Bakersfield Downs Moorpark, 66-65, After Uphill Battle

Moorpark College’s passage to the state playoffs was re-routed Thursday night by an emotionally charged Bakersfield team that defeated the Raiders, 66-65, on a basket in the game’s final seconds.

Bakersfield--still shaken by an accident involving the team van two weeks ago in which three players were injured--overcame leads of seven, eight and nine points and finally took the lead with three seconds left on a turnaround jumper by forward Danny Ford. Ford was following up a missed three-pointer by Darryl Alexander.

Moorpark led, 65-61, when Alexander hit a three-pointer with 58 seconds left. On the in-bounds play, Moorpark forward David Bussey took the ball the length of the court, drove the lane, but was called for charging. Fran Davis turned the ball over on Bakersfield’s next possession and the Raiders had the ball back with 15 seconds left and a 65-64 lead.

Davis fouled Raider Geraud Moncure with 14 seconds left and the Moorpark guard missed the front end of a one-and-one. Bakersfield brought the ball in, Alexander put up a three-point attempt, missed, and Ford followed with the winning basket.

Bakersfield Coach Dean Jones, who like Moorpark Coach Al Nordquist is hoping for a shot at the state tournament, praised his team, he said, because it was playing away from home soon after the accident, in which the team van was hit from behind on the freeway by another vehicle that reportedly was being driven in excess of 100 m.p.h. Bakersfield players Everett Sutton (broken nose) and Jerry Grimele (broken back) were injured in the accident.

“What often happens when there’s a tragedy is that the guys will rally,” Jones said. “It was tough for us to come in here without our leading scorer Everett Sutton. We didn’t play a particularly good game. We were down by 9, 10, 11 points and didn’t give up.”

Moorpark, on the other hand, looked sloppy in the second half, after leading at halftime, 29-24. The teams combined for 34 turnovers in game that was far from pretty.

Nordquist, normally an affable and available man, might have thought the game too ugly to stick around afterward. Moorpark (16-12, 6-7), which has substituted liberally as part of its game plan all season, fell out of character when it needed it most--the final minute. “What really happened out there, what went wrong was that our guys didn’t want to play as a team,” said Moorpark assistant Del Parker. “The guys wanted to play as individuals. We’d make a substitution and somebody would get hot under the collar.”

And the Raiders might fall as fast as far as playoff berths go. If Bakersfield can beat Glendale on Saturday, it would tie Glendale for first place in the Western State Conference’s Southern Division. A Bakersfield loss would put Moorpark and Bakersfield in a tie for second, with the Renegades (17-12, 6-6) getting an automatic berth because they have beaten Moorpark twice. Moorpark then would be at the mercy of coaches conducting a meeting to seed teams on Sunday morning, although all three teams may be selected.

“From what I’ve heard,” Jones said, “all three of us are going to get a berth. But I still don’t know for sure if Moorpark will make it. If they do, I hope we don’t see them early.”

With less than five minutes left in Thursday’s game, Moorpark led, 59-51. But Bakersfield then outscored the Raiders, 13-6, to bring the Renegades to within one, 65-64.

Alexander led all scorers with 28 points and Duan Tate had 10 for Bakersfield. Former Reseda High player Dexter Nicholson scored six points for Bakersfield.

Bussey led Moorpark with 15 points but will probably remember more the two points he didn’t get when he was called for charging. Moorpark has a bye on Saturday, which may give the Raiders time to think about what went wrong.

“Now, someone’s going to have to give us a gift,” Parker said referring to the playoff berths. “Tonight? When the going got tough, the tough didn’t get going.”

Unless, of course, you were Bakersfield.

BAKERSFIELD--Tate 10, Nicholson 6, Ford 6, Alexander 28, Davis 6, Ronkowski 1, Van Uden 7, La France 2.

MOORPARK--Adams 7, Bussey 15, Inemer 9, Jercha 12, Moncure 2, Neumayr 14, Pugh 2, Staples 4.