Camarillo Puts Royal Away in Overtime, 67-65

Camarillo High moved into sole possession of second place in the Marmonte League with a dramatic 67-65 overtime win against Royal on Friday night at Royal.

Early in the game, however, Camarillo looked like it had about as much chance of getting up off the ground as Larry Holmes.

Appearing punch drunk, Camarillo (9-7, 4-2 in league play) surrendered 18 unanswered points and fell behind, 20-6, early in the second quarter. Royal (10-7, 3-3), which stung the Scorpions early with two three-point jump shots by guard J. P. Ouellette and another by guard Chris Noyes, appeared to be headed for an early knockout.

But Camarillo battled back to trim the Highlanders’ lead to 31-24 at halftime.

“They had us early and they should have put us away,” Camarillo Coach John Harbour said. “But I could tell by the look in my players’ eyes at halftime that we were going to come back.”

Said guard Sean Young, who scored eight points: “Right when we came out and made the first two baskets, I knew we had a chance. We just kept coming at them.”

Forward Tom Carrillo, who finished with a game-high 27 points, scored 12 points in the third quarter. Before Carrillo fouled out with 2:48 left in the fourth quarter, the Scorpions had tied the score five more times before going ahead, 54-53.

“When we got him out of there it looked pretty good for us,” Royal Coach Joe Malkinson said.

The Highlanders were able to go the distance--at least through regulation. Trailing, 56-55, with 37 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Ouellette sank another three-point shot from deep in the corner to give Royal a two-point lead. But Camarillo guard Chris Sorich fought off a double-team and made a turnaround jump shot with two seconds left to send the game into overtime.

Camarillo reserve forward Mike Watts then took over. Watts easily penetrated the Highlander defense and banked in 7 of his 9 points. Meanwhile, Royal’s Russell Myers, Jeff Blain and Mark Tuttle each missed the front end of one-and-one opportunities.

Tuttle’s miss came with 12 seconds left and Camarillo leading, 66-63.

“You can’t miss three one-and-ones and expect to win,” Malkinson said. “We felt we were going to win. We could have blown them out and then let them off the hook. But when it got intense on the floor, we lost our composure and our inexperience showed.”

Corey Herbert, who came off the bench to score 11 points, made a 10-foot jump shot with six seconds left to pull Royal to within a point. But the Highlanders were forced to foul Young in the backcourt and the 5-9 senior made a free throw with two seconds left. Young made 3 of 6 free throws.

“I gotta work on my free throws,” Young said. “I don’t know if it would have made a difference tonight, but it would have helped.”

Ouellette finished with 15 points to lead Royal. Sorich finished with eight points for Camarillo.