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High School Boys Basketball: Eagles sky-high at own Optimist Tournament

By Kenny Cress/Sports Writer

Thousand Oaks’ boys basketball team didn’t pull away from the host squad spectacularly Saturday night.

The Lancers just pulled away.

Thousand Oaks, up by eight going into the fourth quarter, scored on its first four possessions then and went on to beat Arroyo Grande 61-45 for the championship of the Arroyo Grande Optimist Tournament. The tourney took place at Arroyo Grande’s Dr. Arthur F. James Gymnasium.

Arroyo Grande is 6-3.

Lompoc edged Camarillo 56-53 for the Consolation championship and third place. Arroyo Grande downed Santa Maria 52-39 in one championship semifinal. Thousand Oaks thumped Atascadero 51-30 in the other.

In the consolation semifinals, Lompoc beat Golden West 65-60 and Camarillo downed Lake Elsinore Temescal Canyon 57-47. In other tournament games, Atascadero beat Santa Maria 75-55 and Golden West downed Lake Elsinore Temescal Canyon 74-58.

Thousand Oaks led Arroyo Grande 52-39 with 1:45 left. The Lancers salted the game away by making nine of their 10 free throws down the stretch. Tony Lopez made four straight to give the Lancers a 56-40 margin with 1:28 to go.

The Eagles, on the other hand, missed their opportunity to stay close the first part of the fourth quarter by missing their first five foul shots of the quarter.

The Lancers led just 32-29 with 4:16 left in the third quarter, then Lopez raced to pick up two loose balls on defense and scored five quick points.

Lopez led the Lancers with 16 points. Lancers center Alex Tiffin, who was tough inside throughout, had 15.

Tanner Hinek scored Arroyo Grande’s first nine points as the Eagles grabbed a quick 9-4 lead. He and point guard Michael Escobedo combined for 30 Eagles points. Hinek scored 16 points, and Escobedo had 14.

Two technical fouls hurt the Eagles. The Lancers scored a total of seven points off of them, and the second came on a foul call against Thousand Oaks.

Thousand Oaks forward Chris Carter was the tournament MVP. The rest of the All-Tournament Team included Tiffin, Lopez, Hinek, Escobedo, Josh Marzett of Santa Maria, Kevin Ferrell of Atascadero, and Sherman Vernon II of Lompoc.

Arroyo Grande 52, Santa Maria 39

The quarterback made a big play on the basketball court.

Sophomore Kyle Kleinsmith stepped in as Arroyo Grande’s quarterback after an injury in the second game forced starter Clark Goossen out for the rest of the season. Kleinsmith nailed a 3-pointer Saturday that sent the Eagles on their way to the championship game.

Arroyo Grande, up 31-17 at halftime, had gone flat against Santa Maria’s zone defense. The struggling Eagles were ahead 43-34 with 3:41 to play when Kleinsmith hit a 3-pointer from the right side.

Santa Maria had cut its deficit to 40-34 on Andrew Clark’s basket with 7:21 left. After Kleinsmith’s shot, the Saints couldn’t get close enough to threaten.

The Eagles began finding holes in the Saints’ zone. Escobedo made two layups in the last 2:47. Hinek’s inside basket with 1:59 left was sandwiched between Escobedo’s late buckets.

Escobedo and Hitchen led Arroyo Grande with 16 points each. Marzett led the Saints with 11.

Lompoc 56, Camarillo 53

Vernon put in 20 points and Jordan O’Byrne scored 19 as the Braves (6-4) rallied past the Scorpions after beating Golden West.

Isaac Moreno hit two big 3-pointers, including the winning shot, for Lompoc and forced a five-second call on the Scorpions with around two minutes left.

Moreno’s first 3-pointer put the Braves ahead 49-47 with 3:37 to play. He hit the winning shot from near the left corner with 49 seconds left.

Camarillo’s Thomas Reilly missed the front end of a one-and-one, and O’Byrne grabbed the rebound. O’Byrne sank two free throws with 29.5 seconds left, and then Reilly missed a desperation shot as time was running out.

Reilly led the Scorpions with 17 points.

Friday’s result

Arroyo Grande 56, Lake Elsinore 47

Hinek scored 16 points and Hitchen put in 11 as they helped the host team move into the winner’s bracket.

Thursday’s result

Arroyo Grande 53, Golden Valley 45

Arroyo Grande’s Matt McAustin hit three straight 3-pointers, the second pair to start the fourth quarter, as the Eagles rallied past the tireless Golden Valley Runnin’ Blazers in the final game of the day.

In all, McAustin finished with 10 points, but none bigger than the three he earned on a late trey in the third quarter to complete Arroyo Grande’s second-half rally, tying the score at 35. The Eagles were down 28-21 at the half.

That was, in large part, due to Golden Valley’s full-court pressure - the Runnin’ Blazers playing musical chairs with their bench.

“We knew they played the half-court trap and full-court press,” Arroyo Grande coach Ryan Glanville said. “That’s why we scheduled them. I thought it would be good for us.”

Hinek led the Eagles with 12 points, and had seven rebounds. Hitchen had 10 rebounds.

In all, the Eagles shot 57 percent from the field.

Girls soccer

Garces Memorial Tournament

Karlee Owens assisted on the Eagles first goal and scored the second, pacing Arroyo Grande to a 4-0 win over Clovis East in the Garces Memorial Tournament title game in Bakersfield. Kate Reinhardt scored the first goal in the 11th minute, before Owens kick in a Selene Diaz pass for the second. Kayla DeBlauw scored the third goal before Sammy Wheeler kicked in the final score.

In the semifinals, Arroyo Grande topped San Jose Notre Dame 1-0 behind Ashley Roese’s score in the 45th minute from Kate Reinhardt.

kcress@timespressrecorder.com