Simi Valley Barely Wins War at Troy

FULLERTON —  Cruising along with a 13-point halftime lead, No. 3-seeded Simi Valley High suddenly found itself fighting for survival against host Fullerton Troy in a Southern Section Division I-A second-round playoff game Tuesday night.

The Pioneers surrendered a lead in the fourth quarter for the first time since Dec. 31 against St. Anthony (N.J.). Then 6-foot-9 Rafael Berumen, with his team’s season on the line, started dominating like the giant center he is.

“I had to take it to them,” Berumen said.

Berumen scored 10 of his 24 points in the final six minutes and Simi Valley (27-2) held off the Warriors, 60-50, to earn a spot in a quarterfinal game against Ventura on Friday.

Troy (17-11) fell behind, 31-18, at halftime. The Warriors were unable to connect from outside against Simi Valley’s 2-3 zone.

But hustling senior guard Jerry Inzunza ignited the Warriors in the third quarter, scoring 13 of his 21 points to pull Troy within 40-39.

The Warriors took a 41-40 lead at the outset of the fourth quarter, but Berumen was just beginning to take charge. Over the next four minutes, he made several power moves and baskets off of rebounds to derail Troy.

“We seriously thought we could win this game,” Inzunza said. “Toward the end, they just got us.”

The Warriors had no response for Berumen, who finished with 14 rebounds. He scored six consecutive points to turn a one-point Simi Valley lead into a 53-46 advantage with about two minutes left.

“He [Berumen] took over, and players like that are supposed to,” Simi Valley Coach Dean Bradshaw said.

The Pioneers received a gutsy performance from guard Branduinn Fullove, who missed the playoff opener because of stretched tendons in his right ankle. Despite the heavily taped ankle, a hobbling Fullove scored 14 points and did his best to guard Inzunza, who made only six of 24 shots.

“He [Fullove] means a lot to us on the floor,” Bradshaw said. “We’ve got to keep our fingers crossed that [the ankle] doesn’t swell up.”

Simi Valley got into trouble when it started hurrying in the third quarter, lost the ball on turnovers and was burned with its man-to-man defense. Inzunza made five of seven free throws as Troy outscored the Pioneers, 21-9, in the quarter.

“For us, it was important not to turn the ball over and to get shots,” Bradshaw said.

The Pioneers, however, never lost their composure. Brett Michel, who came in shooting 59%, was one of six when he made a three-point basket with 3:58 left.

“This is one of the few times a team’s quickness bothered us,” Bradshaw said. “It’s nice to get a game like this out of our system.”