Ventura’s Press Smothers Porterville

When the Ventura College men’s basketball team goes to press, it’s usually not good news for the opposing team.

The Pirates swarmed Porterville from baseline to baseline with a relentless full-court press that helped them cruise to a 114-75 victory in a nonconference home opener Friday night.

Ventura (2-0), ranked sixth in the state, forced Porterville (2-2) into 27 turnovers.

Still, Ventura Coach Philip Mathews thought his young team--10 of 12 players are freshmen--could have deployed the press even better.

“We are getting beat (with) long (passes) too much,” Mathews said. “When we get sharp and (the players) understand what we are trying to do here, we are going to be good.”

Ventura used its size advantage--Porterville has only two players 6 feet 6 or taller to the Pirates’ five--to control the boards. They outrebounded Porterville, 63-31, and had 38 offensive rebounds.

Forward Damian Cantrell, a freshman from Santa Clara High, grabbed a game-high 17 rebounds for Ventura and scored 15 points. Center Curtis Gaines had 10 rebounds and 14 points.

The Pirates led at the half, 54-35, then extended their lead after intermission, scoring numerous baskets after Porterville turnovers.

Forward Hakeen Ward scored eight of his team-high 16 points in the second half and forward Gerald Zeimmerman scored nine of his 11 points in the final 20 minutes.

Ventura had eight players who scored in double figures, including guard Lance Fay with 11 points and forward Charles Woodard with 13. Guard Jamal Cobbs (9 points) and guard Shannon Taylor (11 points) each had three three-point baskets for the Pirates.

Porterville center Brian Hagens led all scorers with 21 points and teammate Antonio Bias scored 20.

The Pirates counterattacked with fast breaks, but they free-lanced on offense a bit too much for Mathews’ taste.

Even with the team’s second 100-point performance this season--Ventura defeated Imperial Valley, 116-82, last Saturday--Mathews said there’s room for improvement.

“We are a young team,” he said. “We made numerous mistakes, but the good thing about that is we are going to get better.”