Agoura girls’ basketball team lacking players, not effort

BILL SPARKES/Acorn Newspapers HACKED IN THE ACT—Left, Agoura’s Lauren Wells gets called for the foul against Moorpark’s Paige Peterson during the Musketeers’ 62-39 victory over the Chargers Tuesday night at Moorpark. Agoura defenders Mia Johnson, No. 12, and Christina Depippo also converged on Peterson during the play. AHS is off to a 4-5 start this season, putting the team only a single victory away from matching their win total from all of last year. The Agoura girls’ basketball team was short on numbers but full of heart during Tuesday night’s Marmonte League opener on the road against the Moorpark Musketeers.

With only seven players in uniform, the Chargers led after the first quarter and were down by just two points at halftime before a deep Musketeer squad pulled away over the final 16 minutes of the game for a 62-39 victory.

Agoura played without one of its leading scorer on the season, Arielle Fersht, who is currently visiting Israel.

“We’re a little shy right now,” head coach Todd Shipley said. “I’m bringing up two girls from the J.V. for this next tournament, but we’re short on the J.V. too. We’ve got seven girls. We’ve just got small numbers.”

With the loss, Agoura saw its record drop to 4-5 on the season, including an 0-1 mark in league play.

Considering the Chargers won only five games a year ago, and with their ongoing search for player depth at the varsity level, four wins at this point in the season might be viewed as a fairly solid accomplishment.

“It can always be better,” senior center Rose Hunt said. “But considering we didn’t have summer (practice) or anything like that, and with the number of players we have, I think we are doing pretty good and I think we’re going to just keep improving.”

Hunt had eight points in the game against Moorpark.

Shipley said Hunt’s development on the court has been remarkable over the past season.

“Rose is probably the most improved this year,” Shipley said. “Her play in the paint has been great. He’s coming along and getting better. I wish I had her one more year.”

The coach said junior guard Lauren Wells, along with senior guards Kelly Mead and Christina Depippo, have all performed at a high level through the first nine games of the year.

“Depippo and Mead, they kind of set the pace,” Shipley said. “They are the heart and soul of the team and they really push and drive and work hard. (Wells) is a workaholic too.”

Freshman guard Taryn Kurcz could be seen sprinting all over the court during Tuesday’s matchup vs. the Musketeers. She scored eight points in the contest, six of which came on a pair of three pointers early in the game.

“Taryn is one the fastest girls in the school,” Shipley said. “She’s like lightening. She’s going to be a great player for us down the road. This year, with her getting to learn like this, it’s really good for us.”

Kurcz said the team played well in the early stages against Moorpark, but things gradually began to unravel as the game wore on.

“There was one little falter, and from that one little falter we didn’t play very well together as a team,” Kurcz said. “And then we got shut down a little bit.”

After scoring 20 points in the first quarter, Agoura saw its total points scored in each quarter slip to eight points in the second, seven in the third quarter and four points in the final frame.

“Our condition is still a little off,” Hunt said. “As we go along further in the game, we get a little bit tired.”

The Chargers will participate in the Santa Paula Tournament throughout the weekend. After that, Agoura will have an extended rest period before resuming league play Jan. 4 against Simi Valley.

“With (Fersht) coming back and with the experience that we’ve had,” Shipley said, “and getting those two weeks off for Christmas to rejuvenate and restart our engines, I’m hoping we’ll be focused and ready to come back and the next time we play Moorpark it’ll be a little better for us.”