El Camino Real Blows Out Canoga Park Early, 83-63

Jeff Davis must have felt like heading to the locker room after the first four minutes of Wednesday’s West Valley League basketball game against El Camino Real High.

It was in that short time that the Canoga Park coach witnessed his team fall behind, 13-0, on its way to an 83-63 whipping by the Conquistadores on Canoga Park’s court.

The score was bad enough, but the Hunters’ rookie coach had more riding on the line than a win or loss. Davis had served as an assistant at El Camino Real under Mike McNulty for the past seven years. Watching McNulty’s team tear apart Canoga Park was not much fun.

The Conquistadores led, 48-25, at halftime and 66-44 at the end of the third period. Davis was out of his chair most of the game, screaming at players, referees and anyone else who would listen.

“Jeff and I are like night and day,” McNulty said. “He’s always been very emotional.”

After the game, a cooler Davis seemed to have no ill feelings.

“It never hurts to lose to one of your best friends,” he said.

Marcus Reed of Canoga Park (8-13, 0-6 in league play), a transfer from El Camino Real, scored 28 points, but the game belonged to the Conquistadores (7-8, 4-2).

Guard Todd Orlando scored in double digits in three periods to finish with a game-high 36 points.

“We thought we would win,” Orlando said, “we just didn’t know by how much. This is very gratifying, especially since it came against Coach Davis.”