Thousand Oaks Girls Smother Diamond Bar

A few simple adjustments, and the Thousand Oaks High girls’ basketball team was on its way to its 28th consecutive victory.

In the span of about six minutes, Thousand Oaks turned a tight game into a laugher against Diamond Bar and rolled to a 76-41 victory Saturday night in front of a capacity crowd at Thousand Oaks in a quarterfinal game of the Southern Section Division I-A playoffs.

Top-ranked Thousand Oaks (28-0) proved to Diamond Bar (24-4), the Sierra League champion, that its reputation for being one of the best teams in Southern California is legitimate.

In fact, the blowout left Diamond Bar Coach Jim Salyer a little dumbfounded.

“They played a lot better than I thought they would,” Salyer said.

Salyer’s strategy was to contain Lancer star Marion Jones and hold her to under 24 points. Diamond Bar did that, but it made no impact on the outcome.

Jones finished with a game-high 22 points and dominated inside with 14 rebounds in little more than three quarters.

“She certainly has a lot to do with our success with her rebounding and all, but the others play with confidence too,” Thousand Oaks Coach Chuck Brown said. “Nobody can say we’re a one-person team.”

Melissa Wood (14 points), who hit two three-point baskets in the second quarter, was the Lancers’ main outside threat. Samantha Clarke went inside for most of her 13 points.

Early on, Diamond Bar had no problem breaking the Lancers’ full-court zone press, so with Thousand Oaks holding a precarious five-point lead after the first quarter, Brown went to a man-to-man press to start the second quarter. It made a difference.

After Diamond Bar’s Brandi Calloway tied the score, 14-14, on a pair of free throws, Thousand Oaks went on a tear.

The Lancers closed out the final 6 minutes 12 seconds of the second quarter with a 23-3 run for a 37-17 halftime lead. Diamond Bar turned the ball over nine times during the Lancers’ run. Diamond Bar committed 25 turnovers in the game.

Thousand Oaks, which shot 42.9% (12 for 28) in the first half, made seven consecutive field goals to start the second half. The Lancers missed only two of 13 field-goal attempts in the third quarter en route to a 63-26 advantage.

The Lancer starters left the game with six minutes remaining and a 67-32 lead.

“I was really proud of the second team in there,” Brown said. “They played with a lot of intensity and kept us up.”

For Diamond Bar, which started three sophomores, the loss snapped a 23-game winning streak. The Brahmas’ previous losses were by no more than seven points.