These Teams Are Courting Banner Years

It’s shaping up as a great basketball season for Ventura County junior colleges.

The Oxnard and Moorpark men’s teams are off to their best starts in years and Ventura is holding its own after two seasons on the shelf.

On the women’s side, undefeated Ventura is--surprise, surprise--ranked No. 1 in the state.

Moorpark is 14-4 under Coach Remy McCarthy, in his fourth season, and is ranked No. 11 in the state. Oxnard is 13-6 under Coach Ron McClurkin, in his seventh season, and is ranked No. 22.

“That’s what they tell me,” McClurkin said about the Condors’ success. “But I don’t want to listen.”

McCarthy, a former coach at Oxnard who teaches physical education and health at the school, said Moorpark started putting it together at the Antelope Valley tournament in early December.

The Raiders won the tournament, defeating highly regarded Riverside before dispatching Mt. San Jacinto and Antelope Valley.

Three of Moorpark’s losses came against teams ranked in the state top 25.

Moorpark relies on a defense that allows 64.2 points per game, best in the Western State Conference, and on Dan Galvanoni’s shooting.

“If you are going to be a good team, you better be good on defense,” McCarthy said. “That’s always a constant.”

Galvanoni, a transfer from Nevada, has attempted 154 three-point shots, by far the most in the WSC, making 66 (42.9%). He is averaging 18.6 points and 5.1 assists.

“He’ll have the guys screaming at him sometimes when he passes [a three-point shot] up,” McCarthy said.

No wonder guard O.J. Thomas ranks third in the state in assists with 153.

Oxnard, meanwhile, already has more victories than the last two seasons combined. Two seasons ago, the Condors finished 2-27. Now they figure to challenge Moorpark for the North Division title.

“[Moorpark] is the team to shoot for,” McClurkin said. “They just do what they need to do to win. I love seeing them play.”

Freshman center Chris Massie, the Condors’ leading scorer at 20.6 points per game, and sophomore forward Tellys Knight, who is averaging 9.8 rebounds, are Oxnard’s catalysts.

The Condors are big, with five players over 6 feet 4, and blending well as a unit.

“We just got good guys, all nice, respectable kids,” McClurkin said. “I had some kids in the past who went home for Christmas and I didn’t want them to come back.”

The first showdown between Oxnard and the Raiders is Jan. 15 at Moorpark, and the coaches already are thinking about it.

“We’ve got to figure out a way to beat them,” McClurkin said.

Said McCarthy: “They pose a problem for us because of their size.”

Neither team, however, is overlooking Ventura. The Pirates, back after the program was discontinued for two seasons for rules violations, are 10-7 under first-year Coach Greg Winslow.

They are far from the dominant Ventura teams of the late 1980s and early 1990s, but, as they say, anything can happen.

The Ventura women’s team, though, has state championship written all over it. The Pirates are 21-0 under Coach Ned Mircetic, in his 11th season, and have no real challengers in Southern California, never mind the WSC.

Ventura, state champion in 1996 and ‘97, is 40-0 in WSC North Division play the last four seasons and 159-7 overall, including this season.

The Pirates haven’t missed a beat despite losing freshman point guard Monica Hang because of torn knee ligaments in early December.

“We go by committee now, but it’s a solid committee,” Mircetic said. “We’re still rolling.”