2nd-Half Splash Sends Ventura by Cosumnes River : Junior college state playoffs: Pirates overcome slow start, advance to semifinals with 93-73 victory.

One-third of the assignment is complete but the Ventura College men’s basketball team will have to tighten things if it plans to accomplish its mission of winning the state championship.

Sure, the Pirates rallied with an awesome offensive display to start the second half in a 93-73 victory over Cosumnes River in the first round of the final eight competition Thursday at the UC Irvine Bren Events Center.

But they did it after sleepwalking through the first half and working harder than they needed to.

“We were just bad tonight in the first half,” Ventura Coach Philip Mathews said. “I think (point guard) Joey (Ramirez) is going to have to take more control of the ball.”

Tonight at 8, Ventura (35-2) will try to get past Riverside (30-6) in the semifinals. The Tigers advanced with a first-round victory over defending champion Columbia, 92-82.

The Pirates and Riverside will meet in the semifinals for the second consecutive time. Ventura beat the Tigers, 104-99, at the state championships in San Francisco last year.

Against Cosumnes River (25-10), the Pirates came out smoking in the second half with a 24-9 run to take a 61-45 lead with 12 minutes 50 seconds remaining, then held on.

Forward Brandon Jessie, who played at Edison High in neighboring Huntington Beach, returned to Orange County with a bang and led the Pirates with 28 points.

The 6-foot-5 sophomore scored 15 of his points in the second half.

He got help from center Michael Tate, who contributed 13 of his 24 points in the final 20 minutes.

But the Pirates, ranked No. 1 in the state and the top-seeded team among the four South participants, once again had to come on strong after intermission.

As they did in their three Southern California regional victories, the Pirates struggled in the first half and could not pull too far from the Chiefs.

The Pirates committed 13 turnovers in the first 20 minutes.

“I really don’t know what’s happening (in the first half),” Tate said. “We lack on defense. We played a little bit better in the second half. . . . We were trying to do too much too fast (in the first half).”

Ventura took an early 14-9 lead behind the shooting of sophomore Jessie, who scored 11 of the points.

Then, with the score tied, 16-16, the Pirates went on an 8-0 run as Tate scored on two dunks, Ramirez sank a scoop shot and Jessie hit a short jumper for a 22-16 advantage halfway through the period.

But Cosumnes River kept clawing back and closed the gap to 29-27 with 4:20 remaining in the half before a three-point basket by Ramirez and two free throws by Tate gave the Pirates their biggest lead, 34-27.

A pair of free throws by 6-foot-7 forward Willie Jefferson with 1:05 to play in the half cut the Ventura lead to 37-36 at intermission.

Ventura improved defensively as the game progressed, and held Cosumnes River guard Benji Garnett to 16 points and only three three-point baskets. Garnett was second in the state among three-pointers with 122 and fifth in scoring with a 25.3 average.

The Pirates, after seeing Cosumnes River close to within 79-68 with 5:23 left to play, went on another tear and outscored the Chiefs 14-5 the rest of the way.

Ramirez finished with 17 points and guard D’Mitri Rideout had 10. Cosumnes River’s Mark Hunter led all scorers with 29 points.