Southern Section Boys’ Basketball : With Thomas Ailing, Garner Leads Rio Mesa

Picking up the slack for an ailing teammate, senior forward Jeff Garner scored a season-high 33 points to lead Rio Mesa High past Hueneme, 68-57, in a Channel League game Friday night at Rio Mesa.

Garner more than made up for the absence of junior forward Eric Thomas, who started but played sparingly after his condition was diagnosed Thursday as tracheal bronchitis. Thomas, a two-time All-Ventura County player, finished with 5 points.

Garner made 7 of 9 field-goal attempts from 2-point range, 3 of 8 3-point shots and 10 of 12 free throws.

Senior point guard Lester Smith had 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Spartans (13-4, 7-0 in league play). Steve Killgore also had 11 points for Rio Mesa.

DEL REY LEAGUE

Crespi 55, Alemany 37--Matt Luderer and Chris McGee of Crespi combined to hit 11 of 13 free throws in the fourth quarter to extend an 8-point lead to a 15-point advantage.

McGee held Alemany guard Jon Beauchemin to 11 points, including 2 in the second half. Beauchemin is averaging nearly 20 points a game.

Crespi’s man-to-man defense held Alemany to only 4 baskets in the second half, 2 of which were 3-point field goals.

Loyola 102, St. Francis 77--Eric Jones and Bob Bennett each scored 19 points as the Cubs overwhelmed the Golden Knights at St. Francis.

Jeff Dyrek and Allen Freemon paced the Knights with 21 and 15 points. Each Loyola player scored as the Cubs improved to 16-2, 5-0 in league play. St. Francis dropped to 11-8, 2-3.

FOOTHILL LEAGUE

Schurr 54, Hart 46--Schurr made only 33% of its field-goal attempts and was outrebounded, 34-14, but forced 14 turnovers, including 10 steals, to subdue Hart. Hart got a 15-point, 15-rebound performance from Brett Wilson.

Burroughs 69, Burbank 56--Marnie Calderon scored 11 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter and teammate Dan Murphy, who had 27 points, tallied 8 as Burroughs (13-5, 5-0) outscored Burbank, 23-10, in the final quarter.

Burroughs center Tom Clemons scored 14 points and had 17 rebounds. Jim Cafferty (15) and Kayheed Murray (14) combined for 29 points.

MARMONTE LEAGUE

Royal 59, Thousand Oaks 58--With Royal trailing by 2 with 24 seconds left at Thousand Oaks, J. P. Ouellette scored 4 of his game-high 28 points for the Highlanders (8-10, 3-3).

Russell Myers also made a free throw in the final 24 seconds for Royal. Myers finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds.

John Bushart scored 16 points for Thousand Oaks (7-11, 2-4) and Darren McMaster added 8 points and 7 assists.

Westlake 70, Channel Islands 62--Kurt Schwan scored a game-high 28 points to lead the Warriors at Westlake. Jerry Santiago took team-high honors for the Raiders with 20 points.

PACIFIC LEAGUE

Hoover 69, Crescenta Valley 55--John Hillman scored a game-high 23 points and the Tornadoes notched an upset at Hoover. Gino Wang and John Worden added 13 and 11.

Crescenta Valley (11-6, 2-2) squandered an early lead and made only 15 of 36 free throws. Bruce Jacobsen led the Falcons with 17 points.

GOLDEN LEAGUE

Canyon 78, Saugus 47--Germaine Nixon led Canyon with 24 points and Clint Beauer had 9 points and 10 rebounds for the Cowboys (7-10, 2-3).

FRONTIER LEAGUE

Calabasas 64, Santa Ynez 63--Greg Waugh scored 7 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter for Calabasas (7-9, 2-3) at Santa Ynez.

Waugh added 8 rebounds and teammate Jim Friedlander had 14 points and 10 assists.

ALPHA LEAGUE

Village Christian 75, Montclair Prep 62--Mike Curl scored a game-high 20 points and had 9 rebounds to lead the Crusaders at Village Christian.

WESTSIDE LEAGUE

Highland Hall 67, Newbridge 53--Chris Sorenson scored 17 of his career-high 21 points in the fourth quarter for the Hawks.

West Valley Christian 58, Clearview 41--West Valley Christian’s half-court zone press forced Clearview into 18 first-half turnovers.