Jessie Keeps Ventura From Shooting Itself in the Foot

Everyone keeps going after the big dog, but somehow the beast escapes.

The Ventura men’s basketball team stretched its winning streak to 21 games with a 74-60 victory over Glendale in a Western State Conference interdivision game Saturday night despite another poor shooting performance.

The streak ties the school record, set at the outset of last season. Ventura (21-1, 3-0 in conference play), the state’s No. 1 team, plays host to Santa Monica, which broke last year’s streak, on Tuesday.

“We won another tough one,” Coach Philip Mathews said. “Teams are going to come after us and (Glendale) did.”

Glendale (9-8, 1-2) played the Pirates as tough as anyone has this season, particularly in the first half. The Vaqueros trailed by as many as seven points twice in the half (19-12 and 24-17) before scoring five consecutive points to tie the score, 34-34, with 30 seconds remaining before intermission.

A turnaround jumper by forward Brandon Jessie at the buzzer gave Ventura a 36-34 halftime edge.

“We gave them all they wanted,” Glendale Coach Brian Beauchemin said. “We came out here to compete and we competed. But they are so strong.”

Especially on the boards, where Jessie thrives.

The 6-foot-5 sophomore had a game-high 19 rebounds to go with his game-high 30 points. He was particularly effective in the second half, when the Pirates went hard on the offensive boards and started to pull away. Jessie was complemented by Joey Ramirez, who scored 21 points.

Glendale led, 48-47, with 12:49 remaining in the game when Mike Macchia hit a three-point shot. But soon after, the Vaqueros hit a dry spell and went scoreless for more than five minutes while Ventura raced ahead, 56-50, with less than seven minutes left.

They went cold again after a Ryan Asplund jumper made it 56-52 and Ventura went on a 7-0 run for a 63-52 cushion with 1:41 to go.

Asplund, a 6-2 sophomore guard from La Canada High, provided the punch for Glendale, scoring a team-high 18 points before fouling out late in the game. Twelve of his points came on three-point baskets.

Sophomore forward James Evans scored 10 points for Glendale, all in the first half, but sat out most of the second period because of foul trouble. Macchia finished with nine points.

The Pirates shot only 32.3% (22 of 68) from the field but made 26 of 34 free throws (76.4%). Glendale was 19 of 56 (33.9%) from the field and 13 of 19 from the line (68.1%).