Titletown : Loyal Fans Hoop It Up Over Ventura College’s Double Basketball Championships

The season was over nearly two weeks ago. So there were no more no-look passes and no more alley-oop jams.

But the community turned out en masse anyway Wednesday evening at the Ventura College gym to say a final thank you to basketball teams that made history by winning both the men’s and women’s state championships on March 9.

“I’m here to help celebrate,” said Kenneth Conn, 47, who with his son, Brian, watched all 69 victories by the two teams this year. “Anybody who sees how hard they play just gets hooked on it. I even missed my bowling night sometimes to watch them play.”

About 400 people--from public officials to basketball junkies, but mostly families--came to celebrate the first undefeated season in the school’s basketball history, the women’s wondrous 35-0 campaign. They honored, too, the men’s 34-2 run to a second straight state crown.

Dressed in orange-and-black school colors, raucous fanatics stomped and clapped for players lured by Ventura College’s winning reputation from as far as Brooklyn, Chicago, Florida and Mexico.

Known for its court prowess and academic excellence, the basketball program is also distinguished by its emotional link to the broader community--a point made repeatedly Wednesday night.

“Once you get a program like this, it’s contagious,” said Callie Gibson of Oxnard, a retired coach who sent her players to Ventura College for decades. “But no matter if they won or lost, I would support them.”

That same feeling of support helped carry both teams through the recent three-day state tournament in San Jose.

“So many people traveled so far to watch us it was really awesome,” said Kara Newman, a first-year forward from Buena High School. “I’ve never seen this much support.”

Women’s coach Ned Mircetic figures 2,000 Ventura fans were in San Jose, compared to the final game’s total attendance of 3,500.

“All over town you could see orange and black,” Mircetic said. “We were in a strange city, but everywhere we went we would see people that we see here in town. It was a very warm feeling.”

First-year men’s Coach Virgil Watson added: “It’s tremendous community support, probably the best in the state.”

The double championships in back-to-back games capped the teams’ decade-long climb to the top of California’s community college basketball world.

The men’s program, built by charismatic former coach Phil Mathews, has now won 11 straight conference titles. It has taken three state crowns since 1987, when Laker star Cedric Ceballos starred.

The women’s teams have won conference titles each of Mircetic’s six seasons and advanced to the state tournament the last three years. Their average winning margin was a record 38 points per game.

“What happens is that when you win, word of mouth travels,” said athletic coordinator Dick James. “Coaches find out who’s got a good program. And there’s a lot of youngsters out there in America who are trying to find a home and to go to college.”

James said that while two state championships in the same season is unique, “The question is, has it ever been done in any community college across the country or at any other college level?”

James hasn’t fully researched that issue--putting together, instead, a packet of information for Sports Illustrated that he hopes will lead to a nod of recognition in Ventura’s direction.

Even without it, the honor and the glory of twin titles were enough to draw the Ventura community together one more time.

“I’m celebrating good basketball,” said Ventura City Councilman Gary Tuttle, whose dad was a legendary coach at Ventura High School. “Here’s a city that spent $3.5 million upgrading its downtown and $200,000 a year in tourism advertising, and these 24 outstanding students probably did more to put our name out there for free than the city could ever have done.”

Most accolades Wednesday were less analytical.

Fans were treated to a riveting 10-minute video review of highlights--the men slashing past opponents and jamming in their faces and the women stealing passes and fast-breaking to flying finishes in the title games.

College President Larry Calderon praised their achievements. “History equals V-squared times 2,” he said. “They’re really champions and an inspiration to us all.”

Players and coaches were honored in the 90-minute ceremony marked by thundering applause, standing ovations and chants of “VC, VC, VC!”

Among the honorees were Tori Anderson, an all-state guard from San Diego County, and Marina Torres-Reyes, a walk-on from Chihuahua, Mexico, who set a school record of seven steals a game. Torres-Reyes was also a state most valuable player and the MVP of the state tournament.

“We are so happy because we did it all for you,” said Torres-Reyes, who decided on a lark to enroll while visiting her sister from Mexico 2 1/2 years ago. Now she is bound for the Oregon State team next season.

Men’s center Hakeem Ward, who has signed to play next season for Mathews at the University of San Francisco, was named the men’s best player in the state tournament.

Also recognized were Gerald Zimmerman, an all-state sharpshooter, and master rebounder Damian Cantrell. A former star at Santa Clara High in Oxnard, Cantrell was the conference’s top player and also named to the all-state team.

But much appreciation was reserved for the fans, who were so ignited by the two teams that their last double-header at home was sold out 2 1/2 hours before tip-off--a situation that led to the rare spectacle of ticket scalping at a junior college game.

“This has been the craziest experience for me,” said Ward, a powerful 6-6 scorer and rebounder from New Jersey. “In high school, it was never like this. Here it’s like a family. They come out and get to know us. And you get to meet little kids and sign autographs, stuff like that. That’s real nice.”

Athletic coordinator James summarized: “It’s not a matter of what the team has meant to the community, it’s what the community has meant to the team. The community has embraced Ventura College basketball.”