Simi Valley can't contain Artesia's high-flying attack
SVHS hopes to learn from loss
By Stephen Dorman sdorman@theacorn.com

MICHAEL COONS/Acorn Newspapers TOUGH TO SCORE- Michael Meza of Simi Valley, above left, tries to get a shot past Artesia's Lorenzo McCloud during the second round of CIF-Southern Section Division IAA playoffs at SVHS Tuesday night. Right, Simi Valley freshman Grant Keller soars to pull down a rebound. SVHS lost the game 89-60.

Pioneer players left the basketball court with their heads held high. Some had won and some had lost, yet most were in pretty good spirits.

The Simi Valley High Pioneers, like the rest of the crowd at the SVHS gym Tuesday night, had just witnessed a skillful display by the high-powered Artesia Pioneers (26-2) during the second round of the CIFSouthern Section Division IAA playoffs.

In defeat- an 8960 shellacking- Simi Valley (21-7) proved to be up to the challenge of stopping the No. 2-ranked team in the state during the first half of the game. SVHS only trailed 39-29 at halftime.

The second half, though, developed into a tsunami of thunder dunks for Artesia- including a memorable nolook, reverse alleyoop jam by 6foot10 sophomore center Renardo Sidney in the third quarter. Even UCLA men's head coach Ben Howland, who was in attendance, smiled after that play.

MICHAEL COONS/Acorn Newspapers

"They were just so athletic," junior guard Lorne Jackson said. "It was so easy for them to get across the floor for open baskets. They're amazing. They're a very good team."

Sidney finished with a gamehigh 30 points. Junior Michael Meza led Simi Valley with 17 points. Jackson scored 13 and senior Tyler Ostrovsky added 10 points.

Although the defeat was disheartening, Simi Valley head coach Christian Aurand said his players took no shame in losing to a team as talented as Artesia.

"In a sense, you turn it into a motivator," Aurand said. "We talked about it (Wednesday)- none of us were hanging our heads; we're all proud of our effort- we said to ourselves, 'What do we want to do now? Where do we want to go? How can we get better individually to make our team better the following year?'"

Before preparations began for a run at the Marmonte League championship in 2008, Aurand took time to thank the eight Pioneer seniors who will be moving on- Kenny Breen, Brandon Simon, Jon Bingham, Skyler Grant, Taylor Duncan, Brian Ung, Kyle Green and Ostrovsky.

"We had a lot of guys this year who were seniors who didn't get a ton of time," Aurand said. "But they came and competed every single day and were good teammates.

"They didn't have any egos. They had great attitudes and were supportive of the young guys."

As is, Simi's roster is stacked for next season. The Pioneers return four starters, including Meza, the team leader in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots, and Jackson, who was tops in assists and steals.

The returning players will have some unfinished business to take care of. Simi Valley lost four of its final six league games this year, slipping from first to third in the final Marmonte standings.

Like the Artesia game, Aurand hopes his players will learn from what happened at the end of the regular season.

"Any time you get a little bit of humble pie, a little bit of reality, in a sense, it gives you something to shoot for," he said. "Now you've got to have high expectations. People can talk about the 'next level' all they want, but until you're part of a game where you see it and experience it, that's when you have something to shoot for."