In the most entertaining game of the day, two very similar teams combined for 191 points as Moorpark (7-7) topped Big Bend of Washington, 98-93 Wedneday afternoon in the first round of the Cougar Holiday Classic in Valencia.
SF Greg Murray and PF Brandon Dempster each had 27 pts, including 4 threes, to lead the Raiders. Their big performances were able to just slightly overcome the effort by Big Bend SG Blake Solomon, who had 34 pts and 5 asts for the Vikings.
Big Bend jumped out to an early lead, going ahead, 16-8, before a Moorpark run got the Raiders the lead at 19-18 after a three by Murray. And then the Raiders continued to roll, going ahead by as many as 13 at 43-30 before settling for an 11-point lead at halftime, 49-38.
In the second half, Big Bend quickly cut the Moorpark lead down to size, reducing the margin to 3 at 61-58. But the Vikings were never quite able to get even. A three by PG Daley Landon brought the Vikings to within a point at 80-79, only to see a three by Murray give Moorpark some breathing room again. And the Vikings still trailed by just 2 points at 90-88 with just over a minute left before Murray drained another three and then sank a pair of free throws to push Moorparks margin back to 7 points and clinch the win.
box score
Wednesday, December 27, 2006 4 pm
@ College of the Canyons, Valencia
Cougar Holiday Classic First Round
Moorpark Raiders 98:
4-Greg Murray, SF 9/16 fg, 5/6 ft, 2 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 27 pts
5-Anthony Vasquez, SG 2/5 fg, 3/ 4 ft, 6 reb, 9 ast, 3 pf, 8 pts
11-Conner Faught, PF 1/3 fg, 2/2 ft, 2 reb, 3 stl, 4 pts
23-Trevin Johnson, SG 2/6 fg, 4/5 ft, 2 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 4 pf, 9 pts
32-Terry Johnson, C 3/3 fg, 0/1 ft, 6 reb, 1 ast, 6 blk, 3 stl, 3 pf, 6 pts
1-Brandon Dempster, F 7/13 fg, 9/11 ft, 5 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 4 pf, 27 pts
3-Cameron Nash, G 2/4 fg, 1/ 4 ft, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 5 pts
10-Raymond Jackson, G 1/3 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 3 pf, 2 pts
22-Corey Duncan, F 0/1 fg, 2 reb, 3 pf, 0 pts
12-Ramsey Darling, C 1/ 2 fg, 0/1 ft, 1 stl, 1 pf, 2 pts
21-Macario Ruano, F 2/5 fg, 4/6 ft, 2 reb, 8 pts
2-Robert Fisher, F 1 reb, 1 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 9
Totals: 30/61 fg (.492), 28/40 fg (.700), 39 reb, 19 ast, 7 blk, 13 stl, 24 pf, 98 pts
3-pt fg (10): Murray 4, Dempster 4, Vasquez, Tr.Johnson
Technical Foul: Coach McCarthy
Turnovers (27): Vasquez 6, Tr.Johnson 4, Dempster 4, Faught 3, Jackson 3, Nash 2, Duncan 2, Murray, Ter.Johnson, Fisher
Big Bend Vikings 93:
10-Mark Moss, PG 4/8 fg, 3 reb, 6 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 9 pts
14-Justin Fried, PF 1/5 fg, 0/1 ft, 2 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 3 pf, 2 pts
20-Blake Solomon, SG 9/18 fg, 13/14 ft, 2 reb, 5 ast, 3 stl, 4 pf, 34 pts
30-Derek Miller, SF 7/14 fg, 1/1 ft, 5 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 3 pf, 17 pts
40-Curtiss Moseley, C 5/9 fg, 5/6 ft, 5 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl, 2 pf, 15 pts
00-Matt Brunell, C 2/4 fg, 3 reb, 4 blk, 1 stl, 5 pf, 4 pts
5-Daley Landon, G 2/7 fg, 2/2 ft, 4 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 8 pts
24-Cody Mortensen, F 2/3 fg, 5 reb, 1 ast, 3 pf, 4 pts
44-Brett Vriesman, C 0/1 fg, 2 reb, 1 blk, 2 pf, 0 pts
22-Derek Varnes, F 0/2 fg, 1 reb, 1 stl, 1 pf, 0 pts
50-Austin McCracken, F 1 reb, 1 ast, 0 pts
team rebounds: 8
Totals: 32/71 fg (.451), 21/24 ft (.875), 41 reb, 20 ast, 7 blk, 12 stl, 28 pf, 93 pts
3-pt fg (8): Solomon 3, Miller 2, London 2, Moss
Fouled Out: Brunell 5:02 left
Turnovers (30): Moss 6, Fried 5, Miller 5, Landon 5, Solomon 4, Moseley, Brunnell, Mortensen, Varnes, McCracken
Halftime Score: MOorpark 49, Big Bend 38
Moorpark 7-7, Big Bend 10-2
