Moorpark Comes Up Short, 83-73 : Ventura Shackles Conference Rival

Moorpark College received passing marks throughout Wednesday night’s Western State Conference contest against Ventura, but the Raiders would have needed straight A’s to upset the powerful Pirates.

As it was, Moorpark was outclassed and, ultimately, outscored, 83-73, at Moorpark.

Ventura (18-3, 3-0 in conference play) converted 19 of 25 free throws in the second half and Dave Heckmann controlled the boards, grabbing 8 of his game-high 12 rebounds in the second half.

Heckmann, a former Westlake High standout, credited his team’s second-half defensive play and control of the boards for the victory.

“Moorpark was shooting very well tonight,” Heckmann said. “We tightened up our defense and I was getting good positioning for the rebounds in the second half.”

It looked like the Raiders could complete their assignment in the first half.

Alex Porter hit a 3-point shot to give the Raiders (11-9, 2-2) their only lead, 3-2, in the opening moments.

Ventura reeled off 7 consecutive points to open a 10-3 lead after Porter’s basket, but Moorpark used a deliberate offense and 8 points by Roger Thomas to trail Ventura by only a point with 2 minutes left in the first half. The Pirates led at intermission, 39-36.

Ventura Coach Phil Mathews told his team to play aggressive defense in the second half so they could get their fast-break offense running.

Ventura gradually increased its lead early in the second half and a 3-point basket by another former Westlake player, Paul Keenan, gave the Pirates a 56-46 lead midway through the half and signaled an uphill battle for Moorpark for the rest of the game.

Thomas who had a game-high 19 points for Moorpark said his team’s free-throw shooting in the second half hurt.

“We just haven’t been able to follow through and concentrate at the line late in the game this year,” Thomas said.

Moorpark made 10 of 19 free throws in the game and Ventura outrebounded the Raiders, 29-16, in the second half.

“Hey, look at it like this, we don’t match up against them. We don’t have the talent or the size of Ventura,” Moorpark Coach Al Nordquist said. “They played though and we gave them a good game.”

Bruce Watson added 16 points and Porter finished with 11 for Moorpark.

Reggie Batton paced the defending Northern Division champion Pirates with 17 points.

“We missed 3 or 4 easy shots and our free-throw shooting was horrible tonight,” Nordquist said.