Southern
Caliifornia
Regional
Finals
To say the Pirates were in a little foul
trouble in the first half of their Regional
Final game against College of the Canyons
Saturday night at the Athletic Event Center
would be an understatement. With
sophomore starters Michelle
Santizo, Julie
Heurung, and Donielle
Griggs all on the bench in foul trouble,
sophomore co-captain Jessi
Selleh filled the void, along with help
from freshmen Chanelle
Brennan, Erika
Ward, and Amanda
Padilla in the Pirates' 77-51 win over
the Cougars. Selleh scored 14 big
first half points on 6-7 shooting, while
Brennan netted 10 with six big rebounds, and
Ward added eight points in the period.
Padilla played 14 minutes of solid point
guard in the half, as VC advances to the
State Elite Eight for the second year in a
row, and a record 13th season overall.
The fouls began piling up early as point
guard Santizo picked up her second at the
16:29 mark of the first half. At that
time Ventura (33-0) was down 8-4 as Padilla
entered the game to run the show.
Canyons (24-9) maintained a small advantage
until midway through the period when Padilla
hit Ward for a fast break lay-up to put the
Pirates ahead 16-15 at the 12:26 mark.
An old-fashioned 3-point play gave the lead
back to the Cougars, 18-16, before Selleh
hit the first of her two 3-pointers with
10:41 on the clock putting VC back on
top. Canyons climbed the mountain one
last time with a bucket giving them a 20-19
lead with 10:13 on the clock, as Griggs went
to the bench with foul trouble on the play.
Canyons missed the ensuing charity toss and
that was followed by a decisive 8-0 run that
put the Pirates ahead for good.
Padilla nailed a triple at the 9:51 mark,
followed by a Selleh basket and a Ward
3-pointer off of a Brennan assist, all on
successive possessions, making the score
27-20 in favor of Ventura with 8:57 left in
the half. Following a Cougar 3-ponter,
Ward nailed another long-range bomb with
8:23 on the clock and Kris
King connected for three points the hard
way with an offensive rebound and putback
through a Cougar foul, followed by a free
throw, giving VC a 33-23 advantage with 7:39
remaining in the period. Heurung
picked up her second foul at the 6:58 mark
with CoC closing to within seven, and
another Canyons basket made the score 33-28
at the 6:14 mark.
At that point the Pirate defense put the
Cougars on lock-down, holding them scoreless
for the next five minutes. Brennan
connected for five consecutive points, the
final three from a triple on the right wing
off of a Lacey
Escamilla assist. Selleh connected
with another basket, and Brennan followed
with a free throw making the score 41-28
with 1:56 remaining. Two more charity
tosses from Brennan and a 3-pointer from
Selleh gave VC a 46-33 halftime advantage.
The second half turned into a game of trench
warfare, with the Pirates executing their
half-court offense and the Cougars
struggling to make shots. A
well-rested Santizo scored the Pirates'
first four points, followed by consecutive
scores from Heurung. Griggs scored a
bucket with 15:15 on the clock giving VC a
56-38 advantage. Padilla hit a
3-pointer with 9:37 remaining, followed by a
pair of free throws by Heurung. On the next
possession, Padilla had a diving steal, and
passed from the floor to Santizo, who, in
turn, hit Selleh streaking down the floor
for an easy lay-up breaking the back of the
Cougars with VC ahead 65-42 with 8:14
remaining in the game. King had a key
offensive rebound and putback as the shot
clock expired three minutes later, and
Griggs finished the job with a 3-pointer off
of an assist by Ward with 1:57
remaining. VC rode the momentum to the
77-51 win, clinching a berth in next week's
Elite Eight State Tournament.
Selleh led the Pirates with 19 points while
Griggs and Brennan scored 11 and 10 points,
respectively. Ward and Heurung each
had nine while King netted seven points, and
Padilla and Santizo each scored six.
Heurung had 12 rebounds to lead the Pirate
WIndex crew and King had seven boards.
Brennan and Ward grabbed six and five
caroms, respectively. Padilla handed
out four assists while Ward and Santizo each
dropped three dimes. Padilla and
Brennan each had three steals on the
defensive end. Not
lost in the evening was the contributions of
Escamilla, Christine
McPherson, and Brenda
Van Someren, not only in the game, but
in practice all week long running Canyons'
offensive sets, preparing the team defense
that would hold the state's third-ranked
offense 27 points below its season
average. Of course the game ended in
Irma-time featuring fan favorite Irma
Rivera.
The Pirates will play in the State
Quarterfinals against Foothill College on
Friday March 13 at Selland Arena in
Fresno. The time will be announced on
Sunday, and will be reported on www.VCweplayhard.com.
Firday's game against the Owls can be heard
live on www.HomeFieldSports.com.
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