VC sophomore Vida Faniel returned to his hometown with a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Pirates to an 83-74 victory over Mira Costa Friday in the first round of the Gregg Anderson Memorial Tournament at Antelope Valley College in Lancaster. Calvin Young hit five 3-pointers in route to 19 points and Cordel Hankerson netted 17 in the victory.
With Ventura down 6-2 early, Faniel scored the first bucket of a 23-3 Pirate run over a six minute span. Young and Hankerson each netted eight points in the run that left VC (7-4) ahead 25-9 at the 12:24 mark of the first half. After a Spartan triple, Thomas Frank answered from range and Isiah Reyes followed with another three to make it 33-12 at the 8:58 mark. Mira Costa closed to with a dozen, 37-25 with 2:55 remaining, but Ryan Sells and Trevor LaCount each connected with buckets for the Pirates. VC led at halftime 46-30.
At the 14:41 mark of the second half, LaCount's field goal gave Ventura a 61-37 edge. At that point, the Pirates went cold, misfiring on eight of their next nine shots. Mira Costa took advantage, going on a 19-2 run to get right back into the game. The Spartans closed to within six, 65-59, with 7:13 on the clock when Faniel and Hankerson netted buckets to stop the bleeding, following a Mira Costa score, Faniel connected for an old fashioned 3-point play and Hankerson scored on the next possession to stretch the lead back to 74-62. The Pirates held off the Spartans down the stretch to post the 83-74 win.
LaCount had 10 points with six boards off the bench and Reyes contributed seven points with three assists. Eddie Cowan handed out four dimes.
Ventura advances to the tournament semifinals, playing Antelope Valley at 7:00 pm on Saturday Dec. 2 in Lancaster. The Pirates fell 74-67 to the Marauders on Nov 5 in the We Play Hard Tournament in Ventura.