Mathews, Ventura Beat Mulligan at Own Game

It was the teacher against the student, and the youngster showed again that he learned his lessons well.

Ventura College men’s basketball Coach Philip Mathews matched wits Wednesday night against Bill Mulligan, the Irvine Valley coach for whom he played at UC Irvine in the 1960s, and got the best of the encounter.

The Pirates, behind Rafer Alston, pummeled Irvine Valley, 96-57, in a second-round game of the Southern California regional before a capacity crowd.

Ventura is one step away from reaching the Final Eight tournament for the fourth consecutive year. The Pirates (33-1), who finished the season ranked No. 1 in the state, will face Chaffey in a third-round game Saturday night at Ventura.

The Panthers advanced with a 96-69 victory over Fullerton on Wednesday.

Alston, a freshman point guard, scored 18 points and had seven assists for the Pirates. He made four of five three-point shots. It was a busy night for Alston, who normally doesn’t shoot that much.

“They came out playing a zone,” Alston said. “They probably thought I couldn’t shoot, so I started nailing the threes.”

And Ventura started nailing the Irvine Valley coffin shut.

The Pirates held a 46-36 lead at halftime but opened the jets in the second half and blew away the Lasers (22-12), who have lost to Ventura all four times the teams have played.

“I’m tired of coaching against him (Mathews),” Mulligan said, laughing. “Four times they’ve beaten us.”

Ventura did an excellent job of neutralizing Irvine Valley’s top offensive threat, 6-foot-11 center Keon Clark, by denying him shots. Clark, who went into the game averaging 22 points and 20 rebounds, finished with nine points and eight rebounds.

He took only 10 shots, seven in the first half. Clark was shadowed by a pair of 6-6 defenders, Damian Cantrell and Curtis Ganes, who took turns guarding him.

“Our plan was to play behind him when their three-point shooters were on the perimeter,” Mathews said. “We blanketed their three-point shooters. Once they went inside, Cantrell did a great job on him. Ganes did a great job too, and Ganes took him to the basket.”

Ganes, a freshman center, finished with 10 points and five rebounds. Cantrell grabbed 10 rebounds and also scored 14 points.

Guard Rashad Wilson scored 18 points for Irvine Valley and guard Brian Linsenmayer added 10 points.

The Lasers committed 27 turnovers, 15 of them in the second half.