WESTERN STATE CONFERENCE BASKETBALL PREVIEWS : Impact Players Hold Key for Ventura, Moorpark : Men: Valley must overcome favored Santa Monica in the Southern Division.

Ventura and Moorpark colleges have the top two teams in the Western State Conference Northern Division, and that is the long and the short of it, or perhaps the tall and the short of it.

Ventura’s strength is its front line, led by 6-foot-6 Lester Neal, and Moorpark’s leader is 5-7 Sam Crawford, the point guard in perhaps the best backcourt tandem in the state.

Combine Ventura’s front line and Moorpark’s guards and you would have an outstanding team; take these teams on their own merits and they still might be the two best in the WSC.

Division play begins Wednesday, but these two powers, the Capulets and Montagues of Ventura County basketball, do not meet until Jan. 23 at Moorpark. The rematch is Feb. 9 at Ventura.

At stake likely will be the division championship, although both teams are virtually assured of berths in the state playoffs.

The top three teams from each division earn automatic invitations to the 32-team Southern California regional and other conference schools also could pick up wild-card berths.

Crawford and Damian Wilson figure to combine for 40 to 50 points nearly every game--they are averaging 40--but opposing coaches believe the key to Moorpark’s performance is its big men.

Mike Waggoner (6-5), Sean Doyle (6-7) and Aaron Smith (6-5) are the hod carriers, the blue-collar men of Moorpark.

The trio is responsible for hitting the boards, playing interior defense and converting Crawford’s passes into layups.

Their performance is particularly important against a physical team such as Ventura.

A minus for Moorpark (20-3) is that jumping-jack swingman Jimmy Galbert is slumping; a plus is Nate Hantgin’s improved three-point marksmanship.

One opposing coach estimated that Ventura has four or five Division I-caliber players, and Ventura (19-4) is on a roll after pummeling a good West Los Angeles team, 92-64, Thursday night.

Ventura’s active and physical front line includes Neal, 18.4 points and 13.7 rebounds a game; 6-4 DiJon Barnard, 11.1 and 5.3; and 6-3 Uba Satterfield, 15.1 and 5.9.

Ventura has risen in stature, literally and figuratively, since Coach Phil Mathews moved Calvin Curry into the starting lineup to begin the new year.

Offensively, the 6-5 Curry adds more dimensions than a fun-house mirror. Not only is he one of the Pirates’ best three-point shooters, he is one of the team’s better rebounders.

In the five-team Northern Division, Oxnard (11-10) has an excellent chance to finish among the top three and earn a return trip to the state tournament. Oxnard leads the WSC in team defense and plays an aggressive zone.

Oxnard is young: Freshman Shawn Talley has performed well at point guard, and the team’s top scorers--Talley, Don Mitchell and Tim Thomas--are freshmen.

In the six-team Southern Division, Santa Monica appears to be the team to beat, but Valley Coach Jim Stephens expects his squad to contend for the title. Guards Tory Stephens and Rick Garrick and forward Russell Baldwin are steady performers, although Garrick’s practice time has been limited because of an ankle injury.

Center Art Kirksey, a 6-4 freshman, could be the key to Valley’s future.

Valley (11-10) did not even keep shot-blocking statistics before this season, but Kirksey deals out more rejections than the Harvard Law School admissions committee. Now his blocks are dutifully noted.

However, Kirksey is as up and down as his shot-blocking forays, and consistently strong play on his part is critical if Valley is to be a serious contender.

Despite less-than-stellar seasons thus far, either Canyons or Glendale could sneak into postseason play.

Glendale (8-11) lost seven of eight at one point while displaying a frustrating inability to take control of close games. Point guard is a Glendale weakness.

Coach Brian Beauchemin said that if his team had Crawford “We’d have (Moorpark’s) record.”

The Vaqueros also need increased production from Chris Cooke. An athletic 6-9 center with a three-point shooting touch, Cooke averages 12.5 points a game. Beauchemin said Cooke has to score 20-plus points and grab 10 or more rebounds for Glendale to win.

The fate of Canyons (9-11) rides to some extent on Nick Sanderson.

After moving to guard this season, Sanderson has struggled with his shooting and, at times, has appeared uninspired on the court.

His 36% shooting from the field does not reflect it, but Sanderson is one of the most talented players in the region and is the kind of athlete who could lift Canyons into postseason contention.

Reggie Bell and Dan Murphy are double-figure scorers for Canyons.