Point-pinching Ventura making teams yell, ‘bah-humbug!’

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Here’s a quick question for all you girls’ basketball and 19th century English literature buffs: what do the Ventura girls’ basketball team and Ebenezer Scrooge have in common?

Well, judging by the boxscore of Ventura’s 47-43 Division I-AA quarterfinal victory over host Brea Olinda on Saturday night, I’d have to say the Cougars are just as stingy with points as Mr. Scrooge is with a charitable schilling.

Much has been said about Ventura’s no-standout offense this season, but the Cougars’ stellar defensive play is the main reason why they have advanced to the divisional semifinals for the first time since 2005. Ventura has held opponents to just over 32 ppg and held a Brea Olinda team that averaged more than 61 ppg to a season-low scoring output (Marlborough also held the Wildcats to 43 points this season).

‘In a lot of ways, this is a very naive group,’ Ventura Coach Ann Larson said. ‘They don’t really know who’s good or who’s bad when they get out there. They just go and play their game like we want them to and they just find ways to get it done.’

Hmm...a team that follows orders without question? Sounds like a coach’s dream.

It’ll be interesting to see if the Cougars can continue their scoring crackdown on Tuesday against a talented Millikan squad that’s no stranger to the scoresheet. And Ventura won’t have to participate in the 101 and 405 brake-a-thons since the game will be played in their own backyard at Buena HS.

Oh, and all of this stingy talk reminds me of something very important -- there’s only 311 days left until Christmas. And who knows? Maybe Christmas will come early for Nicole Frank, Laura Easterling, Victoria Brubaker, Amy Pupa, Maddie Fahan and everybody else on the Cougars I couldn’t name in one, semi-readable sentence.

-- Austin Knoblauch

-- Image from www.sileo.com