Clash on the Coast: Simi Valley Pioneers 88, Santa Paula Cardinals 81

Simi Valley overcame a slow start but quickly turned the game around in handing Santa Paula a defeat, 88-81, on day 2 of the annual Clash on the Coast hosted by Pacifica Oxnard high school.

Simi Valley went 2-0 in the Clash and evened its overall record at 6-6. Santa Paula fell to 4-4 on the season.

Santa Paula came out on fire and looked like they could be headed for an easy win. Sophomore David Alvarez nailed a three-pointer at the 6:00 mark and that put the Cardinals on top 7-0.

Simi finally got on the board with a bucket from senior Josiah Dale but Alvarez kept up the scoring for Santa Paula with a drive to make it 9-2. Senior Jose Valdovinos blocked a Simi shot underneath the basket and took the rock coast to coast for a lay up to make it 11-2.

Jose Valdovinos soon added a couple of free throws and Santa Paula led by double digits, 13-2. Simi showed signs of life when sophomore CJ Temme connected on two three-pointers around a Santa Paula bucket to make it 15-8.

But Santa Paula was showing more energy and discipline to this point and pushed the lead to 20-8 after a three by Alvarez. It was their largest lead of the game.

Dale sank a couple of late-quarter FTs for Simi, and the Pioneers ended up with the ball and a chance for the last shot of the first quarter. Senior Trevor Hiscocks found senior Joaquin Aleman on a back door assist just before the buzzer and that cut the deficit to single digits, 20-12.

That play helped spark a huge momentum shift. The quarter-ending run of 4 points by Simi morphed into a massive run of 46-15, as the Pioneers completely took over.

Simi Valley got its first lead of the game, 24-23, after Aleman completed a three-point play. Jose Valdovinos regained the lead for the Cardinals, 25-24, after a nice stop n pop jumper.

But Hiscocks came back with a score with a nice assist from sophomore Harshith Rajan and the Pioneers never trailed again.

Simi Valley outscored the Cardinals, 29-13, in the second quarter to lead at the half, 41-33. The last bucket came on another buzzer-beating assist by Hiscocks, this time to Temme.

The Pioneers kept up the pressure in the third quarter, finally completing the 46-15 run at the 5:40 mark to lead, 54-35, its largest lead of the game.

They matched that lead a couple more times in the third quarter, the last time at 66-47. But, surprisingly, this game was not yet in the bag. Santa Paula hadn’t gotten that memo.

The Cardinals rose from the ashes and soon got everyone’s attention. They finished the third quarter on an 8-2 run to make it 68-55.

And when freshman Andrew Valdovinos hit one of his four three-pointers in the game, the Simi lead was down to single digits, 68-60, with still 6:30 showing on the game clock.

The Pioneers weren’t going to let the game slip away though and they pushed their lead back up to 13 at 77-64 after a three from Aleman with 4 minutes to go.

Santa Paula kept it interesting. With 1:59 left in the game, Andrew Valdovinos was fouled while missing a three-point shot. He made all three freebies and the lead was down to six, 81-75.

That was as close as the Cardinals could get and Simi pretty much sealed the win with 50 seconds left when Aleman and Temme collaborated on a great pass and score to make it 85-75. the final was 88-81.

There were lots of scoring stars in the game, as both teams had four in double figures.

Aleman had a game high 26 points for Simi and was helped by 19 from Temme. Hiscocks had a double double with 12 points and 11 rebounds and junior Andrew Oglivie also had 12 points.

For Santa Paula, Jose Valdovinos had 21 points and was matched by sophomore Christian Ordonez who earned his 21 points working hard in the paint. Alvarez had 20 points and Andrew Valdovinos added 17 points on 4 three-pointers.

Individual Scoring:

Simi Valley (88):

0-Harshith Rajan 4

2-Josiah Dale 6

3-Trevor Hiscocks 12 (6 assists)

4-Joaquin Cunanan 3

11-Derek MacLean 6

12-Andrew Oglivie 12

22-CJ Temme 19

23-Joaquin Aleman 26

Three-pointers made: Temme 3, Aleman, Cunanan

Santa Paula (81):

1-Jose Valdovinos 21

3-Jacob Barreto 2

10-David Alvarez 20

11-Christian Ordonez 21

21-Andrew Valdovinos 17

Three-pointers made: A. Valdovinos 4, J. Valdovinos 2, Alvarez 2