Ventura High football coach Brad Steward on St. Bonaventure leaving the Channel League to join Oaks Christian in the new super Marmonte League next fall:

"I haven't any input in this thing at all. My response today was 'Wow, that's huge news!'

"I kind of have mixed emotions. I feel like... It's a difficult thing to express, isn't it? I've always enjoyed being able to prepare against the best team around. We'll have one more time. It's just been difficult coming out on the short end of it again and again.

"I'll miss that opportunity to play the best team in the state of California. We got to do that because they were in our league. It's exciting for our guys to put in the preparation like that.

(Is this solving anything? Isn't the Marmonte League just being put in the position the Channel League has been in?)

"Maybe those guys are better suited to having them than we are. I do feel like we've had our turn."

"Things change. I think we need to do as good a job as we can, frequently, to make sure we do the best job we can for kids."

Ventura High athletic director and Channel League representative David Hess on St. Bonaventure and Oaks Christian joining the Marmonte League for the 2010 season, which proposed Thursday in Long Beach:

"I was pretty surprised. We're happy in that our goal from the start of this process was to find a more competitive place for St. Bonaventure football... We feel that we have done that... As it played out, my ultimate obligation was to take care of kids in the Channel League and at Ventura High.

"As (the) meeting approached, nobody was talking to us, which was an indicator that people were talking in a way that was not going to go well for the Channel League... So we needed to look at the process and what was available to us. 

"What do we think will work if whole lot of schools that are not in Ventura County are voting? How do we tell the story?

"We did not want to bring St. Bonaventure in for all sports... Ultimately we felt that would not be good for all sports for St. Bonaventure."

"We didn't want to do something that was simply punative... If we supported St. Bonaventure coming into the league for all sports, we were saying that it was alright for St. Bonaventure to be in the Channel League for football and we're not... We wanted to stand on that principle."

Shocking events today from The Grand in Long Beach, where a late proposal to lump Oaks Christian and St. Bonaventure into the Marmonte League for football was passed by the CIF-Southern Section council.

Here's David Lassen on the events:

LONG BEACH - Oaks Christian and St. Bonaventure will end up in the same football league after all - but it will be a 10-team Marmonte League,  not a proposed four-team private-school football league.

Endorsing appeals by Ventura and Calabasas high schools, the CIF-Southern Section council voted Thursday to move the area's private-school powers into the Marmonte League for football only, while leaving all other schools intact.

In doing so by a 41-21 vote with nine abstentions, the council - a body representing one vote for each Southern Section league - overrode a vote by the nine leagues in the Northern Area that would have had Oaks Christian and Calabasas change places, with Oaks Christian joining the Marmonte League for all sports, while moving Calabasas into the Tri-County Athletic Association.

Coming at the end of a long and contentious releaguing process, the decision is final and will take affect for four seasons, beginning with the 2010-2011 school year.

"As football in Ventura County goes, I believe it's a good thing," said St. Bonaventure principal Marc Groff. "Since it's football only. ... I'm certainly very interested to see what these other configurations are. I need to digest it a little bit."

The 10-team league will be split into two five-team units, details of which are uncertain.

"From a football interest standpoint, I think people in Ventura County should be excited that the best teams are all going to play each other."

The plan to put Oaks and St. Bonaventure in the same league was floated early in the releaguing process but did not gain traction within the Northern Area's releaguing procedure. So its reemergence, as a proposal introduced at Thursday's meeting, created a wide range of reaction.

Lassen's live Twitter updates are available here. More to come at VCStar.com later in the day.

Northern Division

St. Bonaventure 42, Los Angeles Jordan 21: Meyer leads Seraphs by David Lassen in Los Angeles.
Moorpark 31, Ventura 7: Rohach singled out for Moorpark by Loren Ledin in Moorpark.
Channel Islands 28, Santa Clara 7: CI uses sizeable advantage by Derry Eads in Oxnard.
Oxnard 30, San Luis Obispo 14: Oxnard rallies by staff reports

Northwest Division

Oaks Christian 28, Skyline (Wash.) 25: Oaks wins battle by Mason Kelly, Seattle Times
Fillmore 27, Bishop Diego 25: Big plays lift Fillmore by Barry Punzal in Santa Barbara
Nordhoff 14, Santa Ynez 12: Nordhoff hangs on by Ted Cotti in Ojai

Some news, notes and highlights from Friday night's games:

Oaks Christian 28, Skyline 25: The Lions took a big step toward a bowl berth by passing their toughest test of the season on the road in Washington. Oaks (3-0) jumped out to an early 14-0 lead, and managed to hold off a late Skyline charge. Malcolm Jones (19 carries, 133 yards) scored the game-winning touchdown on a 48-yard run in the fourth quarter, and Max Napolitano clinched the win with an interception in the waning seconds. Playing in the state he will soon reside full time, Oaks quarterback Nick Montana, a University of Washington commit, completed 21 of 32 passes for 258 yards and three touchdowns to hand Skyline QB Jake Heaps his first high school loss. But the most pressing question of the night might have been how many times ESPNU showed Joe Montana and his wife on the split screen. Can you say overkill?

Moorpark 31, Ventura 7: Moorpark (3-0) employed a single-QB offense with Brody Rohach taking all the snaps and Brian Blechen being used as a receiver and defensive back. Rohach passed for 177 yards and touchdowns of 50, 42 and 23 yards. Should we expect this to continue? Ever-coy Moorpark coach Tim Lins wasn't telling. Ventura (0-2) cut down on its turnovers, but its offense couldn't generate much against Moorpark's strong defense.

Channel Islands 28, Santa Clara 7: Raise your hand if you had Channel Islands and Hueneme both starting the season 3-0. Didn't think so. But CI used its passing attack to improve to 3-0 for the first time in 19 years. QB Bobby Diaz was 13 of 20 for 209 yards and one touchdown. Santa Clara committed four turnovers to fall to 0-2.

Nordhoff 14, Santa Ynez 12: Nordhoff held off the Santa Ynez comeback when Logan Crow intercepted a pass with 40 seconds remaining. The Rangers led 14-0 behind touchdowns from Cody Burgess (117 yards rushing) and Crow. Santa Ynez failed on a two-point conversion to tie the game on its second score with 7:38 to play. Nordhoff QB Skyler Logsdon was 10 of 20 for 133 yards.

St. Bonaventure 42, L.A. Jordan 21: Friday night lights was Friday afternoon sunlight for the Seraphs (3-0) as they played a day game. Senior QB Logan Meyer had his best statistical performance of the season, completing 18 for 25 for 312 yards and three touchdowns in just three quarters. Meyer started 7 for 7 for 187 yards and two touchdowns.

Fillmore 27, Bishop Diego 25:  The Flashes rallied for their first win when Zach Golson caught a pass from Corey Cole on 3rd-and 11 and sprinted 85 yards down the right sideline for the game-winning touchdown. Bishop Diego opened the game by scoring a touchdown on the very first play from scrimmage - a 72-yard scamper by Brandon Gonzalez - and led 13-0 at one point.

Oxnard 30, San Luis Obispo 14: That long bus ride was much more pleasurable thanks to those 20 points Oxnard scored in the fourth quarter to rally for the win. The Yellowjackets trailed 14-10 entering the final quarter, but Henry Fernandez ran for three touchdowns. Fernandez compiled 103 of his 166 yards rushing in the fourth quarter. Alex Gavin had 103 yards rushing.

Thacher 52, Cuyama Valley 6: QB Austin Krause threw for 143 yards and three touchdowns for the Toads in an eight-man road victory.   
  

The Moorpark High football team will be dedicating Friday¹s game against
Ventura in memory of 1995 graduate Dr. Robert Floyd Bigley.

Bigley was a defensive lineman on the 1993 and 1994 Moorpark teams. The 1994
team won the Frontier League championship.

"Robby was instrumental in helping lay the foundation of our current program
and was a big part of winning the league title in 1993,"  said Moorpark
athletic director Rob Dearborn.

Bigley was killed Sunday in a in an elite skydiving training exercise. He
won two national titles last year in formation jumping. He had completed
more than 6,000 jumps.

He was married two weeks ago to Alana Marie Fulvio. His parents, Bob and
Elly, who still live in Moorpark, helped build the Moorpark stadium.

Looks like the Ventura and Buena girls' volleyball teams are on the upswing this season.

Both recorded impressive wins last night with Ventura sweeping Oak Park and Buena beating La Reina in four games.

Ventura has put together an impressive coaching staff. First-year coach Jared Godinez is a former volleyball standout for the Cougars and his assistants are Maurice Shimabaku, Debbie Litten and Melissa Yeto.

Shimabaku once led Hueneme High to a state title, Litten is Ventura's former successful head and Yeto was an assistant at Ventura College.

Buena and Ventura compete in the always-tough Channel League and will have to contend with the powers up North, especially Dos Pueblos. Ventura hasn't made the playoffs since Litten was at the helm.

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

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.

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.

All matches first round.


Division I

Newbury Park 1, Los Alamitos 0: Steven Trujillo scored the game¹s only goal in the
77th minute off an assist by Julian Laria. Nick Harrison had a key pass to
set up Laria¹s assist.

Division II

Ventura 3, Palos Verdes 2: Adrew Creightion,James Greider and Able Tadeo scored.

Division IV

No. 1 Channel Islands 5, Burbank 2: Jesus Landeros and David Torres had a goal and an assist apiece.  Miguel Rico, Salvador Mendoza and Josh Vasquez rounded out the scoring.
Rio Mesa 3, Pasadena 1: Jerry Ponce scored in the 16th and 75th minutes and Javier Marquez scored the game winner, off an assist from Dustin Figueroa, in the 60th minute.
North Torrance 3, Oxnard 1: Hugo Rosales scored in the first half off an assist by
Edson Flores. North Torrance scored all of its goals in the second half.

Division VI

Nordhoff 3, Shalhevet 0: Moustafa Ismail scored two goals and Keiko David had
two assists. Bruce Vargas scored a goal and Jorge Reyes had an assist.

Division I-AA

Redlands East Valley 53, No. 11 Pacifica 52 (OT)

Division I-A

No. 5 Ventura 66, Aliso Niguel 44: Maddie Fahan scored a game-high 22 points. Amy Pupa scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Kristen Wilson scored nine points and had seven rebounds. Kristen Wilson scored nine points and had seven rebounds. Mallory Horwitz also had seven rebounds.

Division II-AA

No. 2 Buena 63, Glendale 35: Kacie Sowell had 18 points and 15 rebounds. Holly Holcomb scored 13 points. Keani Albanez scored nine points and had three assists.
No. 13 Royal 54, Century 33: Kaity Lykins scored 14 points and Gabbi King had 12 for the balanced Highlanders.

Division II-A

No. 6 Newbury Park 65, Glendora 48
No. 9 Rio Mesa 53, Dos Pueblos 47: Imani Dixon had a game-high 27 points, while Julisa DiVad added 10 points.
No. 12 Santa Barbara 54, Camarillo 45: Camarillo's Brittany Nishimori tallied 22 points, including six 3-pointers.

Division IV-A

No. 5 Oaks Christian 60, Louisville 19: Brianna Barrett and Katie Brooks each scored 15 points. Barrett also had eight steals, while Brooks had 10 rebounds, and four blocks. 
No. 7 Fillmore 66, Santa Ynez 38: Rebecca Herrera scored a game-high 26 points to go with her seven rebounds and seven steals. Kyla Hernandez scored 14 points and made four blocks. Aimee Orozco scored 11 points.

Division V-AA

No. 6 St. Bonaventure 57, Providence 34: Erica Whitley led the way offensively with 20 points and six assists.

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.

For the first time since 1992, Ventura has won a CIF dual meet wrestling championship.