JUNIOR COLLEGE BASKETBALL STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS : Ventura’s Reserves Fizzle but Starters Sizzle in Win

Every one of Ventura College’s starters scored in double figures in a quarterfinal of the men’s state junior college basketball championships Thursday, but that did not please Ventura College Coach Philip Mathews.

It meant his reserves had not done their jobs.

Still, Ventura extended its winning streak to 18 games with an 89-83 victory over Lassen of Susanville at San Jose State’s Event Center. Guard Stephane Brown led Ventura with team-high totals of 21 points and 10 assists.

“We didn’t play too good tonight,” said Mathews, who regularly uses 10 players. “Our second team didn’t do a damn thing. I wanted to play them more, but I couldn’t. They weren’t doing anything.

“I think it was a case of freshman jitters, which I attribute to playing their first game in the (final eight).”

The second team comprises five freshmen who usually come in as a unit and sparkle. But against Lassen, the reserves accounted for only eight points, making three of 13 shots from the field.

Nonetheless, Ventura’s starters came through (they hit 32 of 54 shots), especially when the game was on the line. Lassen (26-9) tied the score, 79-79, on Chris Yard’s basket with 2 minutes 57 seconds left, but Ventura (33-4) forced turnovers on the Cougars’ next three possessions and took an 84-79 lead with 1:05 remaining.

Brown started the run with a pair of free throws, and Michael Tate (18 points) scored a basket inside after Lassen’s Jason Goff turned the ball over.

Reggie Phillips (16 points) stripped Yard of the ball two possessions later and Chico Langston (10 points) hit one of two free throws after being fouled at the other end to give the Pirates their five-point advantage. Lassen drew no closer than three after that.

Yard’s turnover was one of the 6-foot-6 sophomore’s few mistakes. He scored a game-high 33 points, 20 in the first half.

“We had some miscommunication between our big guys in the first half and it hurt us,” said Ventura forward Derrick Pugh, who scored 16 points. “We made some adjustments in the second half and I think it helped. We didn’t shut him down completely, but we had him more under control.”

Tate, who with Pugh guarded Yard for most of the game, did not seem to care how many points his rival center scored.

“He got his points, but we didn’t care if he got 50 as long as we won,” Tate said.

The Pirates did that, setting up today’s 6 p.m. rematch with Cerritos, which handed Ventura its last loss, a 65-63 decision in the Hancock tournament semifinals in December.