Thousand Oaks Sets the Stage

Simi Valley High may be the team to beat in the Marmonte League, but the Thousand Oaks High boys’ basketball team proved it is a close second by defeating Newbury Park on its own floor, 58-46, Friday night.

The Lancers (12-7, 4-2 in league play) moved into sole possession of second place with a chance to gain a share of first by beating Simi Valley on Wednesday night in Thousand Oaks.

“They played really hard and so did we,” Coach Rich Endres of Thousand Oaks said. “Both teams played like they really wanted to win. I can’t give Newbury Park enough credit--they kept coming at us.”

After an even first quarter, Thousand Oaks began to assert itself under the basket. Junior guard Kyle Kegley scored 14 points and reserve Kevin Rex scored 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

Eight of the Lancers’ 10 players scored at least a basket.

Ben Olsen scored 11 points and Tim Chevalier added eight points and eight assists for Thousand Oaks, which build a 25-16 halftime lead.

“We needed to win to stay in contention for the league title, and we knew we had to play an up-tempo game,” said Chevalier, a 5-11 senior guard. “I don’t think I played all that well but the important thing is that we won.”

Chevalier might have had more than just basketball on his mind, knowing that he had to take his SAT at 8 this morning.

Thousand Oaks outrebounded the Panthers, 38-28, and capitalized on 13 of Newbury Park’s 17 turnovers in the first half.

“They defended really well and we played pretty good defense,” Coach Steve Johnson of Newbury Park said. “We just committed too many turnovers. In a game like this, the team that makes the most mistakes is going to lose.”

Matt Currie scored 11 points and John Harris added 10 for Newbury Park (10-7, 3-3), which never pulled closer than 10 points in the third quarter.

The Lancers used a 10-0 run at the start of the second quarter to take control of the game.

Despite making only 12 of its 29 shots in the first half, Thousand Oaks maintained its lead by converting 15 of 20 free throws, including seven of nine in the fourth quarter.

Newbury Park made six of 11 free throws.

Thousand Oaks lost, 71-69, at Simi Valley in their first meeting. The Lancers hope homecourt advantage will help next week.

Simi Valley (18-2, 6-0), is ranked No. 1 in the region by The Times.

“Our boys are really excited about that game, “ Endres said. “We played them close at their place. We’re going to give it our best shot.”

Will Svitek, Javad Esfandiary, Rudy Flores and Chris Randall all had five points for Newbury Park, which fell into a third place tie with Royal and Moorpark.