Effort, Offense Problematic in Pirates' Season-Opening Loss

It was not the start the Pirates had hoped for.  The VC women's basketball team had its lowest offensive output in over a decade, dropping its 2016-17 season opener at Los Angeles Valley 54-37. The Pirates were held without a field goal in the third quarter, shooting 23 percent from the floor (12-53) for the game against the Monarchs.  Freshman Simone Lewis came off the bench to lead VC (0-1) with nine points.

The Pirates were down 4-0 before a bucket by Sienna Brown got them on the board with an assist from Davina Del Castillo.  Valley rattled off seven straight points before Lewis' deuce made it 11-4 at the 4:51 midway through the first quarter.  Ventura did not score again until Katie Campbell's 3-pointer just before the buzzer made it 17-7 at the end of the period.

Trailing 19-9 in the second quarter, the Pirates went on a 6-0 run to get back into the game.  Campbell's three was followed by a Brown jumper and a free throw from Del Castillo to make it 19-15 at the 6:13 mark.  The teams traded baskets until the Monarchs rebuilt the advantage to 28-19 with 1:50 on the clock.  Two charity tosses by Kyleesha Green and a field goal from Brown brought the Pirates back to within 28-23 at halftime.

The third quarter was a disaster for VC, as they shot 0-9 from the floor.  Ventura did not score until the 2:31 mark of the period on two free throws from Lewis.  The Pirates, however, were still in the game at that point, trailing 38-25.  The Pirates would go on to make four more free throws in the quarter to trail 41-29.

The Pirates showed some signs of life early in the fourth on back-to-back scores from Del Castillo and Lewis, but just as hope flickered, it faded away with LAVC answering with two straight buckets.  Ventura never got back to within single digits for the rest of the game, ultimately falling 54-37.

The offensive output was the lowest for Ventura since December 8, 2005 when they fell to El Camino 40-35.  VC shot just 20 percent from the floor on that day.

Campbell finished with eight points and four rebounds for VC and Brown had six points and six boards.  Del Castillo tallied five points and a team-high nine caroms to go along with three steals. Green handed out three assists.

The Pirates finish play at the LA Valley Crossover on Saturday Nov. 19 with a 5:00 pm contest against Antelope Valley.