@
Ventura
69,
Los
Angeles
Valley
40
December
29,
2008;
Optimist
Club
Holiday
Crossover
It
was another team effort for the Pirates as
they shook off the cobwebs from Christmas
break with a 69-40 win over
Los Angeles
Valley
on the first day of the Optimist Club
Holiday Crossover at the
Athletic
Event
Center
Monday night.
Donielle
Griggs led the balanced attack with 12
points and Chanelle
Brennan added
10. Kris
King grabbed 10 rebounds to go along
with nine points, and Julie
Heurung had eight points and nine boards
as top-ranked VC moves to 17-0 on the
season.
The Pirates were a little slow out of
the gate, perhaps because of the nine-days
since their last game before Christmas.
They took an early 4-0 lead barely
two minutes into the game on a pair of
Heurung post moves in close, but would miss
their next nine shots over four minutes of
game time.
During the VC drought, LA Valley
(4-11) came back on a 5-0 run to take a
brief lead in the contest.
Heurung connected with another bucket
to put VC back on top at the 13:50 mark
before the Monarchs connected on an
old-fashioned 3-point play to take an 8-6
advantage with 12:52 on the clock.
At that point
Ventura
(17-0) got untracked, outscoring the
Monarchs 34-6 for the remainder of the half.
Michelle
Santizo’s 3-pointer off of a Brennan
assist started the run, giving the Pirates
the lead for good at the 12:33 mark.
A fast break bucket by Brennan from a
sweet pass from Amanda
Padilla followed 27 seconds later and
the rout commenced.
Heurung blocked a shot, got the
rebound, and hit Brennan on the run for an
easy basket to make the score 30-12
with 4:57 remaining in the period.
Treys from Erika
Ward and Jessi
Selleh, and another bucket by Selleh
closed out the first half scoring as the
Pirates led 40-14 at the break.
After beginning the game shooting
2-for-12, VC closed the period connecting on
16 of their final 27 shot attempts.
In the second half, VC maintained its
advantage, extending it to 30 or more points
on numerous occasions.
A third 3-pointer from Santizo made
the score 51-20 with 13:28 remaining in the
game, and a free throw by Lacey
Escamilla made the score 52-32 with
12:54 left to play.
Consecutive baskets by Padilla made
the count 56-26 at the 9:16 mark.
LA Valley cut the lead to 23, 58-35
with 4:04 on the clock, but five straight
points by King, and a 3-pointer from Griggs,
pushed the Pirate cushion back to 31, 66-35
with 2:03 remaining.
The Pirates went on to win the game
69-40.
Six Pirates scored between seven and
12 points.
Griggs’s 12 and Brennan’s 10
points led the way, while King and Santizo
netted nine each, and Heurung and Selleh
scored eight and seven points, respectively.
King led the 52-32 Pirate rebound
advantage, grabbing 10 boards while Heurung
pulled down nine.
Padilla handed out six assists while
Ward had four dimes.
Brennan had three steals and two
blocked shots to lead VC.
The Pirates are in the middle of a
six-game homestand.
They return to the hardwoods on
Tuesday Dec. 30 against
San Bernardino
Valley
College
for the conclusion of the Optimist Club
Holiday Crossover.
Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 pm.
The Pirates will host
Compton
on Saturday Jan. 3, also at 7:00 pm.
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