Agoura High football coach Charlie Wegher on St. Bonaventure and Oaks Christian joining the Marmonte League for football beginning in 2010:

"I was a little surprised because I had heard that proposal floated. I didn't think it had much of a chance to succeed. But that's not how it went.

"Before I can fully react, I need to know how we're going to break down the league."

(Are you against a full 10-team league with nine league games?)

"Oh yeah, that can't be. That's not right. You can still schedule the same teams (prior to league play). But I think if you're going to do what's right, you need to have four league games and six preseason games.

"I haven't done a lot of thinking on what is best, but I have a feeling they'll probably try to make two competitive leagues."

Northern Division

Buena 27, Thousand Oaks 20: Buena passes big test by Derry Eads in Ventura.
Newbury Park 34, Rio Mesa 6: Newbury Park adjusts well by Joe Curley in Newbury Park.
Pacifica 56, Simi Valley 27: Mondol, Pacifica roll past Simi Valley by Sean Ceglinsky in Oxnard.
Camarillo 49, Agoura 14: Camarillo clicks against Agoura by Jeffrey Dransfeld in Camarillo.
Hueneme 33, Calabasas 0: Hueneme blanks Calabasas by Ted Cotti in Hueneme.
Westlake 42, Saugus 20: Isham powers Westlake over Saugus by Bob Buttitta in Santa Clarita.
Chaminade 33, Royal 14: Chaminade too much for Royal by David Lassen in Los Angeles.

Northwest Division

Santa Paula 23, Golden Valley 13: Santa Paula earns first win by Steve Pratt in Canyon Country.
Morro Bay 28, Oak Park 13: Morro Bay holds off Oak Park by Lance O'Fallon in Oak Park.

Thanks to the Jewish New Year - Rosh Hashanah, which begins tonight at sundown - we get two nights of high school football this week.

Here are the news, notes and highlights from last night's games:

Buena 27, Thousand Oaks 20: It was only a matter of time before Cliff Farrar turned the Buena program into a winner again. But this quick? Wow. In Farrar's second season at the helm, the Bulldogs recorded their biggest win in several years. Buena QB Robert Munoz completed 15 of 19 passes for 218 yards as Buena improved to 2-0 against a Thousand Oaks team that played Valencia down to the wire last week. The Lancers were without the services of RB Richard Minyard.

Camarillo 49, Agoura 14: On the same day the school conducted tryouts for its loudest students, Camarillo gave them plenty to scream about. Ossie Toc - could there be much better of a name? - rushed for 155 yards and two touchdowns. Ryan Molesworth caught three touchdown passes from Jeff Mathews in the route. If you espouse the Kevin Bacon theory, Ventura might be in for a handfull tonight against Moorpark. The Cougars lost to Agoura 12-0 in the opener last week.

Newbury Park 34, Rio Mesa 6: The Panthers scored 34 unanswered points and held Rio Mesa to just 37 yards of total offense in the second half. Newbury Park QB Jake Geringer threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more.

Westlake 42, Saugus 20: Nick Isham knows what perfection feels like. The Westlake QB finished an eye-popping 16 of 16 for 153 yards and four touchdowns. If that wasn't enough, Isham also caught four passes for 27 yards and returned an interception 75 yards for a touchdown as the Warriors posted 42 points for the second straight game. Tavior Mowry rushed 13 times for 103 yards. 

Pacifica 56, Simi Valley 27: This game was over by halftime as QB transfer Max Mondol completed 9 of his first 10 passes, including four touchdowns. Mondol finished the game 13 of 15 for 190 yards and his second incompletion of the game didn't come until less than 10 minutes remained in the fourth quarter.

Chaminade 33, Royal 14: Chaminade led 33-0 before Royal finally put together a few scoring drives. Royal QB Zach Collins completed 24 of 43 passes for 270 yards and Connor Wolcott had 11 receptions for 166 yards.

Hueneme 33, Calabasas 0: Sure the Vikings haven't played the toughest schedule, but 3-0 sure feels good after not winning a single game last season. Speaking of that, Calabasas can relate to losing streak. The Coyotes have had a few of their own over the years. Senior RB Trashaun Nixon had a stellar performance for Hueneme, rushing for 269 yards on 16 carries and scoring three touchdowns. Nixon broke off TD runs of 76 and 93 yards in the fourth quarter.

Morro Bay 28, Oak Park 13: The Eagles had to dig deep to find a starting QB last night. Brad Taylor was out with headaches and his backup Connor Hill was out with a hernia. Oak Park turned to WR-turned-QB Dereck Deakin, who completed 3 of 8 passes, including a 66-yard touchdown pass to Aiki Zapati (another classic name for the vault).

Santa Paula 23, Golden Valley 13: Santa Paula registered its first win behind Ivan Ledesma. The senior returned a kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown and went 69 yards on a screen pass thrown by sophomore Kameron Klein for another touchdown. Ledesma finished with five catches for 125 yards. 

 

Before Friday night's game with Ventura, Agoura High honored the victims of the 9/11 attacks with a moment of silence.

The Marmonte League held its league meeting today and decided to extend an invitation to Oaks Christian School to participate in its league while leaving Calabasas to find another league pending CIF-SS approval. This was the official press release issued a few minutes ago:

"The Marmonte League has extended an invitation to Oaks Christian High School to join the members of the Marmonte League which include:  Agoura High School, Moorpark High School, Newbury Park High School, Royal High School, Thousand Oaks High School and Westlake High School to participate fully in all league sports.

"While the Marmonte League recognizes Calabasas High School and the contributions it has brought to the league it regrets the affects this decision will have on them; however, it is in the best interest of the League to extend this invitation to Oaks Christian High School to have full participation in all sports."

All game second round.

GIRLS

Division I-A

No. 5 Ventura 56, No. 12 Murrieta Valley 44: Maddie Fahan had 23 points and 12 rebounds. Amy Pupa and Kristen Wilson added 12. Ventura plays at Ayala, the No. 4 seed, in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.

Division II-AA

No. 2 Buena 42, No. 15 Katella 41: Keani Albanez had 14 points, including the game-winning 8-footer with 32 seconds left. Buena moved on despite shooting 13 of 65 (20 percent) from the field and 10 of 27 (37 percent) from the line.

No. 5 Thousand Oaks 54, No. 12 El Toro 43: Jannesa Martinez had 14 points and six assists. Karina Alofaituli had 12 points. Jenna Bandy had seven points, eight rebounds and four steals. Thousand Oaks (24-4) made 17 of 23 free throws.


Division II-A

No. 6 Newbury Park 69, No. 11 Saugus 53: Doris Park-Sherman had 23 points and 13 rebounds. Sidney Dobner scored 14 points and Jasmine Polk had 13. Newbury Park outscored Saugus 42-30 in the second half.

No. 8 Laguna Hills 59, No. 9 Rio Mesa 52: Julisa Devad scored 13 points, including three 3-pointers. Britni Vargas-Hardy and Stephanie Ramirez each had 11 points and Imani Dixon added 10.

Division III-AA

No. 2 Agoura 64, No. 15 South Hills 42: Kylie Cunningham and Sasha Borenstein each scored 15 points for Agoura (25-3). Cunningham and Borenstein each buried three 3-pointers. Borenstein also grabbed 11 rebounds. Brittany Oster scored 12 points and made six steals. Camille Mahlknecht scored 10 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Division IV-A

No. 7 Fillmore 44, No. 10 Chaminade 38: Rebecca Herrera had 20 points, six rebounds, six steals and four assists. With the game tied 38-38 with less than a minute left, Herrera made four straight free throws. Jill Wilber added two free throws with 18 seconds left. Jazmin Galvez had eight points and eight rebounds.

No. 5 Oaks Christian 58, Maranatha 40: Katie Brooks led Oaks Christian (23-1) with 23 points and 10 rebounds. She scored 21 of her points and collected all of her rebounds in the first half. Brianna Barrett scored 14 points and had five steals.

Division V-AA

No. 6 St. Bonaventure 45, No. 9 St. Monica 42: Erica Whitley had 23 points, 10 rebounds and six assists to propel the Seraphs into Wednesday's quarterfinals at Campbell Hall. Monique Roberson added 10 points and eight rebounds.

Division V-A

No. 3 Santa Clara 71, No. 11 Mojave 28: Dajyanah Vines had 21 points and eight rebounds. Sharene Dunham added 13. Cynthia Hernandez and Daija Whittington scored 10. Santa Clara (22-3) outscored Mojave 25-3 in the third quarter. Santa Clara plays at Pasadena Poly on Wednesday.

BOYS

Division IV-A

No. 6 Santa Clara 59, No. 11 Valley Christian 43: Tom Torres scored 16 points. James Wilder had 16 points and nine rebounds. Cierre Wood added 12 points. Santa Clara outscored Valley Christian 19-6 in the fourth quarter. Santa Clara will be on the road against Crespi on Tuesday in the quarterfinals.

Division II

Agoura 25, Bell Gardens 2
Royal 12, Villa Park 8 (OT)
Palos Verdes 23, Newbury Park 12

Division IV

Santa Ynez 10, Pacifica 8
Burbank 18, Oxnard 6
Rio Mesa 6, Temple City 3

Division VI

Elsinore 21, Oaks Christian 4
Malibu 16, Rowland 6

Division I

Thousand Oaks 3, Peninsula 0
San Clemente 2, Buena 1
Trabuco Hills 3, Agoura 2
Mater Dei 1, Ventura 0

Division IV

St. Joseph of Santa Maria 3, Camarillo 0
Santa Ynez 2, Rio Mesa 0

Division V

Oak Park 6, Crossroads 0
Oaks Christian 7, Windward 1
La Reina 2, Campbell Hall 1
South Torrance 1, St. Bonaventure 1 (South advances via shootout, 5-4)

Division VI

Santa Paula 2, Bishop Union 0

The CIF-Southern Section released the playoff pairings for basketball today. Here are just a few highlights from the girls side of things. The first round is scheduled for Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

- Buena is the No. 2 seed in Division II-AA and hosts Glendale - an at-large selection from the Pacific League.

- Agoura is seeded No. 2 in Division III-AA and hosts San Marcos in the first round.

- Ventura is the No. 5 seed in Division I-A and hosts Aliso Niguel - an at-large team from the South Coast League.

- Newbury Park is seeded No. 6 in Division II-A and hosts Glendora - an at-large from the Serra League. Simi Valley and Westlake both received at-large bids in II-A and Calabasas received an at-large bid in IV-AA.

- Thousand Oaks is the No. 5 seed in Division II-AA and hosts Burbank.

- If No. 13 Royal wins on the road against Century in Division II-AA, the Highlanders would likely meet No. 1 Brea Olinda in the second round.

- Pacifica will have its hands full in the very-tough Division I-AA bracket. The Tritons received the No. 11 seed and host Redlands East Valley.

- Rio Mesa received a No. 9 seed and a rematch in Division II-A. The Spartans host Dos Pueblos, which they beat in their own tournament earlier this season.  In another Pacific View-Channel showdown, Camarillo plays at Santa Barbara.

- Oaks Christian is the No. 5 seed in Division IV-A and hosts Louisville. Andre Chevalier should be familiar with Mission League opponents having formerly coached at Reseda Cleveland.

- Fillmore is the No. 7 seed in IV-A and hosts Santa Ynez. The Flashes lost to Santa Ynez three years ago in the second round of the playoffs at Santa Ynez.

- Santa Clara reached the second round without even playing a game. The Saints are the No. 3 seed in V-A and received a bye. They will host the winner of No. 10 Desert-No. 11 Mojave on Saturday.

Thousand Oaks and Besant Hill were seeded No. 1 in Division II-AA and VI-A, respectively, for the CIF-Southern Section boys' basketball playoffs, which begin Wednesday.

Here are The Star's top 10 stories in high school sports for last week, in no particular order:

Here are The Star's top 10 high school sports stories for Jan. 12-18, not necessarily in order of importance:

Brittany Oster's 19 points and 10 rebounds for Agoura High in a 55-25 Marmonte League girls' basketball win over Westlake marked the 13th time that she has had a double-double this season.

Barely five weeks into the season, the Agoura High girls' basketball team already has more wins (13) since the 2002-03 team finished 15-7.

Alexis Lee scored two twice, Alisa Argend added another and goalie Jessie Smit made 11 blocks, but the Ventura High girls' water polo team (7-2) opened Channel League play with 4-3 loss against Santa Barbara.

In the first round of Marmonte League play, Agoura swampted Thousand Oaks 14-4 and Royal edged Westlake 6-3 on Casey Creek's three goals.

Sometimes where you start has a whole lot to do with where you end up. Which is another way of saying It would be hard to overstate the significance of field position in Newbury Park's 32-30 win over Agoura on Friday night.
It wasn't just that all five Newbury Park scoring drives were 59 yards or less. Overall, the Panthers' average starting position was their own 42 -- their own 46 in the first half -- while Agoura's average start was at its 24 in the first half and 26 overall.
You can win a lot of races with a 20-yard head start.
"That means the defense did its job," said Newbury Park coach Gary Fabricius. "People are going to look at 32-30 and think it there wasn't defense, but our guys made some big plays at some big times."
It also helps explain why Newbury Park led from start to finish even though Agoura finished with more yards, 347 to the Panthers' 281.
The field-position issue was particularly tough for Agoura with sophomore Gerrard Poutier making his first varsity start at quarterback. Poutier showed a lot of poise in his baptism by fire, completing his final seven passes as part of a 15-for-24 night, but when the Chargers started at their 6, 33, 18 and 6 in a four-possession stretch in the second and third quarters, they were obviously working from a drastically shortened playbook.
Poutier started because senior Justin Arias is still recovering from a concussion suffered against Simi Valley, but the Chargers did everything they could not to tip their hand. Arias dressed out and warmed up, but one week after sustaining that concussion, he was never going to play. Coach Charlie Wegher was simply trying not to tip his hand about the QB change any sooner than he absolutely had to.
 

The Westlake High boys' water polo team suspended six players for two Marmonte League games for "disciplinary reasons," according to head coach Todd Irmas.
The players missed Westlake's matches against Agoura (a loss) and Calabasas (a win). They were replaced in the lineup by JV players.
Irmas refused to disclose the exact nature of why the players were suspended, but says they have returned to the team.
"There is a lot out in the public and the public seems to have a lot of ideas about what happened," Irmas said. "But it's a personal issue with these guys and it has been dealt with by the school and myself."
It's not been the easiest of seasons for the Warriors. One senior starter quit the team and Irmas' son Cameron, a junior starter, ruptured his ear drum against Moorpark and could be out for the rest of the season.

Grace Brethren became the third area school to score 50 points in a football game and come out on the short end.

The Agoura High football  took a 10-point lead on Kyle Dungandzic's 29-yard field goal and Arias' 35-yard scoring strike to Bryce Majdick, but Simi Valley fought back to take a 20-16 halftime lead on Jared Zahorik's 24-yard scoring strike to Keith Williams and Tim Ferralli's 5-yard touchdown pass to Brent Keys.

Three different Pioneers have taken snaps at quarterback. Agoura QB Justin  Arias completed 12 of his first 14 passes for 274 yards and a TD.

Lucky Radley, who has nearly 600 yards of total offense and seven touchdowns in five games,  is in uniform, but has yet to take the field offensively.