The VC men's basketball team begins its 2023 post-season journey Saturday Feb. 25. The No. 7-seeded Pirates (22-6) host No. 10 Santiago Canyon (19-10), an 88-72 first round winner over No. 23/22 Chaffey, at 7:00 pm at the Athletic Event Center.
Ventura enters the game on the heels of the program's seventh straight Western State Conference North Division championship. Head coach Joey Ramirez, in his 12th year at the helm of the Pirates' ship, recorded his 200th career victory at VC on Dec. 3, 2022 against Pasadena at the Gregg Anderson Memorial Tournament at Antelope Valley. He currently has a career coaching record of 215-110, a winning percentage of .662.
Ramirez has led VC to the seven straight WSC titles, and a total of eight crowns since he was hired as head coach in the summer of 2011. He has led VC to a 99-25 WSC mark (.798), a record only surpassed by his mentor, Hall of Fame VC coach Phil Mathews, for whom Ramirez played in 1992-93 and 1993-94.
Ramirez's Pirates are led this season by several outstanding players. Sophomore Anthony Garza averages 17.5 points and 7.1 rebounds per game and was named the WSC-North Player of the Year. Sophomore Adrian McIntyre was the WSC PoY and an All-State selection in 2022 and scored 16 points per outing while shooting 61 percent from the floor and over 44 percent from the three this season. Freshman point guard Marcus Watson also garnered All-WSC accolades and records 14 points, 5.5 boards and 4.2 assists per contest. First-year player Kai Johnson and second-year Daniel Crocker were named honorable mention all-conference with 13.3 and 12.3 scoring averaged, respectively.
Santiago Canyon travels to Ventura with a first-round playoff victory under its belt. The Hawks had a 10-6 record in Orange Empire play and tied for second in the nine-team league. They earned the conference's second rank using tiebreakers to help receive the No. 10 seed in the playoffs. Forward Aaron Wadman, a first team All-Orange Empire Conference selection leads the Hawks scoring 21.9 points per game with 7.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists. Second team All-OEC honoree Kai Smith averages 12.6 points and 4.9boards per outing.
Admission prices are $12–general admission and $8–for identified students, faculty, staff, senior citizens age 60 and over, and children less than 12 years of age. Tickets will be available online at https://ventura.vbotickets.com/events and fans are encouraged to purchase tickets on their smart device before arriving at the game.