men: #6 Ventura 80, #7 Oxnard 75
Before a sellout crowd, their first since 1996, Ventura (23-7, 10-2) wrapped up the WSC-North title with an 80-75 win over Oxnard (26-6, 9-3).
As has often been the case for the Pirates, it was truly a team effort. SG Jamie Sanchez led VC with 25 pts, 19 of which came in the second half. And SF Elijah Muldrow had a superb game with 18 pts, 8 rebs and 6 asts. And his thunderous dunk in the second half announced that Ventura had taken control of the game.
But there were lots of heroes for Ventura. PG Rashien Little scored 14 pts while holding his counterpart, Oxnard's Thomas Caveness, to none. Caveness spent much of the night in foul trouble, and fouled out with 4:32 left.
PF Raheem Jones led all rebounders with 13 boards, and Ctr Danny Gray chipped in with 6 pts, 5 rebs and 4 blocks.
And backup Ctr Aaron Watson came up huge when his team needed him most. Oxnard jumped out to early leads of 7-0 and 8-3, and Gray picked up his second foul. On came Watson, who chipped in 6 pts, 4 rebs and a pair of blocked shots in the next few minutes as Ventura rallied to even the game. Watson ended the night with 10 pts, 6 rebs and 3 blocks before fouling out in the second half.
Oxnard jumped out to the early lead on the strength of a 3-pointer by PF Kerwin Forges and layups by SG Erik Webb and Ctr Jeremiah Massey. After Ventura rallied to take a 9-8 lead on a 3-pointer by Muldrow, the game remained close the rest of the half. Backup PF James Hudson had a pair of steals and a pair of baskets in the half's final minutes, and Massey drained a 3-pointer, his 4th of the game, just before intermission. All that gave Oxnard a 39-33 lead at the break.
Ventura began the second half on a 10-0 run to take a 43-39 lead before a basket by Massey and a 3-pointer by Forges put Oxnard back ahead, 44-43.
But that proved to be Oxnard's last lead of the night. Sanchez drained a pair of FTs, followed by a the driving dunk from Muldrow, and Ventura had a 47-44 lead just over 4 minutes into the second half.
A few minutes later, a Sanchez steal and basket, followed by driving layup by Little, pushed Ventura's lead to 7 at 55-48. And later when Oxnard closed the gap to 61-57, Sanchez drained a pair of threes to push Ventura's lead to 10 with just over 4 mintues remaining. And another three by Sanchez gave Ventura an 11-point lead at 72-61 with just over 3 minutes remaining. Sanchez made 6 of his 7 FGs in in the second half, including the 3 threes.
Oxnard ralllied to close the gap to 6 at 74-68 but could get no closer. Sanchez, Little and Muldrow combined to make 8 FTs in the final minute to seal the win.
Oxnard was led by Massey, who poured in a game-high 31 pts on 12/22 shooting and grabbed a team-best 10 rebs. Webb added 11 pts and Forges 10, but aside from Massey the Condors made just 16 of 56 FGs (29%). Hudson had a strong game off the bench with 8 pts, 5 rebs and 3 steals.
Ventura held Oxnard to 36% from the floor on the night and blocked 15 shots. Gray and Muldrow led the block party with 4 each.
The win clinches the WSC-North title for Ventura, and all but guarantees them a top-4 seed in the playoffs and home court for each round leading up to the State Tourney in San Diego.
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Satuday, February 22, 2003 - 5:30 pm
at Ventura College
WSC-North
Oxnard Condors 75:
10-Thomas Caveness, PG - 0/3 fg, 2 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 0 pts
34-Erik Webb, SG - 3/12 fg, 4/4 ft, 5 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk, 11 pts
44-Paul Guerrero, SF - 1/5 fg, 0/2 ft, 3 reb, 1 stl, 2 pts
50-Kerwin Forges, PF - 4/13 fg, 0/1 ft, 5 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 10 pts
40-Jeremiah Massey, C - 12/22 fg, 3/6 ft, 10 reb, 2 ast, 2 blk, 2 stl, 31 pts
30-Ryan Frutos, G - 0/4 fg, 1 reb, 3 ast, 0 pts
12-Brian Dragovich, G - 1/1 fg, 2/2 ft, 1 ast, 1 stl, 5 pts
22-Lagunza Tibbs, F - 3/12 fg, 5 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 8 pts
54-James Hudson, F - 4/6 fg, 5 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 3 stl, 8 pts
team rebounds: 7
Totals: 28/78 fg (.359), 9/15 ft (.600), 43 reb, 16 ast, 5 blk, 10 stl, 75 pts
3-pt fg (10): Massey 4, Forgest 2, Tibbs 2, Webb, Dragovich
Tech Fouls: Caveness, Guerrero
Intentional Foul: Massey
Fouled Out: Caveness 4:32 left, Guerrero 1:48 left
Turnovers (19): Guerrero 3, Forges 3, Massey 3, Caveness 2, Frutos 2, Tibbs 2, Hudson 2, Webb, Dragovich
Ventura Pirates 80:
10-Jamie Sanchez, SG - 8/14 fg, 5/8 ft, 4 ast, 2 stl, 25 pts
11-Rashien Little, PG - 4/8 fg, 6/8 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 14 pts
45-Elijah Muldrow, SF - 7/13 fg, 3/4 ft, 8 reb, 6 ast, 4 blk, 2 stl, 18 pts
34-Raheem Jones, PF - 2/7 fg, 13 reb, 2 ast, 2 blk, 4 pts
33-Danny Gray, C - 3/6 fg, 5 reb, 4 blk, 3 stl, 6 pts
55-Aaron Watson, C - 5/6 fg, 0/1 ft, 6 reb, 3 blk, 1 stl, 10 pts
22-Roosevelt Bolden, G - 1/4 fg, 2 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 3 pts
30-Sean Simmons, F - 1 reb, 2 ast, 2 blk, 0 pts
41-Matt Colton, F - 0/3 fg, 1 stl, 0 pts
25-Jackson Wood, F - 0/1 fg, 0 pts
team rebounds: 10
Totals: 30/62 fg (.484), 14/21 ft (.667), 48 reb, 17 ast, 15 blk, 11 stl, 80 pts
3-pt fg (6): Sanchez 4, Muldrow, Bolden
Tech Fouls: Little, Watson, asst coach Perrault
Fouled Out: Watson 9:54 left
Turnovers (24): Little 5, Watson 5, Muldrow 4, Jones 4, Gray 3, Sanchez 2, Simmons
Halftime Score: Oxnard 39, Ventura 33
Updated Records: Ventura 23-7 (10-2), Oxnard 26-6 (9-3)
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In the womens game, #1-ranked Ventura (30-2, 12-0) played a sloppy game but nonetheless won easily over a game but overmatched Oxnard (13-17, 5-7) team, 72-47.
SG Courtney Young led the way for Ventura with 23 pts, 6 rebs, 4 asts and 5 steals. PG Marie Ayala tossed in 14 pts on 5/7 shooting, while SF Kelly Fay scored 12 pts (all in the first half).
After Oxnard jumped out to an early 5-4 lead on a 3-pointer by SF Jolene Pashon and 2 FTs by PF Taylor Lumas, Ventura went on a 13-1 run. A pair of threes by Young spurred the outburst, which gave Ventura a 17-6 lead. They led by at least 10 the rest of the way, though Oxnard played tough and kept the deficit at 12 at the half, with Ventura holding a 34-22 edge.
But in the second half Oxnard wore down under the Ventura pressure, committing 19 of their 33 turnovers after the break.
Oxnard was led by Lumas, who scored 15 pts and grabbed 12 rebs. Ctr Jessica Lewis scored 14 pts and grabbed 6 rebs.
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Saturday, February 22, 2003 - 7:30 pm
at Ventura College
WSC-North - Women
Oxnard Lady Condors 47:
20-Elizabeth Newman, PG - 1/6 fg, 2 reb, 4 stl, 3 pts
22-Taylor Lumas, PF - 3/11 fg, 9/13 ft, 12 reb, 1 blk, 2 stl, 15 pts
33-Jolene Pashon, SF - 1/4 fg, 0/2 ft, 1 reb, 1 ast, 3 pts
34-Tiffany Walker, SG - 1/6 fg, 4 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 2 pts
45-Jessica Lewis, C - 4/12 fg, 6/12 ft, 6 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 14 pts
21-Veronica Grajales, F - 3/7 fg, 1/2 ft, 3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 8 pts
50-Sarah Manley, C - 0/2 fg, 2 reb, 0 pts
3-Vanessa Garcia, G - 1/2 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 2 pts
12-Marilyn Cox, F - 0/2 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 0 pts
team rebounds: 6
Totals: 14/52 fg (.269), 16/29 ft (.552), 38 reb, 10 ast, 1 blk, 10 stl, 47 pts
3-pt fg (3): Newman, Pashon, Grajales
Fouled Out: Walker 13:15 left, Newman 5:24 left, Lewis 4.1 secs left
Turnovers (33): Newman 7, Garcia 6, Lumas 5, Walker 5, Lewis 3, Grajales 3, Pashon 2, Manley 2
Ventura Lady Pirates 72:
12-Courtney Young, SG - 8/17 fg, 4/9 ft, 6 reb, 4 ast, 1 blk, 5 stl, 23 pts
23-Kelly Fay, SF - 4/6 fg, 2/3 ft, 4 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl, 12 pts
32-Maria Ayala, PG - 5/7 fg, 2/2 ft, 5 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk, 3 stl, 14 pts
34-Sarah Queen, PF - 0/6 fg, 2 reb, 1 stl, 0 pts
40-Kristine Gleisberg, C - 0/1 fg, 1/2 ft, 4 reb, 1 stl, 1 pt
5-Rachel Kolbeck, F - 3/5 fg, 2/2 ft, 7 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 8 pts
11-Kat Torres, G - 0/1 fg, 1/2 ft, 2 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 1 pt
10-Kimberly Kawasaki, G - 2/4 fg, 2/2 ft, 3 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl, 6 pts
4-Lachelle Sargent, C - 1/3 fg, 1/6 ft, 5 reb, 3 pts
20-Sarah Evans, F - 2/6 fg, 1 reb, 4 pts
15-Tricia Kawasaki, G - 0/3 fg, 1 reb, 1 stl, 0 pts
24-Karly Castro, F - 2 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl, 0 pts
team rebounds: 2
Totals: 25/59 fg (.424), 15/28 ft (.536), 44 reb, 12 ast, 3 blk, 21 stl, 72 pts
3-pt fg (7): Young 3, Fay 2, Ayala 2
Turnovers (27): Young 7, K.Kawasaki 5, Fay 3, Ayala 3, Torres 3, T.Kawasaki 3, Queen, Kolbeck, Evans
Halftime Score: Ventura 34, Oxnard 22
Updated Records: Ventura 30-2 (12-0), Oxnard 13-17 (5-7)
