Ventura Buena Knocks Out Mater Dei

Talk about picking a nice spot to score your only basket of the game.

Karen McAleney of Ventura Buena was scoreless for the first 31 minutes and 46 seconds of Wednesday night’s Southern Section Division I-A girls’ basketball semifinal against Mater Dei at Ventura High. But with the Bulldogs down by one and the standing-room only crowd going berserk, the 5-foot-8 junior guard made a seven-foot jump shot from the left side with 14 seconds left to give Buena a 51-50 victory.

Mater Dei called timeout with eight seconds remaining, but Lori Hurlbut’s running shot from the left side with two seconds remaining was way off the mark and McAleney grabbed the rebound.

The victory was the 13th in a row for the Bulldogs (25-2), the defending section champion, and propelled them into their eighth consecutive title game.

It will be the first time in four years that Buena will not play Mater Dei in the final.

“I was thinking that it had to go in,” McAleney said of her game-winning shot. “That was probably a lucky shot, but it went in. Kelly [Murray] made a great pass to me.”

McAleney’s basket came 13 seconds after Mater Dei’s Bianca Larson had made two free throws to give the Monarchs a 50-49 lead.

Larson, a 6-3 sophomore who had 11 points, scored the final seven points of the game for Mater Dei (21-7) after starters Charline Mendoza and Tina Garcia had fouled out with 11 and seven points.

Buena senior center Nicole Greathouse, who had 18 points and 17 rebounds, hit two free throws with 3:33 left in the game to give the Bulldogs a 45-43 lead, but Larson’s three-point play gave Mater Dei a 46-45 lead with 2:24 remaining.

Mater Dei Coach Mary Hauser said it was an intense defensive effort by both teams, but was critical of the officiating.

“I really felt that the officiating was inconsistent,” she said. “Sometimes they would let things go and then they would call ticky tack fouls. I just don’t think that my two best players should have fouled out. I don’t think the officiating cost us the game, but I think Charline and Tina should have been in the game at the end.

“It was a great game. Someone had to win and someone had to lose. That’s the way sports go.”