A Perfect Night for a Record

Justin Stewart of Chaminade won’t soon forget the perfect night he had against Cabrillo in a Southern Section Division III-A boys’ basketball playoff game Friday night.

Certainly not while his effort remains listed among the state’s top high school shooting performances in a game.

Stewart, who was 14 of 14 from the field, jumped into the Cal-Hi Sports record book at No. 2 for most field goals without a miss behind Steve Lackey of Fair Oaks Del Campo, who hit all 16 of his field goals against Susanville Lassen in 1969.

Stewart, a 6-foot-2 senior forward who averages nine points a game, missed one free throw and finished with 28 points.

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Playing without All-Ventura County swingman Nick Jones, the Santa Clara High boys’ basketball team suffered its worst season in decades and finished third in the Frontier League.

Nonetheless, the Saints (13-12) are in a Southern Section Division V-AA semifinal game today at Palos Verdes Chadwick and will likely have Jones at full strength for the first time since he broke a foot on the first day of practice.

Santa Clara assistant Bill Varela said athe Saints’ coaching staff decided in January, after Jones made an unsuccessful comeback, that it would play the junior only if he said he felt completely healthy.

Last Tuesday, as Santa Clara dressed for a second-round game against Valley Torah, Jones said he was ready. He started and had eight points, five rebounds and two assists in 15 minutes.

Jones then had 10 points and seven rebounds in 24 minutes in a victory Friday over Pilgrim.

“It’s a whole different team with him in the lineup,” Varela said.

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The Simi Valley (25-5) boys’ team will meet an opponent steeped in playoff tradition when it plays Artesia (28-1) in a Division I-AA semifinal at Long Beach City College at 7:30 tonight.

Artesia, the No. 1-seeded team in the division, has played in six of the eight Southern Section title games this decade, winning the 4-A in 1990, II-A in 1991 and III-AA in 1995.

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Moorpark standout Damaris Hinojosa has been named the Frontier League girls’ player of the year. Hinojosa averaged 23 points, 9.5 rebounds, 8.1 steals, 4.8 assists and 3.5 blocks. Teammates Sonia Ceja and Meaghan Finnerty were also named all-league.

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Chenne Tuimoloau of Channel Islands has been named the most valuable girls’ player in the Marmonte League. Tuimoloau, a sophomore guard, averaged 16 points and six assists for the Raiders.

Staff writers Tris Wykes, John Ortega and Paige A. Leech and correspondent Dave Desmond contributed to this notebook.