Turpin Is in Control from Start to Finish

Whether it was the game’s first 20 seconds or the last five, Newbury Park High lacked a player who could effectively guard Simi Valley’s Annmarie Turpin on Wednesday night in a semifinal game of the Simi Valley girls’ basketball tournament.

Turpin, a 5-foot-9 senior guard, slashed her way through or past the Newbury Park defense for 22 points in the Pioneers’ 61-48 victory over their Marmonte League rival.

Simi Valley (8-1) will play St. Lucy’s for the title at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.

“We’ve played them so many times in the past that we knew we had a quickness advantage over them,” Turpin said of Newbury Park. “But this time we also had a height advantage.”

Turpin, who might be Simi Valley’s most athletic player, scored six of the Pioneers’ first 12 points and eight of their last 18 to help them advance to the title game for the first time since 1995, when they defeated Alemany, 66-61.

Simi Valley, ranked No. 5 in The Times’ regional poll, led, 41-31, with 5:50 to play, but Newbury Park closed within 44-39 with 4:04 remaining on a three-point play by sophomore Erin Edrosolan.

Turpin’s three-point play gave Simi Valley a 47-39 lead with 3:58 remaining, but Newbury Park (5-5) narrowed the deficit to five points twice more.

Turpin’s final points came on a layup with five seconds to play after she blocked a shot at the other end of the court.

Senior guard Jamie Sturdivant scored 14 points for Simi Valley, which has won six in a row.

Senior Angela Jensen had 14 points for Newbury Park, which will play Alemany for third place at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

In other Simi Valley tournament games:

St. Lucy’s 44, Alemany 27--The Indians’ offense struggled mightily in the semifinal game as junior guard Kate Beckler was sidelined with flu.

Alemany trailed, 19-18, at halftime, but scored six points in the third quarter and three in the fourth.

El Camino Real 63, Hart 60--Sophomore Karen Shun scored on a dribble drive with 22 seconds remaining to give the Conquistadores a 61-58 lead and sophomore Kristina Aguinaga added two free throws with 10 seconds left for a 63-58 advantage in the fifth-place semifinal game.

Shun, who scored eight of her 12 points in the fourth quarter, made a three-point shot with 4:48 left to break a 50-50 tie and scored on another drive with 3:22 remaining to give El Camino Real a 57-52 advantage.

Aguinaga had 23 points for the Conquistadores (7-3), who will play No. 9-ranked Canyon for fifth place at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday.