Ventura
71,
Mt.
San
Antonio
54
Championship,
Tom
Gilcrest
Invitational
Thursday
night Jessi
Selleh left the College of the
Sequoias Gymnasium on a stretcher to a
waiting ambulance with a possible neck
injury. Sunday she left with the Tom
Gilcrest Invitational MVP Award, and
she and her teammates also held the
championship plaque. Behind 17
points each from Selleh, and
All-tournament selection Chanelle
Brennan, and 12 points, six steals,
and five assists from All-Tournament
honoree Michelle
Santizo, the Pirates defeated Mt. San
Antonio for the second time in a week,
this time by a 71-54 margin. It was
Ventura's first title at the state's
premier non-conference tournament since
the 2001-02 season.
Mt. SAC (11-2) jumped on the Pirates
early, putting up a 4-0 lead barely a
minute into the game, but play was sloppy
on both sides. When the game was
tied at 6-6 at the 17:31 mark, Ventura
(12-0) had made just one of six field goal
attempts and the Mounties had committed
four turnovers. After trading
buckets knotting the score at eight, the
Pirates took the high ground,
systematically racing out on a 23-3 run
over the next 11 minutes.
Consecutive buckets from Brennan began the
run, followed by a Selleh 3-pointer,
making the score 15-8 with 13:40 remaining
in the first half. Santizo turned a
steal into an assist to Erika
Ward on the next possession, and
baskets from Julie
Heurung and Santizo helped stretch the
Pirate advantage to 13 points, 21-8, at
the midway point of the
period. Santizo's up and under
move from the right block with 5:10
remaining made the score 31-21. Mt.
SAC finally answered with a 3-pointer, but
Selleh had an answer of her own,
connecting on her second long-range bomb
of the half on the next possession.
As the half closed out, Ventura ran a
pick-and-roll to perfection. Ward
drove left off of Heurung's screen at the
top of the key, and passed to Lacey
Escamilla in the left corner, who in
turn hit Heurung rolling to the
basket. Heurung was fouled going up
for the shot, and calmly made both charity
tosses making the score 44-23 at halftime.
In the second half, Ventura held off a
pair of 7-0 Mt. SAC charges, the first of
which began the period. VC missed
its first five shots while the Mounties
closed the gap to 44-30 over three minutes
of game time. Brennan broke the ice
for the Pirates with a 15-foot jumper from
the left wing at the 16:47 mark.
Ventura also hit the next two scores, a
bucket from Donielle
Griggs and another trey from Selleh,
to take the lead back up to 20, 51-31 with
15:10 on the clock. SAC, in turn,
made another 7-0 charge to pull to within
13, 51-38 before Griggs drove the left
baseline and hit a lay-up to halt the
Pirate skid. The Mounties got as
close as 10, 56-46 , with 6:55 left in the
game, before Brennan connected on
consecutive possessions to help VC defend
the high ground once again. The
Pirates connected on nine out of 12 free
throws in the final three minutes to
cement the 71-54 victory.
Selleh and Brennan led the way with 17
points each, while Santizo added 12.
Griggs and Heurung each contributed eight
points. Heurung led the VC windex
team with nine rebounds and Kris
King had seven boards. Santizo
had five assists while Ward dished out
four dimes. Santizo also had six
steals. Selleh was named the
tournament Most Valuable Player and
Santizo and Brennan each earned
All-Tournament nods. It was the
first Gilcrest title for Ventura since
2001-02, and ended Mt. SAC's three year
stranglehold on the tournament.
The Pirates will travel to Orange County
next weekend for a pair of non-conference
games. They will play at Santa Ana
College on Friday at 7:00 pm before taking
on Orange Coast College on Saturday at
1:00 pm. VC will return to the
Athletic Event Center on Friday Dec. 19
against Cypress College in the We Play
Hard Crossover at 7:00 pm. That game
will be preceded by LA Trade Tech and Mira
Costa Colleges. On Saturday Dec. 20
Mira Costa will take on Cypress at 5:00 pm
while VC will play Trade Tech in the
nightcap.
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