at the buzzer that gave Thousand Oaks another big victory, a 50-49 decision at Royal on Jan. 17.

This time, the Lancers needed no heroics, just gritty defense.

Thousand Oaks forced 19 turnovers and limited the Highlanders to 13-of-54 shooting.

“I’m glad we proved we didn’t need a [last-second shot],” center Elena Salvador said. “We beat them fair and square.”

Royal’s Jessica Sanders, who scored 24 points in the earlier meeting with Thousand Oaks, made only one of 10 shots and finished with two points.

Kristen Galbreath, Alicia Weber and Sanders, the Highlanders’ top three scorers, entered the week averaging 38.5 points.

On Wednesday, the combined for 22. Galbreath finished with 13 and Teresa Russell added eight points and 10 rebounds.

“This is the first time all season that we rushed our shots and didn’t look like we were in sync, and that can be credited directly to their defense,” said Mike Kohl, whose team is ranked No. 4 in the region by The Times and No. 8 in the Southern Section Division I-A poll.