In Foul Mood, Moorpark Beats Compton, 81-74

Moorpark College got the battle it expected and survived.

Moorpark and Compton College combined for 52 fouls and the Raiders withstood a second-half charge to claim an 81-74 victory in a Southern California men’s second-round playoff game Wednesday night at Moorpark College.

“That was a street fight,” Moorpark Coach Remy McCarthy said.

The Raiders (24-5) advanced to the regional bracket final against Valley on Saturday at Moorpark. The winner goes to the state finals in Stockton.

Guard Devin Montgomery of Moorpark, the Western State Conference player of the year averaging 21 points, scored 11 points and sat out much of the second half with stomach illness.

That left the Raiders engaged in a physical game against the Tartars (18-13), who had three post players over 6 foot 8.

The Raiders went inside to center Lester Strong, who had 25 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out with 6:47 to play.

“We like to play the rough games,” Strong said. “We knew their big men were going to come out after us. We didn’t let it get in our heads.”

Strong scored 15 points in the first half to help the Raiders take a 37-27 lead.

The Raiders led, 61-47, when Strong fouled out. When 6-6 forward Simmagin Smith, who scored 12 points, fouled out with 4:36 to play, the lead was 67-53.

Harry Lum of Compton scored 29 points and hit three three-pointers in the second half.

Shooting guard Gary Lenoir added 14 points, including four three-pointers in the second half. He hit back-to-back three-pointers in a 30-second span that trimmed the lead to 69-61 with 3:01 to play.

Compton cut the lead to 70-66 with 2:00 to play when Lum hit a three-pointer but came no closer.

Valley 84, Fullerton 80--The Monarchs held Fullerton without a field goal for more than six minutes late in the game at Valley and advanced to a Southern California bracket final for the fourth time in five years.

Song Cun scored 19 points for the Monarchs (23-11), including five three-pointers.

Valley trailed, 62-61, with 7:55 left but outscored Fullerton, 8-2, in the next three minutes.

Michael Crawford had 15 points, including a layup that put Valley ahead for good, 70-68, with 3:32 left.

Nate Wilson had 14 points for the Monarchs, who won despite making only 16 of 31 free throws.

Fullerton (22-11) converted 36 of 40 free throws.

Ventura 98, Long Beach 83--Sophomore forward Desmond Penigar had 32 points and 14 rebounds for the Pirates (24-8) in a second-round victory of the Southern California playoffs at Ventura.

Ventura outscored the Vikings, 11-3, in the last two minutes and scored its last 15 points on free throws.

Alhaji Mohammed scored 26 points for Ventura.

Ventura plays Saddleback on Saturday.