Recognition Name

Meet two of the primary reasons Ventura High has become a region power in girls’ basketball:

Alex Geeky and Christie Gleibig.

Uh, Elaine Jientke and Kristine Guilesburg.

Spelling and pronouncing the names of the two Division I-bound players has proven every bit as difficult as guarding them on the court.

“I’ve spent four years trying to get announcers to say their names right and sportswriters to spell them correctly,” Coach Glenn Gray II said.

For the record, the top players on the region’s top team are Alex Gientke and Kristine Gleisberg.

“I’ve had this name my whole life,” Gientke said. “And everywhere I’ve gone, it’s been butchered. You get used to it.”

Make no mistake about either player’s importance to the Cougars (17-0, 3-0 in league play), who host Buena (15-4, 3-0) tonight at 7:30 in a game for first place in the Channel League.

Gientke is averaging 16.9 points and has been selected the most valuable player in two tournaments.

Gleisberg is averaging 14.6 points and was the most valuable player of one tournament.

Each is in her fourth varsity season and quick to credit a balanced roster for Ventura’s success, Gientke and Gleisberg are clearly the Cougars’ headline players and good all-around athletes.

Gientke has been selected to All-Ventura County teams in basketball and volleyball. Gleisberg, a second-team all-county selection as a junior, is also an accomplished surfer.

Before enrolling at Ventura, they played together on youth basketball, soccer and softball teams.

The similarities and common ground end there.

Gientke, a 5-foot-10 guard, has an athletic build and plays an aggressive, slashing style.

Outspoken and assertive, she accepted a scholarship to Santa Clara because “it’s in the Silicon Valley and it will provide me with strong connections in the medical field.”

Gleisberg, a slender 6-3 post player, can play inside or outside.

She isn’t so much shy as she is laid back.

Among other reasons, she accepted a scholarship to Oregon State because its campus is only about an hour from the ocean, an important factor to a girl who has grown up four houses from the beach in Ventura and sometimes surfs before school.

“Everybody would recruit me by saying either, ‘Hey, we’ve got surf up here,’ or “We may not be near the beach, but it isn’t far,’ ” Gleisberg said.

Ventura is 70-27 since both players joined the program at the start of the 1996-97 season.

They have combined for more than 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds for a program that long has been considered one of the region’s finest.

But this is the first time in a generation that Ventura has entered a game against its cross-town nemesis as anything but an underdog.

Buena has won 69 consecutive Channel League games and 11 league titles in a row.

Ventura is 1-6 against the Bulldogs since Gientke and Gleisberg arrived.

There have been seasons when the Cougars have had comparable talent. They just couldn’t get past the psychological hurdle of defeating the state’s all-time leader in victories.

Until this season.

Ventura upset Buena, then-ranked No. 7 in the nation, 60-57, on Dec. 11 for the championship of the Buena tournament.

Gientke scored 23 points and Gleisberg added 15 that night, and the Cougars have climbed in various state and regional polls ever since.

Ventura is ranked No. 3 in the state behind Harbor City Narbonne and Hanford and No. 1 in The Times’ Ventura County/San Fernando Valley region.

“We’re enjoying the [fast start] to a certain extent,” Gientke said. “But you can’t dwell on the past. We appreciate the fact that we’ve been winning, but we also know we have to stay focused if we plan to keep winning.”

Gleisberg credits the Cougars’ depth.

“This year, we have an experienced team,” she said. “If you take any one person away, it ruins the puzzle. Everything has worked well together.”

In a key league victory over Santa Barbara last week, five players scored eight or more points. Seniors Estelle Diaz and Renee Jiminez are returning starters from a 20-11 team. Junior guard Liz Newman was also on the team last season. Katy O’Brien, Jenni Dooley, Kelly Fay, Darcy Perez and Crystal Kleider all played for the 24-0 junior varsity team.

It’s a good mix of talent and experience, led by Gientke and Gleisberg.

“Their maturity level has kicked in,” Gray said. “They’re playing their best games in big games, when it matters. That’s the mark of the Kate Becklers and Kelly Greathouses of the area. Every night, they play well. That was the next step for Alex and Kristine.”

It’s a step that has spelled success.