Ventura, Buena continue rivalry in a new era

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I find it hard to believe that the Thursday game between Ventura and Buena will be the same without Kali Bennett in the paint for Ventura, and without former Buena Coach Joe Vaughan screaming from the sidelines, but year after year, Ventura-Buena is a girls’ basketball game that packs fans into the gym like sardines.

The two Channel League rivals get together at 7:30 p.m. at Ventura in a game in which league ramifications are most certainly at stake.

Ventura (14-1, 1-0) and Buena (10-6, 1-0) have already played once this season, in the finals of the Ventura tournament. Ventura won, 37-33, by outscoring Buena in the fourth quarter, 16-9, after not scoring more than nine points in any of the first three quarters.

Can 6-foot sophomore Amy Pupa, who scored a game-high 12 points in the first game, repeat the performance? Does first-year Buena Coach David Guenther have an answer to solve Ventura’s streak of nine victories in the last 12 games?

So cut the boardwalk stroll short and get there early to find out.

-- Martin Henderson

-- Image from www.chinastrategies.com