Ventura Buena Aces Test With Brea Olinda

The way the Ventura Buena girls’ basketball team figured it, if the Bulldogs wanted to be No. 1, they had to beat No. 1.

So they did it, in a rousing 59-56 upset of Brea Olinda, the top-ranked team in the state, in front of 1,600 fans Saturday night at Ventura Buena High.

The Ladycats (18-3) entered the game ranked No. 1 in the state by Cal-Hi Sports magazine and 19th nationally by USA Today. Buena, itself the defending Southern Section Division I-A champion, entered the game rated 10th in the state and unranked nationally.

The Bulldogs rallied after trailing, 33-26, at halftime and by as many as 10 points in the second quarter.

“We never established any momentum in the second half. We had a couple of lapses at the start of the second half that hurt us. That’s where the game was decided. They ran a couple of isolation plays and we didn’t jump out on it,” Brea Olinda Coach Jeff Sink said.

“We didn’t execute,” said Brea’s Marissa Bradley, who had eight points. “We didn’t play offense, we didn’t play defense . . . we got lazy I guess.”

With a 39-37 edge to start the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs began going inside to Nicole Greathouse, who scored four of their first 11 points of the quarter and had five rebounds in the period that led to several baskets by Hofmann and guard Kelly Murray. Greathouse finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds and Murray had 11 points, five in the fourth period.

With Brea’s center Stephanie Wettlin playing with four fouls, Buena took its biggest lead at 58-48 after consecutive driving layups by Murray and Stephanie Kinnear (14 points, eight rebounds) and two free throws each by Murray and Hofmann.

The Ladycats made it closer at the end by outscoring the Bulldogs, 8-1, in the last 23 seconds as Jennifer Saari (15 points) nailed a pair of three-pointers.