Rancho Santiago Puts Moorpark in Its Place

A meeting between teams ranked first and seventh in the state should be a great game, and it was--for the team ranked No. 1.

Defending state champion and top-ranked Rancho Santiago worked a devastating inside-outside game, making five dunks and 12 three-point baskets, as well as virtually everything in between, Thursday night against seventh-ranked Moorpark.

The Dons blew Moorpark out, 99-75, in a championship semifinal game of the Crown City Classic at Pasadena City College and left no doubt as to who is No. 1 at this juncture.

Moorpark Coach Al Nordquist called the loss, which snapped his team’s school-record 10-game winning streak, “an old-fashioned spanking. We got our fannies kicked.”

Moorpark (12-2) came in riding high but could not handle Rancho Santiago’s power down low. Erik Martin, a 6-foot-6 transfer from Texas Christian, made eight of 10 from the field and scored 18 points. Corie Blount, a 6-9 center, added 13, and the two combined for 19 rebounds.

Brett Pagett, son of Rancho Santiago Coach Dana Pagett and a transfer from UC Irvine, prowled the perimeter, making seven of nine three-point shots and finishing with a game-high 25 points.

“Pagett shot us out of the game,” Nordquist said. “He just drilled us.” With Moorpark’s guards attempting to help down low, Rancho Santiago (12-1) made 12 of 22 three-point attempts.

“It was those guys’ birthdays,” Moorpark’s Sam Crawford said.

Damian Wilson led Moorpark with 17 points. Aaron Smith scored 14, and Crawford had 13 with eight assists. Sean Doyle added 10, but Moorpark’s starting forwards, Mike Waggoner and Jimmy Galbert, managed to combine for only 10.

Moorpark led in the first 10 minutes, but Rancho Santiago never trailed after pulling ahead, 19-16 on a three-point basket by Pagett before the 10-minute mark.

Waggoner, Wilson and Doyle all picked up three first-half fouls, and Rancho Santiago gradually increased the margin to 48-34 at the break.

Waggoner made the first shot of the second half to close the gap to 48-36 but was promptly charged with his fourth foul on a three-point play by Martin.

That ignited a 26-9 Rancho Santiago run in the next eight minutes.

“I thought we could come back,” Nordquist said. “I didn’t expect them to blow us out. They opened up the first 10 minutes of the second half with great basketball.”

Moorpark fell even deeper into foul trouble in the face of the onslaught. Wilson notched his fourth foul at 17:22, and Doyle fouled out at 10:34.

Rancho Santiago rolled, expanding its lead to as much as 33 points before Moorpark scored 15 of the game’s final 21 points.

“I thought we played well tonight,” Dana Pagett said. “It was a tight game in the first half. We just caught a real hot streak in the second half.”

Moorpark’s only other loss of the season was to West Valley, currently ranked third in the state.