Ventura made 14 of its first 17 shots of the game, racing out to a quick 20-point lead, and routed WSC-North rival LA Pierce, 100-76, in the 3rd Place game of the 62nd Annual Gregg Anderson Memorial Tournament Sunday afternoon at AVC.
It's been an up-and-down season thus far for Ventura (6-6), which was ranked #9 in the South in the coaches' preseason poll but only reached the .500 mark with two wins in this tournament. Sunday, however, would definitely qualify as one of the brighter moments of the season so far.
The Pirates raced out of the gate, taking a 10-2 lead in the first two-plus minutes of the game. Then Pierce PF Jamel Morgan had to leave the game due to a nose or mouth injury, and there was a delay of 10 minutes or so as the blood that dripped on the floor was cleaned up.
The delay had no effect whatsoever on the Pirates, who continued to widen their lead. Ventura began trading baskets with Pierce (4-8), but the Pirates were making 3-pointers while Pierce settled for 2-point field goals. A three by SG Rodney Bryant made it 13-4. A three by PG Jalen Young made it 16-4. A 3-pointer by PF Jon McMurry made it 19-8, and a 3-pointer by SF Ivan Dooley made it 24-10.
The run continued for the Pirates as McMurry scored from the lane to push Ventura's lead to 30-15. Bryant scored on a putback and Dooley made another three to make it 35-15. At that point, Ventura had made 14 of its 17 shots from the floor, an 82% success rate.
And though Ventura couldn't quite keep that pace up, the Pirates continued to widen their lead the remainder of the half. SG Ramon Franklin made two straight 3-pointers to push Ventura's lead to 43-20 with just under 5 minutes left. McMurry made 2 free throws to push the lead to 30 at 52-22 with 2:12 left. A 3-pointer by McMurry in the final minute of the half made it 57-22, and it was 59-24 at the break.
In the second half, Ventura led by as many as 38 points at 68-30, but the only real questions were what the final margin would be and whether the Pirates would reach the 100-point mark. Ctr Vondel Faniel scored on a lay-in with about 38 seconds left off a pass from SF Eric Davis to make it 100-73 to get the Pirates to the century mark.
For Ventura, Bryant had 22 pts on 8-for-9 from the floor, earning a place on the all-tournament team. Dooley had 18 pts and 6 asts. McMurry, Young and Franklin each scored 10 pts; McMurry added a game-high 9 rebs and 7 asts, Young also had 7 asts and Franklin had 3 three-pointers.
For Pierce, it was a rough outing overall but SF Terrel Funches had a game-high 32 pts on 9-for-13 from the floor and 13-for-13 from the free throw line. SG Montel Shirley had 23 pts, 21 in the second half, and was named to the all-tournament team. In the second half, Pierce shot 53% and committed just 3 turnovers, though by then the Brahmas had no chance to make much of a dent in the 35-point halftime deficit.
box score
62nd Annual Gregg Anderson Memorial Tournament
Sunday, December 8, 2013 @ Antelope Valley College, Lancaster
3rd Place Game - 3 pm
LA Pierce Brahmas 76:
1-Rodney Walters, PG - 1/6 fg, 3/6 ft, 2 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 5 pts
5-Terrel Funches, SF - 9/13 fg, 13/13 ft, 1 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 3 pf, 32 pts
11-Montel Shirley, SG - 8/12 fg, 7/8 ft, 4 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 4 pf, 23 pts
32-Jamal Morgan, PF - 0 pts
34-Charles Honest, C - 4/6 fg, 2/2 ft, 5 reb, 1 stl, 2 pf, 10 pts
13-Jordan Fuller, G - 1/4 fg, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 3 pts
55-Marcus Welsh, F - 1/5 fg, 1/2 ft, 3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 3 pts
3-Byron Maddox, G - 0/6 fg, 0/2 ft, 1 reb, 4 ast, 3 pf, 0 pts
21-Troy Martin, F - 0/3 fg, 0/1 ft, 2 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 3 pf, 0 pts
44-Beau Brown, C - 1 reb, 0 pts
24-Tatsu Suenga, G - 0 pts
33-Nick Prachencko, F - 0 pts
team rebounds: 4
Totals: 24/55 fg (.436), 26/34 ft (.765), 23 reb, 17 ast, 2 blk, 9 stl, 17 pf, 76 pts
3-pt fg (2): Funches, Fuller
Turnovers (11): Honest 4, Funches 3, Walters 2, Fuller, Martin
Ventura Pirates 100:
4-Ivan Dooley, SF - 7/10 fg, 2/3 ft, 4 reb, 6 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 18 pts
11-Rodney Bryant, SG - 8/9 fg, 4/5 ft, 2 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 4 pf, 22 pts
21-Jalen Young, PG - 4/7 fg, 0/1 ft, 2 reb, 7 ast, 4 pf, 10 pts
32-Vondel Faniel, C - 8/12 fg, 4/4 ft, 5 reb, 2 blk, 4 pf, 20 pts
33-Jon McMurry, PF - 3/6 fg, 2/2 ft, 9 reb, 7 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 10 pts
22-Najee Seabrooks, F - 2/2 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 2 pf, 4 pts
3-Ramon Franklin, G - 3/5 fg, 1/2 ft, 1 reb, 1 ast, 3 pf, 10 pts
23-Eric Davis, F - 4/4 ft, 3 reb, 2 ast, 3 pf, 4 pts
5-Martel Tyler, G - 1 reb, 0 pts
41-Dennis Savoy, F - 1/1 fg, 1 ast, 2 pts
team rebounds: 3
Totals: 36/52 fg (.692), 17/21 ft (.810), 34 reb, 28 ast, 3 blk, 4 stl, 25 pf, 100 pts
3-pt fg (11): Franklin 3, Dooley 2, Bryant 2, Young 2, McMurry 2
Turnovers (18): Faniel 5, McMurry 3, Seabrooks 3, Dooley 2, Young 2, Davis 2, team
Halftime Score: Ventura 59, LA Pierce 24
Updated Records: Ventura 6-6, LA Pierce 4-8
Ventura made 14 of its 1st 17 fgas to lead 35-15 and led easily the rest of the way.
Bryant (VC) and Shirley (LAP) were named the all-tournament team.
