Preps BOYS : Moorpark Wins Battle of the Parks

Oak Park High’s basketball players didn’t pay attention to their coach Wednesday night and paid the ultimate price.

The Eagles dropped below the .500 mark in the Tri-Valley League as they lost to Moorpark High, 67-43. It was only their second loss at home this season. Oak Park is now 5-6 in league and 8-11 overall.

“Right from the beginning the team didn’t want to play the kind of game I wanted them to,” said Oak Park Coach Todd Corman. “I wanted them to hold on to the ball and be patient and they wanted to run all night. It’s hard to coach kids when they don’t want to do what you want.

“I haven’t seen our team play this poorly all season. Maybe one time before--so this was our second-worst performance this year. We stunk up the gym.”

Oak Park did play a slow-down game in the first quarter, but turned the ball over several times. They picked up the tempo in the second half, but it was no use. The Eagles continued to give the ball away and converted only 14 of 42 field goals.

Moorpark guard Mike Patrick led all scorers with 18 points and had 8 assists and 9 steals. Jeff Magill scored 17 points. Sophomore guard Brian Friefeld scored 11 of Oak Park’s first 18 points and finished with 18 points.

After Moorpark took a 7-6 lead at the end of the first quarter, the Musketeers capitalized on three straight misses, a blocked shot and a pair of turnovers to go ahead, 13-10, with 3:25 left in the half. Moorpark wasn’t having much luck hitting its shots in the first half, making only 9 of 22. As a result, it couldn’t pull away and only led by only three points at halftime.

“We’re famous for shooting the ball in a unique way,” said Moorpark Coach Rick Kent. “We take a lot of shots. If we shoot only 35% that’s fine, but we should take a lot shots while doing it.”

Moorpark, which is 9-3 in league play and 13-9 overall, started to pull away late in the third quarter when Magill hit one of two free throws to put the Musketeers up, 31-22. But Oak Park came back and cut the deficit back down to two points, 32-30, at the end of the quarter.

Moorpark outscored the Eagles by 12 points in the first four and a half minutes of the last period and built a 52-38 lead. Then the Musketeers just ran out the clock.

The loss does not eliminate Oak Park from the playoff picture. If it can beat Fillmore High Friday night, it will enter postseason play.

Crossroads 73, Buckley 58

Despite Steve Kadenacy’s 22 points and Craig Weakley’s 20 points, Buckley High fell at home to Crossroads.

Crossroads improved to 7-1 in the Delphic League while Buckley fell to 4-4 in league and 15-5 overall.

Leuzinger 55, Harvard 38

Leuzinger High opened up a 27-8 halftime lead and coasted to a win over visiting Harvard.

Casey Crawford scored 13 points and Jack Hamler had 10 for Leuzinger. Richie Rothenberg led Harvard with 11 points.

Leuzinger is 6-4 in the Pioneer League and 13-7 overall. Harvard fell to 0-10 in league and 1-20 overall.

Royal 67, Westlake 63

Royal High withstood a furious fourth-quarter Westlake rally to register a Marmonte League upset win at Royal.

Westlake scored 26 points in the final period to whittle a 14-point Royal advantage down to a 3-point edge. The Highlanders got their second wind, however, behind the scoring of Joe Pugh. The 6-4 forward scored 29 points, nine in the fourth quarter.

Brent Tapia had 12 points for Royal. Greg Smith led Westlake with 18 points and Louie Salmina had 15.

Royal is 5-6 in league and 10-12 overall. Westlake fell to 8-4 in league and 14-10 overall.

Crescenta Valley 67, Hoover 60

Drew Haberl scored 19 points and Harvey Mason had 17 as Crescenta Valley High coasted to a win at Hoover.

The Falcons, who improved to 6-3 in the Pacific League and 17-7 overall, opened up a 35-24 halftime lead. Mark Potter scored 15 points for Crescenta Valley, while Mike McGeagh had 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Rob Preston, a 6-9 junior, scored 28 points for Hoover. The Tornados dropped to 3-6 in league and 7-15 overall.