Semifinals,
Tom
Gilcrest
Invitational
It
won't take the sting away from a game that
was played nine months ago, but Saturday's
68-61 Pirate victory over Fresno City
College will resonate on its own as
Ventura advances to the finals of the Tom
Gilcrest Invitational in Visalia for
the second year in a row, and for the 11th
time in 13 years. Many of the
players from last March's Ram 70-64
victory over VC in the state quarterfinals
are gone and there ar emany new players as
well, so this battle was for this year's
team, and chance to play three-time
defending state champion, and three-time
defending Gilcrest champion, Mt. San
Antonio College for the championship of
the state's most prestigious early-season
tournament. VC defeated Mt. SAC
65-42 a week ago in Ventura.
Ventura (11-0) jumped ahead early as Erika
Ward made a fast break aly-up off of a
Michelle
Santizo assist to make the score 12-4
a little over five minutes into the
game. Santizo's bucket gave the
Pirates a 10-point cushion, 17-7 with
12:30 remaining in the half before an 8-2
run brought Fresno (9-2) back into the
game. Julie
Heurung connected on a pair of free
throws broke the Pirates' skid, and Jessi
Selleh's 3-point basket gave VC an
eight point lead, 27-19, with 5:11 on the
clock. The Rams came back once
again, however, and closed the gap to
31-30 before Donielle
Griggs' charity tosses made the
halftime score 33-30 infavor of the
Pirates.
Ventura lifted its effort as the second
half began, outscoring Fresno 8-1 in the
period's opening minutes. Heurung
scored on an and-one play to start the
half, followed by a Griggs basket, and
Santizo's long-range bomb put VC ahead
41-31 at the 15:33 mark. Heurung
connected on her second old-fashioned
3-point play soon thereafter, giving the
Pirates an 11 point lead, 48-38, with
10:25 remaining in the game. The
never-say-die Rams came storming back once
again, this time with a 7-0 run, to close
the gap to 48-44 before Ward's steal in
the front court led to her assist to
Selleh to stop the Fresno momentum with
7:25 on the clock. Grasping onto its
slim advantage, the Pirates began to milk
the clock, and a pair of possessions put
the victory within reach. Griggs hit
a nice teardrop runner down the left side
of the paint with less than five seconds
on the shot clock at the 4:38 mark to give
Ventura a 56-47 lead. On the next
possession Ward connected from deep in the
right corner to expand the cushion to 12
points, 59-47 with 3:48 remaining.
Fresno pulled to within six, 59-53, before
the Pirates hit nine of ten free throws in
the final minute to seal the 68-61 win.
Santizo led the offensive attack with 15
points while Ward, Selleh, and Heurung
contributed 12 points each. Heurung
completed her double-double with 10
rebounds and Selleh and Chanelle
Brennan each had five boards.
Ward and Heurung dished out three assists
apiece and Heurung also had three blocked
shots.
The top-ranked Pirates advance to the
tournament finals for the second season in
a row, and the 11th time in 13
years. They will face 3rd-ranked Mt.
San Antonio College, who has won the
tournament for three consecutive
years. Last week, VC defeated the
Mounties 65-42 in the finals of the VC-Kiwanis
Tournament of Champions to take over
the state's top ranking. The contest
will tip off at 4:00 pm. The Pirates
will follow up tomorrow's contest with a
pair of road games at Santa Ana and Orange
Coast next weekend before returning home
Dec. 19 against Cypress College in the We
Play Hard Crossover Classic.
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