Pirates Pull Away from Pierce on Barbeque Night, 58-37

Rhiana Dougan came off the bench to score 11 points, and Lexy Hinojosa had seven points in the second quarter to spark the Ventura past Los Angeles Pierce 58-37 Saturday night on Barbeque Night at VC.  The game was held in conjunction with the 17th Annual Men's and Women's Basketball Barbeque Fundraiser held in the VC Sportsplex.

Both teams got out of the blocks slowly, as Amani White's second field goal made it 4-0 for VC four minutes into the contest.  Aubri Smith assisted a 3-pointer by Carolyn Ruffino, then cleaned up an offensive rebound with a putback to make it 9-0 with 3:32 on the clock.  A pair of Brahma free throws broke the shutout, and Pierce got one more bucket to make it 9-4 at the end of the first quarter.  Ventura (23-4, 9-0) struggled rom the floor, shooting 4-19 in the period.

The Pirates went deep into the bench in the second quarter with positive results.  Sienna Brown made a charity shot and Erin Ross converted a deuce to get things started.  Hinojosa hit a bucket followed by two Ross free throws and VC led 16-4 at the 6:19 mark.  Shiloh Smith had a steal and assisted another two by Hinojosa, then Lexy hit a long-range bomb from the right side for three.  The Pirates led 21-8 with 2:21 remaining in the half, then Ross closed things out with an offensive rebound and bucket.  VC led 23-8 at the break.

The Pirates' struggles continued in the third quarter as they managed just two field goals in the first six minutes of play from Brooke Zamora and Aubri Smith, respectively.  The Ventura lead was 27-20 when Dougan converted an ALex Kalmbach assist into three points.  Kyleesha Green assisted a Kalmbach jumper and the lead grew to 32-22 with 2:32 on the clock.  Dougan followed that up with steals on three straight possessions leading to a Green lay-up, a Dougan three, and a Zamora free throw.  VC led 38-22 at the end of three quarters.

Dougan continued her run early in the fourth, converting a steal and assist by Green, then hitting another triple to stretch the lead to 44-26.  White and Kalmbach hit back-to-back scores to put VC ahead by 22 points with 6:02 remaining.  A Kalmbach assist to Marissa Hurtado gave VC its biggest lead of the game, 24 points, with 1:25 remaining.  The Pirates pulled away for the 58-37 win.

Dougan hit three of six shots from behind the arc in the game and had three steals.  White added nine points and Hinojosa contributed seven.  Kalmbach and Ross each netted six points as 12 Pirates entered the scoring column.  Green handed out five assists with three steals while Aubri Smith had five rebounds and four steals for VC.

With the win, VC head coach Ned Mircetic ties legendary Buena High School coach Joe Vaughan with identicle 761-112 career records.  Both are the winningest coaches in their respective levels.

The Pirates remained two games ahead of idle Oxnard in the loss column with three games left on the schedule.  Ventura will visit Allan Hancock College on Wednesday Feb. 10 for a 5:00 pm game as they go to clinch at least a tie for their 26th consecutive Western State Conference championship.