Time to Get It Together, Ready or Not

The football season is finally over, but the ripple effects are still being felt on several Marmonte League boys’ basketball teams.

Which means it’s only logical the two league favorites least affected by football, Channel Islands High and Simi Valley, are off to the fastest starts.

Both teams are undefeated going into their meeting in a league opener tonight at 7:30 at Channel Islands.

The Raiders (6-0) have been rarely contested while winning the Nordhoff and Channel Islands tournaments, winning all but one of those games by at least 21 points. Channel Islands is led by three experienced guards--junior O.J. Thomas and seniors Charles Merricks and Bernabe Simon.

Merricks, Channel Islands’ starting quarterback the past two seasons, gave up football this year to concentrate on basketball, although he was slowed by foot surgery over the summer.

“It hasn’t made that much of a difference without football,” Channel Islands Coach Gary Abraham said. “He’s just such an athletic guy, he can adjust real quickly.”

Simi Valley (5-0) is on a similar track, winning its tournament the opening week, then defeating Chaminade in a nonleague game last week.

While Channel Islands relies on experience, the Pioneers took full advantage of finally having freshmen on campus.

Simi Valley starts two ninth-graders, guard Branduinn Fullove and forward Brett Michel. They join senior point guard Ronnie Noel and 6-foot-8 sophomore Rafael Berumen, a transfer from Pomona who scored 39 points in his first game.

“They’ve started great,” said Simi Valley Coach Dean Bradshaw. “They’re young, but they’re making great decisions.”

The rest of the league contenders aren’t so lucky.

Football season ended a month ago at Royal, which tied Westlake for the league title last season. But Coach Larry Wiksell still has to deal with the occasional absence of forward Ryan Nielsen.

Neilsen, a 6-foot-5 senior, was Marmonte League player of the year last season and is averaging almost 20 points a game.

But he’s also among the top Division I football prospects in the region. He’s missed three games and will miss three league games while he takes recruiting trips.

“It’s been a lot harder than I thought,” Wiksell said. “I figured we would adjust to not having him around, but we’ve been having problems.”

With Neilsen in the lineup, the Highlanders are 4-1. Without him, Royal is 1-2, including a loss to Taft in the Westlake tournament championship game last Saturday.

Westlake was 4-0 start before its best player, three-year starter Jake Stewart, was sidelined with an ankle injury.

The Warriors, with few returning experienced players, turned to junior guard Joey Cuppari.

Cuppari will be one of Westlake’s best players. However, he was less than a week removed from playing wide receiver in the Warriors’ Southern Section Division III semifinal loss to Camarillo.

Westlake struggled in its own tournament, losing two games and finishing in seventh place.

Camarillo will finally be at full strength with the return of starting forward Joe Borchard, who guided the Scorpions’ football team to the Division III title as quarterback.

Like Neilsen, Borchard will miss several games over the next month because of football recruiting trips.

AT A GLANCE

* THE PROVEN: Channel Islands returns the most experience, with senior guards Charles Merricks (6-foot-1) and Bernabe Simon (5-10) and junior guard O.J. Thomas (5-10). The trio is averaging 53.5 points over the first six games. . . . Royal senior 6-5 forward Ryan Nielsen was the league’s player of the year last season and is averaging just under 20 points this season. . . . Westlake guard Jake Stewart is a three-year starter and one of the best three-point shooters in the league. . . . Simi Valley guard Ronnie Noel has already set a school single-game record for assists. . . . Camarillo point guard Mariano It, an exchange student from Argentina, returns for a second season. . . . Thousand Oaks’ Joe Riccio is the Lancers’ only returning starter.

* THE PROMISING: Simi Valley is 5-0 behind three newcomers--6-8 sophomore Rafael Berumen, a transfer from Pomona, 6-4 freshman guard Branduinn Fullove and 6-5 freshman forward Brett Michel. . . . Junior forward Daniel Bobik, who averaged 10.4 points last season is the best player for Newbury Park. . . . Nick Flanigan has been Royal’s most consistent player. . . . Agoura’s 6-5 forward Marcus Helfman scored 25 points in a Beverly Hills tournament game last week.

* FAST FACT: Six of the eight teams were ranked in The Times’ regional poll at one point last season.