Ventura College Team’s Winning Ways

They are a superstitious bunch, this self-described group of overachievers.

A certain travel van is preferred for away games.

A specific candy must be placed in the coach’s hand before the game.

And the same player’s hand must be the first slapped by her fellow teammates before every tip-off.

“Maybe that’s what’s doing it,” quips David Breslin, assistant coach of the Ventura College women’s basketball team. “I don’t know.”

Quietly, these superstitious sorts have again emerged a state powerhouse, ready tonight to defend the team’s consecutive state titles in a quarterfinal game at Concordia University in Irvine.

The team’s success--a 34-1 record--is a welcome requital for a basketball town whose trophy team--the Ventura College men’s squad--had this season erased by a swirl of recruiting violations.

“This is a basketball town. It always has been and always will be,” said Beverly Lanning, a Ventura native and avid fan. “A lot of people that were so upset with men’s basketball have rallied, which for the women has been wonderful.”

“It’s like, nobody expected us to do it,” said player Lynda Amari, a native of France who dreams of playing professionally one day. “We were out to prove they were wrong.”

Amari said that at the start of the season, many players--herself included--were playing with the men’s team in their hearts.

In previous years, the women’s team would play before the men in famed doubleheaders that regularly saw the college’s 3,500-seat gym at capacity.

Early season crowds were scant, she said, and the team wondered how much support it would lose.

But as the team continued to rack up the wins, that changed too. By the last game of the season, 1,100 people turned out to support the women’s team.

“The people are coming to see these women because they’re great,” said Lanning, who planned to leave for Irvine this morning. “They have heart.”

Coach Ned Mircetic said the team never let itself become distracted by a scandal it could not control--dismissal of the college’s men’s basketball coach, two years of probation for the team, and its disheartened players transferring or sitting out the season.

“In the beginning, there were some choppy waters with all the things that were happening,” Mircetic said Tuesday after the team’s last practice on its home court. “They knew what was going on. They were aware. They could have easily gone down to the point of just kind of feeling sorry for themselves. The bottom line is they didn’t let things bother them.”

Certainly not.

After their only loss of the season Nov. 15 to Butte College, the team ran off a string of 33 wins.

Even without the men’s team controversy, few gave the team much of a chance at the start of the season.

“They don’t look like a basketball team, do they?” said Byron Rimm of Oxnard, whose daughter, Anicia, is the team’s sparky defensive whiz at guard. “I think they’re a bunch of hard-working over-achievers. It’s a good, welcome benchmark of success. The boys’ team for a long time carried the reputation.”

Even coaches are surprised at the team’s success.

“Are you kidding? It’s amazing,” assistant coach Breslin said. “It’s like they’re climbing a ladder they built themselves.”

When practices began last fall, coach Mircetic figured he would scrape for as many wins this year as he could, then hope for a good recruiting season next year.

The team wasn’t as talented as it had been the previous two championship years, Mircetic said, but this was the easiest and most fun team he has coached since he took the head coaching job in 1990.

“They’re receptive to all the things I’ve tried to get across to them,” he said. “They’ve accomplished more than I ever dreamed they could.”

Standout shooting guard Amirah Leonard said the team’s success was as simple as listening to the coach and staying focused.

“I always thought we could do it if we listened to what our coach told us,” she said. “If we just did what he told us--to play hard--it was possible.”

On Wednesday, parents, boosters, students and faculty members gathered outside the school’s main gym for an official send-off, as players laughed, blew bubbles and posed for impromptu team photos before boarding two vans and heading south.

After Tuesday’s final practice on the Ventura gym floor, Mircetic warned his team about hype. He told his players to stay focused on one thing only: game time, Thursday, 8 p.m., against Merritt College of Oakland.

“We’re in a safe area when we go there,” he said. “If we start talking about winning championships, winning streaks, statistics, we’re just setting ourselves up to fail. If we keep our focus, we’re on much safer ground. Those other things you look at when the season’s over.”

* MAIN STORY: C14