Simi Valley on Easy Street, 109-54

SIMI VALLEY — Have fun.

Play hard and be unselfish.

Those were Simi Valley High’s three goals entering a second-round game of the Southern Section Division I-A boys’ basketball playoffs on Friday night. The Pioneers accomplished all three in impressive fashion with a 109-54 victory over Nogales.

The Nobles beat Ventura, 63-56, in a first-round game on Wednesday night but were overwhelmed by a Simi Valley squad that had a huge size advantage.

Nogales trailed, 11-5, midway through the first quarter, but Simi Valley (25-2) scored the next 23 points to take a 34-5 lead with 7:25 left in the second quarter.

The Pioneers followed that with a 16-5 run to take a 50-10 advantage with 2:32 remaining in the half.

“It was very important,” Brett Michel said of Simi Valley’s fast start. “We wanted to kind of set the table and get rolling right from the start.”

Michel had 26 points and six assists for the Pioneers and Branduinn Fullove had 30 points, six rebounds and seven assists as Simi Valley won its 14th consecutive game to advance to a third-round contest against Garey.

“I don’t think you ever expect to win by that much in a playoff game,” Coach Christian Aurand said. “But we were clicking on all cylinders. It was fun to watch.”

Simi Valley, ranked No. 1 in the region by The Times, made 43 of 71 shots and was 20 of 28 when it led, 50-10.

The Pioneers had 34 assists, two shy of the school record set last season.

“All the players were out there saying, ‘Good pass,’ or ‘Nice cut,’ ” Fullove said. “We were just out there having a good time.”

The 6-foot-5 Fullove continued his torrid shooting by making 13 of 14 shots.

That followed an 11-for-12 outing in the Pioneers’ previous game against Royal in a Marmonte League finale last week.

Fullove, who has signed with UC Santa Barbara, made a particularly acrobatic shot in the first quarter when he threw the ball into the hoop with his back turned to the basket after being fouled on a baseline drive.

Simi Valley led after the first quarter, 27-5.

The Nobles (15-13) made only one of 12 shots in the first quarter and six of 16 in the second to trail, 52-22, at halftime.

Antoine Chandler scored 15 points for Nogales, but all 10 Simi Valley players scored.

Center Dustin Villepigue had 12 points and nine rebounds for the Pioneers and Ryan Bradshaw had 12 points on four three-point shots.

Simi Valley was 13 of 28 from three-point range, missing the school record of 14 set earlier this season.

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HIGH SCHOOL BOYS’ BASKETBALL PLAYOFF SCORES

SOUTHERN SECTION

Top Three Divisions

Division I-AA

Warren 56, Oxnard 53

Crescenta Valley 58, Leuzinger 57

Ayala 86, Highland 59

Los Alamitos 68, Channel Islands 57

*

Division I-A

Thousand Oaks 72, Loara 71

Simi Valley 108, Nogales 54

Garey 76, Burbank 65

Villa Park 59, Royal 45

Marina 73, Saugus 52

*

Division III-AA

Harvard-Westlake 70, La Canada 51

Notre Dame 55, Verbum Dei 46

Compton Centennial 51, Chaminade 49

*

CITY SECTION

City Championship

Palisades 53, Monroe 41

Taft 65, Sylmar 59

Cleveland 55, Grant 43

* BOX SCORES, PAGE 16