With an Outside Shot, Thousand Oaks Wins League

Ben Olson of Thousand Oaks High is used to putting the ball in the air, but not like this.

Olson, a junior forward who is one of the state’s top returning quarterbacks, hit four of the Lancers’ 12 three-pointers and Thousand Oaks clinched the Marmonte League title with a 75-56 victory Friday at Newbury Park.

It is the first league title for Thousand Oaks (20-5, 10-2 in league play) since 1994.

The Lancers led, 34-21, at halftime, but Newbury Park (13-12, 3-9) put together a 12-4 run that trimmed the lead to 38-33 with 4:04 to play in the third quarter.

Thousand Oaks went outside again, getting three-pointers from Kyle Kegley and David Anderson in a 16-5 run that extended the lead to 54-38 entering the fourth quarter.

“We were going to go with the inside-outside game, but all of the sudden, we came out hot,” said Olson, who had 18 points. “We stayed with it.”

Kegley, Olson and Anderson hit consecutive three-pointers early in the first quarter to set the tempo.

Anderson scored 19 points and had three three-pointers. Kegley added 15 points and three three-pointers.

“You can’t change the game plan when you get that hot,” said Thousand Oaks Coach Richard Endres, whose team hit 13 of 24 (54%) of its three-pointers. “Ben has a great outside shot, but he doesn’t get a chance to show it that much. He’d be a great outside guy with a few big bodies inside.”