Moorpark Unable to Slow Ceballos in 96-75 Loss

Stopping Cedric Ceballos of Ventura College from scoring inside is not the most difficult task the Moorpark basketball team may face this season.

If the Raiders’ bus breaks down en route to their next game and they were forced to walk 20 miles through a driving rainstorm--that might be tougher than stopping Ceballos.

Moorpark did little to contain Ceballos, the state’s leading scorer, in a Western State Conference game at Ventura on Thursday night. The 6-foot, 6-inch forward scored a game-high 34 points--six more than his season average--to lead Ventura to a 96-75 victory.

Ceballos’ dominance came as no surprise to Moorpark Coach Al Nordquist, although he had tailored the Raiders’ entire game plan around stopping Ceballos.

“He’s just a very good basketball player, one of the top three in the state,” Nordquist said. “If you can control him and do a good, solid job with the others, you’ll be in the game.”

Ventura Coach Philip Mathews could have warned Nordquist that Moorpark would not have much luck against Ceballos. No other WSC team has.

“I don’t think too many teams can neutralize Ceballos,” Mathews said. “He’s not the type of player who scores just one way, which makes it hard to stop him. They never know where he is on the floor.”

Moorpark could not control the sophomore All-American and was not in the game much beyond the first half. And without forward Rich Murphy, the Raiders would not have been in it as long as they were.

Murphy scored 8 of Moorpark’s first 10 points and had 12 in the first half. His scoring kept the Raiders close for the first eight minutes.

Tied, 14-14, Ventura outscored Moorpark, 9-1, in a span of 2 minutes, 24 seconds to take a 23-15 lead midway through the first half. Moorpark again drew close--and for the last time--on three consecutive baskets from guard Tom Neumayr to trail, 25-24, with 8:15 remaining.

After taking a 46-36 lead at halftime, Ventura blew out Moorpark in the final 20 minutes. Ceballos scored another 17 points to go with his 17 from the first half, and the Pirates added 50 points.

The loss was Moorpark’s worst of the season and dropped the Raiders to 13-9, 3-4 in conference play. Ventura, which won its first five WSC games before losing to Santa Monica last week, leads the conference with a 6-1 record. The Pirates, the defending state champions, are 18-8 overall.

Ceballos, who also led Ventura in rebounds with 13, was not the only Pirate in double figures. Guard Wally Carter and forward Mike Gray scored 20 and 14 points, respectively, and Mike Robinson added 11.

Murphy, whose scoring was curtailed in the second half, led Moorpark with 15 points. Neumayr and David Bussey scored 13 and 11 points, respectively, and Aaron Nordquist added 10.

The Raiders play host to Allan Hancock on Saturday before going on the road for three games.