Twin Towers Brace Moorpark Title Hopes

They are back together, after a brief separation, and Nick and Paul Foster couldn’t be happier.

That goes double for Al Nordquist, men’s basketball coach at Moorpark College.

“We had hoped to get them out of high school,” Nordquist said. “When they decided to come back, I thought it was great.”

It took more than a year, but Nordquist finally got his men. One at a time.

The 6-foot-8 twins led Thousand Oaks High to three consecutive Marmonte League championships and to the Southern Section Division I-A semifinals in 1992-93, their senior season. Paul was Marmonte player of the year that season and Nick was an all-league selection.

They received appointments to the Air Force Academy but their stay in Colorado Springs was short. They left only two months into their freshman year in 1993.

“It wasn’t the place I wanted to be in,” Nick said. “I went there for basketball but I found it was the wrong reason. The academy is for people who are into the military.”

When they returned home, Paul enrolled at Moorpark and Nick at Ventura. Nick, who at 225 pounds is about 10 pounds heavier than his brother, redshirted with the Pirates last season but Paul averaged 19.9 points and 9.5 rebounds at Moorpark. He was named to the All-Western State Conference North Division team after helping the Raiders finish second in the division behind Ventura.

This season, Nick decided to play at Moorpark for several reasons. One was to avoid the commute to Ventura and another was to rejoin his brother.

“I figure we’ll go to different schools (after junior college) so I wanted to play with him again,” Nick said.

He was right. On Thursday, Paul signed a letter of intent to play at UC Irvine next season. But for now, they’ll wear the same uniform once more.

“We are used to playing together, so I’m looking forward to it,” Paul said.

Ditto for Nordquist, the only men’s basketball coach in Moorpark’s history. Now in his 28th season with the Raiders, Nordquist has a talented cast that could halt Ventura’s streak of eight consecutive North Division titles.

The Raiders were 24-9 last season and won 10 consecutive games during one stretch. They reached the second round of the Southern California regional and Nordquist hopes a little extra muscle will take them farther this time.

“Inside, we are going to be very physical and skilled around the basket,” Nordquist said. Along with the Fosters, the Raider front line features 6-5 sophomore forward Rod Stinson, who was mostly a backup last season, and Brady Mertes, a 6-8 freshman forward from Chatsworth High.

Returnees Jaime Jaquez, a 6-2 point guard, and 6-3 Jim Harbour will handle the backcourt.

“Everything is relative to what other people have, so we need a few games to tell us what we are like,” Nordquist said. “But we have good players.”

Nordquist is looking for the Fosters to contribute greatly.

“They play very well together,” Nordquist said. “Paul is a better player coming from the outside in. He penetrates well. Nick is a better defensive player. They sort of complement each other.”

Here’s a rundown on the other local teams:

CANYONS

COACH: Lee Smelser, 26th season

LAST SEASON: 15-17

After winning only one of their first eight games last season, the Cougars improved gradually and won the South Division of the Western State Conference with an 8-2 record, one game ahead of Bakersfield.

Smelser anticipates another slow start for the Cougars but is not sure how well this club will recover. The team has only two returnees, forwards Kwesi Fulton and Les Sweet, to blend with six freshmen and several sophomores who haven’t played competitively for a few seasons.

“That’s going to be one of our growing pains, trying to get those people playing as a unit,” Smelser said. “It’s causing me a lot of concern. We are going to suffer a little bit if we don’t get things together quickly.”

Fulton, who averaged 14.3 points and 6.0 rebounds in the regular season, will start on the front line with Norris Dorsey, Randy Roa or Marcus Miller.

Dorsey, from North Hollywood High, sat out last season and Miller played at Canyon High. Roa averaged 11.9 points at Hart High.

Sophomore Malik Clark, who played at Birmingham High a few years ago, will be the point guard and freshman James Manning from Canyon or sophomore Steve Tampus from Saugus will take over at off-guard for Randy Eason.

Eason, now at Concordia College in Portland, led Canyons in scoring in the 1993-94 regular season with an 18.7-point average.

At center, the Cougars have Marrcel Crain, a 6-7 1/2 transfer from East L.A.

GLENDALE

COACH: Brian Beauchemin, 16th season

LAST SEASON: 15-15

Beauchemin thought the Vaqueros were ready for a competitive season when he got word three days ago that sophomore forward Mike Wright was leaving the team and freshman guard Eric Scott has a heart murmur and his status is up in the air. Wright, who scored 193 points and had 101 rebounds despite missing 11 games last season because of injuries, was commuting to Glendale from Upland and told Beauchemin he is moving to Rancho Cucamonga.

“If you want to play bad enough, you find a way to play,” Beauchemin said. “(Wright) has more problems than Dick Tracy. My program will survive without him, but now we’ve got to make adjustments and it’s not fair to the other kids.”

Beauchemin said Scott, an All-City player from Dorsey High, is undergoing tests and the results won’t be available until next week.

The Vaqueros, who finished 6-4 and tied for third with Santa Monica in the WSC North Division last season, now will look to veterans Maurice Sowells, Charlie Garcia and Maurice McIntosh to help Glendale reach the playoffs.

Sowells, a 6-5 swingman from Lakewood High, averaged 8.9 points and 4.2 assists last year. Garcia, a 6-4 center from Eagle Rock High, and McIntosh, a 5-11 guard from Monroe High, were reserves.

OXNARD

COACH: Ron McClurkin, 2nd season

LAST SEASON: 12-18

The Condors got a new coach last season and this season they move into their new on-campus gym after playing home games at Santa Clara High for several years.

Under McClurkin, WSC North Division coach of the year in 1993-94, the Condors started 3-0 in the division before losing their last five. They reached the Southern California regional but were eliminated in the first round by L.A. City, 102-77.

With only four returning players and seven freshmen, they will have their hands full this season in the division against heavyweights Cuesta, Moorpark and Ventura. McClurkin, however, has several top recruits who he believes will help the Condors match up with those teams.

“We got a little more talent and we are a little more athletic than last year,” McClurkin said.

Among the key recruits are 6-2 guard Anthony Talley from Dayton, Ohio, a Street & Smith preseason high school All-American last season; 6-6 power forward Amiri Johnson, a redshirt transfer from Lassen, and 6-6 power forward Brandon Lee from Glendora High.

The returnees include forward Larry Reed, who averaged 10.7 points in division play; Jerome Archie, a 6-10 center, and Israel Fuentes, a 6-7 forward.

VALLEY

COACH: Doug Michelson, 2nd season

LAST SEASON: 11-19

Two All-WSC South Division players, wings Kenyth Henry and Craig Griffin, return on a squad that features 12 freshmen.

“Our whole front line is being restructured,” said Michelson, who took over the men’s team last year after six seasons with the women.

Competing for the two post positions are 6-7 Vernon Simmons from Simi Valley High, 6-5 Ricky Steele from Taft High, 6-6 LaMarr Thompson from Sylmar High and 6-5 Jerome Elliot from San Fernando High.

Thompson averaged 18.2 points, 9.9 rebounds and 4.2 blocks last season and Steele averaged 17.8 points and 9.4 rebounds.

Freshman point guard Vernard Harris from Ferndale High in Detroit will direct Michelson’s up-tempo offense. Freshman Mack Cleveland and sophomore John Sanders, both from Chicago, are battling Griffin and Henry at the wings.

“They are pushing our veterans very hard,” Michelson said.

Griffin, from Simi Valley, averaged 15.5 points and 3.8 assists last season. He was sixth in the conference in field-goal percentage at 49.4% (157 of 318). Henry, from El Camino Real High, averaged 12.0 points and 6.1 rebounds.

The Monarchs (3-7) finished fifth in the South Division last season.

VENTURA

COACH: Philip Mathews, 10th season

LAST SEASON: 36-3

With the exception of one reserve, every player who helped Ventura reach the state final the past two seasons is gone.

But the Pirates, who have won eight consecutive North Division titles in the WSC, haven’t exactly run dry on talent.

“We’ll be quick, we’ll rebound and we’ll be able to shoot,” Mathews said. “The only thing that’s lacking is the experience.”

Mathews, who oversees one of the most successful junior college basketball programs in California, will redeploy his trademark “Orange and Black” units after a one-year hiatus. Each unit of five players takes turns on the floor.

The way Mathews plans to play defense, they will need the rest.

“We are going to press the whole time,” he said.

Mathews said the Orange unit will feature five freshmen from out of state--Rafer Alston, a 6-1 point guard from New York; wings Shannon Taylor from Fresno and Gerald Zimmerman from Lakeland, Fla., and forwards Hakeen Ward from Passaic, N.J., and Curtis Gaines from Chicago.

The Black unit will have Jamal Cobbs at point guard, Lance Fay at off-guard and forwards Charles Woodard, Damien Cantrell and Kenny Washington, son of the former UCLA guard of the same name.

Fay redshirted last season after averaging 16.1 points at Oxnard College in 1992-93. Cantrell averaged 22.5 points and 8.4 rebounds at Santa Clara High and Woodard averaged 20.6 points and 9.3 rebounds at Canyon High.

Ventura, ranked sixth in the state preseason poll, has won 30 or more games in four consecutive seasons.

ANTELOPE VALLEY

COACH: Newton Chelette, 6th season

LAST SEASON: 20-12

The Marauders finished second in the Foothill Conference last season at 12-4, four games behind Chaffey, but they won’t have to contend this season with the Panthers, who some observers have picked to win the state title.

The Foothill Conference has split into two divisions, with Antelope Valley in the North along with Barstow, Victor Valley, Desert and Cerro Coso, which moved from the Southern California Athletic Conference.

Chaffey will be in the South Division along with San Bernardino Valley, Citrus, Mt. San Jacinto and Rio Hondo.

In a season when Chelette has only two sophomores, the new alignment is like a gift for the Marauders.

Chaffey is loaded. The Panthers, ranked third in the state preseason poll, have former USC center Avondre Jones along with returning forward Warren Rosegreen (14.7 rebounds per game) and guard Robin Kennedy (11.0 points per game).

The Marauders, however, are not as experienced but Chelette said he is happy with the team’s depth.

“We have good size (four players 6-6 or taller) and we can score outside or inside,” Chelette said. “I think the team is going to be good, but later in the season.”

Point guard Troy Coutee (5.7 assists per game) and guard Orville Turner (21.1 points) are the only returnees. Chelette said Waraire Boswell, from Pasadena Muir High, Bryan Crittenden from Rancho High in Las Vegas and Michael Collins, a member of the Panamanian national junior team, will start along the front line.