Ventura Can't Solve Offensive Woes in Semifinal Loss

All season long, the Pirates have been walking the edge of a knife between being a very good team or being a team that failed to live up to its potential.  Over a five minute stretch in the third quarter, they were most definitely the latter, giving up an 18-2 run to Sequoias en route to a 78-60 defeat at the hands of the hosts in the semifinals of the Tom Gilcrest Invitational.  Kyleesha Green finished with 16 points and Davina Del Castillo pulled in 11 boards as Ventura (5-3) moves to Sunday's 3rd place game against Pasadena.

Ventura has struggled mightily on the offensive end for most of the season and Saturday was no exception.  The Pirates shot a paultry 26 percent from the floor in the opening period, including 0-5 from beyond the 3-point line.  But that being said, it took a COS 3-pointer in the final minute of the period to give the Giants a 16-14 lead at the quarter break.

VC trailed throughout the second period, but manage dto tie the score at 27-27 on a pair of free throws by Melissa Ohmie with 3:18 on the clock.  The game was tied at 31 in the final minute before another triple by the Giants put Ventura behind 34-31 at the break.

Ventura came out of the locker room seemingly inspired as Rhiana Dougan and Katie Campbell hit a lay-up and 3-pointer, respectively, to give the team a 36-34 advantage.  Del Castillo connected on a trey at the 6:44 mark to make it 41-38 for VC and she went to the foul line to make it a 4-point play.  She missed the free throw, however, and the Giants took full advantage. COS outscored VC 18-2 over the next five minutes to take control of the contest, with the PIrates missing five of six shots during the run with six turnovers.  It took two charity tosses from Campbell to break the skid, and the Pirates trailed 56-45 at the end of the period.

Despite the woes, the Pirates were stull in the game, especially after Green started the fourth quarter with a driving lay-up and a 3-pointer to make it 56-50.  But that would be as close as it would get as Ventura made just three field goals in the final nine minutes of play.  Sequoias rode the momentum to the 78-60 victory.

Campbell finished with 10 points and seven rebounds and Brown also scored in double-figures with 10. Del Castillo added seven points and three blocked shots to her rebound total.

Ventura will look to avoid a two-loss Gilcrest for the third year in a row when they take on Pasadena on Sunday Dec. 4 at 2:00 pm in the bracket's 3rd place game.