Ctr Danny Tavares had 18 points, PF Anthony Pimble had 17 pts and 10 rebs and reserve SF Tommy Young drained four 3-pointers to lead #2 seed Ventura (26-6) to a hard-fought 75-70 win over #7 seed Riverside (27-5) before a jam-packed crowd in the regional final Saturday night. The win gets the Pirates into the state tournament for the second time in three years.
Ventura opened the second half on a 12-0 run, spurred by Young, and held on to the lead late, thanks largely to some clutch free throw shooting. The game was played at high intensity, with the large crowd reacting to each play. And even after the home team seemed ready to put the game away, the Tigers rallied to get within range and kept clawing away until finally, with less than a second left, victory was assured for the Pirates.
In the game’s opening minutes, it looked like the Ventura faithful might be in for yet another disappointing regional final against an Orange Empire Conference team. Three times in Coach Greg Winslow’s tenure the Pirates had reached the regional final and faced an OEC team at home, and three times the Pirates had failed to reach the state tournament.
And early on, it looked like more of that same script. After Pimble made a pair of free throws to give Ventura a 2-0 lead, Riverside scored the next 12 points. SF Emmanuel Jones scored the Tigers’ first 6 points, and after a basket by Ctr Jerell Smith, he threw down a loud jam after a steal by PG Giovanni Viruete to make it 10-2. Another basket by Smith made it 12-2 Tigers.
But then Ventura steadied itself, scoring the next 9 points to climb within a point at 12-11, and tying the game at 15 after PG Trevor Breland scored on a runner with 12:08 left in the first half. And moments later, PG Robert Wright scored to put Ventura ahead, 17-15.
The lead went back and forth the rest of the half, with Riverside holding a 1-point edge at the break, 30-29, after a pair of baskets late in the half by PF Keiran Nunley. But in truth, Ventura was a bit lucky to be only a point behind; Riverside had shot a sizzling 61% in the first half and Ventura had 12 first-half turnovers. But Riverside’s troubles from the free throw line (they were 0-for-6 in the first half) and Ventura’s excellent work on the boards (the Pirates held a 20-9 edge in rebounding at the break) kept the Pirates within striking distance.
When the teams took the floor for the second half, word came that SF Danny Benson, who missed much of the season with a broken foot, had reinjured his foot and would not return. In his place was Young, who had 3 points and 2 rebounds in the first half.
And when play began, Young spurred the 12-0 run that put Ventura in front. First, he drained a three to make it 32-30. Then he drained another to make it 35-30. Then he knocked the ball loose; it went to SG Troy Watson, who passed to Pimble for a lay-up to make it 37-30. After that came another basket by Pimble, this one on a feed from Breland, and a putback basket by Tavares and suddenly the Pirates had an 11-point lead at 41-30.
Ventura clung to that lead as the second half continued, and still held a 9-point edge at 67-58 with 3:48 left on the clock. But then Riverside rallied, scoring the game’s next 8 points to cut the lead to a single point. PF Rodney Yearby scored all 8 points on the spurt, making it 67-66 with just under two minutes left. And then PG James Simmons stole the ball, giving Riverside a chance to take the lead.
But Ventura answered back, with Pimble stealing the ball back, drawing a foul and making a pair of free throws to make it 69-66. Then the clock wound down to less than a minute to play and the Pirates still clinging to that 3-point lead.
But this time, the Pirates would execute in crunch time and hold on for the win. After a miss by Yearby, Breland, the smallest player on the floor at 5-8, came up with the rebound and was fouled with 30.4 seconds left. Then he went to the free throw line and calmly sank both free throws to make it 71-66.
Riverside wasn’t ready to give up, and cut the lead back to 3 points on a jam by Smith with 25.6 seconds left. But the Tigers had no alternative but to foul, and they sent Tavares to the line with 24.4 seconds left. The standout sophomore drained both free throws to again make it a 5-point game at 73-68.
Once again, Riverside scored quickly, cutting the margin to 73-70 after Yearby scored following an offensive rebound with 15.6 seconds left. But once again, the Tigers had no choice but to foul quickly. And once again, Breland went to the line and knocked down a pair of free throws, pushing Ventura’s lead back to 5 points at 75-70 with 13.9 seconds left.
And this time, Riverside ran out of time. Jones attempted one shot, missed and got the rebound. Then he attempted another, but the ball bounced off the rim and up against the shot clock. With just 0.5 seconds left, Ventura finally had the victory.
A key for the Pirates in the win was the free throw shooting; Ventura went 24-for-28 for the night, an excellent 85.7% mark. Conversely, Riverside was just 9-for-19, for 47%.
Also, Ventura shot 57% from the floor in the second half after shooting just 39% in the first half. Combined with Riverside’s cooling off (the Tigers shot 41% in the second half after 61% in the first half), that helped equalize that statistic and both teams ended up shooting 47% from the floor.
Tavares led the Pirates with 18 pts, and he also had 6 rebs and 4 blocks. Pimble had a double-double with 17 pts, 10 rebs and 5 steals. Breland had 10 pts and 6 asts, and Watson dished out a game-high 8 asts. And Young made 4 of 5 shots from the floor, all threes, for 12 pts.
For Riverside, Yearby scored a game-high 20 pts, all of which came in the second half. Jones added 19 pts, 13 of which came in the first half, and 6 rebs. Smith had 11 pts, 6 rebs and 3 blocked shots.
With the win, Ventura advances to the state tournament for the second time in three seasons. In 2005, they defeated LA City at the old Y-Nasium to advance before losing to undefeated (eventual) champion Fresno City. But this is the first time in Winslow’s tenure at Ventura that the Pirates have advanced to the state tournament with a win at home in the regional final in front of what are probably the most enthusiastic fans of JC basketball in Southern California.
Box Score<
Saturday, March 3, 2007 – 7 pm
At the Ventura College Event Center
Playoffs – Regional Final
Riverside Tigers 70:
1-Mookie Pierre, SG – 3/12 fg, 3 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 4 pf, 7 pts
10-Emmanuel Jones, SF – 7/18 fg, 4/8 ft, 6 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl, 1 pf, 19 pts
11-Giovanni Viruete, PG – 1/2 fg, 1 reb, 7 ast, 2 stl, 5 pf, 2 pts
21-Rodney Yearby, PF – 9/12 fg, 1/2 ft, 4 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl, 4 pf, 20 pts
33-Jerell Smith, C – 5/8 fg, 1/4 ft, 6 reb, 1 ast, 3 blk, 4 pf, 11 pts
14-Keiran Nunley, F – 2/2 fg, 2 reb, 1 ast, 3 blk, 4 pts
3-James Simmons, G – 1/2 fg, 3/3 ft, 2 reb, 5 ast, 4 stl, 3 pf, 5 pts
51-Andrew Jenkins, C – 1 reb, 1 blk, 1 pf, 0 pts
20-Anthony Dandy, G – 0/1 fg, 1 ast, 0 pts
32-Anthony Scott, G – 1/3 fg, 0/2 ft, 1 ast, 2 pts
12-Frankie McWhirt, F – 0/1 fg, 1 reb, 0 pts
55-Stephen Colvin, C – 0/1 fg, 1 stl, 0 pts
team rebounds: 3
Totals: 29/62 fg (.468), 9/19 ft (.474), 29 reb, 19 ast, 8 blk, 13 stl, 22 pf, 70 pts
3-pt fg (3): Pierre, Jones, Yearby
Fouled Out: Viruete 13.9 seconds left
Turnovers (13): Simmons 4, Yearby 3, Pierre 2, Viruete 2, Jones, Colvin
Ventura Pirates 75:
2-Trevor Breland, PG – 2/10 fg, 5/6 ft, 5 reb, 6 ast, 1 stl, 10 pts
4-Danny Tavares, C – 7/15 fg, 4/4 ft, 6 reb, 4 blk, 1 stl, 4 pf, 18 pts
5-Danny Benson, SF – 1/2 fg, 1 stl, 2 pts
20-Anthony Pimble, PF – 4/9 fg, 9/9 ft, 10 reb, 1 ast, 5 stl, 4 pf, 17 pt s
42-Troy Watson, SG – 1/1 fg, 0/1 ft, 3 reb, 8 ast, 1 stl, 2 pts
30-Tommy Young, F – 4/5 fg, 0/2 ft, 3 reb, 1 stl, 1 pf, 12 pts
22-Robert Wright, G – 1/1 fg, 6/6 ft, 1 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 3 pf, 8 pts
11-Andre Jamerson, G – 0/1 fg, 0 pts
55-Tavaris Gilbert, C – 3/4 fg, 3 reb, 1 blk, 1 pf, 6 pts
44-Josh Deanne, F – 0/1 fg, 1 stl, 0 pts
team rebounds: 5
Totals: 23/49 fg (.469), 24/28 ft (.857), 36 reb, 17 ast, 6 blk, 11 stl, 13 pf, 75 pts
3-pt fg (5): Young 4, Breland
Turnovers (23): Breland 8, Pimble 4, Watson 4, Tavares 3, Wright 2, Jamerson, Gilbert
Halftime Score: Riverside 30, Ventura 29
Updated Records: Ventura (#2 seed) 26-6, Riverside (#7 seed) 27-5
Ventura began the second half with a 12-0 run to take the lead. Riverside closed to within a point at 67-66 but Ventura held on, largely due to all those free throws including 6-for-6 in the last 30.4 seconds.
