KINGS CAN'T BUILD ON THIS L.A. GETS SUNK IN SECOND PERIOD SAN JOSE 5, KINGS 2.

Byline: KEVIN CONNELLY  Special to the Daily News

Laura Barker stood with a sour expression on her face Monday night, making sure to soak in every embarrassing detail.

There was the scoreboard off to her left: Newbury Park 60, Moorpark 52. There were the muffled screams of triumph as Newbury Park celebrated in its locker room.

Throw in a glum coach and some despondent teammates, and you have what Barker insists is a stark reminder for the Moorpark High girls' basketball team -- winners of 14 of its first 15 games -- of what it feels like to taste defeat.

``Watching Newbury Park celebrate that night definitely irritated me,'' said Barker, a senior guard. ``It was a tough loss because we think we are good enough to beat them. It was frustrating, but it is something that will motivate us to work harder to reach our goal of winning the Marmonte League title.''

If the Musketeers are to achieve that goal this season, they will likely have to pull it from the grasp of Newbury Park. Moorpark (15-2 overall, 4-1 Marmonte), ranked No. 3 in the area by the Daily News, has never won the Marmonte League, while No. 7 Newbury Park (12-5, 5-0) has won five titles in the pastseven years.

Moorpark, which defeated Newbury Park 59-42 on Dec. 2, hosts the Panthers on Jan. 31 in a game that will likely decide the league champion.

The Musketeers finished four games behind Newbury Park last season to finish in a tie for second place in league with Westlake.

``Newbury Park has set the gold standard in recent years, but we're right there with them this time,'' Moorpark coach Adam Wohlstattar said. ``When they beat us (on Monday) it showed us how small the margin of error can be in the Marmonte League. We made a few mistakes in the beginning of the game and it came back to haunt us.''

In Monday's loss, the Musketeers fell behind 12-0 to begin the game and trailed by as many as 14 points in the second half, but rallied to tie the score at 41-41 with sixminutes remaining on 15 second-half points by Barker. The Musketeers lost that momentum in the closing minutes, but salvaged much of their confidence just more than halfway through the season.

While Barker had the hot hand for Moorpark that night, the Musketeers have three players who can carry the scoring load. Senior forward Tiffany Hurd, who leads the team with 18.2 points per game, Barker (17.1 points per game) and junior center Lauren Carter (12.6 points and 9.8rebounds) make the Musketeers' offense one of the most balanced in the area.

The Moorpark defense has also emerged this season behind junior Megan Natelson. The 5-foot-7 point guard has averaged just 5.6 points and 4.8 assists per game this season, but she often is assigned to guard the opposing team's No. 1 scoring threat regardless of height or position.

With such talent on both sides of the ball, the Musketeers have outscored their opponents 1,007-721 in 17 games this season.

``I knew we were going to score a lot of points this season because we have a lot of weapons, but the big surprise to me has been the way we have improved defensively,'' Wohlstattar said. ``Megan has been a huge reason for that because she has shut down some really good offensive players. When I saw how well this team could play defensively early in the season, I knew we had the potential to do something special.''

Just how special will be decided in coming weeks, as Moorpark battles Newbury Park and No. 8 Royal of Simi Valley (13-4, 4-1) for league supremacy.

Barker said she believes Moorpark has what it takes to separate itself from the pack, which is why she expects to be soaking in a completely different type of experience with her teammates by the end of the season.

``Newbury Park has dominated this league for a while,'' Barker said. ``We want to change that. This is my last season here at Moorpark, and I want to come back here in future years and see a championship banner in our gym.

``That would be pretty cool.''

[e-mail]

[phone]

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

Kings goalie Mathieu Garon, right, blocks a shot by San Jose right wing Mike Grier during the first period.

Chris Carlson/Associated Press