Benton One of the most productive boys' basketball players in the Marmonte League this season has been Newbury Park High senior Charles Benton.

Benton, in his third year with the NPHS varsity squad, was averaging a team-leading 21.7 points per game before Wednesday night's contest against Calabasas. The 6-foot-4 forward/center is also tops on the team in rebounding.

After Monday's practice at Newbury Park, the Thousand Oaks Acorn got together with Benton for 10 questions. Here's what he said:

Q) Your team is 5-11 overall, but 2-2 in league play. What's it going to take over the next 10 league games to get somewhere you've never been—the playoffs?

A) It's going to take a lot of team chemistry. We have it, but not all the time. We need it every game. If we just continue sticking to the game plan, we should be just fine.

Q) Who is the big man in the Marmonte League that gives you the most trouble, both offensively and defensively?

A) I would have to say Evan Smith of Calabasas. At 6-foot-7, he's a little taller than me. He can shoot, dribble and is pretty quick. When we play each other, it's a tough matchup for both of us.

Q) Being 6-foot-4, I'm sure complete strangers ask you all the time how tall you are and if you play basketball? What do you tell them?

A) I get asked at least twice a week. Now I tend to have fun with it when they ask. I tell them I play tennis, croquet or cricket.

Q) You don't tell them you're a jockey?

A) That's a good one (laughing). I'll use that one next time.

Q) So, when was the first time you dunked?

A) I was in the eighth grade at Sequoia Middle School. I remember it feeling great and saying to myself, 'Finally.' I felt accomplished. My biggest problem was gripping the ball. I still have to hold the ball with two hands when I throw it down.

Q) Being a pretty big guy, how come you never went out for the football team?

A) I wanted to, but my mom was scared I would get hurt. After a while, with me going for a basketball scholarship, it was easy to stick to just basketball.

Q) Which former Los Angeles Laker is the best big man of all time—Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or Shaquille O'Neal?

A) Hmm, I'd say Wilt. I mean, he changed the game. Rules were changed because of him. He also scored 100 points in a game. That's pretty impressive. The most I've ever scored is 31.

Q) Do you still call, 'bank' before you make a shot that goes in off the glass?

A) I always call it. I just don't always call it vocally. Sometimes I say it only in my mind, like telekinetically. I won't say it, but I definitely meant to say it.

Q) During the last Olympics, everyone wanted to know what Michael Phelps was listening to in his iPod before his swimming races. What music do you listen to before your games?

A) I listen to a lot of Lil Wayne. My favorite song to play before games is "Last of a Dying Breed" by Lil Wayne and Ludacris.

Q) If I start listening to Lil Wayne before I play basketball, will I be able to score 31 points in a game?

A) I don't know, maybe (laughing). It works for me; it gets me pumped up. Why not?

— Thomas Gase