Moorpark Dodges Late Citrus Rally, Wins, 79-70

Moorpark College, which had led by as many as 13 points, held off a late rally by Citrus to win, 79-70, in the first round of the 17th Moorpark College/Camarillo Kiwanis tournament Wednesday at Moorpark.

The Raiders will play Pasadena City College on Friday in the second round. Citrus will play Azusa-Pacific’s junior varsity team in the consolation bracket.

The Raiders (5-0) were led by 6-4 freshman guard Danny Camp, who scored 24 points. His partner in the backcourt, Danny Berryman, scored 20 points.

With Citrus out of the way, Moorpark Coach Al Nordquist has Pasadena on his mind.

“That should be a very good game for us,” Moorpark Coach Al Nordquist said of the contest. “Pasadena is a quick team and we’re a quick team, so it should be quite a test for us. We’ll go right at them like we did tonight.”

It was a pressure defense that stopped Citrus in the final minutes of Wednesday’s game.

With slightly less than five minutes remaining, Citrus had come to within six. But Berryman scored four, Camp scored three and Dave Inemer added two to put it out of reach with time running out.

Guard Steve Abraham scored 12 points and had 11 assists to lead the offense. Inemer and Abraham each had six rebounds.

“Other than the first two minutes, I think we played very well,” Nordquist said. “I’d like to see our defense improve a little, but we’ll work it out.”

In the first half, Moorpark saw its lead rise and fall. With the score tied at 28, Chad Staples scored to put the Raiders up with 5:58 left to play. Berryman added a free throw, but the Raiders weren’t heard from again until Citrus scored seven straight.

The last time the two teams met, Moorpark beat the Owls in the 1981 state tournament. Moorpark was beaten in the first round of last year’s tournament.

CITRUS--Dixon 23; Burns 10.

MOORPARK--Berryman 20; Abraham 12 and 11 assists; Camp 24.