There Might Be Six-Pack at Top

Simi Valley and Newbury Park.

Newbury Park and Simi Valley.

Those programs have combined to win or share the last four Marmonte League boys’ basketball championships, but they could be among several teams battling for the league title this season as Thousand Oaks, Agoura, Westlake and Moorpark are also contenders.

“It’s definitely the most wide-open it has been in some time,” Coach Christian Aurand of Simi Valley said. “I doubt that anybody is going to be undefeated in this league. It’s just too balanced.”

Steve Johnson, the coach at Newbury Park agrees.

“It’s a very balanced, and I think, very strong league,” he said. “A team with two or maybe even three losses could win. I don’t think you’ll see anyone run the table.”

Simi Valley was 12-0 in league play the last two seasons and advanced to the Southern Section Division I-A title game last year. But the Pioneers lost four starters to graduation, including scoring leaders Branduinn Fullove and Brett Michel.

Dustin Villepigue, a 6-foot-9 center who has signed with Gonzaga, is averaging 24.5 points and 13.5 rebounds entering tonight’s league opener at Moorpark.

But a third consecutive title won’t come easily for the Pioneers (11-2).

Newbury Park (9-3), which tied Simi Valley for the league title in 1997 before winning it outright in 1998, is greatly improved over last year’s team that finished fifth in the league standings after five players were suspended for the rest of the season after violating team rules during a tournament in Las Vegas.

Thousand Oaks (9-3) was second--four games behind Simi Valley--in the league standings last year. Several key players, including 6-4 guard Kyle Kegley, return for a squad that suffered two- and four-point losses to the Pioneers.

Agoura (10-2) lost its first two games of the season last week while finishing seventh in the Chaminade tournament, but a full-court press installed by first-year Coach Joe Riccio has made the players forget about last year’s last-place finish in league.

Westlake (5-5) is off to a so-so start, but the Warriors should improve as forward-center Tyler Adamczyk plays his way into basketball shape.

Adamczyk, who has accepted a baseball scholarship to California, planned to bypass this basketball season so he could focus on baseball, but he changed his mind last month.

Moorpark lost leading scorer Todd Tomlinson to graduation, but the Musketeers (9-4) are more balanced.

Royal (1-10) is the one Marmonte team that has struggled this season, but it would be a mistake to overlook the Highlanders in a tight league race.

“Nobody can afford to take anyone for granted,” Aurand said. “Anyone is going to be capable of beating anyone.”