PREP BASKETBALL VENTURA TOURNAMENT : Buena’s Offense Falters in Final

In reaching the final of the Ventura basketball tournament, Buena High had smothered Camarillo and Thousand Oaks with an aggressive full-court press.

But in Saturday night’s final against Santa Barbara, it was the Bulldogs who were asphyxiated by the Dons’ defensive pressure, 83-67.

With the score tied, 17-17, in the first quarter, Santa Barbara (7-2) choked off Buena’s high-powered attack in the second period, outscoring the Bulldogs, 28-10, to take a 45-27 halftime lead.

Led by the play of guard Teodor Russinov, the Dons rattled off runs of 12-0 and 10-2 in the second quarter to take control.

Russinov scored eight points in the second quarter and finished with 26 for the game to earn most-valuable-player honors in the tournament.

Adam Sjovold had 14 points and Seth McIver added 13 for the Dons.

Lance Fay scored 34 points to lead Buena (6-4), but the Bulldogs lacked the balance they had shown in their wins in the first two rounds.

Andy Saint was the only other Bulldog player in double figures, scoring 10 points.

It was Buena’s eighth consecutive appearance in the Ventura final, but the team suffered its fifth loss in the past seven years.

In other games:

Ventura 74, Thousand Oaks 62--The Cougars (9-2) blew all of an 18-point first-half lead but recovered in the final two minutes to beat the Lancers in the third-place game.

Junior guard Curt Vaughan scored 12 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, including six in the final two minutes as Ventura broke a 62-62 tie.

The Cougars took a 15-1 lead. Darien Roberts scored 12 of his 20 points as Ventura went ahead, 25-11, in the first quarter.

Thousand Oaks (5-5) came back to tie it, 48-48, in the third period behind the outside shooting of sophomore guard Peter Lauer and the inside play of Paul Foster.

The Lancers stayed close and Lauer finished with 17 points, but Thousand Oaks faltered in the final two minutes.

Nordhoff 66, Channel Islands 61 (2 OTs)--Tim Sebek scored seven of his game-high 36 points in the second overtime to lift the Rangers to the consolation title. Mark Sebek added 10 points