California
State
Quarterfinals
It certainly was not a work of art, but
it definitely will work for the
Pirates. VC rode the coattails of a
huge 3-pointer by Michelle
Santizo with 3:08 remaining, and clutch
free throws from Chanelle
Brennan and Julie
Heurung in the final minute to survive a
big and talented Foothill College team 60-59
in the state quarterfinal round at Fresno's
Selland Arena. The win advances the
Pirates to the State Final Four for the 11th
time since 1993 and the first time since
2003. Ventura will play Pasadena City
College, who survived a war of their own in
a 95-93 overtime thriller against Northern
California's top-seed San Francisco, in a
7:00 pm contest at Selland Arena in
Fresno. The game will be heard on www.HomeFieldSPorts.com.
Ventura (34-0) came out very tight.
The state's second-ranked offense sputtered
badly as VC misfired on its first fifteen
shot attempts. It took three free
throws from Erika
Ward at the 14:05 mark of the half
before the Pirates even got on the board,
but the defense kept the game close as they
trailed Foothill (27-7) by just three
points, 6-3. The Owls scored the
game's next seven points to build a 13-3
advantage before Ward finally got VC
untracked from the floor with a 3-pointer
from the right wing from an assist by Jessi
Selleh.
The Pirates trailed 17-8 with 9:24 left in
the period when they began climbing back
into the contest. Heurung hit Selleh
for a trey to begin a 9-0 run. Brennan
hit a jumper on the right side at the 7:26
mark, and Ward followed with two more
charity tosses a minute later. Ventura
tied the score at 17 when Amanda
Padilla hit Brennan for a left-handed
lay-up with 5:01 left. Ward hit
another 3-pointer at the 3:01 mark to put VC
ahead for the first time in the game, 20-19,
but that advantage would be short-lived as
the Owls hit a pair of free throws on the
next possession to retake the lead.
Foothill led 23-20 when the Pirates scored
five points in the final minute of the half,
a deuce by Donielle
Griggs and a huge trifecta from Selleh
on the right wing with just six ticks left
on the clock. Even though they shot a
season-low 23 percent from the field in the
half, the Pirates went into intermission
with a 25-23 lead.
Foothill started the final period hot as a
Kansas summer, hitting their first six shots
from the floor. They outscored the
Pirates 12-2 in the opening 3:13 of the
period. With VC trailing 35-27, Kris
King began leading yet another VC
comeback with her pump-fake and shot with
16:37 left in the game. Heurung followed
with a 17-footer from a Brennan assist, and
Padilla connected from long-range off of
Ward's assist to pull Ventura to within
35-33 at the 15:22 mark. Following a
made shot by Foothill, Heruung turned
another pass from Brennan into two points
before the Owls connected for another deuce
to take a 39-35 lead with 14:07 on the
clock. The teams traded 3-pointers, the
Pirates' from Padilla, before King hit
another lay-up to close the gap to one,
41-40 at the 12:41 mark. The Owl lead
remained between one and three points for
several minutes until a pair of free throws
by Brennan and a pair of charity tosses by
Ward finally put VC ahead 48-47 with 7:07
remaining.
Foothill retook the lead with a trey and
Selleh tied the score at 50 with two free
throws of her own with 6:38 left. the
Owls connected with another field goal on
the next possession before King hit a free
throw and a lay-up on consecutive
possessions putting VC back in
control. Foothill connected with a big
3-pointer to take a 55-53 lead at the 3:47
mark before Santizo tied the score with a
lay-up 17 seconds later. Brennan stole
the ball on the next possession, and that
led to Selleh's assist to Santizo, who
nailed a 3-pointer from the right corner to
put Ventura ahead 58-55 with 3:08 left in
the game. The Owls kept battling,
connecting for a deuce with 2:48 on the
clock. Brennan answered with a free
throw at the 1:35 mark.
Foothill tied the score with a bucket with
39 seconds remaining, and Heurung took the
ball strong to the basket, drawing a foul
with 18 ticks on the clock. She hit
one of the two free throws giving VC a 60-59
lead, setting up a tension-filled final
seconds. Foothill missed a shot with
six seconds left, and the miss was tied up
by Santizo for a jump ball with four seconds
on the clock. The alternating
possession rule gave the ball to Foothill,
who could not get the ball inbounded against
the Pirate defense. Griggs tipped away
the first inbounds pass, and the second pass
sailed high and out of bounds, giving
Ventura the ball and the win with half a
second remaining.
Ward led the Ventura offense with 15 points,
11 in the first half, that included a
perfect 9-9 performance from the free throw
line. Heurung and Brennan each scored
nine points and Selleh added eight.
Padilla added six from two big
3-pointers. Heurung had a game-high 15
rebounds while Ward, Santizo, and Brennan
each had five boards. Selleh had four
assists and Ward and Brennan each had three
steals. Griggs drew two big charges
from the Owls.
With the win, Ventura coach Ned
Mircetic moves into sole possession of
second place on the all-time wins list among
California Community College women's
basketball coaches. His 564 wins
passes Tom Martinez, formerly of San Mateo,
who had 563 wins. Karen Welliver,
currently the head coach at Cerritos, is
first with 572.
The Pirates advance to the state semi-finals
against Pasadena City College. That
game tips off at 7:00 pm at Selland Arena in
Fresno on Saturday night. The game can
be heard on www.HomeFieldSports.com.
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