Ventura Rallies to Edge Moorpark : Wigington, Ceballos Hold Off Raiders Late in Game, 72-69

Leland Wigington and Cedric Ceballos hit clutch baskets in the final minute to lift Ventura to a come-from-behind victory over Moorpark, 72-69, Saturday night at the losers’ gym.

Moorpark’s Marlon Adams missed a three-point shot with two seconds left as the Pirates held on to win their fifth Western State Conference game. Ventura (18-4, 5-1) is ranked No. 11 in the state by the JC Athletic Bureau.

Moorpark came back from a 38-35 halftime deficit to take the lead, 54-53, on a jumper by Chad Staples with 11:59 left in the second half. Adams and Staples each scored a basket and Adams hit two free throws as the Raiders increased their lead to 60-55.

With two minutes left and the score tied at 66, Ceballos hit a pair of free throws. Moorpark’s Adams then connected on a three-point shot to give the Raiders their final lead, 69-68, with little more than a minute to play.

Ceballos and Wigington then combined for the winning points.

“I think the big thing was that we didn’t stick to our game plan,” said Moorpark forward Andy Jercha, who finished with 15 points. “If we could have only stayed with our game plan, defensively, I think there would have been a different outcome.”

Despite good individual performances, the Raiders (12-9, 2-4) were unable to control the tempo as they did when they beat Ventura by 14 to win the Moorpark Tournament.

Adams finished with a game-high 23 points and had five rebounds.

Moorpark’s Chad Staples, who at 6-7 played uncontested late in the game when Ventura’s inside players got into foul trouble, scored 21.

“He just went crazy,” Mathews said. “The last time we played them, David Bussey and Geraud Moncure were the guys who gave us trouble. This time we keyed on them.”

It worked. Bussey, who had been averaging more than 11 points a game, scored only two, as did Tom Neumayr, who was averaging 18.3 points a game in conference.

“We are getting ready to go on the road, so we have got to get our act together,” Moorpark Coach Al Nordquist said.