VILLA PARK – Matthew Lanzone’s dunk highlighted a breakaway run in the third quarter to put Villa Park in control against Westlake of Thousand Oaks in a 69-60 victory in a CIF-Southern Section Division 2AA second-round playoff game Friday night on the Spartans’ court.
Lanzone, a 6-foot-3, 185-pound post player, scooped up a loose ball and dribbled three-fourths of the court for a two-hand slam over a defender to lift the Spartans (21-5) to a 45-37 lead with 2:31 remaining. He was fouled on the play and missed the free throw, but Jason Reed grabbed the rebound and fed Caleb Banuelos for a 3-pointer from the top of the key to complete the 10-0 burst.
“Lanzone’s dunk got us going,” Villa Park coach Kevin Reynolds said. “I’ve seen him dunk, but never over a guy. He gave us the energy we needed. He played great.”
Lanzone scored a career-high 19 points and had eight rebounds. He made 7 of 9 field goals, including 2 of 2 3-pointers and was 3 of 3 at the foul line.
Myles Franklin, a 6-4 senior guard, scored 17 points, 13 in the first half. Banuelos, a 6-foot senior, scored all of his 11 points in the second half. He missed all six of his field-goal attempts in the first half, four of them 3-pointers, but made all three of his 3-pointers in the second half.
“Franklin carried us in the first half,” Reynolds said. “We wanted to get Banuelos some better shots in the second half and we did.”
The Spartans led, 23-13, midway through the second quarter, but the Warriors (17-12) closed the gap to 30-25 at halftime.
Drew Brackens scored on a driving layup to chop Westlake’s deficit to 38-37.
Banuelos buried a 3-pointer and Franklin made an outside jumper to boost Villa Park’s lead to six. Lanzone’s dunk and Banuelos’ 3-pointer made it 10 straight points. Westlake never got closer than seven from there.
Villa Park will host Mission Prep of San Luis Obispo in the third round Tuesday.
