After winning in overtime against Cuesta College on Saturday, the Lady Raiders took on their cross-county rivals the Ventura Pirates, Wednesday in their first WSC match of the season and battle for first place in the conference.
With a gym full to capacity, the Lady Raiders battled hard, but fell to the Pirates 71-60. The number one ranked Pirates were looking to win with ease over the number ten Lady Raiders, but did not have the option to let up.
“I think they played terrific, competed very hard, executed a good game plan,” Head Coach Remy McCarthy said.
The Lady Raiders faced a much greater challenge than usual during this game, as the Ventura Pirates are the 26-time defending WSC Champions. The first half of the game, Moorpark pulled in 24 points to Ventura’s 28. Several questionable calls were made that left players, coaches, and fans of the Raiders upset and unsure of how the game was actually going.
“I was very unhappy with the way the game was officiated,” McCarthy said. “Which is very uncharacteristic of me to bring up officiating, because most of the time I don’t think it really has an impact on the game.”
There were many opportunities for the officials to sway a call one way or another and it seemed to fall in the favor of the Pirates. As a team, the Lady Raiders totaled 24 personal fouls, while the Pirates had only 16.
“I’m not saying we would have won if we had a chance, but it would have been nice to have a chance,” said McCarthy.
This isn’t the first time the team has had to face some trouble when it comes to the odds of the game, but they continue to strive to be at their best no matter what the outcome may be.
“I’m really proud of our team because we’ve faced a great deal of adversity in this season in general and I think we faced the same thing at Ventura,” Sophomore guard Sam McCarthy said.
Leading the team was Ashley Ontiveros with 23 points, followed by Riley Abraham with 14 points and nine rebounds. Sydney Perry had eight points, three rebounds and three steals off of the bench.
“I was really proud of our kids, very much so, but the task will be just as tough [when they are here],” said Coach McCarthy.
The Lady Raiders now have a conference record of 4-2 and 13-9 overall. This Saturday, Feb. 1, the Lady Raiders take on Allan Hancock at Allan Hancock College at 3 pm.
