Ventura Sets Record With Win

It wasn’t spoken about openly, but the thoughts were vivid. The Ventura College men’s basketball team wanted to beat Santa Monica more than anything. It was a burden the Pirates had carried for a year, one they wanted to unload.

And that they did Tuesday night.

The Pirates, the state’s top-ranked team, defeated Santa Monica, 82-73,in a Western State Conference interdivisional game before about 3,000 at Ventura to set a school record with 22 consecutive victories.

Ventura (22-1, 4-0 in conference play) hasn’t lost since Kings River pulled an upset with a 63-61 overtime win in the season opener Nov. 12. The Pirates have won 54 of their last 58 games going back to the semifinals of the 1990-91 state championships.

The victory was especially meaningful because Santa Monica (13-6, 3-1) snapped Ventura’s 21-game winning streak last season with an 87-80 victory at Santa Monica on Jan. 7, 1993.

“It meant a lot to the players to beat Santa Monica,” Ventura Coach Philip Mathews said. “The kids were (looking forward to) Santa Monica.”

At times, it seemed they might have been looking too much.

Ventura jumped to a 15-9 lead with 13 minutes 43 seconds remaining in the first half on a jumper by Tracy Lundy, his only points of the night. But the Corsairs rallied behind forward James Gray for a 40-36 advantage at the half.

Gray, a smooth shooter with a fine three-point shot, scored 17 of his team-high 28 points in the half. He made seven of nine shots in the period, including a three-pointer and a dunk that gave Santa Monica the four-point halftime cushion.

Ventura regained the lead, 43-42, less than two minutes into the second half with a 7-2 run to open the second half.

The Corsairs stormed back with eight unanswered points, the last six on two three-point baskets by Gray, to take a 55-51 cushion before forward Brandon Jessie cut the deficit to two points, 55-53, with a short jumper at the 12:45 mark.

Jessie once again carried the scoring and rebounding load for the Pirates. He finished with a game-high 29 points and 15 rebounds, and also had three steals.

Jessie, one of two returning starters, remembered well the loss at Santa Monica last January and didn’t want history to repeat. The Pirates lost only one other game, to Columbia in the state championship game to finish 32-2.

“We didn’t want it to happen again,” said Jessie, son of former Ram wide receiver Ron Jessie. “We want to go undefeated the rest of the season. I think we can do it if we play our game.”

The Pirates definitely did that in the waning moments of the game.

Holding a precarious 76-73 lead with 55 seconds to play, guard D’Mitri Rideout (12 points) made a free throw to give Ventura a four-point lead. After Gray missed two free throws with 29 seconds to play, Jessie made the first of two free throws. Center Michael Tate tipped in the second one for an 80-73 lead with 26 seconds left.

Jessie then dunked with 13 seconds to play for the final points.

All five Ventura starters scored in double figures, with point guard Joey Ramirez contributing 13, Rideout 12 and forward Steve Amar 13. Tate, who returned after a month layoff because of a stress fracture of the right ankle, had 10.

Lundy, despite scoring only the two points, did a superb job guarding Gray in the second half.