Moorpark Quiets Its Doubters in Marmonte Debut

Moorpark High had won 83 of its last 93 girls’ basketball games dating to the 1995-96 season.

Still, the Musketeers had doubters.

“Look who they’re playing,” a chorus of Marmonte League coaches whispered. “If they were in our league, they’d be middle-of-the-pack.”

Moorpark, which moved up from the less-competitive Frontier League, finally got the chance to answer the skeptics Monday night in its Marmonte League debut.

Count Simi Valley among the believers after Moorpark beat the Pioneers, 55-49, at Simi Valley.

“They’re a pretty darn good team,” Simi Valley Coach Dave Murphy said.

The Musketeers (12-1), ranked No. 4 in the region by The Times, used a 19-4, fourth-quarter run to break open a 34-34 game.

Six different Moorpark players scored during the surge, but no one played a bigger role than Pepperdine-bound Damaris Hinojosa, who scored eight of her 21 points in the final six minutes.

Hinojosa, The Times’ Ventura County player of the year last season, entered the game averaging more than 24 points. However, No. 5-ranked Simi Valley (11-4) frustrated Hinojosa with various defenses and limited her to only six points in the first half.

“I knew I would be triple-teamed, but I didn’t think it would be this bad,” said the 5-foot-11 guard, who had 13 rebounds, six blocks and five assists.

Senior guard Jamie Sturdivant scored 25 points for Simi Valley, including five three-point baskets. Her consecutive three-pointers early in the fourth quarter tied the score, 34-34.

Annmarie Turpin and Sherice Gamble each added eight points for the Pioneers. Turpin played a key role in limiting Hinojosa early in the game.

Sophomore Kristin Nadas had seven points, all in the second half, and eight rebounds for the Musketeers.

Simi Valley shot only 28% from the field (19 of 67) and missed several shots from close range.

“We had an opportunity to win it, but just didn’t get it done,” Murphy said. “We have to find a way to get seven points better before we play them again.”

Moorpark, which was 21-0 during the 1995-96 regular season and advanced to the Southern Section Division III-AA final in 1996-97, won at least a share of the last three Frontier League championships before moving to the Marmonte.

With Hinojosa, rated the No. 1 guard in the state by one publication, Moorpark figured to challenge for the Marmonte League title. Monday was a good start.

“I knew we were going to compete for first place,” Hinojosa said. “But anyone can beat anyone else in this league. We may be the team to beat now, but we’re going to have to live up to that standard every night.”

With tough league games against two-time co-champion Thousand Oaks and improved Newbury Park ahead this week, Moorpark Coach Brent Milburn wasn’t ready to hear his team claim front-runner status.

“I hope none of my players said that,” he said. “But at least now they know what it’s like to play in this league.”

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Girls’ Basketball Top 10

Rankings of regional high schools by The Times’ sportswriters:

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RK LW TEAM (League) REC. 1 1 Buena (Channel) 11-2 2 2 Crescenta Valley (Pacific) 12-1 3 3 Channel Islands (Pacific View) 12-4 4 5 Moorpark (Marmonte) 12-1 5 4 Simi Valley (Marmonte) 11-4 6 6 Harvard-Westlake (Mission) 14-3 7 7 Ventura (Channel) 8-6 8 9 El Camino Real (West Valley) 11-4 9 10 North Hollywood (Mid Valley) 10-4 10 NR Palmdale (Golden) 9-6

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Boys’ Basketball Top 10

Rankings of regional high schools by The Times’ sportswriters:

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RK LW TEAM (League) REC. 1 1 Simi Valley (Marmonte) 11-2 2 2 Santa Clara (Frontier) 13-1 3 4 Chaminade (Mission) 10-2 4 5 Sylmar (East Valley) 13-3 5 3 Alemany (Mission) 7-4 6 6 Grant (East Valley) 10-3 7 7 Cleveland (West Valley) 9-4 8 9 Chatsworth (West Valley) 7-3 9 NR Newbury Park (Marmonte) 9-3 10 10 Crespi (Mission) 9-3

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