History Against Simi Valley in Battle of No. 1s

Simi Valley High is the top-ranked boys’ basketball team in the region; Mater Dei is No. 1 in Orange County.

Mater Dei, however, will hold a significant edge in tradition when the teams meet tonight in a Southern Section Division I-A semifinal at the Bren Center.

Second-seeded Mater Dei (29-3) has won 12 section championships. Third-seeded Simi Valley (28-2) won one championship, in 1988.

“We’re playing a team that’s very, very rich basketball-wise and has won a lot of championships,” Simi Valley Coach Dean Bradshaw said. “We’re just hoping to sneak in and get one this year.”

Simi Valley guard Branduinn Fullove scored 21 points in a quarterfinal against Ventura despite stretched tendons in his right ankle.

“It won’t be fully healed until he gives it four to five weeks rest after the season,” Bradshaw said. “He’s hung in there, though.”

Fox Sports West 2 will show the game on tape delay Wednesday night at 6:30.

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Ventura’s surprising run through the Division I-A playoffs ended in a 70-58 loss to Simi Valley before a capacity crowd at Royal High on Friday. But Cougar reserve Gary Peterson had a look of satisfaction on his face after scoring 15 points.

Peterson, an unassuming 6-3 senior forward, made five three-point shots, including three in the second quarter when Ventura (18-11) trimmed a 23-7 deficit to 35-28 at halftime.

“I knew I was going to be covered by a big guy so I thought I’d get some shots,” Peterson said.

Peterson smiled broadly when asked what it was like to play in front of such a boisterous crowd.

“It’s a dream come true,” he said. “I couldn’t hear myself think.”

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Seven Ventura players, including record-setting guard Jeff Staniland, concluded their high school careers against Simi Valley.

The 6-2 Staniland set school single-season records by scoring 745 points and averaging 25.7 points per game. He had a school-record 1,499 points during his three-year varsity career. and he also tied the school mark for points in a game when he scored 46 against Antelope Valley in December.

GIRLS’ NOTES

It was easy for Buena to smile for the cameras on Saturday.

The Bulldogs trounced Huntington Beach Marina in a playoff quarterfinal and then got to pose for pictures with actor Kevin Costner.

Costner, who has remained friends with Buena Coach Joe Vaughan since he played junior varsity basketball under Vaughan at Buena in the early 1970s, also gave a post-game pep talk.

“He was talking about what a great game they played and how skilled they were,” Vaughan said.

The Bulldogs (24-3) could use some inspiration after losing another coin flip Sunday.

Buena will play its third consecutive game on the road tonight against San Clemente (22-8) at Capistrano Valley High.

The only seeded team left in Division I-A, Buena has not played at home since a first-round victory over Santa Fe.

“We haven’t been very lucky that way,” Vaughan said. “Kind of tough to win league and get the No. 4 seed and then have to go on the road three times.”

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Harvard-Westlake will face Inglewood Morningside either Friday or Saturday at the Pyramid in Long Beach for the Division III-A girls title, a rematch of the 1997-98 division final.

Coach Jo Ann Reck of Santa Ynez doesn’t see defending III-A champion Harvard-Westlake (26-4) losing to anyone in the near future. The Wolverines routed Santa Ynez, 65-46, Saturday in a semifinal.

“I would expect them to make it to the state finals,” said Reck, who has guided Santa Ynez to eight section finals in the 1990s.

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Snow falls in Alaska, the sun shines in Arizona and, no surprise, the Santa Clara boys’ team has advanced to a Division V-AA semifinal tonight against Pacific Hills.

But what’s this about the Santa Clara girls?

The Saints have unexpectedly advanced to a V-AA semifinal, where they will face second-seeded Western Christian on Wednesday at Oxnard College.

Santa Clara (13-11) has won four playoff games as a wild-card team.

“I never gave up on them and I think they can see it,” Coach Sherri Cvijanovich said.

Cvijanovich has a good mentor. Her father, Lou, who guides the Santa Clara boys’ team, is the state’s winningest coach.

Santa Clara, Crossroads and Santa Ana Mater Dei are the only schools with both the boys’ and girls’ basketball teams still alive in the playoffs.

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In the end, Moorpark (25-3) might have been too dependent on the talents of Pepperdine-bound Damaris Hinojosa.

Coach Brent Milburn admitted as much Monday while recounting the Musketeers’ 41-35 loss to Santa Ana Foothill in a Division II-AA semifinal on Saturday.

Hinojosa had 28 points--but made only nine of 36 shots. Her teammates combined for seven points.

“You go with what got you there,” Milburn said. “The kid is so dang good that I thought it would be foolish to spread the ball around more.”

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North Hollywood’s 74-45 loss Saturday to top-seeded Palisades in a City Championship semifinal marked the fifth time the Huskies (22-6) have lost to a team still in contention for a section title.

The others are Washington in the City Championship, El Toro in Division I-AA, Harvard-Westlake in III-A and Crossroads in IV-A.

Staff writers John Ortega, Eric Sondheimer and Paige A. Leech and correspondents Mike Bresnahan and Dave Desmond contributed to this notebook.