WOMEN’S BASKETBALL / STATE JUNIOR COLLEGE CHAMPIONSHIPS : Host Ventura to Face a Mirror Image

Maybe all the Ventura College women’s basketball team needed to prepare for its game today in the quarterfinals of the state tournament was a good set of its own team glossies. Or perhaps even a home video.

The Pirates (26-4), the Western State Conference North Division champions, will play Golden Valley Conference runner-up College of the Siskiyous (22-8) at 5:30 p.m.

Ventura will play host to the tournament, commonly known as the Final Eight, through Saturday. Others in the tournament are Golden West (34-2), Fresno City (26-9), Hancock (26-3), Orange Coast (27-5), Harbor (28-3) and defending state champion Lassen (31-1). Ventura qualified with victories over College of the Desert and Cuesta in the Southern California regionals.

Now the Pirates are on the final straightaway in their quest for a state championship. But with a solid field that features some unfamiliar teams for Ventura Coach Ned Mircetic, the task won’t be easy.

Earlier this week, all Mircetic knew about Siskiyous was its location in Northern California, near the Oregon border. And that its style of play resembled that of a certain, familiar team.

“From what I heard, they are very much like us,” Mircetic said. “They like to spread the court and they have good shooters. We could be looking at ourselves.”

That must be an eyeful.

The Pirates, who finished the regular season ranked No. 4 in the state, have plenty of firepower and a stingy defense. They were 16-0 in conference games (10-0 in division play) and outscored their opponents by an average of 20.1 points.

Much of the scoring comes from Cori Herman, Nicole Ellis and Jennifer Wells.

Herman, a 5-foot-7 sophomore guard from Ventura High, averaged 18.4 points and 4.0 assists in the regular season. She led conference players in free-throw shooting by making 80 of 101 (79.2%).

Ellis, a 6-foot sophomore center from Buena High, averaged 18.3 points and 11.5 rebounds. She had the best field-goal percentage (55.3%) among conference players. Wells, a 5-10 forward from Buena, averaged 12.5 points. The trio carried the scoring load in Ventura’s two regional games, an 80-50 victory over Desert in the first round and a 70-34 victory over WSC North Division rival Cuesta in the second round. Herman scored 37 points in the two games, Wells 33 and Ellis 25.

Although Mircetic says opposing teams are getting wise to Ventura’s big three, he feels the Pirates have enough depth to counter any defensive scheme that might neutralize Ellis, Herman or Wells.

“We have other people who step up and score,” Mircetic said.

The Pirates also have a strong defense, one that allowed only 49.7 points per game and that limited Cuesta to 10 points in the first half Saturday.

“Cori and Nicole have done an outstanding job, but the key to our success has been our ability to play good, sound, man-to-man defense,” Mircetic said. “That’s what has made us as good as we are. . . . We don’t have any gimmicks. Our philosophy is that we are going to defend the basket every single time. We are going to make your shot a difficult one and we are going to try and keep you to one shot only (on every possession).”

The Pirates haven’t lost since Golden West beat them, 91-72, in a nonconference game Dec. 19. Mircetic says he knows part of the reason for the success.

“I think we’ve found our identity,” Mircetic said. “We are playing to our strength.”

Ventura also could be playing in front of a potentially large home crowd throughout the tournament. In fact, Saturday could present a logistics nightmare for tournament organizers if the Pirates reach the championship game, since the Ventura men’s team could also be involved in a Southern California regional playoff home game that afternoon.

Mircetic says the mood at the school is upbeat.

“It’s pretty festive,” Mircetic said. “There’s like a renaissance feeling in the air. There are a lot of happy faces on campus. The men are playing well and the women are playing well.”