WINTER SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS : Kennedy Easily Moves Past Thousand Oaks Despite 30 Turnovers

Kennedy High, which committed 41 turnovers in a game last week, committed 30 more on Friday, but defeated Thousand Oaks, 53-36, in the first round of the Palisades tournament at Pepperdine.

Kennedy will play Westchester, a 73-68 opening-round winner over Rio Mesa, tonight at 7:30 in the semifinals. Culver City, an 87-60 winner over Hamilton, will play El Camino Real in the other semifinal. El Camino Real upset Palisades, 54-51, in its first-round game.

Kennedy Coach Yutaka Shimizu said that he won’t be panicking about his team’s generosity when it takes the court against Westchester.

“We let a lot of people play,” he said. “And when you let a lot of people play, you have a tendency to make turnovers. They’re always a concern, but I’m not about to panic. We just have to play better defense and force the other teams to make more turnovers.”

That strategy worked against Thousand Oaks.

Kennedy turned in a defensive performance that would have made any Times Square pickpocket envious. The Golden Cougars (6-2) forced Thousand Oaks into 42 turnovers.

And about that record. Kennedy, ranked No. 6 in The Times Valley poll, began the season not knowing what to expect from its team.

First, Kendell McDaniels, who was expected to be Kennedy’s dominant player, transferred to Chatsworth. Then, Jeff Newman, who was also expected to be a key contributor, decided after the football season to skip the basketball season.

“I didn’t know where we were going to be,” Shimizu said. “This has been a pleasant surprise.”

Not for Thousand Oaks.

Junior center Clarence Williams scored 12 points to lead Kennedy, which sprinted to a 23-10 halftime lead. Teammates Marcus Malone and Leon Ware each contributed 10 points.

El Camino Real 54, Palisades 51--Sean Davis scored 20 points to spark El Camino Real to the first-round victory in the Palisades tournament. Teammate Nick Warner had 12 points and Damon Orlando added 11.

El Camino Real jumped out to an 11-2 lead and enjoyed a 30-24 advantage at the half. However, Palisades went on a 10-2 run to start the second half and took a 34-32 lead midway through the third quarter. El Camino (4-4) took the lead for good when Davis hit a 20-foot jumper in the fourth quarter to give El Camino a 46-45 lead.

Taft 84, Fremont junior varsity 53--Kevin Franklin scored a game-high 21 points, despite being sidelined for half the game because of foul trouble, and led Taft to the first-round victory in the Eagle Rock tournament.

Franklin, who didn’t play in the second or fourth quarters, also had 11 rebounds. Today, Taft (5-3) will play Wilson, which defeated Roosevelt, 65-53. After trailing 14-0, Fremont pulled to within 36-33 by halftime. But Vernon Middleton scored 12 of his 16 points in the third quarter and Franklin added 10 more as Taft pulled away.

Granada Hills 74, Pasadena 47--Gary Gray scored a game-high 25 points to lead Granada Hills (7-1) into the second round of the Glendale tournament. Terrell Smith added 14 for the Highlanders.

Burbank 47, Miraleste 45--Abo Velasco scored 13 points and Chris Buck added 12 for Burbank at West Torrance High in the consolation semifinals of the Torrance tournament. Burbank (6-3) increased its six-point halftime lead to 36-22 in the third quarter before Miraleste (4-6) rallied to pull to within 42-40 with about four minutes left. But Miraleste, which got 18 points from Dave Johnston, never got any closer than that.

Burbank will meet St. John Bosco for the consolation title today at 3 p.m. at West Torrance.

Bishop Diego 56, L.A. Baptist 46--Despite a game-high 22 points from Mike Null of L.A. Baptist, Bishop Diego posted a first-round victory in the Carpinteria tournament. Bishop Diego was led by Matt McCoy and Ted Tagney, who each scored 13 points. Dan Peters scored 12. James Hoback scored eight points and had eight rebounds for L.A. Baptist.

L.A. Baptist (5-2) will play Notre Dame (Riverside) in the consolation round at 3 p.m. today.

Downey 80, Oak Park 55--Downey (8-0) led the entire game behind Clay Schwartz’s 29 points and won the first-round game in the Bell-Jeff tournament. Oak Park (3-4) was led by Brian Friefeld, who scored 29 points to tie Schwartz for game-high honors. Mike Payan, the only other player to score in double figures, added 14 points for Downey.

Oak Park will play Cathedral in the consolation round today at 4 p.m.

North Hollywood 74, Cathedral 51--Before fouling out in the third quarter, North Hollywood’s Dominic Nappi scored a game-high 20 points in the first round game at the Bell-Jeff tournament.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Birmingham 44, Franklin 39 (2 OT)--Birmingham scored three fast-break layups off turnovers in the second overtime to win the first-round game in the Hamilton tournament. Tenita Bennett, who led Birmingham (7-2) with 14 points, sent the game into overtime with a 15-foot jump shot with 10 seconds left in regulation. Shaggaro Lattin added 11 points for Birmingham.

Louisville 63, Cabrillo 30--Andrea Knapp scored 28 points and had 16 rebounds to lead Louisville to a first-round victory in the Thousand Oaks tournament. Louisville (5-2) also was led by Lynn Flanagan, who scored 19 points and had seven assists. Louisville will play Palmdale today at 6:30 p.m.

Cabrillo, which was led by Tisha Johnson with 18 points, will play Camarillo today at 10:30 a.m. in the consolation round.

Burroughs 57, Burbank 49--Kim Powers, a 5-9 senior forward, scored 16 points and had 13 rebounds, earning MVP honors and leading Burroughs (9-1) to the Hoover tournament title. Teammate Kelly McCauley added 12 points for Burroughs, which led at the half, 41-33.

Burbank’s Kristy Calderon and Christine Rumfola were selected to the all-tournament team along with Burroughs’ Barbara Hofer.

Dorsey 52, North Hollywood 49--Carolyn Yocum scored four of her 16 points in the last minute of play to give Dorsey (5-2) the first-round victory in the Hamilton tournament. North Hollywood (3-1), which was led by Sandrine Rocher with 17 points, took the lead for the first time, 47-46, before Yocum grabbed two offensive rebounds and scored the game-winning points. Yocum finished with a game-high 15 rebounds.

Led by Gwen Outen’s game-high 20 points, Dorsey jumped out to a 19-2 first-half lead before Rocher and Debbie Herz, who scored 15 points, brought North Hollywood back.

North Hollywood plays Bell in a consolation round game today at 6 p.m.

Other girls scores: In the Thousand Oaks High basketball tournament, Thousand Oaks defeated Oxnard, 57-25, Westlake beat Calabasas, 56-49. Also, Lynwood defeated El Camino Real, 62-21, and Palmdale defeated Camarillo, 54-38. Channel Islands, Pasadena and Morningside also posted wins.

GIRLS SOCCER

Alemany 4, Claremont 0--Juniors Lisa Gill and Shannon Lambert each scored two goals and junior goalkeeper Lisa Gonzalez recorded a shutout in the first round of the Ocean View tournament.

Alemany 1, Laguna Hills 0--Goalkeeper Lisa Gonzalez scored on the Indians’ sixth penalty kick in overtime, then went back into goal to save a shot, giving Alemany (8-3-3) a second-round victory in the Ocean View tournament. The shutout was the seventh of the season for Gonzalez.