Boys’ Basketball : Nielsen Shot Stops Hart Comeback Bid

Hart High guard Phil Briones missed a one-handed, 17-foot desperation shot with three seconds left, bringing an end to a furious Indian comeback in Friday night’s 48-46 loss to Burbank at Hart.

Trailing, 39-23, with three minutes left in the third quarter, Hart went on a 23-6 run to lead, 46-45, on a 15-foot jump shot by Rob Curwen with 36 seconds left.

But Mark Nielsen confidently buried a three-point shot that buried Hart, 48-46, in the Foothill League opener for both teams.

“Yes, yes, yes,” Nielsen shouted to teammates between high-fives afterward. “I just hoped it went in.” He finished with 22 points, making 3 of 5 three-point attempts.

But until Nielsen hit the game-winning shot, it was Hart guard Steve Valenzuela who was making shots.

Valenzuela, Hart’s leading scorer with a 20-point average, hit 6 of 8 shots in the second half and finished with 20 points. Reserve Rusty Fotheringham had eight in the final half and scored 12.

While Valenzuela was taking control of the game, Nielsen was on the bench most of the third quarter with four fouls.

“We were just so high,” Burbank forward Mike Nash said of Hart’s comeback. Nash had 12 points and 10 rebounds. “We need Mark and it’s tough to keep increasing a big lead like that.”

Burbank is 9-5 and Hart is 7-6.

Cleveland 91, Reseda 41--All 12 of Cleveland’s players scored as the Cavaliers routed another Valley League opponent. Damon Charlot led the Cavaliers with 20 points and Adonis Jordan added 16.

Lucious Harris led the reserves with 11 points as Cleveland (10-2, 2-1) built a 50-21 halftime lead at Reseda. Cleveland defeated Hamilton, 106-66, earlier this week. Omar Wilson led Reseda (2-9, 0-4) with 13 points.

North Hollywood 56, Poly 49--Although Poly held All-City forward Dominic Nappi to 10 points and 6 rebounds in an East Valley League opener at Poly, Alan Breslauer picked up the slack with 18 points.

Poly’s Bobby Ntoya finished with 17 points, including a 4-for-6 performance from three-point range, and Scott Cooper added 11 points and 6 rebounds for Poly.

Grant 61, Van Nuys 54--Grant opened a 9-2 lead and never trailed in the East Valley League opener for both schools. Van Nuys’ Alonzo Galloway led all players with 21 points, 13 in the second half. Sean Watkins scored 17 points to lead Grant (9-2, 1-0) and Danny Enowitz added 13 points and 12 rebounds. Grant made 19 of 36 free throws.

Camarillo 52, Channel Islands 45--Trailing, 36-32, Camarillo blitzed Channel Islands, 20-9, in the final period of the Marmonte League game at Channel Islands.

Camarillo (7-5, 2-0 in league play) took the lead, 42-40, when Chris Sorich hit an outside jump shot off an assist from Tom Carrillo. In the fourth quarter, Sorich scored 7 of his 11 points and Carrillo scored 11 of his game-high 19.

Teammate Sean Young kept the Scorpions close with five three-point shots in the first three quarters. Camarillo, which trails Simi Valley (3-0) by a half-game, made 20 of 35 field-goal attempts.

Andy Beltowski and Omar Otis each scored 14 points for Channel Islands.

Thousand Oaks 58, Newbury Park 55--Although Kevin Martin is known more for his offense, it was his block of Jeff Berman’s attempted three-point shot with one second remaining that gave Thousand Oaks its second consecutive Marmonte League victory.

Martin led the Lancers with 16 points and Berman led visiting Newbury Park (4-8, 0-2) with 15.

The difference in the game was foul shooting. Thousand Oaks was 14 of 22 from the foul line and Newbury Park was 8 of 20.

The Panthers, however, did have an advantage from three-point range, making seven compared to none for the Lancers.

Jeff Peterson and John Bushart added 14 and 11 points for Thousand Oaks (4-7, 2-0).

Sylmar 34, Verdugo Hills 19--Sylmar scored a season-low point total but was still able to open East Valley League play with a win. Shawn Rucker led Sylmar (2-7, 1-0) with 15 points. David Baker added 7 points and 8 rebounds. Verdugo Hills scored only two points in the first half.

Calabasas 54, Agoura 49--Jon Drezner scored a game-high 26 points for Calabasas in the Frontier League opener at Agoura. Teammate Sean Obusek added 11.