Bolsa Grande Rolls Past Newbury Park

Just about everyone in the Bolsa Grande locker room before the Matadors’ Southern Section Division II-A playoff opener with visiting Newbury Park Friday night had a feeling that senior Will Montgomery was going to have a big night.

Montgomery didn’t disappoint. He had game-highs of 37 points, 12 rebounds and six steals.

But it was a three-point basket by freshman guard David Doan only three minutes into the second half that might have been the most important moment of Bolsa Grande’s 88-75 victory. The shot capped a 10-0 run that opened the third quarter and staked the Matadors to a 53-35 advantage.

Bolsa Grande plays Bonita, a 74-62 victor over Barstow, Tuesday at a site to be determined today.

The much taller Panthers got 29 points and nine rebounds from center Will Svirtek, but were a step slow defensively. Nonetheless, they refused to go away, climbing within nine points several times late in the fourth quarter.

“I thought that was a big three in transition for us,” Bolsa Grande Coach Michael Anderson said of Doan, who finished with five points. “All night we talked about setting the tempo and with 88 points, I can see we did that. I don’t like giving up 75, but we did what we wanted to do offensively and I figured they would get tired.”

Newbury Park (12-13), was playing without five players, including three starters, who were dropped from the team just before Marmonte League play began for violating team and school rules.

The Matadors (22-5) trailed, 18-14, after a basket by Panther forward Matt Currie six minutes into the first quarter. But Montgomery led a speedy 11-0 comeback that ended with his three-pointer, one of his four of the evening, to take a 25-18 advantage.

“We came out slow,” said senior guard Jon James, who scored 16 points and had nine rebounds. “We wanted to get out fast, but we didn’t. But when you play a team like this, all those big guys, they end up tired when you start running.”