Newbury Park Finds Right Motion

Rachel Young of Camarillo High had a throbbing headache after the game.

But it was Newbury Park, The Times’ No. 2-ranked team in the region, that succumbed to the Scorpions’ dizzying motion offense during a 48-43 upset in pool play at the Buena tournament Wednesday at Buena High.

Senior guard Gillian Lillich scored 26 points and forward Lauren Stroot had eight points and 13 rebounds for unranked Camarillo.

“This is a nice accomplishment,” Stroot said. “We’ve been training hard and we deserved it. We prepared for this game.”

Camarillo (3-0) took a 26-17 halftime advantage and used a 9-4 run at the start of the third quarter to take a commanding lead.

The Scorpions forged their early lead behind Lillich, who scored 16 points in the first half.

They used Stroot and Young, both 6-foot juniors, to control the boards and maintain the lead.

Young had six points and six rebounds despite sitting out most of the final quarter after hitting the back of her head on the floor in a scramble for a loose ball at the end of the third quarter.

“It hurts,” Young said. “When it first happened, I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ ”

She stayed on the floor for several minutes before returning to the bench. But when Stroot fouled out with 1:30 to play, she returned to the game.

Newbury Park (2-1), which overcame a 16-point halftime deficit to beat Chatsworth on Tuesday, found a 14-point third-quarter deficit too steep despite the return of starting forward Nancy Pabon. Pabon had seven points after sitting out against Chatsworth because of illness. Brynn Cameron scored 13 points for the Panthers.

Alex Mallen hit a three-point basket to pull Newbury Park to within 45-41 with 33 seconds to play, but Lillich hit two free throws and Lindsey Calderon made one for Camarillo in the closing seconds.