There is never a good time to lose your top singles player, but there are worse times than others.

Sophomore Kristina Eisenbrand told Moorpark girls' tennis coach Sandy Jacobs she will not play the remainder of the season because she is attending a tennis academy in Spain.

Eisenbrand participated in Moorpark's loss to Rio Mesa yesterday - sweeping her sets in the process - and left today for Spain.

Moorpark's schedule this week includes matches against Marmonte League-leaders Westlake and Thousand Oaks. Today's match against Westlake was postponed, however, because of the rain and will be played on Monday.

"I thought we might have a chance against Westlake," Jacobs said. "But without Kristina, that is pretty much impossible. Her absence changes everything."

Now, Moorpark will likely battle Simi Valley for the final two automatic playoff spots in league.

"We should be able to get fourth place, especially since we do have that one win over Simi Valley already," Jacobs said. "Hopefully, we can squeak out fourth place. We have to see. You never know when one of your top girls gets sick or what is going to happen."

The USTA announced today that Thousand Oaks resident Marcos Giron will represent the United States in the Junior Davis Cup Finals, Sept. 29 - Oct. 4 in San Luis Potosi, Mexico.  The event features 16 teams from nations across the world composed of players age 16 and under. 

Giron, currently No. 5 in the USTA Boys' 16s National Standings, won the doubles title at the USTA Boys' 16s National Championships in August and reached the final of the Boys' 16s Easter Bowl in April.  He will be joined on the team by Bjorn Fratangelo (Pittsburgh) and Hunter Harrington (Spartanburg, S.C.).

The U.S. is the reigning Junior Davis Cup champions and will attempt to become the first back-to-back winners since France in 1992 and 1993.  USTA National Coach Mark Merklein will captain the U.S. Junior Davis Cup team. 

The United States won the Junior Davis Cup title twice (1999 and 2008) and reached the final on four other occasions, including a 1986 second-place finish by Jim Courier and Michael Chang.

In addition to Courier and Chang, former U.S. junior international team members include Andy Roddick, James Blake, Lindsay Davenport, Jennifer Capriati, Mardy Fish, Robby Ginepri, Jamea Jackson, Ashley Harkleroad and Lisa Raymond.

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. 

 

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."

Co-state girls' high jump leader Lydia French of Thousand Oaks High has withdrawn from the Arcadia Invitational on Saturday. French owns the Lancers' program school record with a best of 5 feet, 8 inches this season.

Alex Tiffin had 24 points as the Thousand Oaks High boys' basketball team earned the CIF-SS Division II-AA title with a 59-55 win over Leuzinger Saturday afternoon at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

The teams were tied, 53-53, with two minutes to play when Antonio Lopez's steal and breakaway layup and Chris Carter's two free throws gave a four-point lead.

The Olympians (25-6) has a chance to tie the score in the final seconds when Thousand Oaks came up with a steal.

Leuzinger's top scorer, senior Jerry Evans, fouled out with little more than three minutes to play. He finished with 12 points

The Thousand Oaks High boys' basketball team trails Leuzinger 31-30 at the half in the CIF-SS Division II-AA final at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

Senior guard Antonio Lopez gave the Lancers a two-point lead with a late 3-pointer, before the Olympians responded in kind with a 30-footer.

The Lancers also trailed by one point at the end of the third quarter.

With such a big weekend approaching in both prep and local college sports, it's nice to see everybody working together.

The Thousand Oaks High and Ventura High boys' basketball team, who each contest CIF sectional finals Saturday at the Honda Center in Anaheim, both found local college venues in which to prepare for the larger court this week.

The Lancers practiced at Cal Lutheran and the Cougars practiced at Ventura College.

"It's nice to have friends at the college," said Ventura assistant Felix Cortez.

Division I-A

Ventura 64, Paloma Valley 48

Division II-AA

Thousand Oaks 62, Edison 45: Chris Carter led the Lancers (27-2) with 13 points. Alex
Kiffin scored 12 points. Thousand Oaks will play Marina at Westlake High on
Friday night.

Division II-A

Loyola 88, Simi Valley 74

Division IV-A

Oaks Christian 66, La Salle 52:
Crespi 59, Santa Clara 58: Cierre Wood's game-tying 3-point bid in the final seconds just fell off for the Saints.

Division VI-A

Besant Hill 65, Marywood-Palm Valley 26: Francois Tchoyi and Yannick Atanga both scored 18 points. Ivan Matip scored 17 points with two 3-point goals and eight assists. Gunnar Von Burg scored 12 points and had three 3-pointers. Besant Hill (20-1) will host Padrio Pio in the CIF semifinals on Friday.

Division I

San Clemente 2, Thousand Oaks 1

Division V

Oaks Christian 4, Torrance 0
Valley Christian 2, La Reina 1 (2OT)
La Canada 1, Oak Park 0

Division VI

Malibu 3, Linfield Christian 0
St. Margaret's 3, Santa Paula 0

Division VII

St. Paul 2, Thacher 0

Here are the top 10 high school sports stories for Ventura County for the week of Feb. 16-22, not in any particular order:

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.

All games second round.

Boys:

Division I-A

No. 5 Ventura 74, No. 12 Los Osos 73:  Center Mike Melonas scored with 0.5 seconds remaining to give visiting Ventura the win in Rancho Cucagmong. Los Osos sophomore forward Omar Ajanovic put the Grizzlies in front, 73-72, with a long 3-pointer that appeared to eliminate the Channel League champion. But Ventura¹s ensuing inbound pass was knocked away downcourt, giving the Cougars the ball underneath the basket with 2.5 seconds remaining. Melonas
coolly layed in Kory Kindle¹s inbounds pass to send the Cougars to the
quarterfinals.The Grizzlies were led by UCLA-bound junior Kendall Williams who had 32
points and helped push Los Osos to an early 31-17 advantage.
Kindle, who elected to play basketball Friday night instead of in the
Ventura High soccer team¹s 3-2 win over Rancho Verde in the Division II
playoffs, sparked a 15-0 second-quarter run that gave Ventura its first lead
of the night just before halftime.

Division II-AA

No. 1 Thousand Oaks 71, Buena 54: Alex Tiffin had 16 points as the Lancers won their 16th straight game
No. 6 Simi Valley 67, Rowland 53: Brad Lewis led the Pioneers with 24 points. Danny
Cox scored 16 points and also led the team in rebounds with six.

Division IV-A

No. 2 Price 76, Fillmore 59: Noah Aguirre poured in 31 points while also collecting 10 rebounds. Chris De La Paz scored 17 points.

No. 5 Oaks Christian 82, Banning 49: Dillon Van Der Wal scored 20 points and Jules Sharpe 16. The Lions blew the game open with a 28-8 fourth-quarter run.

Girls:

Division II-AA

Thousand Oaks 47, Burbank 37: Karina Alofaituli completed a double-double with
20 points and 10 rebounds. Jenna Bandy followed suit with 10 points and 13 rebounds.

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

Division I-AA
Long Beach Wilson 65, Oxnard 49

Division I-A
No. 5 Ventura 73, Hawthorne 47
Ventura will visit No. 12 Los Osos, 66-43 winners over California, Friday
Lancaster 63, Pacifica 49

Division II-AA
No. 1 Thousand Oaks 69, Canyon Country-Canyon 41
Buena 61, Walnut 59
Thousand Oaks will host Buena Friday

Division II-A
No. 6 Simi Valley 66, Compton 62
Simi Valley will visit Rowland, 50-41 winner over No. 11 Sunny Hills, Friday night
Mayfair 64, Camarillo 39
No. 16 Santa Barbara 58, Westlake 52

Division III-AA
Arroyo Grande 69, No. 7 Agoura 58
St. John Bosco 63, Rio Mesa 55
No. 6 North Torrance 102, Moorpark 56

Division IV-A
No. 5 Oaks Christian 75, Morro Bay 62
Oaks Christian will play Banning, 51-43 winners over Fairmont Prep, Friday
No. 6 Santa Clara 80, Santa Ynez 43
Santa Clara will play No. 11 Cerritos Valley Christian, 64-52 winners over Costa Mesa, Friday
Fillmore 59, Carpinteria 53
Fillmore will host No. 2 Price,  73-45 winners over Whittier Christian, Friday
Crespi 70, Nordhoff 45

Division IV-AA
St. Francis 57, Santa Paula 41

Division V-A
No. 14 Pilibos 41, Thacher 38

Division VI-AA
No. 13 Newbury Park Adventist 66, Cuyama Valley 44
Newbury Park Adventist  will play Hesperia Christian, 57-31 winners over Desert Chapel, Friday.

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 high school sports headlines for the week of Feb. 2-8: