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Ventura 72, San
Joaquin Delta 55
December
1, 2007 Semifinals, Gilcrest Invitational
@ Sequoias
Box
Score
Retired
NBA assistant coach Bob Kloppenburg spent decades perfecting
his SOS Pressure Defense. Ventura and San Joaquin
Delta spent a couple of hours Saturday night proving just
how disruptive that defense can be. Both teams
combined for 52 turnovers in the game, but the Pirates were
able to overcome the sloppy play with solid shooting in
their 72-55 victory over Northern California's top-ranked
team in the semifinals of the Gilcrest
Invitational at the College of the Sequoias in
Visalia. VC advances to the the tournament
championship game against #2 Mt. SAC, who defeated North #3
Fresno 83-74 in the other semifinal. It is the first
title game appearance for Ventura since the 2004 tournament
while Mt. SAC is the bracket's two-time defending champion.
Three years ago the coaching staff from Delta
traveled to Ventura for the We Play Hard
Basketball Coaches Clinic. They came to
learn about the SOS Defense that the Pirates had
run for a couple of seasons as taught by its
innovator, Bob Kloppenburg. Saturday
night, the two teams squared off playing nearly
identical defensive schemes. Despite
knowing what how the defense would play, each
team's offense had trouble holding on to the
ball in the high-intensity contest. The
Pirates committed 27 turnovers while the
Mustangs gave the ball away 25 times. But
despite the poor ball control, the game lived up
to it's advance billing between two of the
state's top teams.
A pair of Indira
Kaljo 3-pointers sandwiched around a Jessica
Jameson bucket broke an 8-8 tie, putting
Ventura (8-2) ahead 17-8 with 12:33 remaining in
the first half. The Mustangs closed the
gap to three, 16-13, before VC used a 14-2 run
over the next seven minutes to take control of
the game. Delta (8-2) would not go away,
however, as they closed the half on a 9-5 run of
their own to make the halftime score
35-23. The Pirates overcame 17 turnovers
with 14-16 shooting (87.5 percent) at the free
throw line.
VC used an 8-1 run to begin the second half,
capped by Eja
Wong's long range bomb from the left corner
off of a Jenelle
Conklin pass. Down 43-24, the Mustangs
clawed back, closing the deficit to 46-35 with
12:32 left in the game when Jameson connected on
a strong bucket in the right post off of another
Conklin assist. Conklin connected on a
pair of free throws at the 10:34 mark to hold
Delta down below 10 points down once again,
beginning a 6-0 Pirate run rebutting the Mustang
stampede. Kaljo hot another trifecta with
5:34 remaining in the contest putting VC up
61-44, but the lead did not seem safe until she
hit another bucket two minutes later making the
score 67-48. Ventura held on down the
stretch for the hard-fought 72-55 win.
Kaljo netted 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds
to lead the way for VC, while Conklin added 15
points, three rebounds, and three assists.
Wong tallied eight points and Jameson and Julie
Heurung each scored seven points.
Heurung also added six boards while Jameson led
the Pirates with three steals. Each Pirate
who played in the game posted at least two
points and two rebounds.
Ventura advances to the tournament final against
Mt. SAC Sunday at 4:00 pm. It is the first
appearance in the final since 2004 for VC, who
reached the final for 10 consecutive seasons from
1995 through
2004. Mt. SAC has won the last two
Gilcrest tournaments, and defeated the Pirates
72-61 last Sunday in the championship game of
the VC-Kiwanis
Tournament of Champions.
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