Ventura Wins, but Troubles Not Over

Coming off two surprising losses, the Ventura College men’s basketball team was looking to regain some momentum Thursday night against Valley.

The Pirates did, but barely.

Ventura, the defending state champion, struggled early and had to rally for a 71-65 victory over the Monarchs in a Western State Conference interdivisional game at Valley.

The Pirates (15-2), who dropped consecutive games to Irvine Valley and Cerritos at the Hancock tournament last week that ended a 22-game winning streak dating to last season, couldn’t shake Valley (12-7) until the final two minutes of the game.

“We were playing a little tentative earlier,” said Virgil Watson, Ventura’s first-year coach. “We just had to extend the court and play. . . .

“When we picked the energy level back up, we got a few turnovers in a row and that gave us life back.”

The Pirates forced Valley into 15 second-half turnovers and 27 overall with an harassing full-court press and erased a 31-26 first-half deficit with clutch shooting midway through the second half.

Valley held a 42-38 advantage with 14 minutes 32 seconds to play when the Pirates went on a 16-0 run sparked by sophomore forward Damian Cantrell, who accounted for seven of the points.

Cantrell finished with 11 points.

“They started pounding the boards effectively,” said Doug Michelson, Valley coach. “We had a difficult time getting into our offense. . . . They stepped up their defense.”

Valley pulled to within 63-60 with 2:27 remaining on a free throw by point guard Benny Hoang and to within 68-65 with 18 seconds left on a three-point basket by guard Michael Farmer.

Ventura held on when Gerald Zimmerman converted three free throws in the final 12 seconds.

Zimmerman finished with 16 points and guard Jamal Cobbs added 15 for the Pirates. Only the five starters scored for Valley, led by Farmer’s 18 points and center Vernon Simmons’ 17.

The Monarchs led, 31-21, in the first half before Ventura cut the deficit to 31-26 at intermission on five points by Jamal Cobbs, who had a dribble-drive layup and three-point basket.

Sophomore Tomer Yachini, a 6-foot-6 center from Fairfax High, sparked Valley with 10 points in the half and teammate Simmons crashed the boards to grab five rebounds. Simmons finished with eight rebounds and Yachini added six for the Monarchs.

Valley ran its offense patiently in the half and created good shots.

Yachini scored 15 points in the game and wing Mack Cleveland had 10 for Valley.

The Monarchs made 13 of 26 (50%) shots while Ventura sank only nine of 25 (36%), including two of 12 (16.6%) from three-point range.