Ventura Poised on All Fours for Another Crown

It’s not the Final Four but the four finals for the Ventura College men’s basketball team.

The Pirates reached their fourth consecutive title game in the State championships with an 89-75 victory over Riverside in a semifinal game Friday night at the San Jose State Event Center Arena. Ventura (33-2) will play tonight at 7:30 for the title.

If the Pirates win, they’ll be the fourth men’s team to claim back-to-back championships.

Forwards Mel Claxton and Damian Cantrell, center Curtis Ganes and guard Gerald Zimmerman led the Pirates, who have won 19 in a row and have defeated Riverside (33-6) in the semifinals in three of the past four tournaments.

The game was extremely physical from the tipoff and tempers flared throughout. The Pirates even lost three-point specialist Shannon Taylor in the first half after he suffered two broken fingers, which Ventura players blamed on the rough play.

“We told him at halftime we would [win] for him,” Cantrell said.

Cantrell, a sophomore from Santa Clara High, had 12 rebounds as did teammate Hakeem Ward. Cantrell scored 13 points and Ward 12.

“I was just trying to get anything coming off the glass, so they couldn’t get any second chances,” Cantrell said.

The Pirates outrebounded Riverside, 51-37, and didn’t give the Tigers much room inside.

Ventura took control with about 10 minutes remaining and hammered in the final nails with a 10-0 run for an 89-72 lead with 52 seconds to play.

Ward scored the last two Ventura points with a huge slam, moments after Claxton, who had 17 points, hit two free throws.

Ventura, which didn’t lead in the first half, had to scramble to keep Riverside in sight and trailed at halftime, 37-36.

The Tigers opened their biggest lead of the half, 14-7, on a three-point basket by Rick Hite, but Ganes, Ventura’s strongest player at 6 feet 6, 240 pounds, used his muscle inside to give the Pirates some key baskets.

Ganes pulled Ventura to within 16-15 with a pair of turnaround jumpers, the second a fadeaway shot under heavy pressure. He finished with 13 points.

The Pirates tied the score, 23-23, on Charles Woodard’s three-pointer from the left wing.

Gary Williams led Riverside with 20 points.

It was the ninth consecutive defeat for Riverside against Ventura. Under Coach Bob Schermerhorn, the Tigers are 0-7 against the Pirates.