Shaw Doesn’t Mask Talent

Ceneka Shaw’s stint on the Ventura College men’s basketball team last season was brief and included an abrupt departure.

Who was that masked man?

For one game, it was Shaw.

Shaw, a 6-foot-7 freshman forward, reappeared this season at Moorpark, where he leads the Raiders in scoring and rebounding. Shaw, who averages 16.2 points and 6.6 rebounds, scored a season-high 30 points in a 76-72 victory over Santa Barbara on Saturday.

Moorpark (12-10, 4-1 in division play) entered the week in first place in the Western State Conference North Division and is within reach of its first title since 1983, before the conference split into two divisions.

“We knew he’d be a great one,” Moorpark Coach Remy McCarthy said.

Shaw, a former standout at Buena High, transferred after spending last season as a medical redshirt at Ventura. In October 1996, Shaw was involved in an automobile accident that left him with a fractured cheekbone.

“Basically, I smashed all the bones in the side of my face,” Shaw said. “I tried to come back. But I was hardheaded, of course, and I tried to come back too soon.”

Shaw underwent reconstructive surgery and was sidelined until January. He finally made it to the court but was required to wear a protective mask during games.

The mask was uncomfortable, the pain unbearable. Shaw’s head throbbed whenever he came down with a rebound. He decided to sit out the remainder of the season.

Shaw, who transferred with former Ventura teammate Charles Dixon, said he made the decision for personal reasons and well before Ventura’s program became embroiled in controversy surrounding numerous violations of state rules. The program was placed on probation for two years by the WSC and subsequently suspended for one year by school administrators.

For Shaw, Ventura is just a memory. And so is the mask.

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Point guard Juan Corleto’s long-range shooting has propelled long-shot Glendale to several upsets and third place in the WSC South Division.

Glendale, which defeated first-place Valley, 73-71, on Jan. 31, knocked off powerful Santa Monica, 99-79, on Saturday behind Corleto’s 28 points, including eight three-point baskets.

Three days earlier, Corleto scored 28, including seven three-point baskets, in an 88-80 victory over Canyons.

Corleto, a 5-9 sophomore, was selected WSC player of the week. He is averaging 14.5 points, 18.8 in conference play. Corleto’s 89 three-point baskets this season eclipsed the previous school record of 86 he set last season.

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Rain has disrupted the WSC baseball tournament to the point that it might not be completed, Canyons Coach Len Mohney said.

“We’re trying to get the games in, but it’s not going to be easy,” Mohney said. “There are so many El Ninos, it’s a joke.”

Canyons has tournament games remaining against L.A. City and East L.A., but both games are unscheduled. The Cougars are scheduled to enter the Cypress- Orange Coast tournament Friday.

Valley, Pierce and Moorpark also have had WSC tournament games rained out. Rescheduling is difficult because of previously scheduled games. Pierce played a nonconference game Tuesday at Cerritos, while Valley played host to Fullerton in a nonconference game.

Conference play, which takes precedence over tournament games, begins in two weeks.

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When Ron Ponciano was hired Jan. 30 to coach the Cal State Northridge football team, the school became the third Big Sky Conference member to have different coaches in three consecutive seasons.

The Matadors were coached by Dave Baldwin in 1996 and Jim Fenwick last season.

Idaho State was the first Big Sky team to hit the trifecta with Bob Griffin in 1975, Joe Pascale in 1976 and Bud Hake in 1977. Montana State had Sonny Lubick in 1981, Doug Graber in 1982 and Dave Arnold in 1983. Lubick is now the coach at Colorado State.

With Ponciano, Northern Arizona’s Jerome Souers and Weber State’s Jerry Graybeal, next season will be the fifth time there are three new Big Sky coaches.

The last time was in 1983, when Boise State, Idaho State and Montana State each had new coaches. Boise State now plays in the Big West Conference.

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Edniesha Curry has tied the Northridge women’s basketball record for three-point baskets in a season with 50 and can set the record tonight at Eastern Washington.

Curry, a freshman guard from Palmdale High, has made 50 of 143 three-point shots, tying the mark set by Cathy Dormire two seasons ago.

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Staff writers Vince Kowalick, Fernando Dominguez and Steve Henson contributed to this notes column.