Simi Valley Survives Soap

The soap opera that is the Simi Valley High basketball team staged act six in a Marmonte League game at Thousand Oaks on Wednesday night.

For the sixth time this season, a Pioneer player by the last name of Michel was held out of a game for disciplinary reasons by first-year Coach Christian Aurand. Only this time, it was senior forward Brett Michel who didn’t play, not junior point guard--and younger brother--Shaun Michel.

Simi Valley no doubt missed Brett Michel’s 20.6 scoring average, but the Pioneers still posted an 80-76 come-from-behind victory that gave them a commanding three-game lead over second-place Thousand Oaks in the league race.

“This puts us in good shape,” Aurand said. “This puts us in real good shape. . . . To be down like that and battle back to win on the road is really impressive.”

Simi Valley, ranked No. 1 in the region by The Times, trailed by 14 points in the first quarter and was down, 73-67, with 4:45 to play. But the Pioneers (19-2, 7-0 in league play) outscored the Lancers, 13-3, down the stretch to win their 20th consecutive league game.

Jered Weaver hit a three-point shot from the left corner with 25 seconds left to give Simi Valley a 78-76 lead and Branduinn Fullove added two free throws with 7.8 seconds left for the final margin.

Weaver, a 6-foot-4 junior guard whose brother Jeff pitches for the Detroit Tigers, had missed his only previous shot, but he swished the game-winner.

“I was waiting for that the whole game,” Weaver said. “I knew it was going in when it left my hand.”

Fullove threw a beautiful cross-court pass to Weaver for the winning shot and scored 30 points in the game, including 19 in the second half.

Fullove, a 6-5 guard, was 12 of 17 from the field. He was eight of 11 in the second half and one of those misses was a half-court shot as the game ended.

“He just has so much experience,” Aurand said of Fullove, a four-year starter who has signed with UC Santa Barbara. “He understands the game so well and he’s been in so many different situations. He’s a real calming influence on this team.”

Thousand Oaks (12-8, 4-3) took a 73-67 lead with 4:45 to play on two free throws by Tim Chevalier. The Lancers missed seven of their last eight shots and committed four turnovers down the stretch.

Anish Sharda scored a basket to cut Simi Valley’s deficit to 73-69 with 4:32 left and Fullove hit another to reduced the gap to 73-71 with 3:06 to play.

Simi Valley tied the score, 73-73, with 2:25 left on a basket by Dustin Villepigue, who had 20 points.

Fullove hit a 17-foot jumper with 1:25 left to give the Pioneers a 75-73 lead, but Chevalier hit his sixth three-pointer with 52 seconds remaining to give Thousand Oaks a 76-75 advantage.

“When it was 73-67, I thought we had them,” Chevalier, who scored 24 points, said. “But we got kind of timid in the last couple of minutes.”

Kyle Kegley scored 26 points for Thousand Oaks, but was scoreless in the last 6 1/2 minutes.