Ventura to Face San Jose City in State Final Eight Matchup

The chants of “We’re going to San Francisco” started in the Ventura College gym midway through the second half of the men’s basketball game Saturday and reached a crescendo by the final buzzer.

And when the last second ticked away, giving the Pirates an 84-72 victory over Compton in the third round of the Southern California junior college regionals, it was time to begin planning the trip.

Ventura (35-1), the top-ranked team in California, will open play in the State Final Eight championships tonight at 6 in a quarterfinal game against San Jose City (26-7) at the University of San Francisco.

The semifinals are Friday and the final is Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

It’s the second consecutive Final Eight appearance for the Pirates, who won state titles in 1952 and 1987. Last year at San Jose State, Ventura beat Lassen, 89-83, in the quarterfinals but lost to eventual champion Cerritos, 82-74, in the semifinals.

Coach Philip Mathews is looking for the Pirates to stick around longer this time.

“I think we have the best team,” Mathews said, “but we are going to have to prove it.”

Mathews already has reminded the Pirates of the need to execute well. “We didn’t play a good game (against Cerritos),” Mathews said. “We’d like to rectify that this year.”

San Jose is led by 6-foot-5 freshman forward Vincent Barnett (19.2 points a game) and employs an up-tempo, transition game.

“They like to get up and down the court,” Mathews said. “They are big and physical, but we match up with them real well.”

Ventura is riding a 14-game winning streak and has won 53 of its last 55 games. Santa Monica (26-7), which is also playing in the Final Eight, handed the Pirates their only loss this season, an 87-80 decision in a Western State Conference interdivisional game at Santa Monica on Jan. 7.

The Pirates won the conference North Division title for the seventh consecutive season. They averaged 81.1 points and allowed 64.4 during the regular season, but turned up the heat in the regionals, averaging 108 points and winning by an average of 26.4 points.

Leading Ventura are forwards Brandon Jessie, Calvin Curry and Michael King, and guard Stephane Brown.

Jessie, a 6-5 freshman, averaged 16.5 points in the regular season but scored 84 in the three regional games for a 28.0 average. Curry, a 6-7 sophomore, led WSC players in scoring with a 21.1 average and King, a 6-6 sophomore, is averaging 14.6 points and 10.3 rebounds in the playoffs.