PG James Mitchell led a balanced effort for the Monarchs as they held off Moorpark, 69-61, at Moorpark. Mitchell nailed 4 threes and scored a game-high 20 pts off the bench. Two other players off Valley's bench had big games as well: G Alex Cabagnot scored 12 pts including 3 threes and added 8 assists, and F Midwin Francis grabbed a team-high 9 rebs. Among the starters, SG Ryan Abrahams led the way with 13 pts including 3 threes. Moorpark played a sagging defense, daring Valley to shoot the outside shots. But that allowed Mitchell, Cabagnot and Abrahams to get a lot of open looks, especially on the three-pointers. Valley used a 23-4 run early in the game to grab a 29-11 lead on the strength of the strong outside shooting. The lead grew to 21 before Moorpark rallied just before halftime to cut the deficit to 8.
Though the Raiders kept the game close, they were never able to get the deficit below 5. The trailed 52-47 midway through the second half and 58-52 with just a few minutes left but couldn't catch the Monarchs. Moorpark was led by SF Dallas Townsend, who had a double double with 13 pts and 10 rebs. PF Mike Atkinson flirted with a triple double before finishing with 9 pts, 13 rebs and 9 asts. The bench was again a weak point for Moorpark, with only Adam Segal (7 pts) providing any meaningful contribution. One bright point for Moorpark was their excellent ballhandling - they only committed 9 turnovers on the night and only 2 after halftime.
Unofficial Box Score:
Saturday, January 5, 2001 - 7:30 pm
at Moorpark College
Los Angeles Valley Monarchs 69:
4-Rodney Billups, PG - 2/6 fg, 4 reb, 5 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl, 5 pts
24-Ryan Abrahams, SG - 5/12 fg, 5 reb, 1 stl, 13 pts
30-Jordan Walker, PF - 2/6 fg, 5 reb, 4 pts
32-Neverson White, SF - 3/5 fg, 0/2 ft, 1 reb, 3 ast, 6 pts
35-Albert Strickland, C - 1/3 fg, 1 reb, 2 pts
10-Alex Cabagnot, G - 4/8 fg, 1/2 ft, 3 reb, 8 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 12 pts
42-Nate Wilson, F - 1/3 fg, 1/2 ft, 2 reb, 1 ast, 3 pts
12-James Mitchell, G - 7/11 fg, 2/2 ft, 4 ast, 20 pts
33-Midwin Francis, F - 2/3 fg, 9 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 4 pts
21-DeMarcus Reid, F - 0 pts
team rebounds: 8
Totals: 27/57 fg (.474), 4/8 ft (.500), 38 reb, 23 ast, 2 blk, 5 stl, 69 pts
3-pt fg (11): Mitchell 4, Abrahams 3, Cabagnot 3, Billups
Turnovers (13): Billups 3, Cabagnot 3, Walker 2, Mitchell 2, Abrahams, White, Francis
Moorpark Raiders 61:
5-Dallas Townsend, SF - 5/14 fg, 3/6 ft, 10 reb, 1 stl, 13 pts
22-Mike Atkinson, PF - 4/8 fg, 13 reb, 9 ast, 2 stl, 9 pts
23-Anish Sharda, PG - 3/16 fg, 4 reb, 8 ast, 3 stl, 7 pts
33-Reny Maynard, SG - 4/11 fg, 3/5 ft, 1 reb, 12 pts
44-Justin Saad, C - 6/13 fg, 6 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 13 pts
10-Maike Hernandez, G - 0/1 fg, 0 pts
32-Adam Segal, G - 3/7 fg, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 7 pts
3-Robert Palafox, G - 0/1 fg, 0 pts
34-Lucas McKay, F - 0 pts
team rebounds: 5
Totals: 25/71 fg (.352), 6/11 ft (.545), 41 reb, 19 ast, 1 blk, 8 stl, 61 pts
3-pt fg (5): Atkinson, Sharda, Maynard, Saad, Segal
Turnovers (9): Sharda 4, Atkinson, Saad, Hernandez, Segal, Palafox
Halftime Score: LAVC 41, Moorpark 30
Valley is ranked #9 in South; Moorpark is ranked #17 in South. After an even start, Valley went on a 23-4 run to open a 29-11 lead. The lead eventually reached 21 atr 35-14 before Moorpark went on a 16-3 run to close the gap to 8 just before halftime. Valley moved the lead back to 15 at 49-34 early in the 2nd half. Moorpark closed it to 5 at 52-47 but that's as close as they would get.
