Ventura Escapes in Overtime : Prep basketball: Cougars edge Antelope Valley in Saugus tournament championship game, 67-65.

Antelope Valley High’s Zach Curtis missed two free throws with two seconds left in overtime as Ventura escaped with a 67-65 victory Saturday night in the championship game of the Saugus tournament.

Antelope Valley (3-1) trailed by 13 points in the first half but rallied to take the lead, 52-51, late in the third quarter.

Troy Coutee and Jason Storm each hit a pair of three-point shots to fuel the Antelope surge.

Ventura guard Dan McCashin suffered a hip injury late in the first half, enabling Antelope Valley to make its run.

McCashin, who scored nine points, did not return.

Junior center Anthony McCurtis had 13 points to lead Ventura (3-0), the tournament’s fourth-seeded team.

Leading, 54-53, after three quarters, Antelope Valley went into a stall offense and scored only nine points in the fourth quarter.

With less than a minute to play, Ventura’s Darien Roberts stole a pass and scored on a layup, only to have an offensive foul negate the basket. The foul was Roberts’ fifth, sending to send him to the bench.

Larry Anter of Ventura scored on a short jump shot with 17 seconds left in regulation to tie the score, 63-63, and send the game into overtime.

McCurtis fouled out with five seconds to play in regulation.

In overtime, Antelope Valley controlled the tip and stalled until 1 minute 38 seconds remained before turning the ball over on a traveling violation.

Ventura scored on an inside basket by Jerry Carpenter with 17 seconds left to give Ventura a 65-63 lead.