Hart Makes All the Right Moves, 55-43

The land of swimming pools and movie stars held no attraction for the Thousand Oaks High basketball team, which lost its opening-round game of the Beverly Hills tournament Tuesday, falling to Hart, 55-43.

It wasn’t that the Lancers (1-2) didn’t do the right things, they just did them at the wrong time. If Thousand Oaks used a pressure defense, Hart utilized its quickness for inside shots. If the Lancers stayed back in a zone defense, Hart (3-2) scored from outside. Doing most of the damage from the perimeter was senior forward Eric Arnold, who made 11 of his 16 field-goal attempts and scored 23 points.

But the main problem for Thousand Oaks was finding a way to get senior center Jon Walker into the offense. Although the Lancers tried to get the ball to him in the low post, he was usually double-teamed and rendered ineffective. The 6-8 Walker finished with eight points. Thousand Oaks was led by junior guard Kevin Martin, who scored 16.

Thousand Oaks made a fourth-quarter run at Hart, cutting the lead to 43-39 on a Robb McKinnon basket with six minutes left.

Hart went to a perimeter offense, then a four-corner stall. Worried they would be burned inside, the Lancers stayed back and hoped for the best. However, Hart played the control offense effectively enough to keep the ball from the Lancers, limiting them to only four more points.

In other action, Ventura defeated Royal, 85-61. Royal was outgunned from the beginning, falling behind in the first quarter, 27-14. Mike McClosin scored 18 points to lead Ventura; Manny Escobar had 14 points to pace Royal.

In the day’s opening game, Westlake defeated North Torrance, 93-59. Palisades defeated Bishop in the last game of the day, 76-55.

In today’s second round, Hart plays Palisades at 3:30. Also, Westlake plays Ventura at 5 p.m.; St. Bernard plays Crossroads at 6:30 p.m., and Buena plays Beverly Hills at 8 p.m.