Ventura Survives Valley Trip : Basketball: Pirates (20-0) pull away from Monarchs in second half for 81-68 victory.

Perhaps it was the result of a tough road game two nights before that left Ventura College, the top-ranked men’s basketball team in the state, a little sluggish.

Or maybe it was Valley’s inspired play.

Whatever, the Pirates were fortunate to retain their perfect record with an 81-68 victory in a Western State Conference interdivision game Saturday night at Valley.

Ventura (20-0) had to rally in the second half against a Monarch squad with upset on its mind.

It was the second tough game in a row for the Pirates, who went down to the wire Thursday night to knock off defending state champion Long Beach City, 87-76, in a nonconference matchup.

It was also the second consecutive scare Valley gave Ventura, which beat the Monarchs, 67-61, in the championship game of the Santa Barbara tournament Dec. 10.

Valley (10-8) led for much of the first half before Ventura started controlling the boards in the second half, connecting on several three-point baskets that took the starch out of the Monarchs.

“When we got in the open court, we were OK,” said Doug Michelson, Valley coach. “When we quit rebounding, we got in trouble.”

Valley took a 56-55 lead on a hook shot by Vernon Simmons with 9 minutes 5 seconds left but the Pirates scored 14 consecutive points and didn’t trail again.

The last points of the blitz came on a three-point basket from the right corner by Shannon Taylor, who had four three-point baskets in the half and five in the game.

Ventura made 10 of 22 three-point shots but Valley sank only one of 12. The Pirates, however, had a miserable time at the free-throw line, making only 23 of 38 (60.5%).

The Monarchs pulled to within 74-64 with 1:34 left before Ventura scored seven points in a row.

“We are playing a lot of freshmen and we are playing like freshmen still,” Michelson said.

LaMarr Thompson, who had 10 of his 18 points in the first half, and Mack Cleveland, who scored seven, sparked the Valley attack in the first 20 minutes.

The Monarchs took their biggest lead of the half, 17-11, on a hook shot by Ricky Steele and a free throw by Cleveland.

They distributed the ball effectively around the perimeter and took advantage of defensive lapses by Ventura to score several times inside. Valley had six layups and two dunks in the half.

Ventura led only three times in the half, once on the game’s opening basket by forward Charles Woodard, the former Canyon High standout, and another on a fadeaway shot by forward Hakeem Ward at the first-half buzzer.

Taylor finished with 19 points and Woodard had 15.

Kenyth Henry scored 13 points for Valley and Cleveland added 11. Point guard Michael Farmer had six steals for the Monarchs.