Fullove Has a Big Hand in Simi Valley Victory

Branduinn Fullove of Simi Valley High had 32 points, six assists and four rebounds in a third-round game of the Southern Section Division I-A boys’ basketball playoffs against Pomona Garey on Wednesday night.

But his biggest play came with four seconds left in the game when he poked the ball away from Taurus Davis of Garey to help the Pioneers hang on in an 81-77 victory.

The Pioneers earned a berth in the quarterfinals against Villa Park on Friday at a site to be determined by a coin flip today.

Simi Valley (26-2) took a 79-71 lead with 1:06 left in the game on a three-point play by Fullove, but Garey closed its deficit to 79-77 with 26 seconds remaining when Davis converted his second consecutive three-point play after a Pioneer turnover.

Brett Michel, who had 24 points to become the third Simi Valley player to score 2,000 points in his career, was fouled with 14 seconds left, but he missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity and Garey called a timeout with 12 seconds left.

The Vikings got the ball to Davis, a 6-foot-2 senior who scored 16 of his 38 points in the fourth quarter. He drove past Fullove on the left baseline, but Fullove tipped the ball from behind to teammate Dustin Villepigue, who had 10 points and 13 rebounds.

“He made a nice move,” Fullove said of Davis. “But he left the ball exposed and I was able to pop it to Dustin.”

Things got chaotic after that.

The game clock expired, but was reset to 2.9 seconds after it was determined a Garey player had fouled Fullove.

Then a Garey fan who appeared to be a student was ejected from the gymnasium for screaming profanities at one of the referees.

That was followed by a technical foul on the Garey bench for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Fullove hit one of two free throws to give Simi Valley a 80-77 lead and Michel followed with one of two on the technical.

The Pioneers earned a berth in the quarterfinals against Villa Park on Friday at a site to be determined by a coin flip today.

“We just hung on,” Coach Christian Aurand of Simi Valley said. “It took everything we had to beat them. We were just fortunate to get out of there with a win.”

Simi Valley, ranked No. 1 in the region by The Times, used an 11-0 run to take a 71-54 lead with 7:10 left in the game. But Garey (21-8) countered with an 11-0 run to cut its deficit to 71-65 with 5:13 remaining.

The Pioneers, who will make their their fourth consecutive appearance in the quarterfinals, extended their lead to 76-68 on a basket by Villepigue with 2:20 left.

Davis scored Garey’s final 16 points in the last 5 1/2 minutes.

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HIGH SCHOOL BOYS’ BASKETBALL PLAYOFF SCORES / SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Round of 16

Division I-AA

Ayala 78, Crescenta Valley 68

Division I-A

Mater Dei 90, Thousand Oaks 43

Santa Barbara 87, Quartz Hill 59

Simi Valley 81, Garey 77

Division II-AA

Moorpark 65, Pasadena 55

Santa Margarita 59, Littlerock 53

Division V-AA

Pacific Hills 69, Kilpatrick 49

Buckley 70, St. Anthony 52

Bell-Jeff 71, Flintridge Prep 51

Santa Clara 61, Western Christian 42

Campbell Hall 80, Apple Valley Chr. 30

Chadwick 86, Valley Torah 65

*

Quarterfinals

Division III-AA

Morningside 82, Harvard-Westlake 65

Corona del Mar 57, Notre Dame 55

Division IV-AA

St. Bernard 70, Oak Park 67

Division IV-A

St. Bonaventure 59, Whittier Christian 50

Division V-A

GH Hillcrest Chr. 66, Orangewood 56

Antelope Valley Chr. 76, Shandon 64

Heritage Chr. 94, West Valley Chr. 47

* Box scores from Tuesday’s games, Page 10