BOYS’ BASKETBALL / HART TOURNAMENT : Simi Valley Wins in 4 Overtimes

Simi Valley High basketball Coach Dean Bradshaw was in no hurry to score during overtime of the semifinals of the Hart Holiday Classic.

Bradshaw instructed the Pioneers to hold the ball and wait for Culver City to challenge them as the teams headed into one overtime after another. And while the game plan was not popular with the fans, it was nonetheless successful--eventually.

Center Vernon Simmons scored four of his 10 points in overtime No. 4, giving the Pioneers a 74-72 win over the Centaurs before a crowd of 900 mostly disgruntled spectators Tuesday night at Hart High.

“We felt like they were playing for the tie because they weren’t coming out to challenge us in the half-court (offense),” Bradshaw said. “We figured the worst thing that could happen to us was that we would keep getting the last shot.”

Simi Valley (10-2) is scheduled to play the winner of Tuesday’s late semifinal game between Beverly Hills and Hart in the championship tonight. Culver City (5-7) will play the other semifinal loser for third place at 6 p.m.

“This just goes to show that we need to play with a shot clock,” said an angry Culver City Coach Marty Siegal. “That was just ridiculous.”

Westlake 62, Royal 55--Billy Zaruka had 16 points and seven steals to lead Westlake (4-6) into the consolation championship game today at 4:30 p.m. against Central Fresno. Mike Ormsby-Wilson added 12 points and 19 rebounds.

Eric Carlsen scored 17 points and Steve Hodge had 15 for Royal, which trailed, 21-7, after one quarter.

Central Fresno defeated Antelope Valley, 66-58, in the other consolation semifinal.

Canyon 67, San Fernando 52--In a game of streaks, the Cowboys used a 14-2 fourth-quarter run to knock off the Tigers and advance to today’s 3 p.m. fifth-place game against West Bakersfield.

Greg Minor scored 16 points, Pat Backes 14 and Charles Woodard 12 for Canyon (6-5), which took a 37-35 halftime advantage. Javier Ramos scored 22 points and J.R. Montgomery had 13 for San Fernando.

Faith Baptist 79, Littlerock 53--Leonard Colon scored a game-high 21 points to lead Faith Baptist (7-4) in a consolation game. Tony Hoggatts added 15 points.