Moorpark Gets Mauled by Fierce Ladycats, 57-45

For the Moorpark High girls’ basketball team, its first appearance in the Southern Section Division II-A championship game marked new territory fraught with poor shooting, turnovers and foul trouble.

For perennial powerhouse Brea Olinda, it was a familiar and well-traveled road, one that led to a 57-45 victory and the Ladycats’ ninth consecutive section title Friday night at the Pyramid.

“We knew going in we were going to be big underdogs,” Moorpark’s Damaris Hinojosa said. “This was so big for us. When we walked in here, I looked around and I was like, ‘Oh, my God.’ We were too nervous.”

The big-game jitters led the Musketeers to make only 14 of 48 shots and 13 of 26 free throws. Nerves also were a contributing factor in the team’s 27 turnovers.

Unseeded Moorpark fell to 25-3. Top-seeded Brea Olinda (27-3), ranked No. 1 in the state by Cal-Hi Sports magazine, has lost only to Pickerington, Ohio; Mater Dei and Buena.

“I think they’re a consummate team,” Hinojosa said. “It’s not any one player, and that’s what makes them so good.”

Moorpark, by contrast, relied heavily on Hinojosa, a sophomore center who scored 20 points and had seven rebounds.

The Musketeers got nine points and eight rebounds from senior guard Tracey Milburn, but not much else. Moorpark never led and eventually succumbed to the pressure, both defensive and self-imposed.

“Damaris and Tracey were working so hard,” Moorpark Coach Brent Milburn said. “I think they were trying to carry the team.”

The Musketeers couldn’t overcome a deficit that reached 11 points in the first half and 22 in the fourth quarter, despite 25 turnovers by Brea Olinda.

“We just missed our opportunities. We couldn’t cash in,” Brent Milburn said.

The closest Moorpark got after the first two minutes was 15-11 early in the second quarter.

Brea Olinda led, 43-29, after three quarters and opened the fourth quarter with an 8-0 run for a 51-29 advantage, after Hinojosa and Milburn both picked up their fourth fouls.

Hinojosa and Milburn continued to play and Moorpark scored the next nine points, six on consecutive three-point baskets by Hinojosa.

The run helped close the gap, but not nearly enough.

“They’ve got that tradition,” Brent Milburn said of Brea Olinda. “They have a great team, and when you get to this level, these are the kind of teams you’re going to play. It was nice for us to be here.”